Looks

The Schecter Devil Custom is a Mahogany body with solid burl maple top, 24 fret fixed bridge guitar with a body shape similar to that of a Gibson SG and a unique 'Pincer or Claw' headstock. This guitar sports the EMG Active 81 / 85 pickup combination and a very dark red / black finish that is extremely effective. It got the thumbs up from both the wife and daughter. Not too shabby !

The look of this guitar is fabulous with a quilted look to the paintwork which is a deep gloss type finish, along with Black Chrome tuners and brightwork. If they could have put a metal tip on the 3 way switch that would have been the icing on the cake !

The Neck

Three piece mahogany, 24 jumbo frets, 25.5 inch scale, very comfortable, set neck with ultra access. At the 12th fret is a beautifully set 'Devils Eye' inlay, which looks stunning against the dark ebony fretboard. Both the neck and headstock feature multi-ply binding.

Playability

The weight of the guitar is, I would say somewhere between an SG and a Les Paul, nearer to an SG. Very comfortable to play for extended periods. The balance of the guitar is slightly neck heavy, but not enough to cause the headstock to head for the floor every time you let go of the neck. There is a contour on the back of the body that allows the guitar to be more comfortable for those of us with expanded waistlines... The controls and switch feel nicely weighted and have a quality feel to them. Overall the Devil feels great to play - it has that indefinable 'something' that makes an instrument feel special.

The Setup

The guitar arrived from the dealers, www.guitarguitar.co.uk, and it was setup nicely with what felt like new strings, with no fret buzz, although the strings were a little high for my tastes. After a couple of days I straightened the neck with the (supplied !) allen key and reset the action to my liking. The neck had a little too much relief for me and a couple of turns on the truss rod soon sorted it.

Big thumbs up to Schecter for supplying the allen key and also a cable, a nice touch at this price point.

Fit and Finish

Crafted in South Korea is proudly displayed on the back of the headstock, and yes, they should be proud. Anyone who doubts the ability of eastern companies to build quality products ought to check out where their iPods and iPads are made ... not so long ago I paid £600 for a Harley Davidson leather jacket that was made ... in China ! As is a lot of their stuff apparently. As they say in the States, 'go figure!'. I have to say the quality of that jacket was fantastic as is the quality of this guitar. If I am going to be hyper critical there are a couple of things that are not perfect:

1.The control knobs aren't on straight
2.Some signs of an 'orange peel' effect under the lacquer on part of the body, only in a certain light

That's it. I once had a guitar that cost four times what this one did and there was more to criticise. The eastern factories, those hired by western companies that care, can turn out goods of any quality, and they'll only get better.

Hardware
The tuners are by Grover, the bridge by Tonepros and the pickups by EMG. 'nuff said ?

Sound

Active EMG's always dictate the sound of a guitar to a large degree and that is also true here. I have noticed though that judicious use of the tone and volume controls help this guitar nail the blues / rock 'inbetween' sound very well. Of course Rock and Metal are catered for superbly and the cleans are also very good. No complaints at all with the sound.

Summary

It looks like no other guitar, plays like a dream and is very reasonably priced. Not just for Metal, this guitar is a superb instrument from a company that seems to be little known in the UK - and deserves to be much more widely known. In the meantime those in the know can enjoy great guitars at a great price - courtesy of Schecter Guitar Research.

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Tags: Schecter, Devil custom, Guitar, REview, EMG