Schecter E-1 FR S Special Edition Electric Guitar - Trans Purple Burst Reviews

This is one of the finest guitars I have ever owned. It's plays extremely well and sounds amazing in any mode! Its very versatile. The attention to detail is great. It is a work of art. Great job Schecter. It was my first experience with Sweetwater and was a very positive experience. My guitar came setup and ready to go. And a big shout out to Geoff. He was very instrumental on providing me a great experience with them. I definitely look forward to purchasing more through tbem.

this thing is a beast unfortunately it just did not feel right in my hands. I will be looking for something with the same pickups just a different body style. I have a few schecters 1 with a sustaniac but this was just so much louder and heavy.

Was time for my 30+ year old shredder to go out for fretwork... again. Decided to try something new - but needed to fill some big shoes. After much research, thought this might do it. The combination of woods and features looked like it might be a good fit. Parker and the luthiers at Sweetwater picked this one for me and set it up ready to go with my strings and tuning. Some 24 fret guitars that I've tried were too cramped in the upper frets, and unpleasant to play. First sit down with the E-1 was pure pleasure, and the guys in the band were impressed at rehearsal. The bridge pickup kicks the front of my amps beautifully; and the Sustainiac has been a joy and an ease to use on the fly. The tones through my clean amp sparkle nicely. Job done! Thanks to Parker and Sweetwater - the brick and mortar local store online. Cheers

There are no words! Ok. In a word. Incredible!

This was my first purchase from Sweetwater and won't be my last. I've owned several Schecter guitars since getting into the brand in 2002 and this is the best playing / sounding one that I've owned. The sustainic electronics give plenty of tone options for different playing styles and the pickups sound extremely "big" when run together without getting muddy like some EMG's will. I bought the Schecter hard case with the guitar and specified that I wanted it delivered in the case which was not a problem for Sweetwater. Guitar arrived perfectly in tune and set up perfect for my playing style right out of the box. In the past 2 months I have tuned it once. Even got a follow up call from the sales rep to ask how everything was going. Awesome customer service and great product!!

Plays Great! Looks Spectacular! Unbelieveable Sustain and Tone!

This guitar is amazing, I absolutely love it. First the guitar is light compared to my ESP EC-1000 with the Evertune bridge and your standard EMG 81/85 pickup combination. The play ability of this guitar is out of this world moving up down the neck is smooth as butter as is getting your finger positions for chords. The versatility of the pickups really surprised me, you could go from As I Lay Dying to Stevie Ray Vaughn blues then transition into some Megadeth to some crisp clear bright sounding Jazz. I like my ESP EC-1000 but I love love love the way my Schecter E-1 plays. I would 100% recommend this guitar.

What a beauty! Very comfortable neck and the weight is comfortable considering the large body style. I also like the rubber gripping on the speed knobs, makes a huge difference. Ultimately, I was dying to have the Sustainiac. It does not disappoint! Three tone types to play around with and it is a lot of fun. My only complaint is that the glow-in-the-dark fretmarkers are a little hard to see, ironically, in moderate light as they get a little bit lost in the pattern of the binding, but it is by no means a deal breaker. I'm not a huge tremolo afficianado but the Floyd is very nice and holds tune like a champ. Very happy with the quality of this guitar, it's my 4th Schecter in my collection and I just keep being impressed by their products.

I love this guitar. I've been looking for an explore style guitar with a floyd rose forever. This guitar definitely fits the bill, it feels great and plays awesome

Really slick playing neck...makes you feel like your practicing for your next rock concert with Eric Clapton . Beautiful finish and coloring... pictures don't do it justice. Just a great looking and playing guitar. Kudos to Sweetwater for the fast processing and shipping . Was well packed and arrived in perfect condition.

At first I was skeptical about buying this guitar, since I've never played it in person, but I've played with Schecter's before and they've felt great. This guitar has everything I'd ask for if I were to get a custom guitar. It sounds, feels and it looks amazing! Sweetwater delivered this guitar so quickly and in perfect condition with great service, for that I am thankful. I can't emphasize how great this guitar is, even as I type this I have this guitar on my lap. Whenever this guitar isn't with me it sleeps in it's coffin case. I would definitely recommend this guitar to anyone who wants to be ripping it up on stage!

If I were to sum up how great this guitar is I would have to write a novel. Okay, that might be an overstatement, but hopefully it conveys how much I like this guitar. I've owned Dean guitars, Jackson guitars, PRS guitars, Epiphone guitars, and played plenty of Gibsons, but this guitar more than just takes the cake. I would buy 4 if they came in different color options (though the purple is beautiful).

Instead of saying everything I love about this guitar (though the feel of the neck is on par with every US made guitar I've played) I am going to say the one thing I dislike. The only, minor problem I have with this guitar is the Sustaniac pickup. It's really sensitive. Like really sensitive. It could just be mine, but when I engage it I can't look at my rig, be too close to my computer, or anything that puts off a lot of noise. It doesn't pick up a lot of noise, but it picks up enough that I notice. However, when the Sustaniac pickup "sustain" feature is off it is an amazing neck pickup. And don't even get me started on how amazing the bridge pickup is.

Honestly though, if you are reading this review you need to buy this guitar. Sweetwater has a good return policy if it isn't your thing, just try it out.

I usually play Gibson SG as my main guitar until I found this one. I was fascinated by how versitile it actually is. Not only can I shred some modern Metal riffs but I can play so clean blues on it too. It has become my everyday player, worth every penny.

This is a great guitar. This guitar surpassed what I expected from it. Plays fantastic. Sustains for days without the sustainiac on. Feels great. My only complaint is the guitar case I bought could be higher quality but that doesn't take anything away from the guitar.

This guitar is unbelievable!!! There is not one thing i would change, Gives me faith that you can still buy a professional guitar like this for under $, love it

This wont be brief so grab some popcorn. For those not willing to stay for this review hers a quick one for ya. Its fast,loud and plays itself. Buy it!
Now ive only played a handful of guitars over the years so maybe my opinion doesn't count here. Im a Jackson guy, so i thought, till i played this. Only Schecter ive ever touched was a hellraiser and i loved it but didnt have that flashy look i like. I play a Jackson Warrior and have for 3 years now and frankly it was just hard to play. I wanted a Schecter, saw this on Sweetwater and fell in love with it! Got it, played the living crap out of it and packed up the warrior.
This E-1 is so hot i think it'll raise Prince from the dead! Killer action, easy to move around the fret board. I play thrash, jazz , blues on the side and this can do it all! Playing around with the sustainiac with songs is a blast also, very unique indeed. The transparent purple burst on this beast is a sight to behold if you ever see it in person. The pics here do it no justice. All in all its all around a very well made guitar, a little heavy but i like it that way. I play hard and fast and so far this beautie has held up great. Still in tune! This is truly a special edition, feels amazing ,quality build and sounds like a guitar should sound. Well worth the money if your looking for a top notch ax that will withstand a beating and the test of time.
If you made it this far thanx for staying! If you dont take my word for it ask the staff at Sweetwater to give you advise. Trust me, they're beyond helpful! Hails from Minnesota shredders!

This guitar is worth every penny & blows the competition away, imo. The pics don't serve justice as to how beautiful the Trans Purple Burst is.

It's an all Mahogany guitar with figured maple top & ebony fretboard so, the tone is very tight, snappy from maple, warm/dark & excellent clarity coupled with the Apocalypse pickup, that is comparable to Bare Knuckle in uniqueness, tone & price. I bought an Apocalypse set a yr ago before they started showing up in production models, the pickup covers are transparent & the look of it was half the reason I tried them, never seen a pickup like it.

The tone of the Apocalypse is high gain, high clarity & more mids/highs but, not lacking too much bass. The layered carbon fiber binding is a unique piece of art. Quite possibly the best subtle construction feature...the backside of the neck has the paint sanded down most of the neck w/o gloss but, I'm partial to bolt-on necks which usually have no paint/gloss that makes for less friction. The new 1500 series Floyd has new stainless steel components, tight feel & not much different from the Original model.

I have an USA Schecter Sunset Classic II & I can honestly say the South Korean made guitars aren't far from the custom shop. My opinion is, Schecter compared to many other brands, has top notch wood quality, which is more important than most companies' trendy gimmicks advertise & has the best bang for your buck.

I got this guitar a little more than a week ago and so far, it has been nothing but fun! It's my first instrument with a Floyd Rose and I've been having an awesome time dive bombing and all that. I'll do a pros and cons list , which hopefully is helpful.
Pros:
-came ready to play out of the box, perfectly set up
-the mother of pearl inlays and maple veneer on the headstock look gorgeous
-Black chrome hardware is also gorgeous
-The nut locks smoothly and stays in tune great
-Ebony fretboard looks awesome and plays incredibly smooth
-mother of pearl block inlays make the neck look, in my opinion, a lot like a Gibson Les Paul Custom!
-satin finish on the neck makes sliding up and down effortless
-I can easily reach all the way to the 24th fret
-carbon fiber binding looks sweet on this particular guitar
-sustainiac pickup has three distinctly different modes and is super fun to play around with
-bridge pickup sounds awesome and is notably versatile; it has a snarling, well-rounded tone with the distortion cranked up, but surprisingly has a good clean sound too. I found this pleasantly surprising considering it's an active pickup. Also it's purple and matches the finish!
-Floyd Rose bridge looks awesome and stays in tune super well
-the knobs and switches look and function great
-purple burst finish looks stunning, especially if you get one of the "brighter" quilt maple tops
-it's really light; very conducive to hours upon hours of playing
-for me, it just feels right when I'm holding and playing it. I'd 100% recommend this to anyone looking for a versatile, fun, beautiful shred machine!

Cons:
-on mine, the high E string will sometimes get stuck in between the first and /or second frets and the fretboard. This happens very infrequently, but it's annoying when it does
-when the whammy bar is attached, it will hinder quick access to the volume knob if it is not facing forward. I have to make sure it's oriented a certain way if I want to do any volume swells or anything like that.
-the tuners are small and very close together, so using a string winder is extremely difficult, or impossible
-I installed strap locks on this, and for some reason the strap button behind the neck keeps coming loose. It never pops out, but I need to tighten it every few days.
-there are some minor imperfections with the finish and binding, but can only be seen from very up close.


All in all, I love this guitar and I love it more each time I play it. For anyone looking for a somewhat budget guitar with all the trimmings, this is it! It has the looks and appointments of a guitar twice the price or more, but Schecter somehow manages to deliver all this in a cost-effective package. Definitely a lot of bang for your buck on this one.
It's worth noting that I did have to set up the Floyd when I got it. I was putting it in E flat tuning since I bought this as my guitar to play Van Halen on. I have been greatly inspired by Eddie Van Halen, rest his soul. Anyway, it took several hours to get the bridge angle and tuning right, but I had no trouble after that except for more adjustment after a string change to a different brand. It can be a headache, but once it's set, it's set! Just take note of this paragraph if you're a first time Floyd Rosé owner.
And thanks to Paul LaFemina for his exceptional customer service! I'm a Sweetwater customer for life!

Let me first say that this guitar looks awesome, but this finish is quick to leave a smudge. So tell your friends hands off and keep a microfiber in the case. It"s very light despite its appearance and easy to maneuver. However you do need to watch those door frames it"s easy to forget that tale protrudes if your unaccustomed to it. Ive bumped mine once or twice luckily very light and left no blemishes. The tone is better then I could have ever hoped. You really get those punchy lows, crunchy mids, and soaring highs. There"s not really any spectrum of tone that really over powers the rest. There"s some thing else though that"s hard to describe that sets this sound apart. It has its own unique dark rich warmth unlike any other I"ve encountered. If your a tube amp player you know what I mean by warmth, but the complexity of this monster is still something else altogether. My only complaint was the set up on mine was done poorly. Which is strange for Schecter. In the past I"ve had nothing but fond things to say of there attention to detail in their set ups. However the bridge was not even close to level and was pulling the strings out of tune. I had to adjust the tension immediately just to play it which was a little disappointing. So if you are unfamiliar with setting up a Floyd rose or don"t want to hassle with it I suggest having Sweetwater set it up before shipping.

First off let me start by saying that I never buy import guitars. I only bought this one because I wanted an explorer with a Floyd. So I took a chance. This guitar can easily compete with the USA Gibsons.
Fit and finish is perfect and it was easy to get the action down as low as I wanted. Plays like butter and the sustainer is fun to play with.
The negatives are that the top is a Veneer but that's what I expected and the silver parts on the Floyd are aluminum not titanium like someone else said in their review.
Overall the guitar is a winner and you can't go wrong with one of these I love mine and pick it up instead of the $2000 explorer on most days

Pros:
-Sustainiac is epic (three modes: sustain, harmonic, and both), especially when used with floyd rose.
-Simple yet wicked finish, the border stripes combined with the carbon fiber is especially tasty.
-The satinized neck makes all the difference.
-The headstock is beautiful.
-The knobs are sick.
-Very well set-up right out of the box.

Cons:
-It does not explicitly state anywhere but the pickups are NOT active like the Hellraiser, the single battery cavity is for the sustainiac.
-The gloss finish is EXTREMELY thin and fragile, as a stickler for extra fine picking scratches this was slightly disappointing, literally wiping it with a microfiber cloth scratches it.
-The Apocalypse pickup is pretty good for a stock pickup, but it isnt quite as sharp or heavy as an EMG or Seymour, especially being passive.
-The neck pickup setting (the one with the sustainiac magnet) tone isn't wonderful, the highs are very harsh so you may have to turn down the tone knob a bit.
-No case included for such a fragile instrument, even a gig bag would have been nice.
-Although the body is extra large, the neck side is even heavier so it tends to tilt left when I play standong with a strap.
-I play with a FR stop lock, but I had to install it on the sidewall of the cavity because the back is weird.

All in all can't go wrong with this one, just be careful with the finish and don't expect super heavy tones.

I love this guitar. This is my first Explorer and I am very pleased. But the guitar did not arrive in tune: the strings at the 12th fret were at least 2.5 mm high, there was a ringing at two frets and the frets had to be polished. The tool is good, but the master has to modify it. And for this price, there is no cover.

First things I noticed: very lightweight. Almost feels cheap how light it is, although it the build is very solid and trustworthy. Fretwork is very good, like every schecter I’ve owned, to be expected. Nice neck. Stock bridge pickup sounds good but to me it leaves something to be desired. It is a high output pickup but I’m spoiled and usually use extremely high output pickups in the bridge position. The sustainiac is fun to mess around with but I think the overall tone is kinda eh. Hit a Dimebag squeal on it and it’ll go all day, super fun.
Biggest negative for me: the pickups are very close together. When my hand is in normal position while palm muting I’m hitting my pick on the sustainiac (which sticks up super high for some reason) constantly, and this makes a different tone than when I’m chugging cleanly in between the pickups. I have to adjust my hand positioning to get proper tone while chugging. It’s something I can get used to when I play this guitar, but it takes away from the playability for me.
Overall beautiful guitar, sounds good plays good, I’ll always trust schecter. And Sweetwater! I’m active duty in Japan and I received this guitar in less than one week. Crazy.

I originally bought this guitar back in March. It showed up with a crack in the headstock. Waited a few months for a replacement - that one showed up with scratches all over the body. Third one.... you guessed it, defective.

I'm not sure what's going on with Schecter's QC in 2020, but it obviously needs some work if I'm paying... for a guitar that shows up defective 3/3 times.

Defects aside, I found Schecter's bridge humbucker to be pretty fizzy and inflexible. Additionally, the "satin" neck is much stickier than you'd think it would be. Otherwise, it played great.

Overall, a real bummer since this guitar is beautiful and so loaded with awesome features. I won't be touching anything Schecter for a couple years because of the QC issues. Shame, because I've got a 2010 model that I love.