Schecter Session Riot-5 Bass Guitar - Aged Natural Satin Reviews

Absolutely Killer bass.
Don't even need to mention the price, which is silly low, for what is on offer here.

If you want a 5 string Bass, get one of these.
One of the best basses I've ever played.
And my new favorite.
(Adios Strandberg)

I bought a Schecter 9 string recently and absolutely love that guitar. So when looking for a bass my mind immediately thought of Schecter once again. How on earth the people at Schecter make such great instruments for the money is beyond me. This plays like an instrument worth triple the price. Glad I snagged one before sweetwater ran out!

Surprised they're aren't a lot of reviews for this instrument. Great quality bass and premium boutique look and sound. It feels like a quality instrument and plays like a custom boutique bass. I get a lot of compliments on the look of it alone, it looks like it's been carved right out of a tree. Fretboard is flat 12 radius and playability with ease is at 100% and the eq flat sounds amazing. Its build quality is also at 100%, also pretty lightweight compared to a 5 string jazz bass.

This bass was recommended. The tone blew me away after it was plugged in. I ordered this model and Sweetwater had it to my house within a DAY. Then, it was out to buy a gig bag and off to the bar for a test run. Everyone raved about the look of the bass when the gig bag was opened, but nothing could have prepared me for what came afterwards. The EMG Humbucker pickups had that nice, chunky sound you usually hear coming from Music Man basses. What was best of all however, was the high-end clarity along with the fact that you did not lose the low-end 'boom'. This bass knocked my (and everyone else's) socks off at the gig.

This bass has taken everything ive thrown at it and it's kept pace. The only limits what this bass can do is my own fingers. Definitely worth every penny.

I recently picked up one of these (sorry ... it was from a competitor of Sweetwater's). The craftmanship is outstanding, and the variety of useful tones is wonderful. This bass truly growls (if you want it to!), and the tone is consistent across the neck. I have played other Schecter basses where I thought the neck was too chunky, but this one is a bit more slimmed to my tastes. The 35" scale is always wonderful for that definition/crispness in the low B. The satin finish is a joy to the touch. Schecter loaded this thing up with Grover tuners, a GraphTech nut, and a killer strings-through-the-body bridge. They keep the price down by building it in South Korea and offering no options (a la Squier), but unlike Squier, Schecter takes the time to set up the instrument properly before sending it out. Of course, then Sweetwater does their check too! But I got mine from a certain large chain that is not usually known for its setup work, and the bass was in perfect shape intonation/playability-wise. Finally, I'm very impressed with how solid the controls feel. The EQ's, volume, and pickup sweep knobs all feel "just right". All in all, an amazing instrument.

Hey bassers, so I've owned this 5er for about a year now. I've been playing for 30 years. I had been looking for a more J-bass type neck for a couple years as the Ibanez BTB (neck-thru standard model) had string spacing that my plucking hand never jived with. Very good bass, by the way, I loved everything else about it. I tried the Riot out on a whim &...holy...crap! Instant love. I've owned or tried pretty much everything over the years, including several hand-built, & can only think of 3 or 4 high-end basses that played better. The Riot has excellent, effortless action, very nicely shaped neck profile, & frets that stay out of the way. Ergonomically, very comfortable, with just a shade of neck dive when seated. But the shape of the beautifully sculpted lower horn really helps keep it at a bare minimum. Perfect balance while standing, fairly light for it's size, this is one you can gig with for hours. Hardware is all very good, & I really appreciate the string-thru-body option. Tuner ratio is a little fast for my preference, but they are high quality, & that's a pretty small nit to pick. I love the 70's-ish J-bass vibe with the cool waterfall-style block inlays! And the body shape...Ooo-la freakin' la! My cup of tea! So yes, I love this bass. Why the 4-star rating? Let's talk sound for a second; overall, the Riot has GREAT tone & is what you'd expect from an ash-maple-maple combination. Deep lows, crispy highs, with great midrange growl. The 35" scale length is perfect, as the B-string is SUPERB! Really clear & clean. It's the EMG preamp that I have trouble with. The bass & midrange controls are pretty good, with nice voicing. It's the treble control that drives me crazy! Voiced way to high (for me anyway, YMMV), it renders the knob almost unusable. I like running controls flat, so that I have headroom to play with. Full disclosure, I do not slap women or basses, so if you slap the latter, you might find the treble voicing to be perfect, but please don't slap the former. Anyway, I could change the preamp, so again, nitish-pickish. Overall, one of the best instrument purchases I've ever made. This thing has clarity, depth, growl, a B-string to die for, & is very versatile tone-wise. I bought it new for only $675 if memory serves me, which is an outrageously good price. Don't the the "Korean" built moniker scare you at all. They make very solid workhorses. About the only bass that I could foresee making this Riot an also-ran, would be a Dingwall. But there ain't NO Dingwall For $675! I absolutely LOVE this Schecter & have no intentions of getting rid of it, ever! So with my 2 completely subjective nits, I'll give this 4.99999 stars. If you read this whole thing, you're a trooper, go have a Gatorade.

I've had this bass for about three and-a-half weeks now and am very impressed with the overall build and sound. Coming off a 5-string Musicman the first thing I noticed was the neck radius here is a little thicker, but after a couple weeks of playing/jamming with friends that became a non-factor. The maple fingerboard is smooth and well-sculpted, the body looks/feels great either sitting/standing (the weight is perfect), and the EMG pickups are incredibly robust and even-toned from low B up through the highest register. Speaking of, the ease of accessibility above the 12th fret is a real a bonus on this model: that area plays as easily as everything below it! All in all a great 5-string bass for the money. My only concern at this point is the tuners, which are plastic and feel surprisingly cheap for a bass that otherwise feels (and plays) at a far more expensive price-point.

First thing's first, this bass plays like a dream. The neck is a very comfortable shape and the balance is great. The tuners are also good quality.

Now, when I got it, I had to set it up because it came with ridiculously high action (like almost 10/64" at the 12th fret, probably to hide the slight fret buzz that I had to fix). I set the neck relief and the saddle height, but when I moved on to intonation, I had the saddle for the G string as far up as it would go but it was still flat. The bridge is too low on the body, and it looks like that's the case across the board with these things, judging from pictures. I'm gonna have to grind off the little unnecessary ridge that sticks up in front of the saddles so I can finish intonating the G string.

In terms of the tone, I'm not sure if it's the cheap Earnie Ball strings that it came with or the mysteriously un-talked about active preamp, but this thing sounds pretty thin. I am able to get it to sound good with certain styles of music, like slappy funk, but it has barely any girth to it at all. I'm sure the pickups themselves are fine, but I'm going to swap out the preamp for a nice Aguilar one like I did with my other active bass. It does sound good with heavy overdrive though, so there's a plus.

Even though it has these problems that I'm going to have to address, I do really love this bass. It's super fun to play and it just feels right. I'm sure with some love and care this thing will slay, but until then, it's just for playing at home for fun.