[Mick]

At this point, I am on the verge of concluding that this guitar is a cheap piece of crap. The tone pot was really loose when I bought it. I tightened the knob some and tried to see if I could tighten from underneath, but coudln't find anything else I could do to that, so I have just been living with it. The tuners are basically cheap pieces of crap. It gets to the point that the guitar won't hold a tune at all, so I tighten them. Then it holds a tune OK for a while before degrading again such that I feel they need constant maintenance, so far, I have been living with that too. But now, it's different. Something is vibrating in the guitar when it is played. It doesn't seem to be coming through the amp at all, and is most annoying when I am just practicing at night with no amp (wife and kids in bed), so it is definitely something physical and not electronic. I have tried to figure it out for weeks with no luck and I am more than a little frustrated with this guitar. I guess the point here, other than to gripe to those who have been through guitar frustrations, is do others share the view that this guitar is crap? Is it worth chasing Schecter to try to get them to do something about it? Or should I just start saving my pennies for a new, and hopefully better, guitar?

[playingdead]

Gotta figure out where the vibration is coming from. Is it fret buzz? Is the vibration in every string? Is it coming from the loose tuners?

Rap on the back of the neck and see if there' s a rattle that way. Could be a loose truss rod.

I have a Schecter bass that is a very nice instrument. Tuners and tone pots can be changed out.

Yes, they are a big company, I would take it to where you bought it if you can't figure it out.

[jackr]

Schecter makes some nice guitars. The C1 is not that good imho. I sell them for about $350 to $400. That being said, in that price range they are good.

It sounds like you have several problems going on that an inexpensive trip to a luthier could fix.

But if you dont want to do that I am pretty confident you'll get the help you need here. Like playindead said try to determine where the vibration is coming from. Or is it more of a rattle?

How is your intonation when the guitar is in tune? Is it in tune at the 12th fret in tune when the open string is in tune.

Staying in tune may not just be tuner issues. You may need to check the neck.

[tigerstrat]

My C-1 is a Classic, and a pretty well-built guitar afaic, but the pots and especially the 5-way are fairly cheap crap. Tuners are nice Grovers; I have a set of locking Sperzels I might throw on there sometime, but I have never had a problem with them.

[Mick]

I'll tap on the back of the neck and see if I can hear anything, I haven't tried that. It isn't specific to one string, but seems to happen the most when the D and G strings are played. The intonation from open to 12 is essentially perfect when the guitar is tuned, well, as perfect as I can judge with my electronic tuner. In fact, I would describe it as more or less perfect up to at least fret 18 or 20, it loses it a bit on 23 and 24 on strings 1 and 2, but the others are fine. I'm not thrilled about the loss of accuracy at 23 and 24 on two strings, but given the cost of the guitar ($550) and the frequency that I use those notes (really only when messing around with GDTRFB), I'm not freaked out about the intonation. My thought on the tuners was that someday I would just swap them out for some Sperzels. That is the underlying reason for the question, I am pretty frustrated, and if this guitar really is the piece of crap it seems to be, I wasn't going to start dumping money into it. I bought it at GC, and the last time I took a guitar there, let's just say I was not impressed. I am not opposed to having a professional look at it, I just think having those guys look at it is a waste of time and money. Thanks all for the input.

[Mick]

As a follow up: I contacted Schecter and their tech support got back to me. They wanted me to take the knob off the tone pot and tighten the nut on the front of the guitar. Telling them that I had already tried this made no difference, so I tried it, no difference. They say they can't help me with the buzz/vibration unless I can tell them where it is coming from, well no shit, if I knew where it was coming from, it would be fixed by now. I spoke to a friend of mine last night who plays, and has played my guitar, he gave good advice that it must be coming from the strings somewhere if it isn't heard through the amp and suggests I raise the action a little to see if that reduces/eliminates it. I am OK with that, but it is something I have never done. Any guidance there?

Schecter has yet to reply to my questions on the tuners and the intonation issue on frets 23 and 24. Worse, a careful reading of their web-page says that because my guitar is a "Diamond Series" guitar, ANY modifications to it will void my warranty. I wish I had known that when I bought the guitar as I wouldn't have bought it. So on the tuner issue, I am faced with the choice of living with the tuners I have and having the guitar warranteed, or changing them out and foregoing the warranty, great.

I'm still trying to let them have their chance to put things right, but they have not contacted me at all so far this week, and it is Thursday, even though I have been asking them what to do next. Overall, I am starting to get the feeling that they sold me a cheap piece of crap guitar, that they know it, that they know I know it, and they are reluctant to do anything that costs money to get me a playable guitar. Given the tech support, or lack thereof, I have gotten so far, voiding the warranty doesn't sound so scary anymore. But spending money on some good tuners sounds like it would be better saved for a new guitar.

[RiverRat]

I think you're taking the phrase "ANY modifications" a bit too literally... a basic guitar setup should never void a manufacturer's warranty.

Gotta find that rattle and buzz before ANYONE can give you advice on that.

Tuners sound like the gears and posts might be a bit loose, not a major issue to fix if that is the case... replacing the tuners is an option. Sending it back for warranty is yet another option.

Tone pot sounds like it could be stripped threads or the wrong size nut.

I look at the source of the guitar as the biggest issue of all. Buying a guitar from GC is like looking for the woman of your dreams at a strip club. You MIGHT find her BUT it's very unlikely... What you'll probably end up with is something that been around the block, beaten up and worn out. (NOTE: I know some people see NO problem with that, different strokes for different folks!)

Bottom Line... at little bit of work and TLC and that sleazy little tramp of a Schecter could turn into your "Hooker with a Heart of Gold"!
Or you could kick her to the curb... which seems to be the directions you leaning right now.

My 1st bass I owned was a Schecter which I sold years ago when I got a 6 string. I happened to see her current owner last month and they are still a happy couple 5 years later!

DISCLAIMER: I do not intended any disrespect towards Sex Workers... as a matter of fact, No Sex Workers were abused while I wrote this post.

[Highballin']

Do you think you're getting fret buzz? I can't understand how you can't localize the sound. Have you laid the guitar down on something firm and strummed it, then move your head in close and listen around? Obviously with the guitar unplugged. I can only imagine that you would be able to tell fret buzz right away.
Look for anything that might cause rattles/buzz( pick-guard, Pick-ups, any other hardware) try shimming them up with pieces of cardboard, see if the noise goes away.
Have you re-strung it? Hows the nut? Are the strings all properly seated in the tail piece, and the nut? The ball ends of the strings are properly seated? I'm gonna look for a picture of this guitar. Peace out.

[Highballin']

Looks like a nice rig! No pick-guard on the one I saw. Re-reading yours and others posts, those tuners may be suspect. I don't know.

[Mick]

Quick results from yesterday when I took my guitar to an old friend who, although is not an expert, has been playing, modding, tinkering etc. for 25+ years. Read: way more experienced that I will likely ever be.

Buzzing/vibration: I was definitely getting fret buzz, but he said I couldn't localize it because it was coming from both above and below the fingered fret. I looked at him like he had three heads, and so he recreated it for me at will, both above and below. (Well shut my mouth...) He reset my action and most of the audible stuff disappeared. I thought I could still feel a vibration, and he said he could too. So we took the strings out and he gave my nut a good look over. He said the same thing that others here have said (without prompting from me) that the truss rod could be loose or improperly installed, but didn't want to take my nut off just yet. He said the nut looked fine and the set-up of the bridge, now that he raised it, looked good. I re-strung the guitar with him watching such that he could see what I did. We talked about the bullet ends and why I use them (basically so I can't screw up that end of the stringing process) and he thought that was smart. Once strung, the guitar took a tune right away and he thought I got all that right.

Tone pot: definitely all f-ed up. I will try to get one from Schecter on warrantee.

Tuners: Cheap pieces of crap. He agrees that I should get what I can from Schecter to address the other problems, and then I should go ahead and void my warrantee by putting some decent tuners on the guitar.

Frets 23 and 24: Well, we had spent more than an hour already on the guitar, and since this was a minimal issue, he said he would rather see me play it. So we played a little, and then switched guitars so he was playing my Schecter and I was playing a vintage Jackson guitar of his. What followed was about 2 hours of us playing with some breaks where he gave me suggestions of how to adjust my hand positions and picking technique and ways to think about chord structures etc. I would pay big cash for a video of that, because I am sure I have already forgotten 3/4 of what he said, but we were both having fun and we ran out of time. We plan to have him come over to my house next month to play more, and take a closer look at my guitar again, after I have had some time to play with the new set up and work on my hand position/picking technique a little more. He also gave me a set of extra light strings (.008s, I have been using .010s) and suggested that I try those at my next string change to see if that made things easier.

Good stuff.

[jackr]

8s are really really lite. The only one I know that uses them off the top of my head is Billy Gibbons. (ZZ Top)

I have tried them, too light for me to get the tone I want but they are real easy to play.

I am glad it is working out with the guitar.

[Highballin']

Sounds like some good quality Guitar time.

[Tennessee Jedi]

and he gave my nut a good look over.

Must be a close friend !
Mick Dude
8's suck ... Im thinking you wont like them maybe .... get a pro set up with the strings YOU want to use
Good luck to you and hope you are up and jamming soon
peace

[NashvilleMike]

Mick wrote:
and he gave my nut a good look over.
Must be a close friend !

He's right -light strings suck. They are easy to play in the beginning but will not get you "there". IMHO

Buying a guitar from GC is like looking for the woman of your dreams at a strip club. You MIGHT find her BUT it's very unlikely... What you'll probably end up with is something that been around the block, beaten up and worn out. (NOTE: I know some people see NO problem with that, different strokes for different folks!)

Basically a true (and humorous statement) but GC does have some guitars that were bought and not played for a year and brought back. I got a used Epi Sheraton (wanted a hollowbody to play with) for $350. It had been set up well and had almost never been played. I like it.

[Pete B.]

Just curious if he used an allen wrench on the truss rod to check for over/under tightness and/or adjustment?... was it super hard to turn it, or smooth/easy?

In genreral... can you take the truss rod out without taking the fingerboard off?