1983 Schecter Strat Info

[bear79]

Tom and forum,

Here are pictures of my baby, my main guitar for over 20 years. I believe I bought it in 1983, serial number S8816. I didn't realize the find I had until two different guitar techs told me about the Schecter / Tom Anderson connection. It's completely original except for the bridge pickup that I changed with a Seymour Duncan Little '59.

Any information you can give me on it would be appreciated. Specifically:

Tom wrote:
we were a bunch of people (about 30 at the peak) making parts and a small number of guitars the best we knew how, using unconventional methods. i don't think we ever made more than about 4-5 guitars a week. we did not authorize dealers to make guitars, but we did supply aternate decals for those that wanted to assemble things themselves.

Is this an Anderson era Schecter and is this a Schecter or dealer assembled guitar?

What is the body wood? I've seen other guitars that look similar on ebay state it's walnut.

Tell me anything you can about the pick-ups. I've heard them called Monster tone in ebay autions. Are they similar to current SN series TAGs?

What was the thought process around the aluminum pickguard? I've read they are good for sheilding. I've never had any problems with hum with this guitar.

Cheers.

[wreckfan]

I remember those. I remember the first one I saw was around the same time frame. We had gone out with friends to a local San Diego club and the guitar player was playing a nice Les Paul most of the night.....then switched to the first Schecter guitar I had ever seen and proceeded to ROCK.

Cool !!

[tom]

i'll have to blow up the picture to take a closer look. i'll check back later today.

[bear79]

I showed guys at Atlanta Music Brokers my pictures and the going opinion on the body wood is rosewood or koa but he said Tom would know for sure.

[tom]

looks like walnut to me. the rosewood we did was darker, more black. the pickups are similar to our SN's, but hotter and more full in the middle. aluminium pg's can be prone to microphonics, but those pickups are pretty good about not doing that.

[bear79]

Tom and forum,

Two more questions if you will humor me:

Do you think doing the Buzz Feiten would be worth it on this guitar?
Could you guys at TAG do a pickguard assembly with a M1,M1,M2 configuration for me? Would it fit without routing?

Thanks

[tom]

for me personally, feitenizing anything is worth it, can/won't play without it.
our pickguard would not fit that guitar, and you would have to do some routing under the pickguard to fit the pickups.

[bear79]

Tom,

Could you tell me if you think this strat was a parts guitar or assembled at Schecter?

[tom]

hard to say without seeing inside. can't tell if the bridge is a schecter or not. is the block brass? are the saddles rectangular or molded?

[bear79]

Is the block brass? Yes
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154737&id=532184700&saved#!/photo.php?pid=3445636&id=532184700&fbid=378668254700

are the saddles rectangular or molded? I'll let you decide.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154737&id=532184700&saved#!/photo.php?pid=3445635&id=532184700&fbid=378668249700

I still haven't figured out how to post pics within the reply.

[tom]

i'm not a facebooker so i can't see those.

[bear79]

I'm sorry about my lack of tech skills. Let's try this. Hit the right arrow to see the bridge as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/103141161513742638625/SchecterStrat?authkey=Gv1sRgCO_Jgar2wYbGcQ#5451650 377404156530

thanks

[tom]

the parts look legit. hard to say where is was assembled. could have been factory.

[bear79]

Tom, if you could please let me know how the old Schecter Strat necks would compare to today's Anderson's. It's definitely bigger than the Even Taper on my DTC. Is it closer to the 60's vibe or 50's V?

I'm considering a CS with a large 50's V and would like to know how it compares.

Thanks

[tom]

they were more like our 60's vibe. most were 1 5/8" nut width. we did do some large V's as well but they were not too common.

[bear79]

hard to say without seeing inside. can't tell if the bridge is a schecter or not. is the block brass? are the saddles rectangular or molded?

Tom, I finally have some pics of the inside. The neck pocket says built by Rick Oblinger.

[Chuckracer]

That is freakin delicious!

[tom]

that looks more like teak or shedua, i'd say teak as shedua is greener looking.

rick was definitely one of the guys, so it looks like it was a factory built guitar. does it have a metal logo on the headstock?

[bear79]

that looks more like teak or shedua, i'd say teak as shedua is greener looking.

rick was definitely one of the guys, so it looks like it was a factory built guitar. does it have a metal logo on the headstock?

Tom, it's a waterslide logo, see the pictures from the original post. In an earlier post you thought it was walnut. It's heavy as the dickens but I don't know how heavy teak is.

Thanks for the confirmation on the builder.

[tom]

all those woods are heavy. unless your flash is on and bright, that's too light a color for walnut.