Been waiting a while for this. but finally, my first real ERG guitar. blackjack C-8. The fretboard is ebony. bridge is (apparently) a custom hipshot and quite a fine piece of hardware! The seymour duncan blackouts seem okay enough. i'll see this weekend. The neck is wide but actually pretty thin so it doesn't feel so bulky in my hands.
it holds every note pretty well, although i still feel .085 for the low F (i tune down a half step) is still a bit wobbly, might have to go up to .95 but i'll see how i get used to it and i'm still on daddarios. Elixirs have more tension to them so i'll see what happens once i pop a .85 elixir bass string on there!
Body is all mahogany, same for the neck. it's pretty lightweight so i feel it'll be a pretty resonant guitar. I compared it to my other schecter, a loomis7 with ash body and maple fretboard. the loomis has alot more snap and upper midrange to it, the C-8 feels a bit creamier, more even. has a little scooped response to it just listening acoustically. Tim told me a set of riff raffs would be a great match for that guitar, considering i have a black dog in my other guitar and that it's a bit brighter than the C-8 i'm tempted to beleive him.
The blackouts are quite compressed, for anyone wondering. they make every note sound even and some might like it, i don't. but they definitely don't have that distinct EMG over the top snap to 'em. so i'll be able to live with them i think.
build quality is great, but not stunning. the frets have been leveled either at the factory or from the distributor (our store is a schecter dealer so there's no middleman between the distributor and me, since we're the dealership) and haven't been properly recrowned and are a little flat. i can see file marks on the binding at the higher end of the fretboard (near the body) but overall it seems to have been setup pretty well.
the thing that actually surprised me was the schecter locking tuners. i was expecting worst, but i was surprised with the build quality and sturdiness. time will tell however if it's just a honeymoon thing!
as fernando says, pics or it didn't happen:
it's such a fun guitar to play :D if you'll excuse me i'll be off!
