One of the coolest product lines of 2014 has gotta be the Schecter Blackjack Collection, which is shipping now. Schecter has taken almost a custom shop approach to these instruments: on the surface they appear to be pretty stripped-back, but when you look closer all of the guitars have Crimson Red binding and inlays, combined with Glow-In-Dark Side markers and passive Seymour Duncan pickups. The Avenger and C models each have five variations 6-string with HipShot USA fixed bridge, Floyd Rose or Floyd Rose with Sustainiac, plus fixed-bridge 7 and 8-string models. And there’s also a 6-string Tempest, a very cool Schecter design that I’m glad to see back in the line. If you’d like to order one from Amazon.com, here are some links (and each is also available left-handed):
C-1
C-1 FR
C-1 FR-S
C-7
C-8
Avenger-6
Avenger-6 FR
Avenger-6 FR-S
Avenger-7
Avenger-8
Tempest
Each model includes a Seymour Duncan Nazgul in the bridge position and a Sentient in the neck (except for the two Sustainiac models which have the Sustainiac driver in the neck position). The Nazgul is voiced for aggressive tones with plenty of definition for low tunings, while the Sentient is my current favourite neck pickup: it’s articulate and fluid for legato stuff but it can be really bluesy when you dig in with the pick. At the moment these guitars are the only place you’ll find 6-string versions of the Nazgul and Sentient.
You can see the whole line here.
