This Thing is an Agile Killer

[toomanycats]

Today I picked up this 2010 MIK Schecter Solo 6 Custom. As I already own two other Schecters from the 2010s I know that they can be representative of the highest art of Korean guitar building. The original street price for this guitar was $700 back in 2010, and I paid half of that for it today. A high quality Schecter Guitar Research case was included, and a Snark tuner, Dunlop glass slide, and a cord were stashed in the case. Bonus!

A quick run down of the features:

Mahogany body, maple cap, TonePros bridge and tailpiece, GraphTech nut, USA Seymour Duncan SH11 Custom Custom in the bridge and '59 in the neck (both can be split by pulling up on the master tone knob), locking tuners with pearloid buttons, ebony fretboard with mother-of-pearl split-crown inlays, full sized Alpha pots and mechanical switch. All these features came stock on this guitar.

It's like an Agile in a lot of ways . . . and in my opinion better in many ways.

The fit and finish are simply perfection. Not a single manufacturing blemish on this guitar. Crazy nice flame top. The pickups are pro quality. I like that while it is obviously inspired by a Les Paul, it is at the same time not pretending to be one. If I had to describe it in two words they would be, "Sexy Beast."

[toomanycats]

[toomanycats]

To be honest, a part of the reason why this Schecter appeals to me is that it visually reminds me of a couple guitars that Neal Schon has played over the years.

For one, the Aria Pro II PE

. . . as well as the Gibson Les Paul Super Custom

[uwmcscott]

Very nice - I had a Solo 6 Custom a while back too, and agree that the fit and finish is superb. I had pretty much that same exact model in a Tobacco burst finish - it was a MF/GC deal back in the day when they used to run killer deals I ended up getting rid of it because it was a little to "bling" for me but it was a very nice player. I have suspected for a while that Schecter and PRS SE come off very similar production lines if not the same ones based on quality and fit/finish.

They also made a Solo 6 Classic in basically the same config but in a 24fret version at one time.

[fullonshred]

To be honest, a part of the reason why this Schecter appeals to me is that it visually reminds me of a couple guitars that Neal Schon has played over the years.

For one, the Aria Pro II PE
neal_schon_aria_pro_II_guitar_magazine_april_1983.jpg


. . . as well as the Gibson Les Paul Super Custom
52923128_10155865439142536_4233067084868747264_n.jpg

Schon is a great great player. I figure you remember Schon Guitars? I wanted one soooo bad, but well out of my price range back then.

Your schecter is a true beauty. Hard to quibble with any part of that one. Congrats. Guy who owned a local music store tried selling Schecter for a while. He said they were incredibly well made and a bargain for the money. But no one would buy them.

[dearlpitts]

They are nice

[toomanycats]

To be honest, a part of the reason why this Schecter appeals to me is that it visually reminds me of a couple guitars that Neal Schon has played over the years.

For one, the Aria Pro II PE
neal_schon_aria_pro_II_guitar_magazine_april_1983.jpg


. . . as well as the Gibson Les Paul Super Custom
52923128_10155865439142536_4233067084868747264_n.jpg

Guy who owned a local music store tried selling Schecter for a while. He said they were incredibly well made and a bargain for the money. But no one would buy them.

I can see how the pointyness, bling, and metal image of most Schecters could be turn off for people with tastes that are more traditional. But all Schecters aren't like that. In fact, the first time I ever saw a Schecter was Pete Townsend playing a Tele copy in the video for "Eminence Front." The other two Schecters I own are also traditional in style, both of them made around 2015, and both now discontinued. It's crazy, but I paid something like $160 for each of these fine MIK instruments.

Schecter J-Plus. Seymour Duncan pups, Wilkinson bridge, Grover tuners, active eq, alder body.

Swamm

Schecter Traditional Custom. Swamp ash body with flame maple top, locking Schecter tuners, Wilkinson bridge with full size block, high quality ALNiCo HSS pickups (humbucker splittable).

[Stig]

With all due respect, for what they cost, a Schecter SHOULD be an Agile killer.

[toomanycats]

With all due respect, for what they cost, a Schecter SHOULD be an Agile killer.

I get what you're saying, and I agree to a point. But I thought the comparison was fair to make because:

A) Both Agile and the Schecter Diamond Series are made in South Korea.
B) This Schecter may have been made in the very same factory alongside Agiles.
C) An Agile ordered from Rondo's Custom Shop in 2010 with similar specs to the Schecter (Duncans, locking tuners, coil splitting) could cost the same ($700), or even more.

[Partscaster]

Swoopy upper bout shape, and nice cathead headstock.

[Chocol8]

That headstock is just begging to meet a belt sander.

[fullonshred]

To be honest, a part of the reason why this Schecter appeals to me is that it visually reminds me of a couple guitars that Neal Schon has played over the years.

For one, the Aria Pro II PE
neal_schon_aria_pro_II_guitar_magazine_april_1983.jpg


. . . as well as the Gibson Les Paul Super Custom
52923128_10155865439142536_4233067084868747264_n.jpg

Guy who owned a local music store tried selling Schecter for a while. He said they were incredibly well made and a bargain for the money. But no one would buy them.

I can see how the pointyness, bling, and metal image of most Schecters could be turn off for people with tastes that are more traditional. But all Schecters aren't like that. In fact, the first time I ever saw a Schecter was Pete Townsend playing a Tele copy in the video for "Eminence Front." The other two Schecters I own are also traditional in style, both of them made around 2015, and both now discontinued. It's crazy, but I paid something like $160 for each of these fine MIK instruments.

Schecter J-Plus. Seymour Duncan pups, Wilkinson bridge, Grover tuners, active eq, alder body.
fullsizeoutput_62c.jpeg


Swamm
fullsizeoutput_629.jpeg


Schecter Traditional Custom. Swamp ash body with flame maple top, locking Schecter tuners, Wilkinson bridge with full size block, high quality ALNiCo HSS pickups (humbucker splittable).
schecter-traditional-custom-2.jpg

fullsizeoutput_a43.jpeg

fullsizeoutput_a4c.jpeg

At the time I mention in our area if it wasn't a Gibson, Fender, Kramer or Jackson few people were willing to pay more than chump change for the guitar.

So, did you ever see and/or play a Schon Guitar?

[toomanycats]

Guy who owned a local music store tried selling Schecter for a while. He said they were incredibly well made and a bargain for the money. But no one would buy them.

I can see how the pointyness, bling, and metal image of most Schecters could be turn off for people with tastes that are more traditional. But all Schecters aren't like that. In fact, the first time I ever saw a Schecter was Pete Townsend playing a Tele copy in the video for "Eminence Front." The other two Schecters I own are also traditional in style, both of them made around 2015, and both now discontinued. It's crazy, but I paid something like $160 for each of these fine MIK instruments.

Schecter J-Plus. Seymour Duncan pups, Wilkinson bridge, Grover tuners, active eq, alder body.
fullsizeoutput_62c.jpeg


Swamm
fullsizeoutput_629.jpeg


Schecter Traditional Custom. Swamp ash body with flame maple top, locking Schecter tuners, Wilkinson bridge with full size block, high quality ALNiCo HSS pickups (humbucker splittable).
schecter-traditional-custom-2.jpg

fullsizeoutput_a43.jpeg

fullsizeoutput_a4c.jpeg

At the time I mention in our area if it wasn't a Gibson, Fender, Kramer or Jackson few people were willing to pay more than chump change for the guitar.

So, did you ever see and/or play a Schon Guitar?

I've seen Schon guitars in videos, but I've never seen one in person. I remember Neal playing them from around Journey's Raised On the Radio era through his stint in the band Hardline. Didn't Jackson actually make the Schon guitars?

[fullonshred]

I can see how the pointyness, bling, and metal image of most Schecters could be turn off for people with tastes that are more traditional. But all Schecters aren't like that. In fact, the first time I ever saw a Schecter was Pete Townsend playing a Tele copy in the video for "Eminence Front." The other two Schecters I own are also traditional in style, both of them made around 2015, and both now discontinued. It's crazy, but I paid something like $160 for each of these fine MIK instruments.

Schecter J-Plus. Seymour Duncan pups, Wilkinson bridge, Grover tuners, active eq, alder body.
fullsizeoutput_62c.jpeg


Swamm
fullsizeoutput_629.jpeg


Schecter Traditional Custom. Swamp ash body with flame maple top, locking Schecter tuners, Wilkinson bridge with full size block, high quality ALNiCo HSS pickups (humbucker splittable).
schecter-traditional-custom-2.jpg

fullsizeoutput_a43.jpeg

fullsizeoutput_a4c.jpeg

At the time I mention in our area if it wasn't a Gibson, Fender, Kramer or Jackson few people were willing to pay more than chump change for the guitar.

So, did you ever see and/or play a Schon Guitar?

I've seen Schon guitars in videos, but I've never seen one in person. I remember Neal playing them from around Journey's Raised On the Radio era through his stint in the band Hardline. Didn't Jackson actually make the Schon guitars?

I am pretty sure you are correct about them being made by Jackson. I saw a couple in a large music store in a big city once. At the time I wasn't very far into my playing experience, but the salesman let me hold the guitar and do what little I was able to do at that time.

Looking around, seems Jackson built the first 200, the Larrivee of Canada. Saw in a post on some forum that Schon had shown one in a 2019 photo on facebook saying "this is the first of many more to come" so there was some speculation they might be coming back.

[slowhand84]

With all due respect, for what they cost, a Schecter SHOULD be an Agile killer.

I get what you're saying, and I agree to a point. But I thought the comparison was fair to make because:

A) Both Agile and the Schecter Diamond Series are made in South Korea.
B) This Schecter may have been made in the very same factory alongside Agiles.
C) An Agile ordered from Rondo's Custom Shop in 2010 with similar specs to the Schecter (Duncans, locking tuners, coil splitting) could cost the same ($700), or even more.

Well it's not really fair to compare Agile's custom shop orders to Schecter's totally factory stock guitar. Custom orders from Agile were more expensive not because anything was better quality wise but just because of the fact that it's custom and can't be built in bulk the way they do with the others. The quality is identical to their regular stock models.

Schecter's pricing is typically about double Agile's for a comparable guitar DESPITE being made in the same country with the same labor costs and so on, so even if it's a bit better in terms of fit and finish that's to be expected when you pay $800 for a guitar versus $400.

For me, if anything Agile is the Schecter killer given that they are offering a guitar that's about 90% as good at half the price. That's a beautiful Solo model though, always liked those. There was a great one over at GC loaded with Bareknuckle pickups last year for something like $450 but I had singlecuts coming out of my ears at that point so I let someone else have it .

[TVvoodoo]

Fortunately for us it's sold out.

[slowhand84]

Screenshot_20201205-201325_Firefox.jpg

Fortunately for us it's sold out.

Someone got a pretty dope coffee table!

[littlebadboy]

Congratulations! That is a nice guitar at such a great deal! Did the SD pickups come with it when it was new?

[honyock]

With all due respect, for what they cost, a Schecter SHOULD be an Agile killer.

I get what you're saying, and I agree to a point. But I thought the comparison was fair to make because:

A) Both Agile and the Schecter Diamond Series are made in South Korea.
B) This Schecter may have been made in the very same factory alongside Agiles.
C) An Agile ordered from Rondo's Custom Shop in 2010 with similar specs to the Schecter (Duncans, locking tuners, coil splitting) could cost the same ($700), or even more.

Well it's not really fair to compare Agile's custom shop orders to Schecter's totally factory stock guitar. Custom orders from Agile were more expensive not because anything was better quality wise but just because of the fact that it's custom and can't be built in bulk the way they do with the others. The quality is identical to their regular stock models.

Schecter's pricing is typically about double Agile's for a comparable guitar DESPITE being made in the same country with the same labor costs and so on, so even if it's a bit better in terms of fit and finish that's to be expected when you pay $800 for a guitar versus $400.

For me, if anything Agile is the Schecter killer given that they are offering a guitar that's about 90% as good at half the price. That's a beautiful Solo model though, always liked those. There was a great one over at GC loaded with Bareknuckle pickups last year for something like $450 but I had singlecuts coming out of my ears at that point so I let someone else have it .

Was going to say something with similar sentiment.

Likewise a MIK PRS SE or MIK Dean, whenever I pick one up, I have a hard time not thinking it feels exactly like my Agiles of the same vintage.

I have had a few Custom shop Agiles as a reject via Rondo or on the used market pass through and they are just Agiles with specific features, it isn't like a custom shop Carvin/Keisel or even a Heritage where the guitar is made to a higher standard so comparing anything to a custom Agile doesn't really mean the same thing.

If anything the 1st custom Agile (direct from Rondo in 2013) was probably the worst I've owned in terms of quality from the factory...

[toomanycats]

Congratulations! That is a nice guitar at such a great deal! Did the SD pickups come with it when it was new?

Yes, it came new with the Seymour Duncans. This is a review of the solo 6 Custom in Premier guitar from 2010:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... tar_Review

I had a gig last night and played the Schecter for the first half of the show. It performed flawlessly, stays in tune, is very ergonomic. I had the pickups split on several songs and it delivers a very nice Tele type tone.

[Stig]

With all due respect, for what they cost, a Schecter SHOULD be an Agile killer.

I get what you're saying, and I agree to a point. But I thought the comparison was fair to make because:

A) Both Agile and the Schecter Diamond Series are made in South Korea.
B) This Schecter may have been made in the very same factory alongside Agiles.
C) An Agile ordered from Rondo's Custom Shop in 2010 with similar specs to the Schecter (Duncans, locking tuners, coil splitting) could cost the same ($700), or even more.

Well it's not really fair to compare Agile's custom shop orders to Schecter's totally factory stock guitar. Custom orders from Agile were more expensive not because anything was better quality wise but just because of the fact that it's custom and can't be built in bulk the way they do with the others. The quality is identical to their regular stock models.

Schecter's pricing is typically about double Agile's for a comparable guitar DESPITE being made in the same country with the same labor costs and so on, so even if it's a bit better in terms of fit and finish that's to be expected when you pay $800 for a guitar versus $400.

For me, if anything Agile is the Schecter killer given that they are offering a guitar that's about 90% as good at half the price. That's a beautiful Solo model though, always liked those. There was a great one over at GC loaded with Bareknuckle pickups last year for something like $450 but I had singlecuts coming out of my ears at that point so I let someone else have it .

So if a Gibson is 40% better than an Agile, and an Agile is 90% as good as a Schecter, then a Gibson is 26% better than a Schecter?

[golem]

If @toomanycats is happy I'd leave it at that. A company like Schecter is going to be able to produce and ship in quantities that likely make the per unit price cheaper than Agile can meet. But then they have middleman in the process and that's going to add to the cost considerably due to markup and shipping multiple times. And of course there might not be a guitar with exactly similar specs.

There's definitely some great guitars coming out of Korea. Reverend's probably my favorite even if I generally don't like the stock pickups. Dusenberg (assembled and finished in Germany so that they can be called German) probably being my least favorite. Schecter's on my radar but I've never seen a good price on a used one personally. I tend to like the looks of the Solo 6 mentioned here, their PT Tele, and their retro looking guitars.

I really liked the Agile ALD-3010 I just picked up but I do see some places where the binding isn't top notch. The 3200MCC I have is closer to flawless, but heavy as crap. I'm not sure if anything Schecter makes has a close analog for either model.

[slowhand84]

I get what you're saying, and I agree to a point. But I thought the comparison was fair to make because:

A) Both Agile and the Schecter Diamond Series are made in South Korea.
B) This Schecter may have been made in the very same factory alongside Agiles.
C) An Agile ordered from Rondo's Custom Shop in 2010 with similar specs to the Schecter (Duncans, locking tuners, coil splitting) could cost the same ($700), or even more.

Well it's not really fair to compare Agile's custom shop orders to Schecter's totally factory stock guitar. Custom orders from Agile were more expensive not because anything was better quality wise but just because of the fact that it's custom and can't be built in bulk the way they do with the others. The quality is identical to their regular stock models.

Schecter's pricing is typically about double Agile's for a comparable guitar DESPITE being made in the same country with the same labor costs and so on, so even if it's a bit better in terms of fit and finish that's to be expected when you pay $800 for a guitar versus $400.

For me, if anything Agile is the Schecter killer given that they are offering a guitar that's about 90% as good at half the price. That's a beautiful Solo model though, always liked those. There was a great one over at GC loaded with Bareknuckle pickups last year for something like $450 but I had singlecuts coming out of my ears at that point so I let someone else have it .

So if a Gibson is 40% better than an Agile, and an Agile is 90% as good as a Schecter, then a Gibson is 26% better than a Schecter?

Honestly I'd take a Schecter over a comparably priced Gibson pretty much every single day of the week lol. After my experiences with Gibson I am never touching one again, not to mention I stopped spending hundreds of dollars extra on a headstock logo many moons ago .

[jtcnj]

I missed this, nice score TMC.
Any LP ish type with a contoured neck heel / body gets my attention.

[andrewsrea]

I missed this when you first posted - HNGD!

She is a beauty and spec'd well!