Schecter

92 Guitarist January 2011
SCHECTER PT & PT FASTBACK £599 EACH
ELECTRICS
sound. So, there’s a big
difference between the terms.
A judicious tap with a
screwdriver, and a quick call to
the helpful folk at Schecter’s
UK distributor, confirms that
what we’re dealing with here
are coil-splitters. Glad we got
that sorted out.
Running the PT and PT
Fastback through the clean
channel of our amplifier makes
the differences between the
two models even more
apparent. The PT’s Super Rock
II pickups produce more output
than the Duncan Designed jobs
on the Fastback. That goes for
every position on the toggle
switch and the coil-split modes.
The great thing about the Super
Rock II humbuckers is that the
pursuit of power hasn’t
produced any tonal harshness.
perfect sense to have the
JB-style pickup at the bridge,
but let’s reserve judgement
until we’ve tried the Fastback
through an amp. By the way,
unlike the PT, the Fastback has
a full complement of two
volume and two tone controls.
Sounds
Before we get down to the
serious business of rocking out,
we should clear something up.
According to their respective
spec lists both PT models come
fitted with coil-taps, activated
by pulling on the tone knobs. In
fact, both guitars are equipped
with coil-splitters, not taps.
Like the whole ‘vibrato/
tremolo’ can of worms, this is a
classic misnomer perpetuated
over the years by many guitar
manufacturers and players
alike. It’s not a big deal but it
does merit an explanation.
Most often used on single-coil
units, a coil-tap bypasses a
portion of a pickup’s windings
to reduce output. A coil-splitter
completely shuts down one of
the coils in a humbucker to
produce a true single-coil
twin-humbucker Fender
Telecaster Deluxe. Aside from
the cosmetic detailing, and
pickups, the PT Fastback
mirrors the PT model’s spec
list. The feel is pretty much
identical too.
Schecter has selected a pair of
(Seymour) Duncan Designed
humbuckers for the Fastback’s
engine bay. The fact that the
FG-101 bridge ’bucker looks a
bit like a Gretsch Filter’Tron
has us, not unreasonably,
excited to hear some old school
twang in that position. We’ll
soon see about that.
The front HB-102 humbucker
is based on Seymour’s über-
popular SH-4 JB model. Now,
the JB is traditionally located at
the bridge position, which
makes its role as the Fastback’s
neck pickup an intriguing
prospect. Interestingly, Pete
Dee of English punk band The
Adicts has a signature version
of the PT, which features the
same Duncan Designed
humbuckers as the PT
Fastback, only with the pickup
positions reversed. On the face
of it, it would seem to make
These pickups sound fantastic
clean, unleashing an infectious
mix of punch and sparkle. By
way of contrast, the neck
pickup sounds fat and juicy –
they fit the bill for jazzy chords
and clean blues licks perfectly.
It’s easy to see why Super Rock
IIs are sought-after retrofit
units. You can add us to
membership list of the fan club.
As expected, the PT gets on
great with overdrive.
Depending on the gain level,
you can get an incredible range
of tones from razor-sharp punk
to all flavours of rock and metal.
While we realise this isn’t a
Townshend signature model,
we couldn’t stop ourselves from
belting out some Pete-style
power chords. Even dialling in
a small amount of overdrive
produces a level of power and
sustain that’s truly impressive.
Socks were indeed blown off.
The PT is a much more
versatile guitar than we ever
expected. Most players will
find a tone on this guitar that
will keep them coming back for
more and more. We found it
tough to put down.
If the PT is a brute – albeit a
tonally versatile one – then the
PT Fastback is closer in spirit to
the guitar that inspired it. The
bridge humbucker pumps out a
tone that’s more reminiscent of
an old Gretsch solidbody than
a real Telecaster, but activating
the coil-split gets you closer to
the real deal. The JB-inspired
If the PT is a brute – albeit a tonally
versatile one – then the PT Fastback
is closer in spirit to the guitar that
inspired it
The Duncan Designed FG-101 bridge humbucker is very Gretsch-y in tone
The Rivals
PT Fastback
The most obvious rival to the
Fastback is its original
inspiration, the ’72 Fender
Telecaster Deluxe. The
Classic Series ’72 model
comes complete with twin
humbuckers and a period-
correct big headstock. It’s
available in black or walnut
(£789.99) and a three-colour
sunburst finish for a tad more
lolly (£819.99).
GIT337.rev_schecter 92 12/3/10 10:57:01 AM