Schecter Reaper-7 Multiscale
ToTal GuiTar july 2019
102
Head To Head
Four stellar electrics to take
you to seventh heaven
o
nly the JP70 lacks some switchable
gizmo on the tone pot, so we’ve got
two humbuckers, switchable through
three positions just as, say, a Les Paul
does. It’s no one-trick pony – indeed
the cleans are warm and chimy – but it
nonetheless encourages high-gain exertions
above all else. We love the middle position with
both humbuckers engaged, the tone thick and
wide without turning to mud.
The Schecter’s sonics are at the other end of
the spectrum, albeit that spectrum is bridged by
a capacity to turn nasty on command. The tone
pot is a push-pull coil-tap that lets you tease
some glassy, elastic cleans from the otherwise
feral Schecter Decimator humbuckers. In such
clean contexts, the seventh string – so often
mined for low-end grunt by metal players –
oers a de facto bass counterpoint, ripe with
funk potential for fusion players, or those just
looking to take their playing somewhere else.
It’s not by accident that basswood and ash are
the tonewood choices here. Both are bright
enough to assist the pickups in getting as much
life out of that low seventh string.
The denition across all of these guitars is
remarkable. And there sure is a dened sense
of purpose to the San Dimas. Its speedy neck
has a similar feel to the Mansoor’s Jackson, but
there’s a more high-output crunch to its
pickups. The no-load tone pot brings out a
harmonic vocality to its tone, not unlike the
Juggernaut’s, with its push-pull tone pot
performing a similar function. With the
Juggernaut, the push-pull tone, allied to a
roasted maple neck and fretboard, oers an
abundance of trebly presence, while the
capability for low-end powerchord muscle-
work remains undiminished.
The San Dimas remains the shredder’s
choice, yet its traditionally clunky heel is no
match for the likes of Schecter’s immaculate
set-neck joint, nor the unobtrusive designs on
its Jackson and Sterling counterparts.
With the carbon fibre rods
reinforcing the Schecter's
neck, it can withstand all
kinds of abuse
The JP70 is pretty solid at
holding its tune, even with
its floating vibrato
the definition
across all of
these guitars
is remarkable
the tg test
TGR320.gear_test.indd 102 22/05/2019 18:23