Open Box Schecter Guitar Research Nick Johnston Traditional Electric Guitar Level 2 Atomic Coral, Mint Green Pickguard 197881196721

I usually like fat necks, this one is thin- I love it. I usually like Alnico 2 pickups, this one has alnico 5- I love them. Not usually a S type guy- now I am. The flat radius is wonderfully easy to play, QC on mine is perfect, tones are wonderful especially in a mix. So many features with this. The trem is excellent, tuners, etc. No upgrades needed at all which is weird for me. There is a lot of competition at this price range and below for this kind of guitar. Brands like Charvel and Harley Benton for example. This one falls in the middle price-wise. Of course everyone has their own conception when it comes to the details so make certain you find the right one for you. I know I did with this jewel.

I picked up a used one at GC in great shape. The guitar feels very good. The fretboard doesn't have rolled edges but the fret work is nice, with the ends being a touch smoother than those on my Fender player strat. ZERO fret buzz, anywhere. The neck is on the slimmer side and is silky smooth. It is light, a little more so than the Fender. This being my first ebony fretboard and me being in the habit of playing my electrics acoustically more than I should, I was surprised at how much less resonant this guitar is acoustically than some of my others (fender player strat, squier affinity tele, Epiphone Les Paul standard 50's). I've chalked this up to the ebony. In any case, it sounds great plugged in, though I'd say the neck is a little weak on the bass end. The guitar looks good, kind of starting out with a played in vibe, which I like.

Pros - To my own personal taste, these things play phenomenal. The neck makes the guitar for me. It's thin and wider than what I've always been used to on my MIM Strat. The frets are quite a bit wider and more forgiving. The color of the body and the color of the neck and fretboard make this thing beautiful in person. Pictures don't do it justice. It's a sea foam green, with a hint of blue in person. It doesn't have your typical Strat sound. My friend described it to me as somewhere between a typical single coil and a p90 when he heard it. People have called the pickups somewhat flat and dull, but I've gotten quite a bit of sparkle out of the pickups with just an eq pedal. I'm not much of a tremolo guy, but it seems to be well made, however I'll be switching to a 5 spring setup in the next few days so it'll basically be null and void anyway. Cons - I would absolutely give this guitar 5 stars if it wasn't for a few issues I ran into. The set screws in the back of the headstock that go through the tuning peg plates were drilled and screwed in at an angle and weren't tightened very well. Tightened them all LIGHTLY and broke the G string screw off into the headstock. Had to drill it out, dowel the new hole and redrill and put in a new screw. Could've filed a claim, but I liked the guitar too much to send it back and I knew I could fix it myself. Other little things are the setup wasn't the best and pretty much all of the nut slots needed work to either stop various strings from binding or notes going sharp. If you've read this far I'll tell you something else.. Before I bought this I went into my local GC and played several monetarily comparable Fender Strats. Player Series and the Deluxes. This thing kills them. I picked up EIGHT different ones and every single one had QC issues and felt horrible. I do not want to knock Fender in any way because my first electric guitar was my MIM Strat from around 2004 and I love it. However, at the price point, I'd recommend the Schecter just from my own personal experience.

This is a great axe at this price or higher, I've owned many high end guitars, including a custom made Kiesel, custom shop strat, gibson, and American made peavey. This has the nicest neck in my opinion. I've heard complaints about the pickups, but I think they're great. I do wish it came in other colors though. I have the green.

Was on the hunt for a S-type guitar for a long time. Tried everything from a Suhr to a few dozen Fender Players, Professionals and Standards even played an Ibanez AZS. Nothing seemed to match the dollar to value ratio, tone out of the box, and overall playability of the Schecter NJ Diamond. Out of the box you get a Graphtech Nut, Locking Tuners, Baked Maple neck with Ebony Fretboard, an Alder Body plus the little things that make you go wow like the flat neck profile and input plus on the side of the guitar. Been playing a LONG time, and it's amazing what you get for your money in 2021.

This guitar plays amazing. Trem stays in tune, roasted maple neck loos beautiful, build quality is great. If you're looking for a strat type guitar that plays like a modern instrument and hate the Strat's old fashioned playability (glossy necks, small frets, 9.5'' radius, screw in trem, fat block neck joint, you know how it goes) this might be what you're looking for. This guitar felt better than all the strats that I tried MIM, and the lower tier American ones. The only downside is that the pickups are just okay. The bridge and middle pickup i'd give a 7/10 or 8/10, but the neck pickup really leaves something to be desired. Position 2 & 4 don't sound that different to just having only the neck, or only the bridge. I've only had the thing for a week and a half, so maybe I'll find the right tones with some adjustment. With a pickup swap this would probably hang right there with the $2k+Strats or custom shop Nick Johnston model.