Schecter Solo 6 Standard review

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The Solo 6 has more than a little of the Les Paul about its appearance.

MusicRadar Verdict

The Solo 6 Standard combines classic looks with a touch of individuality and a tonal range that will cover everything from blues through to thrash.

Pros

  • +

    Old-school stage presence. Modern playability. Excellent upper-fret access.

Cons

  • -

    We didn't want to put the thing down!

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The Solo 6 has more than a little of the Les Paul about its appearance.
The Solo 6 has more than a little of the Les Paul about its appearance.

Schecter Solo 6 Standard

No prizes for guessing the inspiration behind the design of the Schecter Solo 6. That said, it's not a direct copy.

Beneath that flawless gold finish, our Solo 6 Standard is packing an all-mahogany body; there's no maple cap as you would expect to find listed on the spec list of a Les Paul. You do get a maple cap if you choose the translucent black cherry or dark brown sunburst finish models - but even then, the maple cap is only spec'd for cosmetic reasons.

"The Solo 6 Standard plays like a dream right out of the box."

The Solo 6 Standard has a three-piece mahogany neck, topped with a rosewood fingerboard, a load of cream-coloured dot inlays and a 'fishtail' headstock. It boasts 22 well-seated medium frets and hardware includes a chromed Tone Pros tune-o-matic bridge and stud tailpiece set-up, plus half a dozen big-buttoned Grover machineheads.

Turn the Solo 6 Standard over and you'll spy one of its biggest and best departures from the fifties blueprint. The upper fret access on this guitar is fantastic. The neck heel is sculpted to keep any unnecessary wood out of your way, and there's a scallop on the rear of the treble side cutaway to make access even easier.

You also get a body contour to fit your belly into. The bridge position Duncan Designed HB-102 humbucker is based on Seymour's SH-4 JB model while the front HB-101n is a budget take on his SH-1 '59.

The pickups are wired through a pair of volume controls and a master tone with a pull/push coil-splitter for humbucking/single-coil settings. The Solo 6 Standard plays like a dream right out of the box. Although we all have high expectations of a £500-ish guitar these days, not all play quite this well.

Ed Mitchell