Schecter Hellraiser C-7 7-String Guitar

The Schecter Hellraiser C-7 marries elegant design, high-end construction and premium hardware to create an affordable, professional quality seven string electric guitar.

By Chris Loeffler

 
As modern music (Rock, in particular) has trended toward the bass frequencies and “slow and low” has enjoyed sustained growth and popularity, many guitarists are looking to go further than a simple dropped tuning will allow. Ten years ago, purchasing a seven-string guitar often meant either settling for a guitar of inferior quality or ponying up big bucks for a custom guitar. The increased demand for these instruments has only recently allowed companies to build seven-string guitars as affordable and high-quality as their classic six-string counterparts. Enter the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 seven-string guitar.  

The Schecter Hellraiser C-7, available in Black Cherry, Gloss White, and Gloss Black, features Schecter locking tuners, Gothic Cross inlays in the rosewood fingerboard on a 3-piece mahogany neck, and EMG Active 707TWs with a TonePros Thru Body bridge and tailpiece on a mahogany body (quilted maple top is used on the Black Cherry option).

What You Need to Know 

• Like all Schecter guitars, the Hellraiser C-7 is set up and tuned before it leaves the Schecter building, making the initial unboxing all the more enjoyable knowing the guitar is set up and ready to play as soon as it is opened. The hardware all feels solid and the 3-piece mahogany set-neck is flawlessly attached to the body. Inlays and hardware are seamlessly flush with the body.

• The EMG-707TW pickups provide the modern clarity and aggression of traditional EMG active pickups but are specially designed to capture and project the sound of all seven strings without getting muddy or distorted. The pickups feature three coils, allowing the player to select choose between humbucker and single coil tones via a push-pull knob. Of particular note is the clarity and strength of the low B string. In addition to providing the beefy modern tone most players of 7-string guitars are looking for, the single coil split option adds a whole other level of flexibility and allows this very modern looking guitar to capture some very classic jazz tones. The general tone is sparkling clean but aggressive.

• The combination of the through-body TonePros TOM bridge and Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL graphite nut allows for copious sustain and rich harmonic content across the entire fretboard. The extended 26.5” scale slightly increases the tension, allowing the low B to ring through even then most distorted amps. 

Limitations

• Fret access can get a bit tight after the 20^th fret, making traversing the freeboard on the 24^th fret a bit crowded for players with big hands.
• The addition of the low B string makes adjusting the setup a bit trickier if a player wants to drop the action extremely low.

Conclusions

The Schecter Hellraiser C-7 is a well-crafted, flawlessly constructed guitar that addresses every potential flaw found in the 7-string guitars of days past. The appointments are elegant and feel up to the rigors of the road, and the neck feels extremely comfortable in all but the highest frets. The versatility introduced by the humbucking/single coil push/pull knob opens up tonal opportunities not typically offered in 7-string guitars without sacrificing the beefy, clear tone expected of its ilk.

Resources

Musician's Friend Schecter Hellraiser C-7 catalog page ($1,199.00 MSRP, $849.00 "street")

Schecter Hellraiser C-7 Webpage