Schecter Omen

The Schecter Omen is ominous indeed. A line of high-quality electric guitars and basses at incredibly affordable prices, from a company known for producing top-notch custom axes and outstanding production instruments for professional musicians for over three decades, the Omen series represents one of the best values available today for your music gear budget.

The Schecter company began over 35 years ago in the Los Angeles area, producing high-quality aftermarket replacement parts such as necks, bodies and pickup assemblies for Fender, Gibson and other established guitar brands of the day. By 1979, they began offering complete, finished guitars, basically custom shop models based on Fender designs, and fans took notice when big name artists like Pete Townshend of The Who adopted an early model, a Tele-style body loaded with dual humbuckers and a Les Paul-type pickup selector, using it regularly through the mid-80s; and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits used Strat-style Schecters on the "Making Movies" album. Today, the company is known for producing high-quality, high-powered, shred-worthy guitars and basses, both mass-produced and hand crafted in the US Custom Shop, as well as a few acoustic models.

The Omen line is among the more affordable in the Schecter catalog, with 6-, 7- and 8-string guitars and 4- and 5-string basses to suit any hard-rocking, metal-shredding need. Check out the Omen Solo-6, for example, with a modified Les Paul shape and 24.5" scale length, and loaded with dual overwound Schecter Diamond Plus humbucking pickups with ceramic magnets, for incredible crunch and scorching lead tones, whether you're plumbing the drop-tuned depths or reaching for the high notes, while the string-through basswood body and Tune-O-Matic bridge deliver maximum sustain and tuning stability, no matter how hard you shred.

The double-cutaway-style Omen Extreme 6 kicks things up a notch, with a gorgeous carved quilted maple top and binding on the body, headstock and 25.5" scale, 24-fret neck, for an added touch of elegance; while still kicking out the jams with those dual Diamond Plus humbuckers and push/pull Tone control with coil splitting, for incredible tonal variety. Seven-string slingers will want to check out the Omen-7 Active, a 26.5" scale tone monster equipped with dual Duncan Designed humbucking active pickups, for tons of brutal tone, while still retaining plenty of clarity and punch to kick through any mix.

If that's not enough strings for your thing, the Omen-8 adds two additional strings (B and F#) below the low E, with specially designed Diamond Plus pickups to deliver an incredible range of tones, from the deepest crushing lows to searing highs guaranteed to melt anything within earshot. The Omen-8, like most of the Omen models, is also available in a left-handed version, so the sinister-sided amongst us can play, too! Bassists will dig the heavy vibes emanating from the Omen Extreme-4 Bass, with its mahogany body with flame maple top, 24-fret, 34" scale length neck with ultra-sturdy 6-bolt joint, and Diamond Active pickups with 2-band active EQ for precise tone tailoring; or the Omen-5 Bass, a 5-string beauty with a 35" scale length for the deepest tones imaginable.

No matter what your playing style or budget, I see a Schecter Omen in your future - order one today!