Schecter Diamond Series Elite Acoustic Electric Guitar For Sale (2023 Update)

I just got one of these for ~$200 off for being 'open box'. I think someone returned it due to some very minor cosmetic QC issues. The tone knob was a little high, the fretboard was bone dry and looked like they dripped some oil on it but forgot to rub it in, and the finish was a little rough in a couple spots where it meets the binding. So I dropped the knob down, oiled the fretboard, and buffed out the rough edges. Took about 30 minutes. Not even worth taking a star off in my opinion. Now for the thing that matters most, what you're really paying for here: the fretwork. It's fantastic, and stainless steel means it will stay that way. The fret ends were filed and beveled nicely and the neck binding is doing it's job. They aren't boutique shop hemispherical fret ends, but they're very nicely done. Nice and even, well crowned and polished, no sharp spots anywhere. I checked every fret between every string with a fret rocker. There are a couple of frets and a few spots on some frets where I can get it to 'rock' slightly, but it's almost imperceptible. Not enough to noticeably affect action, not really worth spot leveling. This is about as good as it gets on any mass produced guitar made anywhere at any price. Action out of the factory was higher than necessary as expected, but after putting on some slightly heavier strings and adding some relief I was able to drop the action down to ~2/64th of an inch or 0.75mm on both the 1st and 7th strings at the 12th fret. That's absurdly low for a mass produced guitar. I can make some buzz if I try, but not even enough to hear through an amp, and not at all when I'm playing normally. The rest? Locking tuners, fluence moderns, stainless frets; you already know what these are. They all work as expected. Bends are very smooth. The satin neck feels great. Palm muting is extremely easy and comfortable thanks to the flat, angled bridge. Tone is great, plays great. Fantastic for the priceguitaranon

The build quality on this instrument is flawless, it's a professional instrument through and through with hardware to match. The silky smooth satin neck finish feels wonderful under you thumb and this neck is rather Ibanez-like, very thin, wide, with a flat radius, and not typical of other Schecters. This guitar came set up very well, something I usually don't expect. It took me no time to get used to multiscale and immediately I realized how tight the lower strings felt and sounded; a problem I've had with 7 strings in the past is how different the B string sounds as compared to the others and how "choked" it sounds as play notes on it past the 5th fret. Not an issue at all on this instrument! I purchased this guitar along with the Jackson Concept Series Soloist SLAT7 HT in order to compare them and choose which one I preferred. They have very similar specs with the main differences being that the Jackson has a compound radius neck, smaller frets (I actually prefer the frets on the Schecter but it doesn't matter all that much), no individual voice push/pull just one for both pickups, a slightly narrower fretboard and slightly thicker neck, and a slightly smaller body. In the end I chose the Jackson primarily because of the smaller body and narrower fretboard. Coming from V shaped guitars I couldn't get used to the Schecter's body interfering with my forearm as I picked, whereas the Jackson's smaller footprint wasn't so much of an issue. If it weren't for this I would have gone with the Schecter as I think it's more aesthetically pleasing and looks a bit more high end; I'm not particularly fond of the way the finish on the jackson looks. Both play and sound fantastic however.Too Many Guitars Not Enough

Schecter just dominates in this class. I always like to wait a year to give reviews but it was hard to wait with this guitar.
From the fast, satin smooth neck, to the low action and the tuning stability, it's just hard to believe the quality in this price range. It feels every bit as nice as my pricier guitars and that's NOT hyperbole, it's the truth.

If half stars were available, I might go 4.5 just because the active pickups, while honestly good, aren't "great".. But at this price point? I'm probably expecting too much because the feel and playability of the guitar keeps making me compare to higher classed categories.
That's a good problem.
I'd like to see schecter push their alternative passive pickup guitars more, just so the market would have increased availability.
I prefer passive and would love to add more Schecters to the collection.Joseph Clark

I love this guitar! It has a great sound for rock, metal and other genre music, but mainly for metal, it's so perfect. I actually traded a Ibanez Xiphos hp330, because I was tired of the floyd rose floating saddle bridge. Nothing against it, but it wasn't for me. The Ibanez had a great sound, played beautifully and definitely good metal guitar, but I wanted something with an easier bridge. I'm glad that I bought the Schecter when Guitar Center had their annual guitar a-thon sale, and I traded my Ibanez for the Schecter and didn't cost me much. For the money it's well worth it, it's a solid guitar, electronics are great, the neck is smooth and fast, the finish is awesome and a reall eye catcher. I'm very happy with the guitar overall. I also have a Schecter bass. The stiletto and I love the Schecter brand. I'll recomend it to anyone ,from the beginner to the experience player, you can't go wrong with this guitar.John

Let me start out by saying I'm a little bias towards Schecter. That being said , this is my 3rd and probably my favorite one. I currently own the demon-6 and have owned the Synyster Gates custom S , not my style so traded it in. The Omen Extremely is absolutely amazing sounding and my favorite out of the 3 I've owned , the pickups are way better than my Demon with active pickups , these can easily handle high gains without crackling or sounding muffled. I didn't really necessarily want the coil splitting option , but glad i have it. This guitar handles clean sounds very well and the splitting option gives the guitar a lot of versatility , the neck is perfect. It reminds me of my Ibanez's , very comfortable and easy to play , it's heavier than most of my other guitars but this just adds to the sustain you get out of this guitar. I got the magenta color , which looks pink to me since I'm color blind. That's all they had in stock but I don't care , it's fine and I play at home plus it throws in some color to my collection of mostly black anyway. I don't know how Schecter continues to put these out for the price , it's solidly built and feels much more expensive. The tuners also are very tight and hardly ever go out of tune , I will continue to purchase Schecter's in the future. I can buy 4 quality built guitars from this company for the price of one Gibson. I highly recommend the Omen Extreme to anyone on the fence , once again Schecter delivers!🤘Mike G.

Sound: The sound is absolutely great, I like metal and this is great for that.and it's great in any pickup settings, it goes from mild to wild with the flip of the toggle, has two styles of sustain, feedback, and a slower buildup for a different sustain, battery life is good when you turn the toggles off and disconnect the instrument cable, or it powers the EMG, Features: This for its cost has a set neck, materials are some of the best mahogany body, and if I remember the neck. Tuners work well, pickups are incredible.rosewood with bat inlays. It just looks good, and sounds better everything on this is great quality,I have always liked guitars that don't inlay the first fret, just me, but I know where the first fret is, it really throws me off. Ease of Use: This is a very easy to play guitar, even not using the big neck magnet it sounds great, the only learning curve was leaving it plugged in, when I would leave it in the stand, the floating tremolo had givin me a few problems but watching a few YouTube videos I got it down pretty fast, I listened to 1 gentlemen and he says cut all of the strings bad information there, but I got past that, bought a bunch of high E strings I would go for the tuners up top and broke a few, but, it's just remembering the fine tuners. Quality: I would have to say it's built better than guitars I own that don't have the set neck, mahogany is durable and imagine it being a collectors, item, that's 30 years, I don't see any problems with it lasting me forever, I won't sell trade. I will just play it and enjoy doing it… Value: Oh yes, I had seen one being played online, was made by another Co. And it was over 3,000.00, Schecter was giving them away. I jumped right on that once I saw it, I would never had the chance, except for you fine people at zZounds. A value yep!! Manufacturer Support: Haven't had to contact them for there problems The Wow Factor: Just looking at it makes my day, anyone that sees it admires it's mean look, the bats are very neat, looks better than grape vines, or other goofy inlays. I wouldn't pass it up because I did get to hear one that cost way more, and it didn't have the look. I love people's reaction when I activate the Sustainiac they can't put their finger on the big change in the sound.. Lots of fun Overall: I own 3 Schecter's and I have had some minor problems, that said I am partial to them, the Damien is always my first choice, it's got sound as long as that toggle is on no more getting up close to a 300 watt amp for my sustain, it works on a 20-watt practice amp. It's well made, solid, a little heavy, but so what it's a set neck,got an EMG pickup that's excellent in it's position,holds tuning well for me.The inlays are cool, it's art to me I hang it so I can admire the flat black, with the silver awesome. My only problem no paperwork there website was lacking anything, but once you figure out the tremolo good to go, I personally took of the top string locks still stays in tune, and I change tuning so much,it's better for me. Seems to be a lot of different turnings. I am about 1 1/2 hours good traffic, and have been thinking of checking out what they do there. Have to say a huge thanks to zZounds they are really good with helping a guy like me has bad credit, never a problem, I will never shop anywhere else..not that I could..Thanks to everyone that works there!!!Dean

This guitar is very awesome looking with the bat inlays , on top of it feeling great in your hands. For the price you truly Couldn't ask for a better guitar. This thing is loaded with custom pickups and Grover hardware and the emg pick ups sound awesome. It is my favorite guitar to play out of my collection. I am no professional but this thing makes me sound like one and is very easy to play. The Floyd rose is a super plus because it holds tune well and you can whammy out. All in all I would recommend this guitar to everybody but a part of me wishes I had the only one. If you don't have one your not living right, so do your self a favor. You will thank me later.Eric

I recently took delivery of an open box "condition level 2" Schecter Orleans Stage Acoustic/electric guitar from MF. I can't find a ding, a nick or a scratch anywhere on it. The only negative I can find are a few rust spots on the strings. Even the action if set very good. I cannot imagine what the person who returned this guitar was looking for that they had to return this one? In my time I've owned and played a Martin D18, Taylor Grand Pacific, Larrivee L-03 and over a half dozen other of various brands and prices. This mid price half-a-grand guitar hangs with and in some cases surpasses the big dogs from the big names! The vampyre red is a very beautiful, deep red. And it great flame on the maple back. Size is GA and very comfortable. Upper fret access is good too. The guitar sounds great with good projection acoustically, and is even better plugged into a Yamaha TRC desk-top amp. I was concerned with the maple back & sides making it too bright, but the tones are really just perfect. Nice lows, mids & trebles across the spectrum. And the best part is the neck. I don't have big, meaty hands and with this one some of the chords I've struggled with and also some barre chords come easy! EASY! I have a Schecter electric and it's a keeper…I just didn't even know Schecter built acoustics but I do now and can't wait to try the Orleans Studio w/ the cedar top or maybe the 7 & 12 string Stage models. Bottom line, I can't see how anyone would not be fully impressed with this fine instrument.AK-J

For the price this guitar sounds amazing. The neck and action come perfect right out of the box. Its super comfortable to play. It looks great too. At the price this guitar is amazing! I recommend some DR Veritas strings. The one down side although super minor is the strap button on the button is also the input jack, my first acoustic electric idk if this is standard. But it makes putting a strap lock on super hard and annoying. Schecter is known for their amazing electric guitars but i can assure this acoustic is well worth the money and an amazing instrument.Matt C.

Honestly, I think this guitar is pretty hard to beat for the price. I play a lot of heavier music, and this guitar puts out some crushing sounds. (You can also get some really nice clean tones out of it as well.) This is my first 7 string guitar, and I was a bit worried it wouldn't be super comfortable to jam on. But, it's very smooth and easy to play for both rhythm and lead stuff. Would definitely recommend it if looking for a great mid range guitar!Shane F

This guitar is just awesome. It plays really well for having such a wide neck. The pickups sound great. I got new strings fairly quickly. It still had regular strings from the factory. Ya it was brand new from schecter. It needs a little setting up to play even better but out of the box it is really nice. I play anything from clean to metal to blues on this and they all sound great.littlejon16

Great guitar, SS frets, active fishman pups. Fast feel, ebony fretboard. This was my first Schecter guitar and the quality at the price point amazes me. Out of the box was set up, small adjustments and a little tweaking for intonation. This one in particular is pretty versatile. With combo of amps, and pedals I can get any time I want. I don’t use the push pulls, can’t tell a huge different in the sound but their are 2 different voicing. I would buy this guitar again for sure.Phil

I've never really been a fan of this body style, but something about this one just embedded itself into my head. I wanted it, and so I got it. Maybe it was the brand, I've always been a fan of Schecter. Maybe it was the color, the antique faded one just seems "classier". Or maybe it was the 7pc neck-thru, or the fishman fluence pups. It's probably all of those things that drove me do want this guitar so bad oh, and now that I have it, I'm not disappointed. The build quality is very good. I needed to do a few adjustments, truss and intonations on a few strings, but 15 mins and I was right where I wanted to be. Otherwise, no physical issues or blemishes. Okay, I've never played on these pups before, so I'm pleased to say that they sound amazing. They are definitely focused more on the highs, but the lows are there and still prominent enough to play some chugging devil music (<3 hail Satan lol). Got some coil tapping on both knobs so… Fun times ahead, trust. The PT SLS ELITE looks great, feels great, sounds great, tastes great (I licked it, its mine), so logic dictates that it must be great. Makes sense to me.Scott

There's not one thing about this guitar that I can complain about. The ultra thin C shaped neck is insanely comfortable to play. I have about 7 guitars now and I go to this one every time. Schecter knocked it out of the park with this one and I couldn't recommend it enough!Brandon

short version- visually disappointed but it plays well. everyone working did their best to help me. long version my experience- My first guitar and I decided to pick Schecter. I picked this one because I fell in love with the green color look of it. First one arrived but it was damaged. Before it arrived I got a call saying it was damaged and if I wanted to go through with it, I did. It was beautiful but the chip made me upset. It was the last one they had in stock at the time. It took a weekish later for it to arrive and the day it arrived I noticed it was back in stock. Maybe if I can exchange it? I went to the store to check if it was really back in stock and if I could exchange it, they could. I went back home and waited for it to arrive. When it did I took it straight to the store and they helped me order a new one again. 2 days later it came, but I didn't like this one. Color is dark and the green color i liked wasn't there. The only visual part I like is the headstock. but because of the price and that it was my first guitar , I'll stick through this one. I think I just have bad luckSavanna

Bought it on sale because I'm apparently a sucker for a good deal. But this thing is excellent. The finish is just fantastic on it. I couldn't find a flaw anywhere. The green and blue are great colors. The neck is bound with single ply black binding. It tuned up quickly and has held tune great. It came setup very well. I lowered the action just a bit but that was my preference. The tuners seem very good. The bridge pickup I like a lot. It sounds great and is plenty hot. The neck I'm not a huge fan of. To my ear it sounds kind of dark and bass heavy. I raised it some and raise the treble side even more and it's better but still not great. The knobs feel a bit cheap but they work fine, don't wobble and are nicely finished. No fancy electronics but for the price I wouldn't expect any. The neck feels good. I'm not a giant fan of flat necks but it plays good and if you were a big fan of flat necks you would probably love it. The frets were nicely polished and smooth. The string though body really dose provide superb sustain. It will sing for a very long time. Can't say how great this is for the price. I would definitely buy another Schecter guitar.Bruce B.

This is the last time I will ever buy a guitar online. Upon opening the box, it looked gorgeous, as Schecter's finishes are always stunning, but the moment I held it in my hands, I knew we had a problem. The tuners are trash. The bridge is so cheap, that the instant my screwdriver touched the soft inferior metal, it left an indentation on the metal of the screw head. Tuners are also cheap soft metal. As I do with every guitar I buy, I replace the strings, and make adjustments to ensure accurate intonation and action. To my horror, as I removed the last factory string, the nut literally fell off the guitar without me even touching it. There was a deep gouge in the finish on the lower edge of the body. The truss rod did not move the neck properly, and the neck itself had a twist, making it impossible to keep a consistent string height on all frets for all strings. The frets were not all seated correctly in the wood. I spent over an hour just trying to get the frets level, and they still were not acceptable. The Schecter logo on the bridge pickup is sloppy and hazy and looks like someone was drunk when they applied it. The pickups are horrible and very noisy and lacking in any good sound qualities. The uneven frets are causing dead notes all over the neck. The neck itself is not even seated properly, and exceeds the tolerances needed to ensure a snug fit on the neck, thus the neck keeps popping around and de-tuning the guitar.Derek

Sound: I think the Heretic pickups are a nice change to most stock pickups they are hot but sound great dirty. chords ring nicely voicing is excellent for metal and rock. Cleans up well too. But pickups could be a bit more dynamic. Great guitar if metal is all you want to play. Features: Quality control shows on the model I purchased it isn't very good. Gapping in the pocket from neck to body shape upper frets just wasn't pleased to be honest . Overall: I just ordered an elite 6 as well the fit in the neck socket is not good I could fit a good size credit card in there. The high frets were sharp and bit jagged and in need a dressing and crowning. A tool mark on the horn and in the gap of where it bolts on can't tell if it's scratched or cracked. I emailed zZounds today hoping to hear back and provide shipping back at no cost to me. Nice guitar but it has its flaws no doubt surely disappointed.ArmandoArmando

I'm not sure how one customer could have received 4 of these that were all bad…maybe a bit of exaggeration, or someone who just doesn't know how to setup a guitar. I've been playing for 37 years now, and have owned countless Schecter guitars. This one is on par with the best of them. For the money, any other brand in this category cannot compete! The neck plays very well and the fretwork is great! The tuners are stable and the pickups are decent. IMO, locking tuners would be more desirable and the pickups could be a bit more robust and clear as well…hence the 4 stars. However, that said, neither HAVE to be upgraded in order to play this guitar live or in the studio. You may need to tweak your EQ a bit, but that's a small price to pay for this guitar's playability and quality build. Grab one before Biden raises the price!!Shane S.

Overall: Ok, so I love the looks of this guitar! The pictures do not do it justice! The problem is that it had a loose neck bolt/screw. zZounds did great getting it returned, but I had to drive 86 miles round trip to ship it back. Plus spend $16 for packing material which I drove another 18 miles to get. The process is slow, which means I can’t play! It’s frustrating to say the least! Second guitar I bought here that had issues. Honestly, I don’t really know how it got past Schecter QC, but it did. Now I have spent multiple hours to get something right that should have been right from the start! Not to mention waiting. I think I will buy guitars from someone else in the future. Everything else I purchased here has been awesome. So for me, I will say that zZounds has been great to deal with, but until they actually do a multi-point inspection on guitars, I will buy those somewhere else.Joshua

Overall: The only gripe I had about this guitar was that it had a bit of fret buzz. However, the look of the guitar is awesome. I like the reverse headstock on the e1 sls evil twin. The finish on the back of the guitar is awesome. You can feel the grain of the swamp ash body and the multi piece neck. The Fishman pick ups sound amazing. Also, it is very difficult to find this style of guitar with a reverse headstock. I would have preferred an inlay on the first fret also in order to complete the Roman numeral theme. Other than that…..awesome guitar!Mario

Overall: I've owned many guitars over the years and many of them were Schecters. This is the first brand new guitar I've purchased from zZounds and it does not disappoint. It arrived early and was only slightly out of tune as expected. What I did not expect was how quickly I would fall in love with this instrument and now it is my primary guitar for performing and recording. The guitar is surprisingly lightweight for its size. The Fishman pickups are punchy and cut through the mix beautifully and I thoroughly enjoy the push-pull feature for its versatility. I've always been an EMG guy but these have really made me question my pickup choice. Playing on the higher frets caused slight fret buzz but that was quickly fixed with some slight adjustments in the bridge. I was worried that a guitar with a satin finish would slow down my playing but the neck and action are slick and fast. I particularly enjoy the neck because you can really feel the grain of the wood at the back of the neck. If there were any imperfections this would cause problems but there aren't any and it doesn't. My one issue with this guitar and many like it is the strap button near the base of the neck. Typically these are located under or on top of the neck. This one is right behind the neck causing it to scrape against me while playing. If you have large strap buttons or strap locks this could be uncomfortable. I have not had any issues with the electronics or any other defects so I have not had to contact support from Schecter or zZounds, so because of that, they are getting 5 stars. It's also worth noting that the body and neck are perfectly balanced and it does not dip to either side while standing. This is one of the most comfortable guitars I have ever played, it sounds and plays great and I couldn't recommend this any higher.Leo

Has a really good feel and sounds great. Surprisingly light guitar for the body shape it has. The only dislike I have about this guitar is where the toggle switch is placed. With this body shape it’s kind of a long reach from where your picking hand usually is and where the switch is placed.Ryan