Schecter Nick Johnston Diamond Series Trad Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

If you are looking for a great super strat to cover every musical ground, this is it! This ax plays like a dream. Don't get fooled, because it was assembled in Indonesia. The construction is solid, and the fretwork is well done. Schecter has strict production standards for all its factories. This guitar sounds and feels USA made and has custom shop features like a graphite nut, roasted maple neck and fretboard, brass ring inlays (really like this!!), Schecter looking tunners and 2 point trem. The Nick Johnston diamond pickups are great and really like them as they are and don't plan to upgrade for now. It stays in tune really well. I really enjoy the well balanced tone this guitar has and can play literally everything. And yes it does metal. The knobs are well placed and how I like them 1 volume and 1 tone control plus the split coil just adds to the versatility of this instrument. And last but not least it looks beautiful in person. I have 30+ years of playing experience and highly recommend this guitar. Now I want the green one🤩Julio

Great guitar. Plays like a dream and sounds wonderful. The features on this guitar will blow you away from the roasted maple neck that feels like silk to the easy adjust truss rod at eth bottom of the neck. Beautiful guitar also. Pictures don't do it justice. Pickups sound fantastic- no need to swap them out.Mark Y.

The Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional is a alternative if you're looking for a Strat in this price range. As always things like neck shape, feel and pickups are personal choices, and for me the Schecter just felt a bit better than the Fender Player Strat and others that I demoed. The roasted maple neck and locking tuners are a plus in this price range as well. The neck is slimmer than a Fender Player neck, and the pickups are more "vintage hot" vs. the Player's modern take on Strat pickups. But as I say these are personal choices; I don't think you could go wrong with either the Schecter or the Fender – but like me the Schecter might be the one you take home.John C

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

If you are looking for a great super strat to cover every musical ground, this is it! This ax plays like a dream. Don't get fooled, because it was assembled in Indonesia. The construction is solid, and the fretwork is well done. Schecter has strict production standards for all its factories. This guitar sounds and feels USA made and has custom shop features like a graphite nut, roasted maple neck and fretboard, brass ring inlays (really like this!!), Schecter looking tunners and 2 point trem. The Nick Johnston diamond pickups are great and really like them as they are and don't plan to upgrade for now. It stays in tune really well. I really enjoy the well balanced tone this guitar has and can play literally everything. And yes it does metal. The knobs are well placed and how I like them 1 volume and 1 tone control plus the split coil just adds to the versatility of this instrument. And last but not least it looks beautiful in person. I have 30+ years of playing experience and highly recommend this guitar. Now I want the green one🤩Julio

Great guitar. Plays like a dream and sounds wonderful. The features on this guitar will blow you away from the roasted maple neck that feels like silk to the easy adjust truss rod at eth bottom of the neck. Beautiful guitar also. Pictures don't do it justice. Pickups sound fantastic- no need to swap them out.Mark Y.

The Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional is a alternative if you're looking for a Strat in this price range. As always things like neck shape, feel and pickups are personal choices, and for me the Schecter just felt a bit better than the Fender Player Strat and others that I demoed. The roasted maple neck and locking tuners are a plus in this price range as well. The neck is slimmer than a Fender Player neck, and the pickups are more "vintage hot" vs. the Player's modern take on Strat pickups. But as I say these are personal choices; I don't think you could go wrong with either the Schecter or the Fender – but like me the Schecter might be the one you take home.John C

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

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

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.

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley

I bought a Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster almost ten years ago. It's absolutely gorgeous with its glossy, 3-color sunburst finish, aged white pickguard/controls and shiny chrome hardware and it plays like butter. The only problem? The Noiseless N3 single coils don't have that traditional Strat tone. I know I could swap pickups, but I wanted to keep it stock in order to maintain its value. I recently started looking for something that captured the sound I had in my head, but either didn't like the neck shape or fretboard radius of anything current or felt they sounded too much like what I already had. Enter the Nick Johnston Traditional SSS. This sweet baby IS the Strat sound, at 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of any of the made in USA Fender models. The tones range from low and throaty to high and scratchy, and the neck is one of the fastest I've ever played. Seriously, it's like my fingers just know where to go when I'm fumbling through scales or noodling unplugged in front of the TV. The roasted maple fretboard gives the guitar an aged appearance, like it has hundreds of stories from the road to tell, without the rest of the guitar looking beat up and rusty like a relic model. Too bad Atomic Orange is the only finish to offer that fretboard, but the combination of the two still looks sweet. Factor in the locking tuners, low action, a floating tremelo bridge that works well with palm muting, the Schecter reputation for quality at a reasonable price and you have yourself a winner. Tone is subjective, but with or without a Tubescreamer in front of my Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb and DSL40C, I am in sonic heaven. I rarely write reviews, but noticed this model didn't have any yet and am too excited about it not to recommend it to others. My Fender will soon be up for grabs on all the online sites, if anyone's interested…Craig C.

This is my second Schecter Nick Johnston traditional and the 2021 version has a roasted maple fretboard instead of rosewood that feels and looks great. I got it in the Atomic Orange finish which is the best looking orange guitar I've ever seen, and the light caramel color of the roasted maple fretboard looks incredible against it. If you are familiar with Nick Johnston's music then you know the pickups aren't voiced for metal, but through a high gain tube amp you can get an array of impressive tones. Though the pickups may be the same as in the 2020 version I had, they seem to be voiced differently. The bridge humbucker has a great roar and a really detailed lead tone, while the neck single coil has that warm tone that's perfect for everything from jazz style chords to shreddy leads. I usually blend the middle single coil with the neck single coil on clean tones for a warm sound with a bit of shimmer. Most impressive thing for me is the tremolo. I'm not sure if the guys at AMS did this, or if its something new from Schecter, but the tremolo came set up to float and it stays in tune really well. I couldn't believe how much smoother the trem on this new 2021 version was than the 2020 NJT that I had. It's really amazing for a strat style guitar, better than my comparably priced Player Strat and Schecter Van Nuys. Overall, I'm very happy with this NJ Traditional!Mark O.

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.Coley