TEST: Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote

 Even if you have been dealing with the subject of electric guitars for over four decades like I have, there are still little surprises when you pick up an instrument for the first time. This happened recently with the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote, which I am currently testing. "Aha, a classic power strat," I thought to myself until I took the instrument out of the packaging.

The wood selection of the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote

It feels like almost every manufacturer is looking for light woods. You would think that every guitarist has a severe slipped disc and is not even allowed to lift a packet of flour on the advice of their doctor. A maximum of 3 kilograms seems to be the magic limit at which you can sell an instrument these days, which leads to such crude experiments as "chambered bodies" and can only rarely save the sonic charm of the original. And then Schecter comes along and brings a Powerstrat onto the market, which according to my kitchen scales weighs almost 4.5 kilograms!

Mind you, a Powerstrat, which, for example, at Ibanez almost always boasts a 2 before the decimal point. What makes the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote, built in South Korea, so much heavier in weight than an Ibanez guitar? The reason lies in the choice of wood for the body and the top, which is made from the African Black Limba for the body and the Central American wood Ziricote, which I have never heard of before, for the top. The wood Ziricote is named after the German botanist Euricius Cordus, who lived from 1486 to 1535. The tree, which is found in South America, is not very large, growing up to 27 m tall and reaching a trunk diameter of 0.8 m. The trunk is straight and free of branches. However, its growth is often hampered by its neighbors and it remains much smaller.

Ziricote is a very distinctive wood which is comparable to rosewood in terms of its texture. The wood is a rich dark brown and has thin, black wavy lines. Ziricote is very hard, strong, and quite heavy, making it a less popular choice in instrument making. It is also relatively expensive to buy and therefore not suitable for mass production. It is also difficult to dry, as it has a strong tendency to crack on the surface. However, after drying, it has a very high level of durability and is therefore often used to make rifle stocks, for example.

The rest of the wood used in the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote is also anything but standard. For example, wenge with carbon fiber reinforcement rods is used for the neck, all in all a very solid appearance, which is noticeable even in dry mode with a very long sustain despite the screwed neck. In order to match the color of the top with the fingerboard, the fingerboard was made of ebony, although it is a comparatively light variant.

The instrument, which is made in South Korea, has a satin finish, which prompted Schecter to name the finish "Faded Vintage Sunburst Satin." Unfortunately, I don't know what exactly is supposed to be called "sunburst" about this finish, unless it is a very, very dark star. Luminlay Glow in the Dark was used for the side markers, and Offset/Reverse Circles for the fingerboard. The instrument has a long scale length of 25.5" (648 mm), with the neck having a comparatively thin "C" profile.

The thickness of the neck is comparatively slim with 1st Fret- .787" (20MM) to 12th Fret- .866" (22MM), but still has more "meat" than what is generally understood under the term Powerstrat neck. The fingerboard has 24 X-Jumbo stainless steel frets, which means that the neck pickup slides a little out of the area below the 24th fret that I personally prefer. The fingerboard radius also deviates slightly from the ultra-flat version with the values ​​12" (305MM) -16" to (406MM) compound radius, making barre playing much easier. The nut width of 1.625" (41.3MM) is also comparatively moderate.

Schecter has decided on a 2-way adjustable rod for the truss rod, which can be adjusted at the base of the neck using a spoke wheel. Although the elegant appearance of the instrument suffers a little from the comparatively crude design of the adjustment wheel, I am a big fan of this approach, as the neck can be adjusted within seconds without a special Allen key. The neck also gains additional stability, as the weakening of the neck at the already critical neck/headstock transition is significantly less than with the usual access via the headstock.

Hardware and pickups

As befits a typical power strat, the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote is of course equipped with a Floyd Rose vibrato system, although the instrument can also be purchased without a vibrato system with the designation HT (Hard Tail). The vibrato version uses a Floyd Rose from the 1500 series, which is held horizontally with 3 springs in the factory-installed 009 set and is supplied with the matching clamp saddle. In order to be able to implement excessive up-bending using the vibrato system, the system is undercut and protected with a layer of foam to prevent the tuning levers from suddenly touching the surface.

All of the hardware is black, consisting of Grover Rotomatic 18:1 tuners, the vibrato system and a speed knob for master volume and master tone. The pickups used are a Schecter USA Sunset Strip™ bridge pickup and a Schecter USA Pasadena™ neck pickup. The two pickups are switched using a 5-way switch, which, as expected, also allows coil tapping in positions 2 and 4 in addition to the standards. The entire electronics are mounted in Strat style on a single-layer, black high-gloss pickguard, which is screwed onto the body with 11 screws.

The Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote in practice

If you pick up the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote for the first time, you may be a little confused, especially if you mention the word Powerstrat. The feel, handling and especially the weight bring up few associations with Ibanez, Charvel or Kramer, but push the player more towards a "real" Strat on steroids. But this should not disguise the fact that musically everything you want from a Powerstrat can be achieved. The unusual choice of wood offers an interesting basic sound, which in terms of resonance behavior sometimes tends more towards an electric bass than what is mostly used in the electric guitar class.

What doesn't really convince me is the choice of pickups on the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote. I don't know whether Schecter actually bought its own winding machine or whether it has the pickups manufactured as an OEM, but the pickups sound comparatively "weak" in the high gain range in particular. Instead of the soft, highly compressed sound that is popular with other passive competitors, the two house-brand pickups remain slightly "bulky" even in the high gain range or have the necessary character that sets the appropriate markers.

What still helps with good assertiveness in the crunch range seems a bit "edgy" from the lead range onwards and could do with a bit more suppleness. Apart from this point, however, the guitar convinces me across the board. The workmanship, hardware, sustain and feel offer an independent concept that can score points for many guitarists by offering an interesting balancing act between a traditional 3-fold single coil and a highly bred steroid solution.

Conclusion

With the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote, the manufacturer offers an interesting fusion of traditional and modern Strat. The instrument, made in South Korea, offers an independent solution in terms of feel and choice of wood, although the weight of the instrument clearly exceeds the 4 kg mark and will raise a few eyebrows among players.

In return, the user also receives an instrument with strong sustain, which is particularly tough for a power Strat. If you can live with the very high weight of the instrument, you should definitely try out the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder Exotic FR Ziricote.

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Additional Informations:

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