Guitar of the Week #58 - Schecter S-II Omen Extreme

Schecter makes an SG style guitar with a simplified layout, and it's good.

The above is a Schecter S-II Omen Extreme. To the best of my knowledge, any Schecter model with S-II in its model name has an SG-like shape to it.

What makes the S-II easier to deal with compared to, say, an Epiphone G-400 is the fact you only have to deal with two knobs instead of four, the knobs are metal, knurled and easier to grab, the nut is a Graph Tech TUSQ (meaning better string travel in the nut slots,) the neck is a "thin C" with 14-inch fingerboard radius and you get 24 frets instead of 22.

I'm not a fan of 24-fret guitars, but I like this one for one very particular reason. It's an SG shape with a longer top horn.

Why does that matter? A typical problem many SG players have is neck dive. The only true solution to fix the problem is to use a guitar with a longer top horn. If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, look at the guitar above, and notice the body wood sticking out over the neck, similar to two horns. The top horn is above the neck and the bottom horn (with the black pick guard on it) is below the neck. Notice that the top horn is longer than the bottom horn. Now you know where it is.

The S-II from Schecter appears to be a properly balanced SG shape. Believe me, Schecter didn't elongate the top horn just to look different from a Gibson. That longer horn is a design decision to balance the body, and a good one at that.

Yes, it is true that the Schecter S-II Omen Extreme is more expensive than an Epiphone G-400, but being the Schecter is designed as the better balanced instrument, that automatically makes it the better guitar.

If you've ever had to deal with a guitar that has a neck dive problem, you know how annoying that is. No matter how ritzy, glitzy and/or glamorous the guitar may be, if it's not balanced right, it sucks.

I can say with certainty that the Schecter S-II Omen Extreme does not suck.

Oh, and one last thing. Yes, it has a push/pull knob. The tone control, specifically. What does it do? I honestly don't know. I assume it's a coil tap or coil split, but Schecter's product page on this specific guitar doesn't actually state what the push/pull does. If anyone has any info on it, email me.

Published 2016 May 18