{"id":470,"date":"2015-06-19T19:43:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T19:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bunnyears.net\/guitar\/?page_id=470"},"modified":"2018-11-28T18:15:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T18:15:43","slug":"schecter-hellcat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bunnyears.net\/guitar\/electric-guitars\/schecter-hellcat\/","title":{"rendered":"Schecter Hellcat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hellcat\"<\/a>Year:<\/strong>\u00a02002
\nFinish:<\/strong>\u00a0Ice Blue
\nOrigin:<\/strong>\u00a0Korea
\nMods:<\/strong>\u00a0Schaller straplocks
\nAcquired:<\/strong>\u00a02015
\nStill owned:<\/strong>\u00a0No<\/p>\n

The Story:
\n<\/strong>I clearly have a “type” — curvy<\/a>, colorful<\/a>, and a little retro<\/a>. Time and again I find myself drawn to guitars that are made for niche audiences, and while I appreciate a high-end guitar made in America or Japan like any true cork-sniffer, I often find the Korean and Mexican instruments are super fun\u00a0at a fraction of the price. I also don’t feel too bad if I decide to customize them<\/a>. Going for the guitars that others think are “weird” has made me a very happy player.<\/p>\n

I was in the middle of packing for our big move — escaping rental and becoming homeowners — when that rascally Greg Philpott sent me a listing for a Schecter Diamond Series Hellcat on Craigslist. It didn’t matter that he was actively working on the refinish of\u00a0my\u00a0R-800<\/a> and had not been paid for that yet — like a six-string sommelier<\/em>, he recognized this would match my tastes and knew the price was more than fair.<\/p>\n

Truth is, I had seen a\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0of a customized Strat\u00a0and had already been\u00a0thinking,”If two mini-humbuckers makes me happy<\/a>, what about three?” for some time. The Hellcat is very Fendery, with a 25.5″ scale, bolt neck, and Wilkinson VS-50 trem. Grover locking tuners and a nice metallic finish (they only made them in Ice Blue in ’02 and ’03) sweeten that deal, and I have no beef with midrange-friendly basswood. (Eddie Van Halen likes it<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ed Roman doesn’t<\/a>, so that’s two ringing endorsements in my book). So I realized: Why dream about building a Strat-style triple-mini guitar if I\u00a0can get one fully assembled\u00a0for under $200? Again, if I want to upgrade the Duncan Designed<\/a> pickups, I won’t be spoiling something sacred;\u00a0Diamond Series instruments are made in Korea, in the Samick <\/a>factory. There’s little wrong about this opportunity.<\/p>\n

Well, there’s one thing. Man,\u00a0I just bought a house.<\/em> This deal, like others before<\/a> it, arrived at exactly the wrong time, and even with a low asking price, I did think “could that money be used for something more necessary than yet another guitar?” Still, Kat — being The Coolest Wife Ever, and certainly doing more than her share to eradicate the Nagging Guitar-Hating Wife Stereotype — said “yeah, we can cover that. Looks like a good deal.”<\/p>\n

Due to the crazy moving schedule, I met the seller in a parking lot, cash in hand, on a Saturday morning — and moved the house on Sunday. Fate never calls to see if you have the time or money to do something cool, right?<\/p>\n

The previous owner sanded the back of the neck so it’s super-smooth, and\u00a0I’ve added a few more springs to tame the tremolo (nothing wrong with it, I just like resting my hand on it). Plus I added the requisite Schaller straplocks…and then sold it as it was One More I Didn’t Need. It was nice but not nice enough to keep compared to all the other cool stuff I already had, so I was willing to let it go. Better to have loved and lost…<\/p>\n