New Schecter Guitars Route 66

Schecter makes hundreds of 24 frets guitars
True, but I suspect that @steveofoz was asking specifically about Route 66 guitars: That is, guitars that have a classic Strat look, but have some modern features.

For many people, the "Killer App" would be a guitar which...
(a.) sounds like a Strat, able to get all the classic Strat sounds, but,
(b.) performs like a more modern design.

...and I think that Item (b.) includes various things:
  • stainless frets
  • 24 frets (or, if not 24, then 22 frets with very easy access to highest frets)
  • sculpted heel
  • hum-free (without sacrificing single-coil tone)
  • compound radius (for classic feel near the nut and smooth bends above the 12th fret)
  • smooth tremolo with perfect tuning stability even after heavy bar-abuse
  • jack on the side or back, not the front (cables sprouting from the front of a guitar look kludgy)

Not everybody cares about all those things, but it seems that most people would like to play a Strat that had most of them, yet still sounded like a Strat.

I think the Greg Howe model from Kiesel comes quite close:
https://www.kieselguitars.com/catalog/guitars/gh3
...but, perhaps the prices could drop even lower, for guitars with those features, if a large-scale builder with a reputation for good build quality (like Schechter) were to start building them. (I think some recent Charvel and Ibanez AZ models also come close. But they usually don't have the Strat "look" because they lack the pickguard.)
 
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True, but I suspect that @steveofoz was asking specifically about Route 66 guitars: That is, guitars that have a classic Strat look, but have some modern features.

For many people, the "Killer App" would be a guitar which...
(a.) sounds like a Strat, able to get all the classic Strat sounds, but,
(b.) performs like a more modern design.
Absolutely. As a professional player who loves classic strat tones, I want all the vintage goodness and look, with all the modern advances. My Suhr strat is the best of my (many) strat style guitars. It has stainless steel frets, noiseless single coil pickups, a great trem bridge, locking tuners, and nitro finish. It is an ideal combination of vintage and modern characteristics, and doesn't wildly deviate from the classic design that I love.
 
Congratulations Marco, that's pretty awesome. As a big fan of Schecter myself, I look forward to seeing more info on these. Oddly enough, my favorite Schecters are their takes on classic shapes. You can recognize where their inspiration is from, but they usually do things differently in a way that suits my sensibilities. These Route 66s are no exception.
 
This is cool. Feels a bit like Schecter returning to their roots. Though, I guess you could argue the company is so different from their early 80s roots days, is a return even possible?

All I know is a Schecter California was my first "nice" guitar and has been with me since the early 90s. I love it, even if it isn't the guitar I reach for very much these days.

These new models look very nice.
 
Congrats!
Wish they made them in a hardtail version. Why do most guitar manufacturers assume that anyone who wants a classic strat style wants it with a trem? There needs to be more Hardtail classic strat vibe models out there.
 
Marco I was trying to research these a little, are they not being released in the US? Everything i find on them seems to be in italian?

Ony in Italy. But it is quite similar to the Nick Johnston Strat Diamond Series. Or the Nick Johnston Custom Shop USA (that's the one I have, and it is much better than my Fender American Deluxe Strat and any other Strat I've played)
 
If you need Strat sound you can't have 24 frets because the Neck PU stays in a different position
Yes.

And that ought to be correctable, because technology.

C'mon, inventors! If you can't invent a COVID vaccine, how 'bout a neck pickup that sounds perfect even when pushed out of position by a 24th fret? I may be stuck behind a cloth mask with annoying elastic wrapping my ears; but can't I at least get a decent Little Wing tone while I'm wheezing in here?

(Actually, I think there already is an invention which simultaneously allows 24 frets and an almost-perfectly positioned neck pickup: The brass neck-plate false fret attached to the end of the neck on JET Guitars: See here. The guitar has 24 frets, functionally, but because it technically has 23 frets and a special plate capping the end of the neck (which happens to conveniently stick up ever-so-slightly to form a 24th fret), there is no need for additional wood beyond the 24th fret, which is what normally pushes the pickup out-of-position on 24-fret guitars. The upshot is that the pole-pieces on the neck pickup are only 3mm away from where they'd normally be on a Strat, whereas on a conventional 24-fret guitar, they'd be a whole inch away or more.)
 
Rt 66 are made for the Italian distributor.
300 guitars they sold in 20 days!!
I am the only testimonial and endorser for this campaign but I am not Schecter artists.
Schecter USA doesn’t recognize artists who are not American.
For this reason I think they are not interested to promote Rt 66 worldwide. :)
 
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