Schecter Nick Johnston 1546 Traditional HSS

no noise issues with mine, at least not in the HB or split modes. the Neck and middle singles can obviously still have a little noise on their own
I think the FM9's gate/noise reduction inputs have something to do with that. I've got 'em set at -40 dB and that solves most of my random input noise issues...but it's good to know that the NJ HSS has slim to nil pickup noise issues to begin with...a nice added touch in this price point range.

MusicStoreLive was right when they said they couldn't detect any hum among the 5-way toggling at gig volume/strings unmuted. This might be the one strat that I can keep for a while that will fill the niche between jazz, blues, rock and funk. Nice to have that multi-use Swiss army knife sometimes...
 
The import NJ guitars are great but I did end up selling mine.
The neck is fantastic and one of the best that I have played - the major thing for me was the trem system - I was used to a Gotoh 510 on my Suhr and actually wanted to swap it as the the NJ one was not very responsive but unfortunately the body of the guitar was too slim and it wouldn't of fitted.
I also found the balance slightly off as the guitar body is quite heavy. other than that I really enjoyed it and sometimes I regret selling it.
 
I'm inclined to agree with your comment about the tremolo...I've not tried it extensively and it will take a few days of regular use before the strings settle in, being stretched enough. Regards the weight of the guitar, I find that the alder body is not much more than the mahogany body of my PRS McCarty, perhaps several ounces more...I'd need to check with MusicStoreLive for an accurate weight assessment to be sure...the balance is OK, IMHO, the roasted maple neck doesn't suffer from dive, though it may be that a rosewood might have...my only issue is that the truss rod is located under the neck pocket, which will require loosening the pocket screws to access the truss rod...not so much an issue as it might be for swapping string gauge (which I refuse to mess with!)

Here's a couple Pixelmator images of the guitar I put together yesterday...please excuse the not-so-smooth trace/editing...thanks for viewing...

MOKLzWU.jpg


hrBXdqi.jpg
 
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I'm inclined to agree with your comment about the tremolo...I've not tried it extensively and it will take a few days of regular use before the strings settle in, being stretched enough. Regards the weight of the guitar, I find that the alder body is not much more than the mahogany body of my PRS McCarty, perhaps several ounces more...I'd need to check with MusicStoreLive for an accurate weight assessment to be sure...the balance is OK, IMHO, the roasted maple neck doesn't suffer from dive, though it may be that a rosewood might have...my only issue is that the truss rod is located under the neck pocket, which will require loosening the pocket screws to access the truss rod...not so much an issue as it might be for swapping string gauge (which I refuse to mess with!)

Here's a couple Pixelmator images of the guitar I put together yesterday...please excuse the not-so-smooth trace/editing...thanks for viewing...

MOKLzWU.jpg


hrBXdqi.jpg


Congrats! :)

Pretty sure you can easily adjust the truss rod without pulling the neck. Just stick an allen wrench
or small screwdriver that will fit into the holes and turn. My Charvel has the same type of adjustment.
 
Congrats! :)

Pretty sure you can easily adjust the truss rod without pulling the neck. Just stick an allen wrench
or small screwdriver that will fit into the holes and turn. My Charvel has the same type of adjustment.
Hmm. The truss rod is accessible without loosening the neck screws! Didn't look closely enough at the pocket to see clearly... Very wise design. Thx for the heads-up...will need to take at that later today with my guitar tech friend...as well as intonate several of the strings...
 
This might sound strange, but I discovered that it doesn't alway pay when you own "flashy" gear. There's always the hazard of making the guitar permanently yours if you ding or dent it that would devalue the guitar. Sure, there are some who appreciate a used, road-worn, weathered instrument.

By contrast, my feeling is that one can keep their gear in the condition that you received it, the item will be worth more to the seller when it comes time to downsize or relinquish that item, for whatever reason.

"Flashy" gear means you might need to take extra care of your purchases, whereas simpler, less ornate gear you might not worry so much about dinging/denting, because of the proportionate devaluing.

For example, your smile or a good haircut might have greater effect than the fancy shoes you wear. Consider that both a haircut/smile cost far less than a pair of extra-fancy shoes. If you mess up your hair, or get spinach in your teeth, it's a simply fix. Much more when you need to re-sole your nice shoes.
 
This might sound strange, but I discovered that it doesn't alway pay when you own "flashy" gear. There's always the hazard of making the guitar permanently yours if you ding or dent it that would devalue the guitar. Sure, there are some who appreciate a used, road-worn, weathered instrument.

By contrast, my feeling is that one can keep their gear in the condition that you received it, the item will be worth more to the seller when it comes time to downsize or relinquish that item, for whatever reason.

I don't consider resale value at all. That will be what it is if I ever have to sell the thing, or when I am dead, it will be someone else's concern. In the mean time, I bought the thing to enjoy it, not to sell it, so that is what I will do. I deserve whatever I get myself with my hard-earned moolah, especially after so much time doing without or having cheap, crappy stuff. 😊
 
I don't consider resale value at all. That will be what it is if I ever have to sell the thing, or when I am dead, it will be someone else's concern. In the mean time, I bought the thing to enjoy it, not to sell it, so that is what I will do. I deserve whatever I get myself with my hard-earned moolah, especially after so much time doing without or having cheap, crappy stuff. 😊
TBH, I don't like cheap ROI gear either, but in recent years, I've needed to take a hard look at what I'm saving compared to what my payouts involve. Nice gear isn't cheap, but you can shear a sheep for his wool and turn that around into a good profit because of the labor you put in, and subsequent product your "wool-gatherings" will produce. You may not realize it, but this nitwit sweat equity I put in is substantial.

I'm also inclined to agree that gear is best purchased to be enjoyed while we own it. My personal feeling is that if and when we do sell it, would we not also like to receive the best possible value the item is worth at the time? That's the reason why I feel we should maintain and try to keep our items in good condition, instead of abusing said items which would require repair or replacement sooner.

My concern is that we live in a disposable society where most all we do is toss things out that end up in a landfill somewhere. If we truly cared about what we own, we would take care of it so future generations would benefit from what we've left for them.

My Dad was a frugal CT Yankee who lived by the motto, "Patch It Up, Wear It Out. Make It Do, or Do Without." My Dad was a conscientious environmentalist who was concerned about what legacy his descendants would receive after he was gone. Dad bought the best of what he could afford, but also took care of what he owned, so that what he owned enjoyed a useful lifetime. The same with my Dad.
 
That's a lot of words to not share what you think of the new guitar. :)

You like? You no like? You kinda like? Pros? Cons?
LOL. Sometimes my mind is on more important things than just the guitar itself.

Yeah, the guitar is nice. It's a plain jane among better wood grains and finishes, but IMHO, sometimes guys (including myself) just like modest black finishes.

The roasted maple neck is a 14" radius thin neck, which is comfortable and fast. I usually prefer PRS pattern regular necks, but this will do nicely.

The pickups have nice "quack and spank" in the 2nd and 4th position. The Diamond single-coil neck and mid pickup rich, full-bodied and warm sounding. The Diamond humbucker beefy, which can be tone knob coil-tapped for single-coil tones. A nice feature, and the pickups still silent even though they're SC mode. The silent pickups are the feature that drew me to this guitar, which at this price point is a good part of the price of admission.

The 5-way toggled positions are dead silent at gig volume with strings unmuted among the single-coil/ humbucker pickups, which was my original question to the sales rep who sold me this guitar. I need to be sure that the pickups did not exhibit any ambient noise such as 60Hz hum, crackling, or artifacts. Quiet as can be. Perhaps the FM9's input gate has something to do with it, but I've not tried the gate at levels less than -40dB, so the guitar may exhibit noise by itself. That's really not an issue with the FM9.

The guitar fills the niche I'd not had before with my PRS humbuckers. Now, I can add a wider range of blues, rock, funk and R&B tunes to my repertoire that I'd not been able to with solely my PRS guitars.

I can't imagine any cons of this guitar being a significant issue. The locking tuners will be of help with tuning stability. My only concern might be the maintenance part if I needed step up a string gauge or adjust the trem tension. My friend upstate can assist with that if needs be, and he accepts home-cooked meals in place of cash for his work. He also taught me some of the basics regards guitar maintenance, so I've got most of that covered adequately.

It's kind of like tuning up your car for optimal performance. The instructor who lets you watch him and ask questions while he works you can learn a lot from.
 
LOL. Sometimes my mind is on more important things than just the guitar itself.

Yeah, the guitar is nice. It's a plain jane among better wood grains and finishes, but IMHO, sometimes guys (including myself) just like modest black finishes.

The roasted maple neck is a 14" radius thin neck, which is comfortable and fast. I usually prefer PRS pattern regular necks, but this will do nicely.

The pickups have nice "quack and spank" in the 2nd and 4th position. The Diamond single-coil neck and mid pickup rich, full-bodied and warm sounding. The Diamond humbucker beefy, which can be tone knob coil-tapped for single-coil tones. A nice feature, and the pickups still silent even though they're SC mode. The silent pickups are the feature that drew me to this guitar, which at this price point is a good part of the price of admission.

The 5-way toggled positions are dead silent at gig volume with strings unmuted among the single-coil/ humbucker pickups, which was my original question to the sales rep who sold me this guitar. I need to be sure that the pickups did not exhibit any ambient noise such as 60Hz hum, crackling, or artifacts. Quiet as can be. Perhaps the FM9's input gate has something to do with it, but I've not tried the gate at levels less than -40dB, so the guitar may exhibit noise by itself. That's really not an issue with the FM9.

The guitar fills the niche I'd not had before with my PRS humbuckers. Now, I can add a wider range of blues, rock, funk and R&B tunes to my repertoire that I'd not been able to with solely my PRS guitars.

I can't imagine any cons of this guitar being a significant issue. The locking tuners will be of help with tuning stability. My only concern might be the maintenance part if I needed step up a string gauge or adjust the trem tension. My friend upstate can assist with that if needs be, and he accepts home-cooked meals in place of cash for his work. He also taught me some of the basics regards guitar maintenance, so I've got most of that covered adequately.

It's kind of like tuning up your car for optimal performance. The instructor who lets you watch him and ask questions while he works you can learn a lot from.
Does it chug?
 
I have a Nick Johnston Diamond Series HSS - it's amazing. To look at it, it's really trying to be a Suhr. The guys at my guitar shop agree that it's pretty much at Suhr level and I agree. The neck is amazing right out of the box. I swapped out the tremolo for a Gotoh 510 that's on the Suhrs, got some staggered tuners to remove the string tree, and it's there. I got some Suhr pickups to put into it as well just to see how I like them. But it's really an incredible value. Feels like a guitar 3x its price. They did a really nice job on these.
 
I have a Nick Johnston Diamond Series HSS - it's amazing. To look at it, it's really trying to be a Suhr. The guys at my guitar shop agree that it's pretty much at Suhr level and I agree. The neck is amazing right out of the box. I swapped out the tremolo for a Gotoh 510 that's on the Suhrs, got some staggered tuners to remove the string tree, and it's there. I got some Suhr pickups to put into it as well just to see how I like them. But it's really an incredible value. Feels like a guitar 3x its price. They did a really nice job on these.
You must own the USA-made model. The 1546 Traditional is the imported version with the comparably lower price point. Gotta say it's pretty close to a Suhr at a much lower cost. Yeah, they put a lot of hard work into this. I think it's got all the frills of the USA even though supposedly its the stripped-down model. Gotta give a big shout out to MusicStoreLive for offering me a great deal out the door with this guitar. Saved $100.
 
I have a Nick Johnston Diamond Series HSS - it's amazing. To look at it, it's really trying to be a Suhr. The guys at my guitar shop agree that it's pretty much at Suhr level and I agree. The neck is amazing right out of the box. I swapped out the tremolo for a Gotoh 510 that's on the Suhrs, got some staggered tuners to remove the string tree, and it's there. I got some Suhr pickups to put into it as well just to see how I like them. But it's really an incredible value. Feels like a guitar 3x its price. They did a really nice job on these.
How did you manage to swap for a Gotoh 510. My sss the body was too slim so the block was too big. The trem block on the stock one was tapered so with Gotoh one there would have been no movement.
 
You must own the USA-made model. The 1546 Traditional is the imported version with the comparably lower price point. Gotta say it's pretty close to a Suhr at a much lower cost. Yeah, they put a lot of hard work into this. I think it's got all the frills of the USA even though supposedly its the stripped-down model. Gotta give a big shout out to MusicStoreLive for offering me a great deal out the door with this guitar. Saved $100.
No,I own the Indonesian-made one - was $800. It’s pretty amazing.
 
How did you manage to swap for a Gotoh 510. My sss the body was too slim so the block was too big. The trem block on the stock one was tapered so with Gotoh one there would have been no movement.
I didn’t have an issue. I have the HSS - maybe it’s a bit different?
 
No,I own the Indonesian-made one - was $800. It’s pretty amazing.
Ah. Same here. MusicStoreLive's sales manager was manning the online chat feature at MSL the day I was checking out the NJ HSS, and I had asked him if the sales price was negotiable. He asked me where I was located and was able to deduct $100 from the original price. I've seldom tried doing that before, but this time, it worked in my favor. Just about the same price you paid for your NJ Diamond HSS several years ago.
 
for those of you that are struggling with the term, experiment with bar height before you switch it. once I raised the bar a bit I was totally happy
 
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