Schecter CV-5 Bass Guitar - 3-Tone Sunburst

I own this bass and honestly, I like it a lot. I’m primarily a Fender guy and have had some expensive basses over the years. I’ve owned a couple Schecter and although they were never bad, I was never really attached to them. I bought this bass due to the combination of features and price knowing I’d be taking it to small clubs and bars for gigs, so if it got bumped or bruised I wouldn’t be heartbroken. When compared to my MIM Fender Jazz V, I grab this one 9 times out of 10.First...the bad stuff. It weighs a ton. Doesn’t bother me much but you should be aware that it’s pretty hefty. In typical Schecter fashion, the switches, controls, and pots are pretty much adequate and not much more. Some of the finishing touches are sloppy, like pick guard fit and finish around the pickup cutouts. Factory setup is decent but will need tweaks to the truss rod (the Allen wrench they give you doesn’t fit well, it’s too long to fit in the cutout). Little blemishes here and there, but better than most in this price range.The good stuff...Versatility. This is one of the things this does better than any of my other basses. With the option to run the pickups split, series, or parallel, and toggle between neck/bridge/both you get an amazing variety of tones and sound. It’s very satisfying to flip a couple switches and go from Jazz type growl to that punchy P bass sound and mixes in between. This right here is the greatest feature of this bass. The overall build quality is better than most in this price range. No noticeable neck dive (unlike my MIM Fender). S-Tek bridge is very bizarre and you really have no way to upgrade easily, but with the heft if it you probably will never have to.Few things to mention; string spacing and neck width seem narrow for a 5’er. Good for people with smaller hands or if you’re looking to transition from a 4 string, if you play fast the size and spacing seems good for that. But the scale is 35” so it’s a tad longer than many basses out there and may take some getting used to for some people. Finding a cheap hard case this fits in hasn’t been easy, so I’ve been using a half decent gig bag.I changed out the OEM strings for GHS pressure wounds and the sound is really, really good to my ears.This is not a 5 star bass when put up against custom shop units or even MIA Fenders, G+L’s, Warwicks, etc., but compared to others in this price range, and considering the features and versatility, this IS a 5 star bass in that category. When given the choice between taking this and my Fender Jazz V, the Fender stays in the case. Good job, Schecter.Update: it’s been a couple years and I’ve been gigging regularly with this bass. Has held up well, performs well, and I haven’t changed my review on it. No quality issues have shown up that weren’t evident from the start, and it’s been a rock-solid go-to bass for most of my bar/club gigs. Would definitely buy again.

Tone-wise, and fit/finish-wise, this is a superb instrument. 3-way toggle switches for each pickup really expand its tonal possibilities. Required very little adjustment (raised a couple of bridge saddles, but no truss rod adjustment needed). I have owned several 4- and 5-string Schecter basses, and all of them have been high quality and great value.