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Schecter Guitar Research was founded in 1976 by David Schecter to produce replacement parts for established guitar manufacturers. Everything from guitar bodies and necks to pickups and knobs was produced. It wasn’t long, however, until David began custom building electric guitars of very high quality. Beginning in 1979, these very expensive instruments were sold by only twenty retailers in the United States.
The company was bought and moved from Van Nuys California, to Dallas Texas, by a group of investors in 1983. Production was modified to mass-produce electric guitars of above-average quality. Schecter Guitars was subsequently sold, in 1987, to Hisatake Shibuya, who already owned ESP Guitars.
Shibuya relocated Schecter back to California and reinstated its original concept of producing only high-end, custom guitars. By the mid-nineties, the company was again mass-producing (albeit on a relatively small scale) high-quality instruments that quickly gained acceptance around the world.
Endorsements
Guitar maestro Yngwie Malmsteen was the first to endorse Schecter guitars and many of rock’s pre-eminent guitarists, such as Mark, Knopfler, Pete Townshend, Richard Patrick and Jeff Loomis took to playing Schecter’s excellent guitars.
Schecter has gone on to produce basses, acoustics and amplifiers, but they are still known for their wicked electric guitars and were one of the early manufacturers of seven- and eight-string guitars. Not only are they beautiful playing instruments, they are beautiful just to look at.
Dollar for dollar, a Schecter guitar – no matter the price – is one of the best values in the world of modern guitars.