“Brutal looks and razor-sharp tones to push the limits of creativity”: Schecter’s Red Dawn series aims to weaponize a legion of chug-loving metal players

Schecter has made a bold play for the heavy riff market with its Red Dawn series of high-performance metal guitars, which have looks to kill, and the tones to confirm it.

There are five models in the series, all offering subtle tweaks of a theme founded upon fast-playing S-style axes with black finishes – why would you want any other color? – and brutal blood-red trims.

For players wanting more traditional six-string metal guitars, there are three weapons to choose from, including a 27” scale baritone that can be tuned hellishly low. However, the omission of an eight-string model, considering their growing popularity, feels like something of a misfire.

Thankfully, these guitars are far more than token gestures for a rapidly expanding customer base as they serve solid specs and are competitively priced. Schecter has done its research and wants this to be a serious contender for guitarists looking for more girth from their riffs.

Stainless steel frets, Luminlay side dots, Schecter locking tuners, and Fishman’s revered, ultra-modern Fluence humbuckers grab the headlines, with a variety of bridge options and scale lengths available. Floyd Rose fans, though, are advised to look away. There will be no dive bomb action with Red Dawn guitars.

Their recipes mix basswood bodies and three-piece, ultra-thin C-profile set necks – delivering a rather gaunt 19mm depth at the 1st fret, and 20mm at the 12th – which are capped with 24 fret ebony 'boards.

They too offer a 16" radius, striking red open core ceramic pickup aesthetics with five-way switches, and a push/pull Volume knob. It’s minimalist but deadly.

Minimalist though they are, the push/pull functionality expands the tonal range of the high-output pickups for greater diversity. Sure, they’re meant to be played with swathes of distortion and thump, but Fishman pickups have repeatedly proven how well they can change their stripes on the fly. That’s why everyone from Tosin Abasi and Mick Thomson to Greg Koch loaded their signature guitars with its creations.

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Those looking for a new djent machine, or wanting to ice their next songs with frosty thall riffs will have a lot of fun with the two seven-string options, which differ only in fixed bridge options – a rock-steady EverTune or a Tone Pros locking TOM, string-thru-body design.

The three flavors of six-string are differentiated by the employment of EverTune bridge or Tone Pros bridges, and the 27" baritone, which gets an EverTune bridge to encourage low tuning with wild abandon.

If butt-wobbling tunings are employed, easily accessible spoke-wheel truss rod adjustments can be made to ensure fast action, so there’s no messing with screws and other finicky distractions along the way.

Made in Indonesia, the guitars also feature Graph Tech XL nuts, sculpted neck heels, and splashes of red coloration in all the right places.

“With its brutal looks, razor-sharp tone, and unbeatable playability, this guitar is the weapon of choice for serious players who want to push the limits of creativity,” says Schecter.

Schecter's five-strong Red Dawn series starts at $1,199 and rises to $1,599 for the seven-string EverTune model.

Visit Schecter for the full lowdown.