The Flying V shaped guitar has been a favorite of Heavy Metal musicians since the 70s. The Schecter Hellraiser V1 is a modern version of the old classic with 24 frets, high output pickups and the option for a whammy bar. The Hellraiser V is also available in 7-string and 8-string models.
A lot of the old Vs were made of mahogany or korina. The V1 Hellraiser is an all mahogany design that has a nice warm to mid range type of a tone when played clean through an amp. When the gain is turned up on the distortion channel you get a modern tone that seems like a mix of 80s right through to present day.
The EMG pickups are today’s choice for many modern metal guitarists and with good reason. Having this extra boost at the pickup level means you can get that much more distortion at the other end, being the amp. Schecter has done a great job of balancing the electronics with the guitar design on the Schecter Hellraiser V1 and this is very evident when tested on numerous different amps.
If you like playing tremolo style, then you will be interested in the Schecter Hellraiser V1 FR model (wow that’s a long title). The Floyd Rose made tremolo is very precise under strenuous conditions and is capable of extreme dive bombs and still stays in tune, which is exactly what I would expect from a Floyd.
Schecter is rapidly becoming one of the top designers of high quality, fast, slim and strong necks. The Hellraiser series has a 3-piece all-mahogany neck with 24 frets and a rosewood fretboard. Like other Vs, the Schecter Hellraiser V1 has decent access for playing the high frets even though it has no cutouts. I tested it out for a good 3 hours playing multiple genres of music at varying speeds and my comfort level was excellent without any stress on my fingers or wrists. In the 3 hours that I played I didn’t have to tune it. This is most likely in part to the well-designed locking tuners it comes equipped with.
The V1 is one of many Schecter Hellraiser models that just seem to have everything going for them. It’s priced well, has fantastic tone and is stunning to look at. I own many guitar instruments and I’m sure I will own many more before I check out and I have to say that the Hellraiser guitars are a very special breed that don’t come around very often.