Schecter PT Special Review
Verdict and Review Summary
Schecter gives you good value here and a decent-sounding guitar, though we might recommend a pickup swap if you take the plunge with the PT Special.
This is a simple Schecter PT Special review, covering the guitar Schecter developed as a Fender Telecaster alternative.
Does it compare to the Telecaster?
While it certainly looks the part, we'll look at specs, pickup selection, and overall sound quality to see if the Schecter PT Special is worth the $600 asking price. That amount is similar to the Fender Player Telecaster (the Player Tele is actually more expensive), so we'll use that as our primary comparison point.
If you have questions about our Schecter PT Special review, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.
Schecter PT Special Review Comparison Section
Before we get into the review results, we've taken several similar guitars and compared them to the PT Special in this section. Use the "Compare" buttons to add them to a comparison chart to look at pricing and some basics specs.
Note that we also partner with Sweetwater to provide you access to gear at no additional cost, making for a simple way to support our site.
If you shop via the orange buttons below, that might help us out a bit. If not, no worries. Enjoy our Schecter PT Special review.
Guitars | DETAILS | Our RATING | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schecter PT Special | 83.5 | |
 | Squier John 5 Telecaster | n/a | |
 | Fender Player Telecaster | n/a | |
 | Epiphone ES-339 | n/a |
Basic Scoring, Pros, and Cons
In the next section we've provided some basic scoring for the following categories:
- Tone
- Pickups
- Versatility
- Cost/Value
While we've done more exhaustive scoring systems in the past, we've found this simpler system to be fairly effective and easier to digest.
Keep in mind these are subject to our own experience and interpretation, and only meant to give you an idea of where the PT special stands. We've done a pros and cons section as well.
IDEAL FOR: Intermediate players and those wanting a modernized or non-conventional Telecaster.
TONE
82
PICKUPS
76
VERSATILITY
92
COST/VALUE
84
PROS
CONS
Sound Quality and Pickups
The pickups that come on the Schecter PT Special are a unique pair, with a P-90 style single coil at the neck and a more traditional Telecaster bridge pickup at the bridge position.
On the bridge you have the single coil encased in the vintage hardware, like you would expect from a Fender Telecaster.
Overall, the sound is surprisingly good, given the lower cost of the guitar and the strange pickup combination. It does a good job of capturing the twangy "quack" sound of a Telecaster, perhaps with a little more grunge in the mix, which is especially noticeable on even modestly high gain settings.
Think of it as a more aggressive Telecaster.
The following demo covers the basics of the PT Special's tone in about a minute with no speaking.
While the pickups don't sound bad, they're both listed as "Schecter Diamond" single coils, which is likely just a fancy way of saying Schecter stock pickups. Compared to guitars that come with nicer pickups, you can definitely hear a quality difference.
So if you go with the PT Special, we might recommend a pickup upgrade at both positions.
Build and Feel
The Swamp Ash body looks great with the white binding and feels solid in your hands.
From a construction standpoint it's hard to distinguish from a Telecaster outside of the headstock and the P90-style pickup, which looks a little bit out of place depending on what you're expecting to see.
Maple is used for the neck, which is cut in a C shape with a 1.653" nut width. This puts the neck on the slimmer side, compared to wide neck electric guitars which we typically define as 1.68" or wider.
Overall the guitar feels lighter on the body side, kind of the opposite of something like an Epiphone Les Paul, which is a good deal heavier.
Value
At $600 the Pt Special is very affordable, but we're not sure about the pickup situation. It's hard to tell if the Schecter-branded stock pickups will last, or if you'd potentially see noise issues down the road, which is a common problem in Fender Telecasters.
But, for just $600 retail, you can afford to add a new pickup set in, if and when you need it.
Final Thoughts & Questions
To conclude our Schecter PT Special review, we'd put this guitar in the upper-beginner to lower-intermediate category. We'd also give Schecter credit here for making a decent Telecaster replica that can handle a Tele-esque tone as well as the more modern sounds that Schecter is known for.
If you don't mind a potential pickup upgrade in the future, we don't mind the PT Special one bit, especially at its current price point.
For those that have questions about our Schecter PT Special review, feel free to leave those in the comments section below.
We'll jump in and help out as best we can.
Manufacturer page: Schecter PT Special
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Thanks for your detailed review! How much does Schecter PT Special weight?
Thanks, Simon. I’m honestly not sure. For whatever reason, manufacturers of electric guitars don’t often list the guitar’s weight.
Sweetwater lists the weight for each guitar they have in stock. Right now they have one at 8 lbs even and one at 8 lbs 2 oz.