Is the Schecter PT Special the Perfect Telecaster?
What does PT mean?
Alright let’s talk about the PT Special electric guitar from Schecter. It’s clearly a Telecaster inspired model, but you may not know about it’s long history. The PT is supposed to be a tribute to Pete Townsend, famed the Who guitarist, ‘who’ played Schecter guitars for a few years. You won’t officially find his name attached to the guitar, but that is the commonly mentioned name that is associated with this guitar.
It’s definitely a modern take on the original vintage style Fender Telecaster shape, but it adds some unique features that will appeal to a variety of guitar players today. Let’s take a look at all the detailed specs and features that you get with this guitar.
ALL THE SPECS
NECK
Tuners: Grover Vintage
Fretboard Material: Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Inlays: Black Dots
Scale: 25.5" (648mm)
Neck Shape: "C"
Thickness: @ 1st Fret- .826" (21mm)/ @ 12th Fret- .905" (23mm)
Frets: 22 X-Jumbo
Fretboard Radius: 12" (305mm)
Nut: Graph Tech XL Ivory Tusq
Nut Width: 1.653" (42mm)
Truss Rod: 2-Way Adjustable Rod w/ 5/32" (4mm) Allen Nut
BODY
Guitar Colors
3-Tone Sunburst Pearl (3TSBP)
Hardware Color
Nickel
Top Contour
Flat Top
Dexterity
Right Handed
Construction
Bolt-on
Body Material
Swamp Ash
Binding
Creme 1-ply
Bridge
Vintage Ashtray with Staggered Brass Saddles
ELECTRONICS
Controls
Volume/Tone (Series-Parallel Push-Pull)/3-Way Switch
Bridge Pickup
Schecter Diamond VT-1
Neck Pickup
Schecter Diamond V-90
ACCESSORIES
Knobs
Metal Knurled w/ Set Screw
Strings
Ernie Ball Regular Slinky #2221 (.010-.046)
UNIQUE FEATURES
You definitely get a lot for your money with this guitar. Let’s talk about some of the unique features that make this a standout electric guitar, and why it would appeal to more people that traditionally don’t like Telecasters.
Binding
There’s 1-ply creme binding along top of the body and alond the edges of the neck . I think this gives the guitar a premium appearance.
Body Carves and shapes
On the back and front of the guitar you get some unique body carves that you typically don’t get on a Telecaster style guitar.
There is a tummy cut carve on the back of the body, as well as a rounded edge contour shape near the neck bolts.
On the front you get an arm carve similar to something you would find on a Stratocaster style guitar.
P90 style neck pickup
There is a Schecter Diamond V-90 single coil neck pickup that gives you some great tonal options compared to the typical lipstick style Telecaster neck pickup.
Push/Pull pot
While you have the selector switch in any pickup position, just pull up on the Tone pot to set the pickups into Series mode. This gives you a thicker humbucker like tone and sounds really great.
WeighT relief body
Swamp ash guitars can sometimes be really heavy. The PT Special has internal body routing out for a great weight relief. This makes it fell nice and light! Just take off the pickguard and you can see exactly how much wood has been removed. It’s also really nice and clean looking inside!
Find Schecter guitars for sale here:
Deep Dive Demo and Review Video
Talking about the guitar and looking at photos is one thing, but seeing and hearing it in action is something else. Take a look at my full deep dive demo and review on my YouTube channel. You’ll get to see all the specs, features, and hear the tones. I also give you all my pros and cons and let you know what I think about the guitar overall.