The Riot-5 has great lows that aren't muddy. The maple-walnut neck-through design help keep the tone from getting too muddy by adding the upper mids. The mahogany wings add additional "body" to the sound and give it depth for the lows that I feel help round out the overall tone. It doesn't not sound like a Fender J or P Bass but you can get similar sounds with the upper mids and highs that you would want while playing slap or punk styles of music. Other basses that I have played will vibrate throughout the body and neck but this bass is solid as a rock and I have yet to find any "dead" spots on the neck.

The Riot-5 came with the necessary Allen Wrenches and a instrument cable. The input jack has a nice stiff grab on the instrument cable jack and "locks" it in tight so you don't have to deal with a flimsy jack like on many other basses. The Neck-thru design is a feature that I like about this bass. It has a smooth contour at the transition to the body and the lower horn of the body allows you to reach the higher frets with ease. The bridge is solid and it allows you to either string-thru the body or end of the bridge. The bridge saddles are big and solid, which I think is an oversight on many other brands, and are easy to adjust. The Tuning machines are smooth to operate and I have yet to have any problems with them sliding out of tune. Many people complain about the EMG HZ pickups, but I have been getting impressive harmonics from this bass. Although they don't have that extra "zing" you get with active pickups, it still does the job when you wanna slap, pick, pop, or thumb the strings. The EQ is an Active EMG system as well. You DO have the option of moving two selector switches on the bass control that allow you to change the treble frequency. You will have to move them around (either up or down) and play with the settings to get the sound you like. This allows you to dial in the sound you want from your highs. The battery compartment is held in by screws and I wish it was secured by a thumb switch. This is a minor setback but not a deal breaker. It comes with a TUSQ nut and I have yet to have any problems with it. The stock GHS Boomers are good for about a week so order a new set of strings to have on hand when they go dead.

You can adjust the EQ system from simply turning either the pickup selector, volume, bass, or treble knobs. You also have the option of adjusting the treble frequency by moving the two mini switches on the chipboard located on the bass knob.

The Riot-5 was ready to play straight out of the box. The action is nice and low without string-buzz. The finish is smooth with no imperfections in the stain or lacquer finish. I give this a 9 because of the dot-inlays. I think Schecter could have matched the rest of the quality of the bass by using Abalone instead of cheap looking plastic.

This bass is a STEAL for the price they are asking. The build quality, woods, and finish are superb. If you don't like the EQ System or the Pickups on the bass you can always change them out....you can't change out the woods used or finish. The control cavity is easy to access from the rear. The wiring is actually organized and not just soldered and pushed inside the cavity. I have played on Fenders, Music Man, ESP, Yamaha, and Ibanez basses before and this is the best feeling bass I have played to date.

The headstock is perfect for this bass and is not gaudy like some other brands. The lower horn on the body is unique and sets the bass apart from you traditional looking basses. The color is consistent and there are no dark "splotches" throughout the bass. It is dark enough to highlight the dark walnut strips in the neck and various wood grains in the body. The high gloss finish sets off the beveled curves of the body and deepens the brown stain on this bass.

Hobbyist, Active Musician

Rock, Metal, Funk, Alternative

I love the sound of the Riot bass. In fact, I love it so much that this is my second Riot bass...I also own a 2009 Riot-4 in dark brown wenge. I play a lot of contemporary worship music at my chrch(www.lifepointeaz.com) and this bass fits the bill perfectly. It can pump the deep notes for rock, pop off for R&B, yet sweetly sing those high notes when necessary. There's a lot of negative on the web about the EMG-HZ pickups and active 2-band EQ but I'm not convinced those nay-sayers have ever picked up a Riot, let alone played one. I'm able to get all the tone I need from this setup...good job Schecter!

EMG-HZ pickups, D'Addario XL Nickel Wound strings, Schecter custom bridge with string through option (factory setup), and Graphtech nut. Good stuff, Maynard!

It came with 5 strings...they all worked the first time I used 'em!!

BEAUTIFUL finish!! The cherry red gloss stain and black chrome are a sweet combination. I did have to tweak the setup as there was intonation issues out of the box but I also live at over 5000ft. so it's possible the neck was affected by the climate. Otherwise, it's a top notch quality product.

Thanks to Zzounds.com the value-meter is off the charts. I don't know if I'm supposed to share what I paid for it or not so let me say this...where all other sites were asking over $800 for this ax, Zzounds delivered it for less than $500. But all that aside, this bass is worth every penny you pay for it.

Haven't need to use it....

I bought it....what's that say?! The 2011 Schecter catalog doesn't have this model in it so I'm presuming they've removed it from their line-up...they only have the Riot Custom (lower model). Not sure why they decided to do that but I would recommend getting one of these before they can't be found any more.

Active Musician, Worship Leader

Contemporary Worship, Rock, R&B

You can't go wrong on tone with the construction of this bass: maple/walnut neck through mahogany body, EMG pups, active pre. Right off the bat, you have good tone. The neck is fast and easy to play. This bass sounds more expensive than it actually is.

Well, a bass built in this fashion SHOULD feature a 35" scale, and this one does not. The 34" scale is fine for E-A-D-G, but the B is FLOPPY! There are some players that really like a loose B string, but I'm not one of those players. :) All due respect, I like my strings nice and tight from one end to the other for optimal string response. Also, the bass only has a two band active pre, and for a bass constructed as this one is, I would expect to see a 3-band. I was highly disappointed when I discovered this...

NARROW STRING SPACING. I have big hands with long, chubby fingers. I play fingerstyle, and I need a little bit of room to dig in when I'm playing. I can see the narrower string spacing being great for pick players, or for people with small hands and skinny fingers. If you have large hands and fingers, though, you definitely want to play this bass BEFORE you buy it to make sure you can deal with the narrow spacing.

The construction and quality control seemed top notch. The natural matte finish did not show any mistakes in the manufacturing of this product. The bass is well balanced, and it sounds great.

I would say the value is only average. Don't get me wrong, this is a nice bass, and it does sound good and play good. I'm rating value a "6" because of the disappointment of not having a few key elements that are typically desired with a bass built to this particular standard. There was only a 2-band EQ, not a 3-band with mid control. The string spacing is so narrow, the bass is practically unplayable for big guys like me. The 34" scale yields a floppy, flemsy low B, and that's no good for me. I like the bass, but I would not buy this bass because of these shortcomings.

I've never contacted Schector, so I don't know.

read "Value"

Session Studio and Live Performance Bassist

Anything and Everything