Schecter USA Custom Shop CET 50th Anniversary Electric Guitar

The Schecter USA Custom Shop CET 50th Anniversary is a guitar built to mark fifty years of Schecter craftsmanship — and it does so without restraint. Constructed entirely in Schecter's Southern California Custom Shop, this instrument brings together a super-light swamp ash body, a breathtaking AAAAA quilted maple top with walnut centre accent, a master-grade roasted flame maple neck, Macassar ebony fingerboard, purpose-wound 50th Anniversary USA pickups and premium hardware throughout. This is Schecter's own statement of what fifty years of accumulated craft can produce. It is in stock at Angkor Music Melbourne — available to play in our Altona showroom.

The Southern California Custom Shop — What USA-Built Means

The Schecter Custom Shop operates in Southern California — a different operation entirely from Schecter's Japanese and Korean production facilities. Custom Shop instruments are built by individual luthiers working to tighter tolerances, with higher grade materials and with a level of attention to each specific instrument that production-line manufacturing cannot replicate. Every neck is profiled by hand. Every fret is individually dressed. Every body is assessed and selected for its acoustic character as well as its visual quality.

The 50th Anniversary CET represents the Custom Shop operating at full capability — a guitar where every component specification has been chosen to demonstrate what the workshop is capable of, rather than to meet a production cost target.

The Body — Swamp Ash, AAAAA Quilted Maple and Walnut

The body of the CET 50th is built from super-light swamp ash — the tonewood of choice for the great American bolt-on electric guitars of the 1950s, prized for its bright, articulate fundamental tone with a natural note definition and a slightly scooped midrange that sits perfectly in a band context. Super-light swamp ash is a specific grade — lighter than standard swamp ash, which directly affects both the playing weight of the instrument and the resonance of the body. A lighter body vibrates more freely and responds more expressively to picking dynamics.

Over this body sits a AAAAA quilted maple top with walnut centre accent. AAAAA is the highest grade designation in quilted maple — tight, pronounced figure with maximum three-dimensional depth and movement across the entire surface. The Golden Anniversary finish allows this figure to express itself fully — the tint shifts across the quilted surface in a way that changes under different lighting conditions. The walnut centre accent running vertically through the body adds a visual counterpoint that anchors the design and references the finest guitar building traditions.

The Neck — Master Grade Roasted Flame Maple

The neck of the CET 50th is built from master-grade roasted flame maple — and both of those qualifiers matter.

Master grade refers to the quality of the flame figure — tight, consistent, pronounced figuring across the full length of the neck, selected from the highest available grade of flame maple billet.

Roasted refers to the thermal treatment process. Roasting maple at high temperature under controlled conditions removes moisture from the wood at a cellular level — producing a neck that is dimensionally more stable than untreated maple, less susceptible to humidity and temperature-driven movement, and with a natural darkened colour and slightly different feel under the hand. Roasted maple necks have a distinctive dry, smooth texture that many players find more comfortable than raw or finished maple, and a stability over time that makes setup adjustments less frequent.

The neck is profiled into a Custom C shape — Schecter's most versatile neck profile, comfortable for both lead and rhythm work. The thickness progression from 0.825 inches at the first fret to 0.865 inches at the twelfth fret is a carefully measured taper that rewards fast, precise playing without sacrificing comfort in the lower registers.

The truss rod is a 2-way adjustable rod with carbon fibre reinforcement — an additional structural element that further improves neck stability and reduces dead spots across the board.

The Fingerboard — Macassar Ebony with 22 Jescar Stainless Steel Frets

Macassar ebony is among the finest fingerboard materials available — denser and harder than standard ebony, with a characteristic dark streaked figure that is visually distinctive. The hardness of Macassar ebony produces a clean, articulate note attack with exceptional definition — the ideal complement to the neck's roasted maple and the instrument's overall character. The 14-inch radius is a modern flat profile that suits fast lead playing and low action without fret-out under aggressive bends.

The 22 Jescar stainless steel frets are among the finest fret wire available — significantly harder than standard nickel silver frets, meaning they wear at a fraction of the rate, require less dressing over the life of the instrument and maintain their crown and feel for far longer. Combined with the Macassar ebony fingerboard, the playing surface of this guitar is built to perform and to last. Brass dot inlays at 0.25 inch diameter are elegant without being distracting. Luminlay glow-in-the-dark side markers provide position visibility in low light.

The Pickups — 50th Anniversary USA Voiced

The CET 50th uses a three-pickup HSS configuration — a SuperRock humbucker at the bridge and MonsterTone single-coil-sized stacked humbuckers in the middle and neck positions — all wound in Schecter's Pasadena, California facility as 50th Anniversary editions.

Schecter USA SuperRock 50th Anniversary — Bridge Humbucker

The SuperRock is a high-output humbucker voiced for maximum versatility — a massive, open sound with excellent articulation that responds equally well to clean playing and high gain. The 50th Anniversary voicing builds on the standard SuperRock character with refinements to the midrange balance and harmonic content that make complex chord voicings clearer and single-note leads more singing. At high gain the SuperRock is tight and defined rather than loose — palm-muted riffing is punchy and articulate. For lead playing, the pickup has exceptional harmonic content and sustains naturally without requiring the gain to do the work.

Schecter USA MonsterTone 50th Anniversary — Middle and Neck Stacked Humbuckers

The MonsterTone stacked humbuckers in the middle and neck positions deliver an aggressive, punchy character in a single-coil-sized format — hum-cancelling performance with genuine tonal authority. In the neck position the MonsterTone produces a warm, full lead tone with natural sustain. In the middle position it contributes to the in-between tones available through the 5-way switching. The 50th Anniversary MonsterTone voicing adds warmth and harmonic complexity compared to the standard MonsterTone.

5-Way Switching with Push-Pull Coil Split

The 5-way blade switch provides access to bridge, bridge/middle, middle, middle/neck and neck positions — a full range of HSS tonal options. The master tone control is a push-pull pot that activates coil splitting across the pickup set — pulling up accesses the single-coil voices of all three pickups, dramatically extending the tonal range of the instrument into Strat-like territory. Master volume and master tone simplify the control layout for fast adjustments on stage.

Hardware — Gotoh 510, Hipshot Locking Tuners, Graph Tech Tusq

The hardware specification of the CET 50th is premium throughout and finished in gold with black accents — complementing the Golden Anniversary finish and walnut centre accent.

• Gotoh 510 Tremolo: One of the finest tremolo designs available — smooth, precise action with excellent return-to-pitch performance. The Gotoh 510 is preferred by many professional players over the Floyd Rose for its feel and reliability under moderate tremolo use.
• Schecter Hipshot Staggered Locking Tuners: Staggered locking tuners improve string break angle over the nut without requiring string trees — improving tuning stability and reducing friction at the nut. Locking pegs simplify string changes and add a further layer of tuning security.
• Graph Tech Black TUSQ Nut: A self-lubricating synthetic nut material that significantly reduces friction-based tuning instability — particularly important on a tremolo-equipped guitar. The 1.67 inch nut width provides the correct string spacing for the 25.5 inch scale length.
• D'Addario XS Strings: Schecter's choice of factory string for the CET 50th — a premium coated string that delivers consistent tone and extended life from the first session.

The Case — Heirloom Quality

The CET 50th ships in an heirloom quality hardcase — a case specified to match the instrument's premium positioning. An instrument of this value deserves proper protection and storage, and the included case provides it.

Specifications

In Stock at Angkor Music Melbourne

The Schecter USA Custom Shop CET 50th Anniversary is in stock at our Altona showroom. A guitar at this level deserves to be played before purchased — we invite you to visit us at 4 Drake Boulevard, Altona to try this instrument in person. Our team is happy to set it up through an appropriate amplifier and give you the time and space to understand what this guitar is capable of.

★★★★★ 4.9 Stars — Read Our 1,500+ Google Reviews →

Frequently Asked Questions

★★★★★ 4.9 Stars — Over 1,500 Google Reviews →     ✓ Happy with your purchase? Leave us a review →