Schecter John Browne Tao-8 8-String Guitar, Ebony Fingerboard, Satin Trans Purple

PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE

We're stoked to now carry John Browne's new line of Schecter signature guitars, the Tao series! The Monuments guitarist has stellar taste, and these no-nonsense, all-badass purple-hued guitars are forces to be reckoned with. Here's the beastly 8-string variant with a 27" scale length.

On these, Browne and Schecter went with a tight combination of a lightweight swamp ash body (with a gorgeous natural back!) and a flame maple top. These tonewoods have awesome clarity and midrange focus acoustically, which translate to a good amount of resonance and sustain plugged in. The wenge/padauk neck and ebony fretboard complement these woods nicely both aesthetically and acoustically. All in all, this guitar is extremely resonant and mid-forward, which bodes well for staying tight under a lot of gain, especially on the low strings for those crushing riffs. Topping off things aesthetically is purple over flame maple on the headstock as well, which completes a cohesive look on the whole instrument.

The Schecter USA Chaosbreaker and Colossus 8-string pickups on this one sound simply phenomenal. They have the clarity and cut needed for heavily saturated rhythm tones and aggressive styles without getting too ear-piercing or shrill, and have a really sweet midrange quality that make lead runs simply a joy to play. They're also extremely versatile with the coil-split on the volume control, and because of their output level, their single-coil mode is seriously convincing - especially clean. Lastly, Hipshot locking tuners, a Hipshot bridge, extra-jumbo stainless steel frets and a TUSQ nut round out the awesome feature set.

If you're a rock and metal player who digs awesome tone and straightforward functionality from a platform that's both simple and beautiful aesthetically, John Browne's Tao is a mighty fine weapon of choice.