Guitar World Gear Editor Paul Riario chooses his top five new electric guitars of 2012.

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03. Schecter Diamond Series Blackjack SLS C-1 FR-S

With so many super Strat-style guitars available for shredders and metal players alike, I can’t help but find that the Schecter Blackjack C-1 FR-S is the absolute leader among them. It combines a Floyd Rose 1000 series double locking tremolo for dive-bombing and a built-in active Sustainiac system, which doubles as a neck pickup.

The Sustainiac, for some guitarists, is like an Apple product; it’s something you didn’t know you wanted but once you have it, you can’t imagine your life without it. The Sustainiac infinitely sustains any note and provides endless feedback or harmonic-rich overtones to that note depending upon what mode you set from its switch.

Other quality appointments include Seymour Duncan Full Shred bridge humbucker, Grover Rotomatic tuners, black multi-ply binding, ebony fretboard, skull inlay and 24 jumbo frets. There’s so much packed into this guitar that I haven’t even told you how fast and furious the neck feels.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

More info: schecterguitars.com

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