Show Full Spec Comparison
| Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova | Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Charvel | Schecter |
| Year: | 2019 | 2006 |
| Configuration: | HH | HH |
| Strings: | 7 | 7 |
| Made in: | South Korea | South Korea |
| Series: | Artist Signature | Hellraiser |
| Colors: | Black Satin, Green Satin | Black, Red |
| Left-Handed Version: | No | Yes |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Solid Body | Solid Body |
| Body Material: | Basswood | Mahogany |
| Bridge: | Gotoh Custom 7-String 510 Tremolo | Floyd Rose 1000 Series |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | Set |
| Tuners: | Charvel-Branded Die-Cast Locking | Grover |
| Fretboard: | Maple | Rosewood |
| Neck Material: | Maple | Mahogany 3-pc |
| Decoration: | Cascading Black Dot | Grey Pearloid Gothic Crosses |
| Scale Size: | 25.5" | 26.5" |
| Shape: | Angel Vivaldi Custom | Thin C |
| Frets: | 24 Jumbo Nickel Silver | 24 XL Jumbo Nickel Silver |
| Fretboard Radius: | 12" to 16" | 16" |
| Nut: | Black Tusq XL | Locking |
| Nut Width: | 47.6mm (1.875'') | 47.6mm (1.875'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | DiMarzio The Tone Zone 7 (Humbucker / Passive) | EMG 81-7 (Humbucker / Active) |
| Middle Pickup: | ||
| Neck Pickup: | DiMarzio Air Norton 7 (Humbucker / Passive) | Sustainiac (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Switch: | 5 Way | 3 Way |
| Knobs: | Dome | Dome |
| Pickup Mods: | None | Sustainer |
| Volume Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Tone Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | No | No |
| Hardware Color: | Gold | Black & Chrome |
Show Diagrams Comparison
Reasons to Get
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova over Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S
Reasons to Get
Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S over Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova
Other Key Differences
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova vs Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S
Shared Features
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova vs Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
- Top Pickup Brand
Common Weaknesses
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both favor small hands .
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova:
Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S:
Beginner Friendliness
The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S meets only 3. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
New Player Friendliness
Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S- Comfortable shape
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Basswood is a lightweight type of wood that isn't as expensive as other popular choices for guitar building. It gives more power to the mid-range frequencies. Its color can vary from pale white to light brown. Find out more about Basswood.
Woods Used in the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Winner: Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S.
Pickup Configuration
Both pickup configurations are HH. Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
Both come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.
You can purchase similar pickups to the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova's and use them on any guitar:
We found the same or similar pickups to the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S's online:
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Tie.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova gives you 5 switch options while the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S gives you 3. This means that the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S comes with some kind of pickup modification: Sustainer.
The pickups with Sustainer are able to recreate the 'feedback' you get when you hold your guitar near a speaker without muting the strings. This allows them to produce infinite sustain that you can use for as long as you want to create interest sounds and harmonics.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova compares to the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in South Korea.
South Korea was for many years the number one choice for mass-producing semi-premium guitars. They can build excellent guitars for a cheap price. Now, it's less common to find Korean guitars because Indonesia has proved capable of building guitars just as well, but likely for cheaper.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova has a Black Tusq XL nut. TUSQ nuts are usually the highest quality you can get. Black TUSQs are made from a special slippery material that helps the strings get back to its original position (one of the keys to tune stability).
On the other hand, the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S comes with a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.
On the other hand, the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S's is a Floyd Rose. This is a double-locking bridge system that allows you to perform techniques like dive bombs and pinch harmonics. The locking nut allows your guitar to stay in tune even after the most intense tremolo usage. The disadvantage is that it takes more work to change the strings and set up everything correctly.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S.
Tuners
The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Nevertheless, the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S has a locking nut, so it should have even better tune stability and doesn't need locking tuners.
Winner: Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova has a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
On the other hand, the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S comes with Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.
Winner: Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova
- Locking Tuners
- Black Tusq XL Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Luminescent Inlay
- Tremolo
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in South Korea
- No Expensive Woods
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Sustainer Pickups
- Tremolo
- Retainer Bar
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in South Korea
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 47.6mm (1.875'').
This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 7-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S has the longest scale: 26.5". The Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova is only 25.5" long. This is a 1'' (25.4mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova and the Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.
Fret Size
The Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR S has XL Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature DK24-7 Nova's Jumbo frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.
