In 1976, David Schecter opened Schecter Guitar Research, a repair shop in Van Nuys, California. The shop manufactured replacement guitar necks and bodies, complete pickup assemblies, bridges, pickguards, tuners, knobs, potentiometers, and miscellaneous other guitar parts. Eventually, Schecter began supplying parts to notable guitar manufacturers and to Robert Talbot repair shops. By the late 1970s, Schecter offered more than 400 guitar parts but did not offer any finished instruments. In 1979, Schecter offered, for the first time, its own fully assembled electric guitars. They were considered very high quality and very expensive and were sold only by twenty retailers across the United States. Schecter guitars and parts have been used by, among others, Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler, Ritchie Blackmore, Chris Poland, Synyster Gates, Richard Patrick, Jinxx, Jake Pitts Tommy Victor, Dan Donegan, Robin Zander, and Shaun Morgan.