yup, didn't like the ones i found with search, so i'm making my own! as the topic says, this is the appreciation thread. haters need not apply! *wink*
now anyone who knows me well enough, knows that i've loved BC Rich guitars. ever since i saw Max Cavelera play one. of course it was the shape and the attitude i fell in love with first, but anyone who's read up on the history of the company and the comments from owners of vintage handmade Rich birds, also knows that these guitars are much better than most ppl give them credit for. they get dismissed because of their wild looks, and therefore were quickly adopted by metal guitarists. but they're so much more than that.
unfortunately, we don't get to play any of the handmades here in Singapore so no one knows their true quality. all we know is the crap that is the bronze and platinum series. the closest we get to a real Rich is the NJ series and even that you have to import yourself. the handful of players that have done so i believe, will attest to their quality. personally i'd take an NJ over a Strat or LP anyday. now they've introduced a new Calibre series that will sit between the NJs and handmades and i can't wait to try one. here's the specs from their website:
Quote:
Construction: neck through Body wood: nato (eastern mahogany) Body thickness: 45mm Top style: beveled Body binding: no
Headstock style: Widow Headstock color: onyx Headstock binding: white one ply Tuners: Schaller
Neck wood: maple Back of neck: onyx Neck binding: white one ply
Fretboard: ebony Inlay: large white pearl diamonds Frets: 24 jumbo 2.7mm Factory strings: 9 – 42 Nut: 43mm locking Scale: 24 5/8”
Bridge / Tailpiece: Floyd Rose original tremolo Pickups: 2 black Rockfield mafia humbuckers Controls: 2 volumes, 1 three-way toggle and 1 tone Hardware: black
Special features: ALL Schaller hardware, special white pearl guitar shaped R logo Finish: painted glossy Color: onyx
In response to volumes of player requests and high market demand B.C. Rich introduces the Calibre line of instruments. With the Calibre guitars a new high-end option has been created that will extend the dream of owning a handcrafted BC Rich to even more discriminating players! The Warlock Calibre is meticulously handcrafted in Europe with very specific tolerances and specifications that closely mimic USA handcrafted features, quality and playability. The Warlock Calibre offers up a level of quality at a value that fits in between our amazing imported models and our original admired and treasured Custom Shop Handcrafted models. See, feel and hear for yourself how special our “old world” craftsmanship European Master guitars are!
from one of the stores on eBay, it appears these are Czech made and list for US$1,900 but are around US$1,300 street price. the neck through NJs are around US$600 street. so for US$600 more, you get - original Floyd Rose trem and 24.75" scale neck (warlock), Rockfield Mafia pickups, Schaller tuners and hardware, 10.77mm thick AAAA quilted maple cap /w matching headstock (mock/bich), neck and headstock binding, white pearl inlays and European craftsmanship! worth it? and oh yes, that oh-so desirable "R" logo on the headstock, once reserved only for US handmades. now you can fool your friends for only half the price of a real one!
out of the 3 i'd only go for the Warlock so the AAAA maple cap is irrelevant. i've never tried the mafia pickups and i'd rather drop in some BL XL500s anyway. i've never experienced european 'craftsmanship', Czech or not, so i can't put a value on that. so for me really, i'd only be paying for the binding, original FR and 24.75" scale neck (and yeah, the "R" !!) thus, i await reviews on this series that will confirm if it's really worth paying US$300-400 more coz it's made in Europe. it's sure looks like it is though!
i'm a fan of bc rich! before i bought my jackson ke-2, i actually considered between a usa handmade bc rich warlock or ironbird and the jackson ke-2 (all jackson usa guitars are handmade also). the bc rich that time actually sold cheaper but in the end i ordered the jackson instead.
now this being an appreciation thread, we need something to appreciate! since i saw Allen Collins' Gibson Explorer i've wanted one. but they're collector's items now and out of the price range of most mortals. so what do you do? you get the Epi Korina reissue! but what does that have to do with BC Rich?? well, me being a BC Rich guy, i had an idea that one day when i could afford to, i would order a custom explorer from the Custom Shop. (i'd have BCR make all my guitars if i could) and, yesterday on eBay i found someone apparently shares my dream! imho, this is a rare bird to appreciate. isn't she a beauty??
it's Item #220173979215 if you want to take a look. i think the BIN price is a steal for what this guitar is, but sadly, i still can't afford it. seeing it makes me even more sure i want to get one like this made whenever i can afford to though...
@Alice9: hey Alice, yeah my first Rich was a bronze Warlock with the old pointy headstock. which series is yours? i've come full circle now - gone through the Mock and the Eagle - now realise that the Warlock is and always has been the one for me.
@van_halen: hey, yeah i think if i wasn't such a BC Rich nut, then i'd be a Jackson nut! all my thrash metal heroes play Jacksons. KE-2 is beautiful too, can't blame you for choosing it man. funny you mentioned the prices, that's the exact thing that keeps me in love with the Riches. for the price, the guitar you get is one hell of a value. some of the NJs can stand up to Jacksons that cost twice as much! and between a bunch of guitars at the same price level, the NJ will beat the pants off most of them. how were you planning to order the handmade Rich, thru Davis? BCR don't take direct orders right?
@Alice9: hey Alice, yeah my first Rich was a bronze Warlock with the old pointy headstock. which series is yours? i've come full circle now - gone through the Mock and the Eagle - now realise that the Warlock is and always has been the one for me.
@van_halen: hey, yeah i think if i wasn't such a BC Rich nut, then i'd be a Jackson nut! all my thrash metal heroes play Jacksons. KE-2 is beautiful too, can't blame you for choosing it man. funny you mentioned the prices, that's the exact thing that keeps me in love with the Riches. for the price, the guitar you get is one hell of a value. some of the NJs can stand up to Jacksons that cost twice as much! and between a bunch of guitars at the same price level, the NJ will beat the pants off most of them. how were you planning to order the handmade Rich, thru Davis? BCR don't take direct orders right?
heh heh, i planned to order the bc riches through an american website, i believe it's drumcityguitarland.com or drumcitymusicland.com or something else, can't remember exactly cos it's many years ago! iirc, the usa handmade bc riches were going for 1.1usd or 1.2usd and cheaper than the jackson though both about the same specs and handmade, it's a close fight. but in the end i just love the kelly shape more so i bought that. seriously man if i didn't buy my jackson i'll definitely buy a bc rich that time!
i also considered getting the nj warlock/ironbird when davis still sold them for $620 or something, but in the end didn't. for the longest time i've gassed for bc rich and up till now i've never owned 1! seriously back then, the nj bc riches were really good deals. how come davis don't bring in nj anymore? sgd620 for nj series and usd1200 for usa HANDMADE bc rich seriously good deals man. even fender american and gibson guitars cost more but are not handmade.
well, the first time i wanted to get an NJ i asked the owner of Davis if he could bring them in coz at that time he only sold bronzes. think it was in 1999 or 2000 sometime. what he told me was that for import models he had to order a minimum quantity and he didn't think he would be able to sell all of them. well i don't blame him when you're selling a bronze for $600 at that time, an NJ would prob have been $1k. so anyway, after that day i just stopped going there to look for Riches coz it was cheaper to import my own. i never knew he had brought in NJs and selling for $620?? that's indeed a gd price. i paid $600 for my first bronze warlock from him in the late 90s.
anyway, his bread and butter is the entry level market. i guess now there's so many import and knock-off models that he doesn't think the market can bear the price of NJs again. he's probably right. though if more ppl knew about the quality of NJs, he'd probably sell much more of them. i think too many ppl start off with a bronze or platinum and think that BC Rich make shit guitars. then they get frustrated again when the resale value on those is so low. they don't want to take a chance on the more expensive NJs but it's a world of difference! the one i don't get is why he brings in the not-so-popular shapes, like Ironbirds for eg. and then wonders why they don't sell?? where are the Mocks, the Jr Vs, Biches!?
now here's one for the non-believers who think that BC Rich is only about pointy, heavy metal guitars. did you know, BC Rich has been around since the 70s and Bernie Rico Sr actually built the first Riches geared towards jazz players? those were the Seagulls that were ancestors to the Eagle shape. he also built superstrats like the ST-3, Outlaw, Gunslinger and the Assassin. the first Assassins looked pretty much like any 80s superstrat at the time. this is what it looks like now, the PX3T!
Quote:
Construction: neck through Body wood: nato (eastern mahogany) Body thickness: 45mm Top style: deep arched Body binding: white multi-ply
Headstock style: small traditional 3 to a side Headstock color: onyx Headstock binding: multi-ply white Tuners: Grover Rotomatics
Neck wood: maple Back of neck: onyx Neck binding: multi-ply white Neck profile: thin Neck thickness at fret 1: 19mm Neck thickness at fret 12: 21mm Neck radius: 430mm
Bridge type / Tailpiece type: Floyd Rose original tremolo Pickups: 2 black chrome covered Rockfield mafia humbuckers Controls: 1 volume, 1 three-way toggle and 1 tone. Tone knob is a push pull that is a coil tap that cancels the two outside coils of each humbucker. Hardware: black chrome
Special features: two end of body strap buttons for a custom strap fit and instrument positioning, revolver knobs Finish: painted glossy Color: onyx
now this is more like it! for a street price of only US$700, you get an Original Floyd Rose trem! mafia pickups, 25.5" scale, 43mm nut, full binding, ebony fretboard, Grover tuners. and the coil tap is an added bonus. my old Cort had a push/pull tone knob coil tap and it was a really useful feature. between this and the Schecter C1 Elite, i'm grabbing the Assassin. for once, a BC Rich is less gaudy than another maker's! :mrgreen:
well, the first time i wanted to get an NJ i asked the owner of Davis if he could bring them in coz at that time he only sold bronzes. think it was in 1999 or 2000 sometime. what he told me was that for import models he had to order a minimum quantity and he didn't think he would be able to sell all of them. well i don't blame him when you're selling a bronze for $600 at that time, an NJ would prob have been $1k. so anyway, after that day i just stopped going there to look for Riches coz it was cheaper to import my own. i never knew he had brought in NJs and selling for $620?? that's indeed a gd price. i paid $600 for my first bronze warlock from him in the late 90s.
anyway, his bread and butter is the entry level market. i guess now there's so many import and knock-off models that he doesn't think the market can bear the price of NJs again. he's probably right. though if more ppl knew about the quality of NJs, he'd probably sell much more of them. i think too many ppl start off with a bronze or platinum and think that BC Rich make shit guitars. then they get frustrated again when the resale value on those is so low. they don't want to take a chance on the more expensive NJs but it's a world of difference! the one i don't get is why he brings in the not-so-popular shapes, like Ironbirds for eg. and then wonders why they don't sell?? where are the Mocks, the Jr Vs, Biches!?
huh? i first started visiting davis in the early part of this millenium/century and they had njs (warlock, ironbird etc) selling for $620 and iirc, even came with countoured gigbags for such shapes. that time the bronze or platinum series were $200/$300+. nowadays i see their platinum pro is about $900? bronze $600?
The B.C. Rich Appreciation thread
