B.C. Rich is a manufacturer of guitars and bass guitars founded by Bernardo
Chavez Rico in 1969. Currently, most B.C. Rich guitars are manufactured in
Asia, but luthiers of the company's custom shop continue to handmade
instruments. The Hanser Music Group, based in Kentucky, USA, operates B.C.
Rich. As of 2001, no member of the Rico family is involved in the company.
Design and types = Seagull =
A somewhat odd design, ostensibly based on a toilet seat shape, this guitar was
designed by Bernie Rico. It was a stage favorite of guitarist Dick Wagner, who
played the lead guitar work on Aerosmith's remake of "Train Kept A
Rollin" and Dream On. Initially the pickups were Gibsons,
rewired as 4 conductor and potted, later Guild pickups were treated the same way.
In 1975 DiMarzio agreed to build potted, 4 conductor pickups for BC Rich and they
were used until BCR began designing their own in the late 80s. Early in the
70s Neal Moser was brought on board to design and supervise the electronics.
His contribution was the iconic setup with coil taps, a phase switch, a
Varitone and a defeatable active preamp. This electronics package continues to
this day on higher end models. The Seagull shape was uncomfortable for
some to play due to the sharp upper point and the sharp lower point that dug
into the leg sitting down. It was redesigned several times including a
smoother lower point, a Junior version with simpler electronics and a pointless
version which is quite rare. Finally it morphed into the Eagle shape with no
sharp points. Serial numbers began as a stamped 6
digit number starting with the year and ending with the number of production.
Most references to BCR serialization miss this point. Beginning in 1976, the
numbers started with the year then the number of production. Since more than
1000 guitars were produced many years, the numbers became increasingly
inaccurate through the 1980s, ending up about 4 years behind. After the company
was purchased by Class Axe in 1989 production of the hand-made,
neck-through models was halted for several years, although GMW supplied
some stock made from rejected then repaired bodies handbuilt through the
years. After Class Axe took over there were a number of different serial
schemes designated for the American, Asian and Bolt-on guitars.
= Eagle = This model was made popular by Brad
Whitford of Aerosmith. Neil Giraldo also played his Eagle on some of her early
albums and videos. = Mockingbird =
The BC Rich Mockingbird was designed by Johnny A Go-Go. It was made popular by
Joe Perry of Aerosmith. The Mockingbird model experienced a resurgence in the
early 90's through Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash after he played one on
the Use Your Illusion world tour. = The Bich =
The most popular of the BC Rich line is the BC Rich "Bich" 10 string model. The
Bich 10 string guitar was the brain-child of Neal Moser. During the
late 1960s, Moser worked with musicians including Jimi Hendrix, and Stephen
Stills of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Neal worked as a sub-contractor for Bernie
Rico from 1974 to 1985. During his time with BC Rich, he conceived, designed,
and built the first Bich 10 string prototype guitar. The Bich guitar was
never owned by Bernie Rico/BC Rich. The design was licensed to BC Rich under
contract with Neal Moser. A lawsuit filed by Neal Moser against Hanser
Holdings Int'l/BC Rich resulted in Moser Custom Guitars and HHI/BC Rich both
having the right to produce their own version of the Rich Bich style guitar.
Neal Moser retains ownership of the original body templates. The Moser
Custom Shop "Moser 10" and the BC Rich Bich "PMS" models are the closest
representations of the original pre-1985 BC Rich Rich Bich body design. The
"Moser 10" models have an "M" inlay on the headstock, compared to the HHI/BC
Rich "R" headstock inlay. The "Bich" can also be categorized as a guitar that
"brings out" Heavy Metal and such genres.
= BC Rich Bich "PMS" 10 String Prototype To celebrate the 25th anniversary
release of the Rich Bich 10 string guitar, HHI/BC Rich contracted the
original BC Rich luthiers Neal Moser and Sal Gonzales to produce 25 true
hand-built reproductions of the original prototype to the Bich 10 string model.
These hand-carved wonders were built off of Neal Moser's original 1978 body
templates, using the same exotic woods as the original prototype model. Due to
contract issues between Neal Moser and Hanser Holdings Int'l, only 16 of the
PMS models were produced. These have become highly prized by BC Rich
collectors due to the limited production number. These limited edition models are
considered to represent the last of the true BC Rich guitars. The original
prototype is currently owned by Dan Lawrence.
= Warlock = The introduction of the B.C. Rich
Warlock model in the early 1980s helped push B.C. Rich into the heavy metal
music genre. Notable early players included Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx of
Mötley Crüe, Lita Ford, Paul Stanley of KISS, Craig Goldy of Dio and Giuffria,
and a young pre-Les Paul playing Slash. Its popularity continues with players
such as Slayer guitarist Kerry King.The variation on this one, The B.C. Rich
Revenge Warlock, Has a Maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and a mahogany body,
with chrome hardware. Also, it has the authentic widow headstock.
= Ironbird = Designed by Joey Rico in 1983, the
Ironbird gained some popularity amongst heavy metal guitarists, including Trey
Azagthoth of Morbid Angel. The original model had a pointed reverse headstock,
whereas the 21st Century version has a regular pointed headstock.
= Acrylic Series = These guitars are made completely of
acrylic and their bodies are transparent, making the electronics
inside viewable. The original run of the acrylic models featured a standard
bolt-on maple neck with wood headstock, but later models featured an acrylic
headstock, matching the same color as the body and making the overall
appearance of the guitar more attractive. Acrylic is more dense than
most woods which makes the guitar heavier. In 2006 B.C. Rich introduced
the IT series. In this series the neck is bolted inside the body to look like a
neck-through, but neck joint is still visible. This combines the elements of
both bolt-on and neck-through designs. Like Rickenbacker and Jackson, B.C. Rich
used a neck-through body design in many of their instruments. BC Rich also
pioneered the heel-less joint. In addition, they used custom
battery-powered active electronics — pickups and tone controls inside the
guitar. These electronics were originally thought out and designed by
Neal MoserNeal Moser helped with bone crafted parts and many set ups in the
custom shop. He added the feet on winged guitars like the Rich Bich, which was
one of his designs. Their guitars come in a variety of shapes, ranging from
styles which are similar to electric guitar types to unusual styles such as
the Fat Bob, which has a body in the shape of a Harley-Davidson gas tank.
See also List of B.C. Rich guitars - Most Bronze
and Platinum series models are bolt-on necks, like Fender. B.C. Rich also has a
large variety of body shapes, including The Warlock, Widow, Mockingbird, Beast,
S.O.B., Eagle etc. References
This page uses content from GearWiki at BC_Rich. The list of authors can be seen
in the page history. As with Wikipedia, the text of GearWiki is available under
the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
External links B.C. Rich Official Site
Hanser Music Group Official Site Bernie Rico Jr. Official Site
B.C. Rich on Twitter B.C. Rich on Facebook