B.C. Rich is an American brand of acoustic and
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
s and
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
s founded by
Bernardo Chavez Rico Bernardo Chavez Rico (born October 13, 1941 – December 3, 1999) was an American luthier specializing in guitars. Known as Bernie Rico Sr. or simply B.C., Rico was born in East Los Angeles, California. Working with his father, Rico began his c ...
in 1969.
History
The company started making electric guitars in the 1970s. In the following decade B.C. Rich gained a broad exposure with the popularity of
heavy metal and has often been linked to that music scene. High-end B.C. Rich instruments were custom-made in the US by Ron Estrada whereas the mid- and low-end models were produced in different countries in Asia. The company briefly switched owners in the 1990s before being acquired in the 2000s by Hanser Music Group, a distribution company based in
Hebron, Kentucky
Hebron () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The city is named after the biblical city of Hebron. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 5,929. It is home to the Cinc ...
. B.C Rich was later licensed to Praxis Musical based in
Orange, California
Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...
until 2018.
On July 21, 2019, the official B.C. Rich Facebook page announced a change in ownership. The new management has reintroduced BC legacy models such as the IronBird and Stealth.
Design and types
![BCRichVirgin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/BCRichVirgin.jpg)
Initially the pickups were
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
, rewired as four-conductor and potted. Later,
Guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
pickups were rewired the same way.
In 1974–1975, some custom guitar models, and from 1975 to 1982, many production bass guitars were fitted with adjustable-pole humbucker pickups, designed by Sergio Zuñica.
In 1975,
DiMarzio agreed to build wax-potted, four-conductor pickups for B.C. Rich, and these were used until B.C. Rich began designing their own in the late 1980s. Early in the 1970s, Neal Moser was brought on board to design and supervise the electronics. His contribution was a wiring harness with coil taps, a phase switch, a Varitone, and a defeatable active preamp (or two in some models). This electronics package continues to this day on higher-end models.
Beginning in 1976, serial numbers began as a stamped 6 digit number starting with the year and ending with the number of production (600037 would be the 37th guitar built in 1976). The numbers became increasingly inaccurate through the 1980s, ending up about 4 years behind, due to the quantity of guitars produced in a year often exceeding 1000 (i.e. a 88xxx serial number guitar would have been built in 1984). 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 (Neal Moser) supplied some stock made from rejected then repaired bodies hand built 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.
Seagull
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 to include a smoother lower point, and a Junior version with simpler electronics, then a pointless version which is quite rare. Finally it morphed into the Eagle shape with no sharp points.
Stealth
The Stealth was designed by
Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, producer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the 1960s as founding member of his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", was ...
.
Chuck Schuldiner
Charles Schuldiner (born May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001) was an American musician. He founded the death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only consistent member until his death in ...
owned several B.C. Rich guitars. In 2008, B.C. Rich released the Chuck Schuldiner Tribute Stealth, as well as a handcrafted version, with a portion of the proceeds going directly to Schuldiner's family. In 2021, B.C. Rich announced the Chuck Schuldiner Stealth.
Eagle
This model was made popular by
Brad Whitford
Bradley Ernest Whitford (born February 23, 1952)Putterford, Mark (1991) ''The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith'', Omnibus Press, Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2nd edn.), MOJO Books, , p. 11-13 is an American musician who i ...
of
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
and
Neil Giraldo
Neil Thomas Giraldo (born December 29, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter best known as the musical partner of Pat Benatar since 1979and spouse since 1982. He has also performed, written and produced for art ...
, who played his Eagle on some of the early
Pat Benatar
Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...
albums and videos.
Mockingbird
![Slash_3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Slash_3.jpg)
The
Mockingbird
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...
model was designed by Johnny "Go-Go" Kessel. It was made popular by
Joe Perry of
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
and
Lita Ford
Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...
of
The Runaways
The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", " Hollywood", "Queens of N ...
. The Mockingbird experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s through
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
lead guitarist
Slash
Slash may refer to:
* Slash (punctuation), the "/" character
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Slash (Marvel Comics)
* Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'')
Music
* Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band
* Nash ...
after he played one on the
Use Your Illusion
''Use Your Illusion'' is a 1998 compilation album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, drawing from the ''Use Your Illusion I'' and '' II'' studio albums. It was only released in the United States, and was primarily sold at Walmart and Kmart, t ...
world tour.
David Ellefson
David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth.
Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...
of
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
played a Mockingbird bass in first years of the band.
The B.C. Rich ("Bich")
The B.C. Rich "Bich" ten-string guitar was developed by Neal Moser, a sub-contractor for Bernie Rico (B.C. Rich) from 1974 to 1985. During his time with B.C. Rich, Moser conceived, designed, and built the first prototype. He then licensed the design to B.C. Rich. The guitar was introduced as the "Rich Bich" at the 1978
NAMM Show
The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...
as a custom-order model.
The original Bich is a six-course instrument, but with four two-string courses. The top E and B strings are strung as unison pairs, and the G and D strings as pairs with a principal and octave string, in the manner of the top four courses of a twelve-string guitar. The A and lower E strings are single-string courses. This unusual stringing was meant to obtain the brightness of the twelve-string guitar, while allowing higher levels of distortion before the sound became muddy.
The Bich had a conventional six-string headstock for the principal strings, with the four extra strings tuned by machine heads positioned in the body, past the tailpiece, with a large angled notch allowing access to the tuners. This radical body shape also countered the common tendency of coursed electric guitars to be head-heavy due to the weight of the extra machine heads.
The design was moderately successful, but many players bought it for the body shape alone, and removed the extra strings. B.C. Rich eventually released 6-string and 6/12-string double neck models of the Bich body shape. All Bich variants are hardtail guitars with through body necks and two humbucking pickups. The ten-string models differ from each other in finish and control details.
A
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
between Neal Moser and HHI Holdings Inc./B.C. Rich was settled, giving Moser Custom Guitars and HHI/B.C. Rich the right to produce their own versions of the Bich ten- and six-string guitars, with Neal Moser retaining 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 "Rich Bich" body design. The "Moser 10" models have an "M" inlay on the
headstock
A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the pegs or mechanism that holds the strings at the ...
, compared to the HHI/BC Rich "R" headstock inlay.
Notable users of the ten-string Bich include
Joe Perry (
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
),
Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...
(
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
),
Chris Poland
Chris Poland (born December 1, 1957) is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz fusion bands OHM (band), OHM and OHMphre ...
, also of
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
,
Manny Charlton
Manuel Charlton (25 July 1941 – 5 July 2022) was a Scottish musician, who was known as a founding member of the influential Scottish hard rock band Nazareth and was their lead guitarist from 1968 to 1990. He also produced a string of succe ...
(
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
), and
George Kooymans
George Jan Kooymans (born 11 March 1948, The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch guitarist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the Dutch group Golden Earring. Kooymans wrote "Twilight Zone (Golden Earring song), Twilight Zone", the group's ...
(
Golden Earring
Golden Earring (originally known as The Tornados) was a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Golden Earrings. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on th ...
).
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 guitars were built from Neal Moser's original 1978 body templates, using the same exotic woods (black African walnut, maple and Brazilian rosewood) as the original prototype model.
Due to contract issues between Neal Moser and Hanser Holdings, only 16 of the PMS models were produced. These have become highly prized by BC Rich collectors due to the limited production number. The original prototype is currently owned by Dan Lawrence.
Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...
(
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
) was known to use the ten-string variant of the Bich throughout the early 1980s, although with the four additional strings removed. The guitar was reportedly pawned, without Mustaine's knowledge, by Megadeth lead guitarist
Chris Poland
Chris Poland (born December 1, 1957) is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz fusion bands OHM (band), OHM and OHMphre ...
, which led to his dismissal. The current whereabouts of the guitar are unknown.
Warlock
![BC Rich Warlock Guitar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/BC_Rich_Warlock_Guitar.JPG)
The introduction of the
Warlock
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives ''warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicatio ...
model in 1981 helped push B.C. Rich into the
heavy metal music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
genre. Notable early players included
Mick Mars
Robert Alan Deal (born May 4, 1951), known professionally as Mick Mars, is an American musician and the retired lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He is known for his aggressive, melodic solos and bluesy riffs ...
and
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a me ...
of
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...
,
Lita Ford
Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...
,
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular ...
of
KISS
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
(featuring a broken mirror top),
Randy Jackson (Zebra)
Randy Jackson (born February 28, 1955) is an American rock musician from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for his role as frontman for the band Zebra. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. In addition to his career wit ...
,
Craig Goldy
Thomas "Craig" Goldy (born November 6, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Dio and Giuffria.
Early musical life
Goldy was born in San Diego, California. Before Dio, he played in the bands Vengeance, R ...
of
Dio and
Giuffria
Giuffria was an American rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1981 by Gregg Giuffria after his departure from the band Angel.
History
Giuffria was formed as Gregg Giuffria's side project in 1981 after his departure from Angel. At the o ...
, and a young pre-
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...
playing
Slash
Slash may refer to:
* Slash (punctuation), the "/" character
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Slash (Marvel Comics)
* Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'')
Music
* Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band
* Nash ...
. Its popularity continues with players such as
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...
guitarist
Kerry King
Kerry Ray King (born June 3, 1964) is an American musician, best known for being the co-lead guitarist and songwriter of thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and remained a member for nearly four decades.
...
. While
Slipknot was gaining in popularity (early 2000's), guitarist
Mick Thomson
Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson (born November 3, 1973) is an American musician. He is one of two guitarists for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donn ...
was well known for his signature red/black and black/white Warlocks with "HATE" fretboard inlays.
A variation on the Warlock design, called the "Warbeast" has also been produced. The Warbeast features a more heavily bevelled body, longer body horns as well as an additional horn in the upper middle section. The Warbeast was also produced exclusively with the "3-in-line" headstock design, and with Floyd Rose bridges included as standard, except on the cheapest models.
Ironbird
![0-B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/0-B._C._Rich_Ironbird_electric_guitar_headstock.jpg)
Designed by Joey Rico in 1983, the Ironbird gained some popularity amongst heavy metal guitarists, including
Trey Azagthoth
Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considered ...
of
Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel is an American death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...
. 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
Acrylic may refer to:
Chemicals and materials
* Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound
* Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity
* Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...
and their bodies are transparent, making the electronics inside visible. 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 color of the body and making the overall appearance of the guitar more attractive.
Acrylic
Acrylic may refer to:
Chemicals and materials
* Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound
* Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity
* Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...
is more
dense
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematically ...
than most woods (specific gravity of acrylic is 1.18 g/cm
3 while that of
lignum vitae
Lignum vitae () is a wood, also called guayacan or guaiacum, and in parts of Europe known as Pockholz or pokhout, from trees of the genus ''Guaiacum''. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America (e.g: Col ...
, contender for the most dense type of wood, is approximately 1.23 g/cm
3[Properties of guaiacum spp. http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/maindata/we590.html]) which makes the guitar heavier.
Other features
Like
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...
and
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
, B.C. Rich used a "neck-through" body design in many of their instruments. In 2006, they introduced the ''IT'' (''Invisibolt Technology'') series, which combines elements of bolt-on and neck-through designs: The neck is bolted inside the body to make the guitar look much like a "neck-through", but the neck joint is still visible. B.C. Rich also pioneered the heel-less joint.
Some models used custom battery-powered
active electronics – pickups and tone controls inside the guitar. These electronics were originally designed by Neal Moser, who had been helping 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.
B.C. Rich guitars come in a variety of shapes, ranging from more conventional styles (e.g., the
Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...
-styled Blaster) to unusual styles such as the ''Fat Bob'', which has a body in the shape of a
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
gas tank.
See also
*
List of B.C. Rich guitars
*Assassin/ASM
*Avenge and WMD SOB or Son Of Beast (Beast shape scaled down 10%)
*Beast (Designed by Brian Hoffman of Deicide in 1999)
*Big (Daddy) Beast (8 string Beast. Concept of James Siler and Heath Williamson; only one was ever built) Actua ...
References
External links
*
{{Guitar brands
B.C. Rich electric guitars
Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States
Electric bass guitars by manufacturer
Manufacturing companies based in Tennessee