Aka Heavy
BC Rich are a company specialising in pointed and extreme guitar shapes best suited for rock, hard rock and heavy metal bands. Bernardo Chavez Rico was the unlikely character to build distinctive guitars. Bernardo Rico (aka “Bernie”) was an successful Flamenco acoustic player. From the early-to-mid 60s Bernie Rico exclusively built Flamenco guitars in Bernardo’s Guitar Shop in Los Angeles, Cal. Former executive Vice President, Mal Stich, comments, “When you walked into Bernardo’s the very first thing you noticed was wall to wall guitars hanging from the ceiling like birthday celebration balloons. There was a glass counter with picks, strings, guitar parts and accessories. Behind the counter was a window and you could watch the guys constructing electric guitars. But, the coolest thing was there were always Classical and Flamenco players jamming. I remember the Flamenco players firing at one another with riff after riff. Bernie’s dad, Bernardo Mason Rico, was always sitting in his chair next to the soda machine while friends and neighbors, even the postman, stood awestruck as they listened to the music.”
We’re recognizing BC Rich Guitar’s Fortieth Anniversary stamping 1969 as the time Bernie embarked on his first attempt to manufacture guitars and basses. It was recorded that ten basses inspired by the Gibson EB-3 bass in addition to ten matching Les Paul influenced guitars were hand-crafted. Today few of these musical instruments exist, it’s rumored that fewer than the number listed above were actually completed.
The time around 1972 was very auspicious. The initial electric guitar design, the Seagull, was handcrafted in Bernardo’s shop. True to future shape, the Seagull guitar was visually distinctive along with innovative. The guitar’s neck-through design (now an embarkment of BC Rich) featured a heel-less design – incredibly uncommon for that time.
Bernie quickly employed a number of proficient creative designers to compliment his very talented craftsmen. Many of the distinct shapes and styles that would emerge from this expansion had turn out to be legendary shapes associated with electric guitars. Approximately around 1976 came the Mockingbird, and then the additional improvement of the Seagull, the Eagle was born, and around 1978 arrived the Bich was introduced. A few of the most revered guitarists immediately took to the new route of BC Rich.
With rising achievement, there was a need for a less expensive mass-produced BC Rich guitar. Nearly around 1978 Bernie developed the BC Rico brand name to designate electric guitars that would be imported from Japan. This first attempt was not profitable when the Rico Reed Company sued over the use of the name. Regardless of the final result, the choice was already made to use the BC Rich name on imported electric guitars. Only a small portion, perhaps a hundred or so BC Rico guitars ever made it to the United States.
When the early 80s came, the Warlock was introduced. Almost immediately the hair metal culture of the time took to the Warlock’s edgy and distinctive shape. The Warlock, though nowhere near the latest shape developed, rounds out the primary five traditional BC Rich shapes and styles.
The 90s and 2000s witnessed a brand new crop of threateningly-named models even pointier than the 80s models. These included the Ignitor, Draco, Zombie, Beast (brainstormed by Brian Hoffman, guitarists of death metal band Deicide), Warbeast (a combination of Beast and Warlock).
BC Rich are also known for their endorsement deals with several important and respected hard rock and metal artists including Kerry King of Slayer (whose signature model is diabolic V-shaped axe that has intensive tribal graphic work over the body. King also has a signature guitar based mostly on the Warlock). The deceased guitarists, Chuck Schuldiner of Death (when Schuldiner died of cancer in 2001 BC Rich released a tribute model based on his number one guitar, the BC Rich Stealth). Paul Stanley of KISS, and Paolo Gregoletto (bassist of Trivium) are also endorsed BC Rich players. If you are like me, when you think of rock and metal… you think of recognizable guitars like BC Rich. They helped shape rock and roll.
Todd is a passionate music lover and guitarist for over 25 years. One of his favorite guitar websites he uses for his guitar related research and resources is Gear-Vault.com, noted as the best guitar review website on the entire internet. Resource to the BC Rich Guitars article.
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Heavy on Doo Wop, Volume 10: Music That Moves You
$14.99
Song list: 1. Mean World – Mighty Mellow Tones, 2. My Last Cry – Starlettes, 3. Id Like To Know – Bobby Charles, 4. Whats To Become Of Me – Chessmen, 5. The Echo Tells Me – Splendors, 6. Who Created Love – Varnells, 7. Ten Questions – Renaults, 8. Why – Travelers, 9. No One – Gary Gordon, 10. No Not Now – Sonny Fulton & Mixmasters, 11. Youre Just An Angel – Pastels (s/b Five Pastels), 12. What The…
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