verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message b.c. rich guitars type private industry musical instruments founded 1969 ; 47 years ago 1969 in los angeles california united states founder bernardo chavez rico headquarters hebron kentucky united states area served worldwide products electric guitars bass guitars parent praxis musical instruments website bcrich.com b.c. rich is an american brand of acoustic and electric bass guitars founded by bernardo chavez rico in 1969 . the company started to make electric guitars in the 1970s that were notable for their atypical body shapes . in the following decade b.c. rich gained a broader exposure with the popularity of heavy metal and has since often been linked to that music scene . 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 . b.c rich has since been acquired by praxis musical based in orange california . the high end b.c. rich instruments are custom made in the usa whereas the mid and low budget models are produced in different countries in asia . contents 1 design and types 1.1 seagull 1.2 eagle 1.3 mockingbird 1.4 the bich 1.5 bc rich bich pms 10 string prototype 1.6 warlock 1.7 ironbird 1.8 acrylic series 2 see also 3 references 4 external links design and types edit for more details on this topic see list of b.c. rich guitars . seagull edit b.c. rich uses unusual shapes for its solid body guitars ; pictured is the warlock model . the kkv designed by kerry king . a virgin platinum series . slash playing with a mockingbird in 2007 . 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 or two in some models . this electronics package continues to this day on higher end models . 1 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 . 2 serial numbers began as a stamped 6 digit number starting with the year and ending with the number of production 500037 would be the 37th guitar built in 1975 . 3 most references to bcr serialization miss this point . beginning in 1976 the numbers started with the year then the number of production yyxxx . since more than 1000 guitars were produced many years the numbers became increasingly inaccurate through the 1980s ending up about 4 years behind i.e. a 88xxx serial number guitar would have been built in 1984 . 4 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 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 edit this model was made popular by brad whitford of aerosmith and neil giraldo guitarist and also husband of pat benatar also played his eagle on some of her early albums and videos . mockingbird edit the bc rich mockingbird was designed by johnny go go kessel . 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 edit 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 bc rich 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 edit 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 black african walnut maple and brazilian rosewood 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 edit 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 m tley cr e lita ford paul stanley of kiss featuring a broken mirror top 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 edit 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 edit 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 specific gravity of acrylic is 1.18 g cm3 while that of lignum vitae probably the heaviest of woods is approximately 1.23 g cm3 5 which makes the guitar heavier . in 2006 b.c. rich introduced the it invisibolt technology 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 moser citation needed neal 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 e.g. the telecaster styled blaster to unusual styles such as the fat bob which has a body in the shape of a harley davidson gas tank . see also edit 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 edit 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 . http www.nealmoser.com guitarpics5.htm http www.nealmoser.com guitarpics5.htm private communication tim keyes bc rich dating your bc rich guitar dolphin music 3 13 2006 properties of guaiacum spp . http www.thewoodexplorer.com maindata we590.html external links edit 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 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title b.c. rich & oldid 742358896 categories b.c. rich electric guitarsguitar manufacturing companieselectric bass guitars by manufacturerhidden categories articles needing additional references from september 2016all articles needing additional 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