Featured review by:
unregistered, on may 23, 2005
1 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 330
Purchased from: Local Music Store
Features: 2000 Platinum Black Bich with 22 frets, solid black finish. Honestly, I've had this guitar so long, I don't remember what the woods are. However, it does have an adjustable bridge and 3 knobs: 2 tone, 1 volume. And 4 pickups, 2 at the neck, 2 at the bridge. They're BC Rich pickups, but they have a good sound. Non-locking factory tuners and they threw in the hard case for $90 (custom-fit to the body style by BC Rich). // 8
Sound: I play a little bit of everything, but for the band I've been in the last few years, it's been a lot of harder rock from punk to metal. I picked this guitar up at the music store, originally, for its looks but tried it out on a couple of amps at the music store (a Fender super reverb and a small practice amp they had) and it seemed to emit several good sounds. Of course, I also took my own distortion pedal in with me (a Boss HM-3 Hyper Metal). I've played it in the studio through a jerry-rigged Fender tube (Vintage 60's hardware in a homemade cabinet), Fender Super & Twin Reverbs, a Univox 70s tube amp that screamed like a banshee, and even a bass Direct Input box. I've played it live through a 10-inch, 100-watt Laney, a 12-inch, 100-watt Crate, a Crate stack, and a Mesa Boogie. It sounded great every time. I practice normally on a 15-watt Ibanez practice amp (I live in an apartment) and I can get tones from country (almost a reverbed acoustic) to straight-up metsl. // 10
Action, Fit & Finish: The factory action was great: low with no buzz and easily playable. The pickups are factory B. C. Rich, as above stated, but sound great. The bridge was fine but is adjustable. The G string seems to slip more than it should, but I feel that if I replaced the tuning maching, it would be fine. It didn't really start until I'd had the guitar for 2 or 3 years (I bought it new and have had it about 5 years). There has been some rusting around the toggle Switch and on the pickups, but I am absolutely horrible about cleaning my guitar and tend to sweat a lot under lights on stage. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I've played this guitar many times live without a backup (as long as the strings are fairly new) and I've never had a problem. However, my toggle Switch is beginning to fail sometimes on the upper setting, but this is most likely due to pressure on it due to van and car packing for gigs over five years. Hardware's as solid as you'd expect for the price and the strap buttons are pure metal and haven't been replaced or moved for the duration of the guitar's life thus far. The finish is still pure. // 10
Impression: While I originally picked this guitar up for its evil look (I had to out-metal our other guitarist who had just gotten a solid black Les Paul), I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't think the guitar was great overall. I've been playing for about ten years now (five at the time of purchase) and I pretty much know what I want in a guitar. This guitar has great action, sounds great on all 3 toggle settings (with a little practiced amp and pedal setting adjustments) and is light and comfortable to play. If it were stolen or lost, I would definitely want another one, but I might get a Les Paul to replace it. I would consider that an even trade. // 10
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