Ironbird Standard Review

I think this is just a real headbangers guitar. Guitars like these are just born to rock and kill.

Features:	7
Sound:	9
Action:	8
Reliability:	9
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	6.5
Reviewer rating:	8.4
Users rating:	4.5
Votes:	14

overall: 8.4

Reviewed by: movarshaq, on june 08, 2011

Features: B.C.Rich Ironbird Standard. It has 24 jumbo frets on a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. 24 5/8" scale. Mahogany body. Comes with a floyd-rose style bridge. It has 2 Rockfield® Black Betty™ Active Humbuckers. It has a 3-way toggle Switch and also one volume knob. It is also a bolt-on neck. // 7

Sound: I play metal. Mostly black, thrash and death. This guitar is purely a guitar for metal. Especially if you wanna play stuff from megadeth and slayer, this guitar is ace at it. Not very versatile though, don't expect to be able to play jazz/ blues or basically anything that isn't rock or heavier. I use this guitar through a Line 6 spider IV 15 watt amp and the guitar sounds amazing, the Bridge pickup is especially great when heavily distorted. The pickup brand rockfield is a relatively new brand but don't be fooled, practically every review of this guitar states that these black betty active humbuckers are better than those of emg. Never used emg's before so I can't comment on that but these pickups are really good and they don't produce much feedback at all. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set-up fine from the shop and ready to use. No complaints in that area. Only a bit dissappointed with the pickup adjustment as I felt it was too high but the sales assistant at the shop helped me settle that free of charge. Before buying I thoroughly checked the guitar for flaws to not be cheated off my money but surprisingly couldn't find any. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is truly very solid indeed. As the clumsy person I am I have knocked it into walls, doors and the fan in my room plenty of times but still not a single scratch or chip. Still looks good as new. I can guarantee that the hardware can last you for a very long long time without a worry. The strap buttons are solid but I think its better to be safe than sorry so just get some strap locks. I think this guitar is more than good enough to withstand shitloads of live playing. It is dependable but again better to be safe than sorry so bring an extra. // 9

Impression: I think this is just a real headbangers guitar and B.C.Rich has given us many of those for example the B.C.Rich Chuck Schuldiner Tribute Stealth. Guitars like these are just born to rock and kill. I've been playing for only 6 months but I've tried out many of my other friends guitars such as Gibsons, Ibanez's, LTD's and Epiphone's. Obviously the Gibby's are in a whole diff league, I believe this guitar is way better than many of the ltd's in its price range and also the Epiphone's such as the 67 Flying-V and many of its Les Paul's. When comparing to Ibanez it really depends on which models we're talking abt. Example this knocks the GIO Ibanez's dead on the ground which is in its price range. If it were stolen definetely I'd buy it again because I just love this guitar, there's something abt its simplicity that just makes you appreciate and respect it than many other guitars out there. In or out off its price range. // 9

Comments

[JoePerry4life]

How exactly can you guarantee that the hardware will last long? Usually hardware on lower end guitars tend to crap out in a year or so.

Also playing through a line 6 spider dosen't give you the best idea of how the guitar sounds.

Lol, and why can you absolutely not play anything but rock or heavier on this?

[MaggaraMarine]

This doesn't look as cool as the 80's version with green finish and reverse headstock.

[pvdimens]

I have to agree with the lack of a real tone test. Also, I feel that comparing guitars to GIO Ibanez is like comparing steel to cheap plastic. Can you be specific about which Gibson, Ibanez, and LTD guitars you're comparing the Ironbird to?

[movarshaq]

JoePerry4life wrote:

How exactly can you guarantee that the hardware will last long? Usually hardware on lower end guitars tend to crap out in a year or so.

Also playing through a line 6 spider dosen't give you the best idea of how the guitar sounds.

Lol, and why can you absolutely not play anything but rock or heavier on this?

well for starters its taken lots of knocks and i literally mean LOTS and its still as if i bought it a day ago. also i have tried it through other amps such as the marshall mg 15 and a vox pathfinder 15r(yes i use lots of 15 watt amps) and it still sounds amazing. also for the part abt its playing style just take a look at it, how awkward would it be to see somebody playing stuff like joe bonamassa on it and also you just have to play it for urself to understand why it is only for metal. it sounds really good when distorted but it only has an ok sound if you try like crunch and clean which is necessary for jazz, blues and such.

[movarshaq]

pvdimens wrote:

I have to agree with the lack of a real tone test. Also, I feel that comparing guitars to GIO Ibanez is like comparing steel to cheap plastic. Can you be specific about which Gibson, Ibanez, and LTD guitars you're comparing the Ironbird to?

ok i get what you're saying and i apologise for my lack of experience this was my first ever review. anyway yes i know the gio ibanez is just shit with an ibanez headstock but when compared to others like the xpt700 and the mtm2 the ironbird is still top draw despite being cheaper. gibsons every one of it should be better than this tone and versatility wise. but take into consideration the huge price difference. also the ltd's i tried were the V-50, EX-50 and M-100 although the ironbird was slightly higher in price it had a much better neck feel and also way better pickups.

[camy1]

like bc rich but this is just a dean razorback copy

[zirkonflex]

camy1 wrote:

like bc rich but this is just a dean razorback copy

wtf, this is a ****ing ironbird, if any of the rich shapes are true, then this one is.

[JoePerry4life]

movarshaq wrote:

JoePerry4life wrote:

How exactly can you guarantee that the hardware will last long? Usually hardware on lower end guitars tend to crap out in a year or so.

Also playing through a line 6 spider dosen't give you the best idea of how the guitar sounds.

Lol, and why can you absolutely not play anything but rock or heavier on this?

well for starters its taken lots of knocks and i literally mean LOTS and its still as if i bought it a day ago. also i have tried it through other amps such as the marshall mg 15 and a vox pathfinder 15r(yes i use lots of 15 watt amps) and it still sounds amazing. also for the part abt its playing style just take a look at it, how awkward would it be to see somebody playing stuff like joe bonamassa on it and also you just have to play it for urself to understand why it is only for metal. it sounds really good when distorted but it only has an ok sound if you try like crunch and clean which is necessary for jazz, blues and such.

I think your spider has more to do with not getting good tones for jazz and blues than the guitar.

[JoePerry4life]

Also, because it gets knocked around dosen't give us a good idea of how the hardware I.E. the floyd, the tuners etc, how well do they hold up? Do the knife edges of the trem look like they are weakening?

[!-twisty-!]

camy1 wrote:

like bc rich but this is just a dean razorback copy

It's the other way round :P Iommi had one of these eons ago

[Controlpanel]

movarshaq wrote:

pvdimens wrote:

I have to agree with the lack of a real tone test. Also, I feel that comparing guitars to GIO Ibanez is like comparing steel to cheap plastic. Can you be specific about which Gibson, Ibanez, and LTD guitars you're comparing the Ironbird to?

ok i get what you're saying and i apologise for my lack of experience this was my first ever review. anyway yes i know the gio ibanez is just shit with an ibanez headstock but when compared to others like the xpt700 and the mtm2 the ironbird is still top draw despite being cheaper. gibsons every one of it should be better than this tone and versatility wise. but take into consideration the huge price difference. also the ltd's i tried were the V-50, EX-50 and M-100 although the ironbird was slightly higher in price it had a much better neck feel and also way better pickups.

Reviewer hasnt ever played either, nor owns any amps that will give him a good idea on sound,,,,this review is fail on too many levels...

[Im_Broken]

camy1 wrote:

like bc rich but this is just a dean razorback copy

Ironbird was around waaaaay before the shitty old razorback

[buddoggydogg]

I don't know much about the Ironbird but I'm starting to think all B.C Riches are built only for high distortion and not much else, or it may just be the lower end ones. I have a beast with Blackouts, and it sounds awful on clean or even slight distortion settings. I have an Ibanez MTM2 with identical pickups and it sounds incredible on clean/crunch settings. It may be the differences between basswood and mahogany. BC Riches don't seem to be very versatile to me... but I could be wrong.

[Shazazmic]

buddoggydogg wrote:

I don't know much about the Ironbird but I'm starting to think all B.C Riches are built only for high distortion and not much else, or it may just be the lower end ones. I have a beast with Blackouts, and it sounds awful on clean or even slight distortion settings. I have an Ibanez MTM2 with identical pickups and it sounds incredible on clean/crunch settings. It may be the differences between basswood and mahogany. BC Riches don't seem to be very versatile to me... but I could be wrong.

My Kerry King Signature Warlock has astoundingly beautiful cleans and terrible distorted tones. I think I got the backwards guitar, but I LOVE it.

[mikmat13]

iron bird and ml seres both came out at around the same time and i beleave that there is no dffrence between the 2 there is high quality razorbacks and iron birds alike so just let it go

[NHECOS]

I don't know about the tone on this baby, but it sure looks BAD ASS!!!