Reviewed by:
dragon666, on september 04, 2007
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 400
Purchased from: Music Farm
Features: I have 3 NJ Series Beasts already so I am well used to what Beasts are usually like in the NJ Line, but the IT was different in a few ways. Of course the IT still has 24 frets like all other beasts, as well as an ebony fretboard, with a widow headstock inlay at the 7th fret. The IT neck is a fair amount beefier than the usual NJ series thin necks, but I really liked the feel of it, and fit comfortably for all my playing styles (which are mainly technical death metal, fast black metal, and shred shit), the bodies Nato Mahogany, which gets a lot of bad rap, but I really like the tone of it personally, and don't find anything wrong at all with Nato for bodies, The neck though is the main feature of this guitar, with it being bolted on in the back of the guitar behind the pickups, giving it all the feel of a neck thru, but the more "twangy" tone of a bolt on, and really looks awesome from the back too, with the widow headstock mirrored into the back of the guitar, also cool that this beast has a widow headstock instead of the original beast headstock, still suites it I think. The body doesnt't have bevels either like most other beasts, just a flat smooth top, String Thru body plays nicely, and good to have a Beast without a Floyd for me, so I can change tunings on this guitar easily, regular Beast setup of volume, tone, and 3 way toggle, the only problem I ever have with BC Rich is the pickups, I always Switch to an EMG set, and I went with a conventional 81/85 set for this, which I love the tone of in B.C. Richs. // 9
Sound: It suits my music style perfect, it's obviously a straight up metal guitar, and that's what I do, and I played it in Standard for a while just to mess with it, but now have it in Bb, for my lower tuned songs, and it stays well intonated even at that low of a tuning, which I really liked. I can also get really nice cleans out of it, and even playing classical songs on it at certain settings, (paganini, bach, etc), It has a more punchy rhythm tone I find than neck thru guitars, but doesn't have a shitty bolt on neck that makes high fret access annoying, and a good sustain too because of the bigger neck setting in the body. I mean if you can get over the body shape I think this guitar can play any style to be honest, it just wouldn't look the part for a lot of styles except metal. // 10
Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar came pretty well set up, I had to lower the action a bit, but that's all, and I had to change the pickups myself, it all came perfect otherwise, and love the guitar, the cream binding was a nice touch, and gave the beast a more sophisticated look, and no bevels gave it that look too. I love the look of the whole guitar, and I usually dislike unpainted necks, but It just works real well with this guitar the way the neck is set in the body, and the widow headstock is a sweet change for this guitar, but still gotta love the original beast headstock. // 10
Reliability & Durability: This guitar is pretty tought looking to me with it's thick neck, and all the hardwares well set in, nothing loose, I put schaller strap locks on too, so no worries there, yeah I'd definately use it at a gig with no backup, really reliable for me so far, doesnt't fall out of tune or anything, the flat finish may wear a bit eventually, because flat finishes seem to do that in my experience, but I don't care much, I just love playing the thing. // 9
Impression: I've been playing 6 years, and owned 8 B.C. Rich guitars over the years, as well as ESP, and Ibanez's, and play my friends Jacksons a lot. But BC Rich has always been my guitar company of choice. Great guitar, wasn't sure how it'd stand up to the NJ Series Beast with Floyds, but I was suprised, and loved the differences, it's a great guitar for me for when I'm sick of playing a guitar with a floating bridge, and just want a no hassle, easy to tune, brutal metal monster, it has the playability, the craftmanship, the looks, and amazing tone if you Switch up the pickups to something better, just a great metal guitar if that's what you're looking for. I play a lot of leads and it's great for that too, not just a rhythm guitar by any means. I'd definately recommend the IT line to anyone. // 10
/ my profile 
Was this review helpful to you? 