Kerry King Wartribe Guitar Pack Review

B.C. Rich teamed up again with the Slayer guitarist to introduce an all-new guitar pack which features a B.C. Rich Warlock guitar that is based on one of King's stunning Custom Shop models.

Features:	8.6
Sound:	9
Action:	6.6
Reliability:	8.2
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.3
Users rating:	7.7
Comments:	19

Featured review by: unregistered, on june 27, 2007

Price paid: $ 494.1

Purchased from: Compact Music

Features: Not completely sure when this guitar was made, but the sticker on the back of the headstock says it was made in China. This has 24 frets (25 1/2" scale) with a tribal inlay on 12th, the fretboard is made of rosewood with a canadian maple hard neck, which is bolted to the back of the body. The headstock is the BC Rich 'Beast' shape (two curved 'horns' in a 'u' shape as apposed to a 'w'). The body is a Warlock shape and made of basswood, so it's a bit on the heavy side. My model has a fixed bridge, although it is available with a Kahler Hybrid tremolo. It features two B.C. Rich BDSM pickups (both passive) which are controlled by master and volume tone dials located either side of a 3-way selcetor. Perhaps the most stiking feature of this guitar (aside from it's shape) is it's finish. It is black with red tribal flames (the design is continued on the headstock), which guartentee you to get noticed on stage, if you don't sound the best up there, you will certainly look the best with one of these round your neck. This guitar comes as part of a pack which also includes a soft case, lead, strap, picks and a poster of Kerry King. // 9

Sound: As this is Kerry Kings's signature guitar, you would expect it to be more suited to metal, it is. The two BDSM pickups give some nice meaty distortion and some slicing leads tones. I run this guitar through a Dunlop Cry Baby, a Boss GT-8 and then through a 100 watt Fender Frontman and the resulting sound is excellent for the price paid for the guitar. I mainly have the pickup selecter in the bridge position and the sounds you want to make come through nice and clear. Unfortunaly some of the sounds you don't want to hear through your amp come through nice and clear as well, using this guitar close to a computer moniter produces shite loads of buzz from the magnetic feild, and using remote controls near it produces and 80's sci-fi effect. Thankfully you shouldn't find too many of these on stage so you shouldn't come into too much trouble. The neck pickup delivers and warm smooth feel, which is nice when you Switch over to clean, but isn't overly impressive when using Drive or distortion. This is a very aggressive guitar, so is not really suited to more 'sensible' styles of music, I also own a Strat which is far more suited to this style of music. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: Straight out of the box this guitar sounded pretty good once I had tuned it, I didn't have all the toys I have now, but the action was nice and low, no fretbuzz and I've never had to touch the pickups. Being made in China, this guitar isn't exactly of the highest quality. The four screws holding the plate with the input socket on the bottom of the guitar have come lose several times and had to be replaced. Also the strap holders on the back of the body came out far to easily when I went to replace them with strap locks, and I suspect they may have come out of the body had I not noticed them. // 4

Reliability & Durability: I have played a few Live sets with this guitar and it's not let me down. I do kick it about a bit, and as a result the finish has a few chips it here and there, but they were quite serious knocks, it can cope with noraml bangs and scrapes qutie happily. The master volume dial is begining to come lose after nearly a year and a half after purchase, however the master tone dial is fine. Going to a gig without a backup is just asking for trouble, but this guitar is reasonably dependable, the only thing that can really go wrong is a string snapping, but that can happen to anyone. // 8

Impression: I've been playing metal now for about a year and a half and this guitar suits wonderfully, easilly able to compete with similar priced Jacksons or ESPs. If this guitar was stolen, I would think twice about buying a new one, but purly because I feel I have almost outgrown this one. If I did buy a new one, I would chose the model with the temolo attached. The thing that I love most about this guitar is it's look, the finish and body shape go really well together. This guitar will get you noticed on stage one way or another. The thing that I don't like about this guitar, is the quality of manufacture. Most of the screws on this guitar have had to be replaced over time. Overall this guiatar is pretty damn good for lower level intimediate players who are looking for something which delivers a nice sound and something which doesn't cost a fortune. // 9

overall: 8

Reviewed by: shredder408, on july 03, 2009

Purchased from: musos corner, newcastle australia

Features: Its body is Basswood (I find it to be a nice balance between high and low, with strong mids). It has a flame graphics top which extendeds to the headstock. The body style is the famous B\.C\. Rich warlock. It has a wrap around tune-o-matic bridge,2 B\.C\. Rich passive BSDSM humbucking pickups, 1 tone, 1 volume and a 3 way selector Switch. Bc rich black diecast tuners, and it comes with a gig bag, strap, poster, sweat band and picks. You may want a kahler/floyd rose, like the model up, but i prefered to non locking system for easy tuning. // 8

Sound: The pickups were a bit trebbly, so I got an EMG 81/85 configuration installed. Now it absolutely shreds. Even before, besides the trebbliness I couldnt realy complain-realy high output pickups that play metal. I play it through several amps with all different settings and it sounds great with them all, really agressive tone. The original pickups did have bit of feedback, but I think it also may have been my old amp, it was a 5 year old Ashton I bought quite literaly off the back of a truck. It has an alright variety of sounds. Anything metal/rock style is fine, but it can't do much with jazz/blues styles, and chords aren't the greatest, but I also use skinny top heavy bottom, which I heard can affect the chord sound, but I don't know the truth there.

With the stock pickups: 8 for sound, with the EMGs: 10, but I will rate it for stock pickups. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: From the shop it was great, except for the pickups selector Switch, which didn't work. Apparently this was the first case of this in the world according to the B\.C\. Rich factory. I also have had problems with the nut being worn away in the high E string slot. When I asked the guys at the shop they realy had no idea why this was happening and said they had never seen anything like it before... anyway I got it replaced and its awsome now.

The finish is epic to say the least. Awsome flame graphics on a warlock guitar with a onyx background was a Killer for me. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I'm pretty sure this guitar would withstand heavy Live playing, and the hardware would well and truly last. The strap buttons are good, but never gig without strap lockers. To be honest, I think I would use it without a backup; its realy solid, and has no Floyd Rose so there would be a veyr small chance of a string breaking. // 8

Impression: I play metal: from Three Days Grace to bring me the Horizon, and it handles it all, and have been playing for 4 years. I own an Ashton GA100FX 212, a Zoom G1X, several Ernie Ball leads. I kind of wish I had compared it with the next model up which included a kahler, and seen whether the extra money would have been worth it, but for now I'm content with this guitar. If it were stolen, I would not replace it, simply for the sake of variety. I love everything about it: simplicity, Killer looks, and the easy playability (its quite light for the size). My favourite feature is looks for sure. I did compare it to other ESP and Ibanez, but I still prefered this for the price range. Like I said before, I do wish it had a kahler sometimes, but I still like the quick tuning just as much, because I tune to different down tunings all the time. // 9

overall: 7.4

Reviewed by: niflheimeren, on december 09, 2008

Price paid: € 399

Features: The guitar was a 2006, made in china, Hard Maple neck, 24-fret Rosewood fingerboard with 12th fret Tribal inlay; the classic B\.C\. Rich Beast headstock shape, one-piece, adjustable bridge, black noname hardware and two B\.C\. Rich humbucking pickups.
Package included Kerry King poster, picks, strap, wristband and gigbag. // 8

Sound: The guitar is obviously for playing metal and has two passive humbuckers. The sound is allright but I would have expected more power from a metalguitar. I used it on various setups. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: the guitar seemed to have slipped out without beeing adjusted at the factory, and was in many ways like a monday morning model it seems, compared to the other reviews here! Intonation and action was straight to hell. The bodywork was fine and the neck was beautiful, only there was a bit messy around the inlay, and with only one inlay, one could expect it to be done nice. the frets was nice filed and did not rip fingers at all. The fingerboard screamed for oil though.

The paintjob did not impress me, since the flames looked kind of pixelated, like if it was printed on or something like that. The guitar also had some nasty runners in the clear coat on the bottom pointy ends, a large drop had formed on one of them. The controls worked and felt fine, so did the pickup selector. The guitar had a very loose output jack and that did give a lot of cracks and hum. Tuners was black with no name on and one sliped alot, needed changing. The guitar had a nice gigbag, but the strap looked like something a stoned horse with parkinsons desease had sewn, the end pieces was not straight cut or sewn, at all. That really pulls down in this section, why deliver such a crappy thing when a strap in a good quality can be bought for a few $? Better to leavy it out then! These things may sound harsh, but I have had epiphones and ESP LTD guitars that were cheaper and much better made, so it does pull down alot. // 5

Reliability & Durability: Obviously the hardware does not seem like it will last when a tuner is faulty from the factory, same goes for the output. The wiring in the guitar did look ok so I guess if it did not have the faulty tuner and output, it would be able to last for live playing. don't know about the strap buttons, changed them right away to lockbuttons. Can it be depended on, used without backup? I would not use it without backup, but then again, it seems like I got me a really crappy one compared to others. Seeing that the pro signature with kahler tremolo and EMG's are only twice the price, I would go for that, this one is too cheaply made. // 7

Impression: I play metal and it should be suited. I have ESP ltd, Epiphone and a bc rich eagle. The eagle is a more expensive guitar so a comparing would not be fair, but the epi's and the ltd's are all cheaper and better than this thing.
I traded it off after having it for 6 months, but had it been stolen before that, I would probably have said thank you... This guitar could have been cool but it screamed cheap and china. // 8

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: lazydude554, on june 12, 2008

Price paid: £ 251

Purchased from: instrument 2 go

Features: 24 jumbo frets, 32" scale, mapole wood neck. Sick fire tribal graphics over the onyx finished body. Warlock shaped body with beast headstock ( you shape beast, not a w like the KKV). Broad Dynamic system pickup (BDSM) humbucking, One volume control, 3 way bridge Switch and one bass / treble control. // 9

Sound: When I first got the guitar, I had very few pedals, but it seems to work well with them. Not so keen on fuzz, but distortion and overdrive are immense. Possibly due to my amp, but sometimes I feel like I get some bad feedback. This guitar is capable of shredding killer low riffs and squeling high leads. Definetly fits the metal end of the music spectrum. Don't even dream of trying this guitar for soft rock, it's just not made for anything that doesn't make you wanna mosh. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: Perfect condition on arrival. I couldn't have set this thing up better myself. I literally took it out of the box, and put it straight into the amp and started ripping. I didn't even have to tune it, literally out of the box. Into the amp. Smashing finish, no compliants. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Great durability. I can tune it down and leave it for days before I even have to think about tuning again. As for gigs, well I just jam at my place, but I have brought it outside for mates and let it rip. I think it's well capable of a gig. This thing can pack the right tone, give the right sound and blast the riff. // 10

Impression: I honestly couldn't complain about this guitar. It sounds great, looks great, durable and definetly fits my style of music. Perfect for thrash and death metal. If this was broke or got stole, I would definetly buy it again, just wish it had a 5 way bridge Switch, may have been better, not sure. However, I recommend it if you want full value for money. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on january 31, 2008

Price paid: $ 350

Purchased from: Tarpley's

Features: I got this for christmas 3-4 years ago. the stats: 24 frets, basswood, rosewood neck, thin neck, Tune-O-Matic bridge, 1 tone and volume, 3-way selector Switch, beast head to give it the look, and the finish the the best. There were 2 BDSM humbucker in it, but I dropped a dimebucker in the bridge. Thinking about getting KFK EMG's. The accessories were picks, gig bag that didn't last, strap that didn't last, and a poster of the shredder himself. // 9

Sound: I play metal mostly. The neck is great for all of the bands that I play. I plug it into my death metal pedal and that loops into an Ibanez Toneblaster. It sounds sweet, especially with the dimebucker. I'm a distortion freak, but I also like tone. The pickups on there didn't really fit because of the lack of power, so that's where the dimebucker came in, and it sounds great. Has good crunch but good tone too. I can pull a lot of sounds out of this. Just wish I had a Kahler X trem. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up ok. I took it to guitar center not long ago because it needed a few adjustments. Good thing I did that. this guitar rocks harder now. The original pickups were not really set right. I like it to where it gives off a better sound. Honestly the people that builds guitars should adjust the guitars to either the standards of the artist if it's an artist series or just to sound pretty. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I've played this at a few Live joints, and gotten a lot of good comments on it. Whenever I show this to nu ppl, they drop jaws and want to hold it, especially after the tune ups. The strap pins r good, the strap wasn't tho. This is my main backup guitar and my main one for black metal. This guitar has been though a lot. it's funny though. the headstock you might wanna be careful with that. I accidentally made my cousin bleed because it was too sharp. after that I loved this guitar, until my Razorback. now it's my concubine. I still use it for black metal and Slayer stuff, but other than that, it's a back up. // 8

Impression: This matches my style a lot. I've used this for years now, and it rocks the house down. I like exotic guitars, and I listened to Slayer for about a year before I bought it. Honestly, when I bought it, I didn't really know who Kerry King was until I listened to Slayer, good choice. If I could, I would try to get the one with a Kalhler trem, but I would keep this one and just install one myself. // 9

Comments

[wurzel1981]

1st. The thing with these mad shaped guitars is that although they look like the mutts nuts they need to be treated carefully or they pointy bits tend to break. Also you need to be le shredder extraordinaire or else you like a right C***

[bluechameleon18]

Its a fake.

[bluechameleon18]

http://www.bcrichguitars.com/
check the site

[bluechameleon18]

m kiddin... lol! i'm soo jealous

[grimshredder]

I have a B.C. Rich Warlock and i love it to death, but i would definitely get one of these....IF i had the money!

[metalhead_99801]

i wanna get one of the pro versions of this with the kahler and the emg's. that guitar woould kick sooooo much ass.

[raul_a7x]

Lol dude the made on china sticker has nothing to do with this. I own a Warlock as well and have used many other Bc Rich models like the Bich or the V and as far as im concerned ALL models have the Made In China sticker on the back of the headstock. The sound of these babies is pretty much amazing but i cant say im jealous my Warlock has got everything I need and the only difference with this one is the graphic and headstock.

[fenderbender111]

i have a b.c. rich mockingbird evil edge special edition.
its awesome and my favorite guitar that i on.
BUT.
i am selling it.
for an ibanez.
cuz ibanez are god

[Macabre_Turtle]

The paint sucks on this thing.....It looks amazing when you get it, but I've had mine for just under a year And it has chips on each edge and tons of dents in the body, despite it never taking a serious beating. And I don't know if it's just me or not because I haven't played with too many guitars but I find the high frets (like 18 on) really hard to play on. Besides those too problems it's pretty amazing though.

[bluechameleon18]

hmmm... cool, actually, i oown an Ibanez... they're pretty decent...

[Stickmasta]

I have this guitar
I love it to death
I'm never getting rid of it
I know there is a ton of better guitars out there, I'll probably get another one
but this guitar just is excellent
I think it sounds awesome
Its easy to play
plus it looks ****ing awesome!

[I am punk "BF"]

BC Rich makes some pretty awsome guitar bodies

[americablanco]

My friend bought this...but my Ibanez ownz it!

[lpu_guy_chris]

my warlock that i have will kick this thing's ass, i have a bc rich warlock nj neck thru that i upgraded to full kerry king emg active pickups (2 tones, 2 volumes, pa2, emg 81 and 85 active pickups and a better jack and pickup selector)

[Dude47]

Hey Guys I Was Just Wondering.
Im About To Buy My First Guitar After Half Year Playing Guitar.
Im Pretty Good For An Half Year Playing.
Do You Think This Guitar Is Good For Me?

[blackjack39]

Just got mine^^ Weeeee. Yarrr. Its worth every 3000 kr, i spent on it^^

[Thrashed™]

Dude47 wrote:

Hey Guys I Was Just Wondering.
Im About To Buy My First Guitar After Half Year Playing Guitar.
Im Pretty Good For An Half Year Playing.
Do You Think This Guitar Is Good For Me?

Yup.
I've only been playing a year and it's great

[SpreadTheSin]

I bought this guitar back in August. I loved it at first, but I got bored of it and went back to using my Ibanez RVX220. I would have bought the pro version if I had that much money. But minimum wage only pays so much.

[nickofzo]

americablanco wrote:

My friend bought this...but my Ibanez ownz it!

doh!