Platinum Mockingbird Review

To standardize BC Rich's best-selling Platinum Series, these guitars now feature rock-solid agathis bodies and ultra-fast rosewood fingerboards. B.C. Rich Platinum Series guitars provide serious playability, hot looks, and most importantly, killer tone.

Features:	9.5
Sound:	9.5
Action:	7.5
Reliability:	8.5
Impression:	9.5
Overall rating:	8.9
Users rating:	8
Comments:	27

overall: 8.6

Featured review by: cRnCat, on june 09, 2006

Price paid: $ 453.6

Purchased from: Klangfarbe

Features: I don't remember when it was made or where it really was manufactured, because I knew I wanted this model. The guitar has 24 frets, and the fret board is made of rosewood and it is a solid top with an adjustable bridge. The body is, as the name might imply, Mockingbird. It doesn’t have a floyd rose system, I don't know what it is called, I think it is the normal with no special knowledge needed to restring it. It has 2 Pickups, BDSM humbucker made by B.C. Rich, I can chose which pickup I want with a 3 was Switch between the two volume controls (one for each pickup) and the tone control. I got a Set with following accessories: gig bag (rock bag), strap, cable, H&K R15 Amp, picks. // 9

Sound: Because I got used to its hard and deep sound from J Rockers, I fell in love with it right away, because I play rock and hard rock songs almost all the time. Rock balads have to me "made" for guitars like the Mockingbird or they sound really nasty because of the deep voice of the guitar. "Normal" rock songs really sound nice, because you also can make her holler and you also can say for metal "it smacks you to the ground if you can't handle her." Sometime it is quite noisy, most of the time in, but just if you play to thoughtless. The strings then to have noise, but you can't hear the noise in the amp. Most of the Time I play without effects, but I have a device which can do multiple effects, from cry-baby to wah and artificial tremolo and many more. The only thing I relay use the device for is as drum computer to practise timing. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: Since I ordered the guitar, this series was the only accessible, the guitar was special made for me, and this is what I was told. The 3-way switch was mounted 180° wrong way, which really confused me when I tried to figure out which Way was witch pickup. The Pickups where good adjusted, also after playing with it some time, I need to reconfigure it (first time). Apart of that the notches where I attach my strap tend to loosen their screws which make awful screechy noises when getting it up there wasn't anything that I would mark badly. // 6

Reliability & Durability: I'm sure it will withstand live playing, but I don’t know if a beginner with weak neck muscles will stand it, because it is heavy. If you tighten the screws for the strap buttons you won't have any problems, also if the screws get lose it is hard to make them pop out. I wouldn't use it without a backup, at least not before I really checked up every thing on it, I don’t think something will happen to destroy a gig, but since I won't play gigs anytime "soon" it doesn’t really matter so much to me. The finish is sure good to last long enough for long playing, at least I haven't seen any thing that makes me think otherwise // 9

Impression: Because I always wanted to play X-Japan songs on a Mockingbird or a Les Paul I took the Mockingbird, first because I was short on money (and it was my first E guitar) second because The lead guitarist Hideto Miyamoto was playing it, and he is an idol for me. Before I bought it I compared it to several other guitars, also some from BC Rich like the warlord, which ought to feel alike. I am playing I guitar since 2 years now, at least I bought my Mockingbird 2 years ago. After that I bought several months ago my drum computer with a build in effect device with wah pedal. Well if I ever see someone trying to steal her, my guitar, I think I’d use him as a pillow for needles and pins or hit him like a smash hammer and to steam him over smoke on the water. Or I would just devour him like a block hole and burn him up with the heat of thousand suns. Nobody steals my baby. And I wouldn't loose it, I am to much addict to her. The thing I will do if I get the chance, by her "sister" from Fernandez "Mockingbird Yellow Heart" or "Black tribe." I just love everything, only she is a little heavyweight, compared to a Les Paul or SG she really is extremely heavy. But lighter then the one Ibanez RG I played. // 10

overall: 9.2

Reviewed by: BigZman95, on october 28, 2009

Price paid: $ 350

Purchased from: Ebay

Features: I'm not too sure what year it was made. It has B\.C\. Rich humbucker pickups, a stop tail bridge, 3 way toggle Switch, 24 jumbo frets, and a Metallica light blue paintjob that I am pretty sure is not factory. The guitar has an amazing sound to it. It has by far the cleanest sound of any electric guitar I have ever played. It has a good distorted sound too. You can play pretty much anything on this guitar because you can get any kind of sound out of it. I don't even flip the toggle Switch, I just change the distortion on my Line 6 amp and it sounds completely different. You can go from "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day to "Raining Blood" by Slayer and all you have to do is put distortion on. I honestly love the sound I can get out of this guitar. I'm only playing it on a 15 watt amp. I can only imagine what it can do on a 120 watt! The bridge is good and I have found no issues with it. The guitar holds tune rather well, although I should probably replace the strings. The body is sturdy but heavy. The way that strap is on the guitar though, the upper frets feel a little awkward to reach at first, but you'll get used to it after a few days or so most likely. The fretboard is extremely comfortable to play on, and I have bigger fingers so the jumbo frets keep me from feeling cramped. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with the guitar considering I got it at a steal because it came with a hard case made for the Mockingbird specifically and a strap with straplocks (which I strongly reccomend for this guitar because of the strap button positions). I wish it had a through-body neck, but I don't mind the bolt on. It doesn't feel much different than the through-body. It is a great guitar, reguardless of what style of music you play. I highly reccomend this guitar. // 10

Sound: Like I said, the sound is great and you can get pretty much any style of sound out of it. I play mostly rock, alternative, and metal and it sounds just as good on "Crazy Train" as it does on "Green Grass and High Tides". My other guitars cannot do this. My RG321MH can perform decent on some cleaner songs, but is mostly a metal guitar. The Mockingbird can do whatever you want it to. It is perfect for "Fade to Black" because you will be able to play the clean and distorted parts and still get an amazing sound. I have not found another guitar that sounds so good for this price range. I'm sure that more expensive guitars sound better, but that is understandable. If you were performing though, it will still sound good and please the crowd for sure. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action on the guitar is relatively low, which is fine by me because I would prefer for my strings to be almost right up against the neck. They aren't quite that close, but they are pretty close to the neck. The bridge is good and I have had no problems thus far. The guitar has no rust, just a little bit of tarnish. But then again my RG had tarnish when I bought it too so... // 9

Reliability & Durability: It seems to be a very durable guitar. I banged it into my dresser on accident the day that I got it and it didn't scratch the paint or cause any damage that I could see. It seems to be a pretty heavy guitar as well. The hardware seems good. I think I would definately feel comfortable taking this guitar to a gig without a bakcup. I don't think I could Hurt it that much unless I took it and slammed it onto the stage. The paint is very good. The strap buttons are in a little bit of an awkward position, but I have straplocks, so it is not a huge deal. I would definately reccomend investing in some good straplocks and a durable strap. I would give this part a better score, but the strap buttons hold it back, but then again there isn't really another place to put them. // 8

Impression: My other main guitar is an Ibanez RG321MH. I am pleased with both of these guitars. I have no buyer's remorse. I would definately but this guitar again, if for nothing else but the sound. I love the sound, the fretboard which is a dream to play on, and the unique shape of the body. I hate the fact that the strap buttons are weird. That is my only real complaint about the guitar. If it wasn't for the strap buttons and for the natural wear and tear of this guitar, I would give it a 10 out of 10. If you like B\.C\. Rich in general, or need versatility in a guitar that may shock people when you get on stage, then the Mockingbird is your weapon of choice. // 9

Comments

[Klayy]

Nice axe, too bad about the reliability

[GuitarBoy-IL]

n00bish review. agathis=plywood.

[Slash_Epiphone]

hide rocks..x japan rocks..weekend forever!

[Aziraphale]

I had one of these, and it kicked so much ass. Esp. for the price, but saying it's good for the price sounds like an insult. It's a good guitar, period. The pickups scream metal, just so you know. Not in a bad way, of course. An all around great guitar, the only problem I had with it was that the neck was heavier than the body. So you have to hold it in position all the time, otherwise the neck will point to the floor. And it's also not very comfortable to sit with.

The only reason I sold it was b/c I inherited a Les Paul standard. But looking back, this one played better. But I figured two guitars with 2 humbuckers and tune-o-matic were a little too much.

I bought one because of Slash, I didn't listen to J-rock back then... Hyde kicks!

Btw, so does agathis lml

[hate_me_666]

That looks sweet man! Usaualy I don't think much of B.C. rich guitars, but the mocking bird is a innovation in modern guitars; it has the best tone in the whole b.c rich line up. The one that my friend owns has came with a floyd-rose locking system and wammy. Did yours come with one? or did you have to pay extra for one?

[gemtextr]

love the look of bc richs but dissapointed 2 hear they r heavy!

[Striketalonx]

Wow. The grammer... is sooo horrible. The writing only gives me the impression that a tone deaf, noobish, ten year old wrote this...

[cRnCat]

hmm, excuse me for not beeing a native english speaker and working with a not english version of office, always good to see that ppl read such things and talk about the way it is written, and not about what is written

This one I orderd without floyd rose, it was my first guitar, and I wasn't sure if i could restring it then, without carrying back to the shop (and I am not sure what a wammy is)

And yes it is a good guitar, i was just dissapointet of some minor things witch made me write this, because I didn't imagine such things =)

ANd yes the heaviest part is the neck, but I don't have problems with playing while sitting

[myvaliantleap]

Striketalonx wrote:

Wow. The grammer... is sooo horrible. The writing only gives me the impression that a tone deaf, noobish, ten year old wrote this...

You are talking about grammar?? Hypocrite

[stratmanjay3000]

meh..BC Rich just doesn't do it for me.

[thrashbass69]

i have a similar, albeit much cheaper guitar by stagg, I love the way the shape plays, my hands are on the smallish side and playing with the strap bottomed out is easy, ya know cuz nipple huggers are just not good if you play metal.

[Ibzman]

Agathis is pure shit as a wood, I hate it. It doesn'T have any tone at all. I strongly recommend to avoid these. Mahogany and Alder are way better wood for bodies. Maple and Ash arent bad too, depends on their quality

[EHeisz]

dude maple is like the best wood ever for a body.

[shakysam]

Striketalonx wrote:

Wow. The grammer... is sooo horrible. The writing only gives me the impression that a tone deaf, noobish, ten year old wrote this...


You are talking about grammar?? Hypocrite

Exactly, I don't think the reviewer's first language is English either.

[Floyal]

l33t guitar but poor review. In general I like BC rich its good but the problem is the stock pickups. Now my friend has the exact same one but black, the stock pickups are quiet gay and the guitar keeps falling due to loose strap screws although he tights them up before playing. Its got nice looks but mediocre preformance

[ArcherTheVMan]

gemtextr wrote:

love the look of bc richs but dissapointed 2 hear they r heavy!

you girl.

[ArcherTheVMan]

i get the feeling that there was and is a lot more wrong with the guitar than he realises. well whether or not i know its going to be pretty bad it being a cheap BC Rich and all. i can't say BC Richs usually connect with me, they don't feel right. and why do they insist on using agathis? i can't possibly find any reason to, i mean it can't be its cost i mean Epiphone and Ibanez manage to use fairly decent wood on their low priced stuff. it's a completely toneless wood.

[mrFood]

Agathis is shit wood.

I have an older B.C. Rich made of mahogany or something like that, and it is so much better than any I've played recently.

If you're looking for a B.C. Rich, go for something pre-2003.

[Spongerob47]

Is that the guitar that one of maiden's guitarists is playing on the "Aces High" video? Somebody tell me.....

[Spade_SanosukeX]

Spongerob47 wrote:

Is that the guitar that one of maiden's guitarists is playing on the "Aces High" video? Somebody tell me.....

I don't think so but I do know Dave Murray had a custom BCRich Mockingbird back in the late 80s.

[OneHappyCamper]

Klangfarbe? That's the store in Vienna where I was checking out LPs when I was buying one. Didn't buy it there though.

[Aziraphale]

Spongerob47 wrote:

Is that the guitar that one of maiden's guitarists is playing on the "Aces High" video? Somebody tell me.....

I think you're referring to Adrian Smith's Lado guitar.

Anyway, I seriously didn't find any problems with this guitar, other than the ones I mentioned a few posts up. Even my guitar teacher was impressed, and he plays a vintage Les Paul. Maybe my guitar was just better than the rest, it's the only BC Rich I've played.

And I still love Agathis, my Variax300 is also agathis and it's LOUD when unplugged.

[darthchill]

ehhh
buying this cuz of hide...i love hide, but yea...its...i unno...i like my SZ520QM over this...but thats just me. but yes, BCrich just screams metal. But yea...i bought a Mockingbird too...the Burny 145s(yellow hearts) with sustainer..cant wait till i get taht

[cRnCat]

darthchill wrote:

ehhh
buying this cuz of hide...i love hide, but yea...its...i unno...i like my SZ520QM over this...but thats just me. but yes, BCrich just screams metal. But yea...i bought a Mockingbird too...the Burny 145s(yellow hearts) with sustainer..cant wait till i get taht

hwere did you get that yellow heart version, all guitar stores i asked sayed "nope can't help you man"

[FeiRei]

ebay, they are verywhere on there, o at leatse last time I checked they were.

[Aziraphale]

cRnCat wrote:

darthchill wrote:

ehhh
buying this cuz of hide...i love hide, but yea...its...i unno...i like my SZ520QM over this...but thats just me. but yes, BCrich just screams metal. But yea...i bought a Mockingbird too...the Burny 145s(yellow hearts) with sustainer..cant wait till i get taht


hwere did you get that yellow heart version, all guitar stores i asked sayed "nope can't help you man"

That guitar was made by Fernandes, not B.C. Rich. It's a Fernandes Mockingbird. Strange but that's how it is *shrugs*

[d_lord1]

How is the balance on this guitar because on most BC Rich's, its crap