Reviewed by:
unregistered, on march 20, 2009
3 of 6 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Guitar Brothers, Red Hill QLD, Australia
Features: I bought this guitar in 2008 as my first electric. It was cheap, and therefore easy for a 15-year-old like myself to afford. But, despite being cheap, it is a very nice guitar and is a brilliant choice for entry-level metal shredders like me. It has a smooth and thin-ish maple neck, sporting 24 jumbo frets on an amazing-looking ebony fingerboard. It's easy to play fast and furious on this one thanks to the smoothness of the neck. The body is glossy black, but also features a kick-ass red bevel around the edge, setting it aside from the average Warlock. The fixed bridge on it is a down-side, but it is still a very good guitar. It has single volume and tone knobs, as well as a 3-way pickup selector Switch. Pickups are dual BDSM humbuckers (BC Rich's stock pickups), which aren't the greatest around but good nonetheless. It has non-locking tuners with BC Rich machine heads that keep it in tune quite well. It comes with a BCL-10 amplifier, a little 15-watt beast which packs some serious punch despite it's small size. Overall, it's features are very nice indeed, and outshine the other axes I tried; entry level Yamaha Pacifica and Epiphone SG packages. // 9
Sound: My music style is anywhere from Soundgarden, AC/DC and The Beatles, right up to Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Megadeth, and this axe can do it all surprisingly well. Sustain is a bit of an issue though, and high-gain power chords tend to fade out after a bit. I am playing through a Roland Cube 60X (very good amp) and using a Zoom G1 effects unit. This guitar shines on high-gain settings with heavy overdrive, but can also handle a clean setting very nicely. Also, it can "tame" heavy distortion and overdrive to produce a powerful and huge sound without going bogus like some guitars do. Overall, the sound is variable and can take on most any genre without a lot of difficulty (Although it's probably not the best idea to play poppy songs on a guitar that looks like this!). Only downside is a slight sustain problem, but that can be fixed with a bit of delay and reverb. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: Everything was set up beautifully when I bought it, the shiny, demonic Widow headstock gleaming in the light, the aggressively carved body without any scratches, dents or imperfections. However, the stock strings are terrible, loose, thin things that botch an otherwise perfect set-up. The pickups were at correct height, and the controls were working OK (my tone knob is a little bit sticky at about halfway). Aesthetically, it was perfect. But technically it could improve. // 8
Reliability & Durability: Yes. The things is built. Some strap locks would be a good idea if you're into wild stage moves, but the buttons aren't exactly going to break off if under strain. I would use on this guitar for a gig without backup, I'd just prefer backup. You can't be too careful. The paint won't wear off, but the finish is a fingerprint magnet, like the back of an iPod. // 9
Impression: Overall, I was shocked to see how good this guitar is, seeing how much it cost (maybe, US$350? ). The amp that comes with it is like a skunk (weird analogy I know, but it's small and you'll definitely know it's there when it is), but it isn't built to last. I then bought a Roland Cube 60X a couple months later, and it sure as hell solved that problem. It feels like this guitar and the Roland amp were destined to be together. I also use a Zoom G1 Effects Unit, which was cheap as, but a brilliant little device. It can make any guitar sound form bright, gorgeous classical to full-on epic-thrash-death-core-omgmyearsarebleeding-uber-metallic jackhammering. If I lost my guitar, I would definitely but it again, unless I was cashed up and could afford an Ibanez S or something. My favourite feature would have to be the Widow headstock. It is just awesomeness. Before I bought, I compared it to an entry-level Yamaha Pacifica Strat copy, and an Epiphone SG of similar pricing, and this guitar won over them technically, and it just looks so awesome. I wish it had a whammy bar. But, it is an awesome guitar and any aspiring Kirk Hammett/Eddie Van Halen/Kerry King/other heavy guitarist should seriously check this one out before buying anything else. // 9
/ my profile 
Was this review helpful to you? 
