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B.C. Rich Vintage Guitarsby Dawn Vogel
B.C. Rich is the name taken by Bernardo Chavez Rico, the founder of the B.C. Rich guitar company. He began his career making acoustic guitars, but soon transitioned into making electric guitars in 1968. Most of Bernie Sr.’s (as he is commonly known) early guitars were modifications of already existing guitars, particularly Fenders and Gibsons. In 1972, Bernie Sr. debuted his first original design, the Seagull. The Seagull had both a guitar and a bass version, and was notable for the unique shape of the body of the guitar, with asymmetrical points on the upper half of the body. The Seagull used the neck-through design that was gaining popularity at that time, and the innovative heelless neck joint, which was Bernie Sr.’s personal addition. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, B.C. Rich made modifications to the Seagull design, leading to the Seagull II (or Seagull Jr.) and the later rechristening as the Eagle. There are several different variations of this vintage B.C. Rich guitar design, depending on the date of manufacture. The Mockingbird, designed in 1976, was the next B.C. Rich guitar, with the body shape echoing the jagged asymmetry of the Seagull. Like the Seagull, the Mockingbird was available as either a guitar or a bass, though it was originally designed as a bass. In the same year, B.C. Rich also designed the Bich, which is probably one of the better known names of a B.C. Rich vintage guitar. The Bich was originally designed as a 10-string guitar, an idea of Neal Moser, who was one of the people working on the design of this guitar. The idea behind a 10-string guitar is similar to that of a 12-string guitar, with the four highest strings being in pairs, and the two lowest strings standing alone. But not a lot of people play 10-string guitars, so ultimately a 6-string Bich became more practical. The popularity of the Bich has been such that it has been revived as a B.C. Rich design in recent years. Interestingly, throughout the early history of vintage B.C. Rich guitars, many of the guitar bodies were handcarved. This has led to some guitars with the same model name having slightly different shapes to their bodies—such is the nature of handmade items. As time progressed, and the guitars were mass produced, their shape became uniform, but when it comes to vintage B.C. Rich guitars, more variation can be seen in the forms. Regardless of the exact design of the guitar body, B.C. Rich guitars from any era are popular among both musicians and collectors of vintage guitars. ------------------------------------------------ |
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