A while back, I picked up one of those B.C. Rich Bich baritones, but I haven't had proper access to the camera until tonight, so I've just now been able to take pics for this. I know a lot of you here aren't really B.C. Rich fans, and I'm not really either, but I wanted a 30" scale to experiment with 8-string range low tuning, and this seemed like the most economical solution.
Basic info
Made in Korea
Body: Nato
Neck: Maple, 30" scale
Fretboard: Ebony, 24 jumbo frets, diamond inlays
Bridge: Tune-o-matic (strung through the body)
Pickup: B.C. Rich BDSM
Hardware: Chrome
And now the pictures! Sorry the quality sucks, but the lighting in my room is terrible, and this is the best I could do for now.
This is what a guitar looks like.
Close up of the body. You can kind of see the "arched" top, which is really more like a plateaued top, but it's still nice.
Failed attempt at a close up of the bridge and knobs.
That's just some Velcro I've got on there. That tuner looks like textured plastic, but it's smooth chrome with dust on it.
Why don't you turn around and let us see how that looks from the back? Mmm, yeah, that's nice, except what took that huge bite out of your ass?
Neck joint.
Back of the headstock.
Mmmm... 30"...
This is a pretty solid guitar, and the quality is pretty good for being made in Korea. It didn't feel too terrible right out of the box, and it looks a lot nicer than my pictures make it look. The onyx finish and the ebony fretboard look slick, especially with the binding, and the pearloid diamond inlays are a lot more aesthetically pleasing than dots. It sounded pretty mediocre at the initial plug in, but that's to be expected with stock strings. That's why I went to juststrings.com when I ordered the guitar and ordered a custom DR Hi-Beam set (.017, .026, .036, .046, .060, .080 [Nickel Lo-Rider bass string]). It was over $20, and about half of it was the dang .080! I haven't paid that much for a set of strings since I regularly played bass. The middle Eb and Ab strings were just barely long enough. With about two wraps around the tuning peg, there was only about a centimeter left to trim off of the end.
I had decided to tune it Eb Ab Eb Ab Db Gb. I was just going to tune to F originally, but I ended up deciding to keep my drop Ab tuning in there, so the Eb made more sense. With the new strings on, this Bich really surprised me! I'm really not a fan of the B.C. Rich BDSM pickups, but the combination of the Nato body and the 30" scale makes this the deepest and most articulate sounding guitar I currently own. I don't think the BDSM pickups are terribly heavy on the bass end, but this guitar's low end is very thick and strong without being muddy. It even sounds deeper and more powerful than my 7421 with Blazes in it. I'm planning to put a D-Activator in this thing, which I think will kick all kinds of ass. I also get a little bit of that "piano" quality I hear people talk about with 30"+ scale guitars. The intonation on this thing is a dream. I just gave it a quckie setup, bypassing the truss adjustment until I decide on more permanent string gauges, and it performs wonderfully. This is easily the least effort I've had to put into intonating a guitar.
It plays pretty nicely, too. The neck isn't really all that thick, but if you're used to something like a Jackson or Ibanez, it's going to feel a little beefy. The neck joint is pretty chunky, but the fret access is still fine. The fretboard has what feels like a laminate finish on it. I don't like how it feels at all, but when you're playing it, you don't feel it anyway. The only thing I don't really like about how it plays is that the string spacing is a little bit wider than I'd like. The spacing at the nut is kind of wide, and I've got a more standard spaced graphite nut lying around that I'm planning to put on later, so hopefully that'll fix it.
As you'd probably expect, it's pretty neck heavy. After playing for a while, though, it's not hard to get used to. A textured strap that holds in place against your shirt would probably hold it in place well enough. After a short adjustment period, it's fairly comfortable to play standing.
The tuners are pretty good. They're smooth and stay in place. I can leave this thing sitting around for days, and when I pick it up again, it's usually pretty close to still being in tune.
The low Eb performs quite nicely. It rings out just as clearly as the other notes. With the .080 string, the tension feels great. My only complaint is that it sounds too much like a bass, even higher on the fretboard where it's in the more normal guitar range. I don't know if it's because the string is so thick or because it is a bass string after all. I plan to try thinner strings all around next time.
If you're wanting to experiment with a 30" scale guitar, this isn't a half bad way to go if you can find one. It's straight forward and sturdy with pretty decent features, and I think a simple pickup change could make this guitar a dealer of sub-sonic doom.
Note: The "sound" is rated at a 1 because the site wouldn't let me change it for some reason (I tried to edit it several times, but it didn't stick), but I'd rate it at a 4 or 5, because it sounds great with a crappy stock pickup, and I'm sure a good one like a D Activator or something would turn this guitar into a monster.
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