Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Philly Q on January 04, 2013, 08:23:13 PM
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Honestly, I really do intend to NOT buy loads of guitars this year.
But I couldn't resist. :oops:
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/phillyq/4239_zps77ae1108.jpg)
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/phillyq/4239d_zps9c3dfe91.jpg)
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/phillyq/4239e_zpscaf9db92.jpg)
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/phillyq/4239f_zpsdb361e12.jpg)
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/phillyq/4239a_zps3fa92a53.jpg)
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Mmmmm.... to be fair it is rather AWESOME!!!! Congrats 8)
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Congrats! Not quite my axe, but I like the timbers.
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very purdy.
is that a US guitar? the maple top isn't a veneer, and it's got the R logo. or were the Czech ones like that?
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I am so jealous! Congrats!
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That is very very slick indeed. An excellent way to start the year. Are all the bits original?
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Come on Philly - a beast like that MUST exceed your weight limit!!!
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is that a US guitar? the maple top isn't a veneer, and it's got the R logo. or were the Czech ones like that?
Apparently (according to an email from BC Rich to the previous owner) it's an "Artist Series" model, a prototype made in 2008 for the Japanese market but which never went into production. There were only two made.
They don't say where it was actually made (presumably Japan or Korea), but it's pretty high-spec. The top may not be bookmatched but it's a solid half inch of figured maple (no veneers!), the board is ebony, the pickups are Duncans, it has the "R" logo (which I always wanted!)
On the other hand, some of the workmanship is so-so.... wonky tuners, neck pickup slightly out of line, the inlays aren't perfectly level with the board. Still trying to get to grips with the electronics but they all seem to work (although their usefulness is questionable....)
The big selling points for me were that it's pretty close to the original '70s/'80s look, the neck is nice and chunky and it's not too heavy (8lbs dead). And that "R" logo! It's as close as I'm going to get to a US model at a reasonable price.
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Come on Philly - a beast like that MUST exceed your weight limit!!!
8lbs is about as far as I'll go! It's actually a bit neck-heavy, so the extra little bit of weight in the body is probably no bad thing.
That is very very slick indeed. An excellent way to start the year. Are all the bits original?
I strongly suspect the two Tele-style knobs aren't. Or maybe they are original and the volume knob isn't. Anyway, I'm going to try to get a set of the '70s-style knobs (probably from Neal Moser Guitars).
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nice
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Oh my.....that is pretty. I have become a sucker for that shape and with those timbers...nice one.
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Oh you dog - I love Mockingbirds - but it has to have the R logo
Nice one!
I think you'll have to bring it over for a "health check" sometime.
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Well done Philly. Not at all my cup of tea but I do like your willpower in getting a new plank so early in the year.
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Nice work mate. I nearly fell off the wagan early too with a Jazzmaster the other day.
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Well done Philly. Not at all my cup of tea but I do like your willpower in getting a new plank so early in the year.
:lol: :lol:
I'm good about "normal" New Year Resolution things, like diet and exercise. Honestly. Guitars are now my only real weakness.
Oh you dog - I love Mockingbirds - but it has to have the R logo
Nice one!
I think you'll have to bring it over for a "health check" sometime.
That's quite likely! The binding at the end of the fretboard is loose, some of the frets feel a bit sharp and I'd like to get the inlays levelled. All stuff I'm scared of doing myself!
Of course it may well be BKP'd in due course as well. I've no idea which specific models the Duncans are, but they don't sound amazing. Neck pickup is a bit bright (but that may be partly down to the weird preamp thingy and the varitone)
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Awesome guitar, congrats!
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Love the headstock 8)
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Congrats on the NGD!!!
Super great looking wood and I love the headstock, but the form of the body is really not my thing.
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It's a shame that BC Rich's import lines are such a shambles. I'd love a decent quality, affordable Mockingbird or Bich.
You'll want to hold on to that one!
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Thanks for the comments, guys!
Super great looking wood and I love the headstock, but the form of the body is really not my thing.
It's not really my thing either, in a way, but there are certain guitars from the late '70s and early '80s that I've always had a "thing" about because I was just getting into guitars at that time and I loved the look of them in the magazine ads. Mainly Japanese guitars, actually - Ibanez Artist, Washburn Falcon, various Aria models, Yamaha SG2000 - but also a couple of US brands like Hamer... and BC Rich.
BC Rich first came to my attention because Rick Derringer and Joe Perry played them, but the thing which really sealed my fascination with the Mockingbird was this picture of Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship on the cover of Guitar Player. I really liked the colours, and he had bits of tape stuck on the guitar with arrows showing which way the various switches should be pointing! :lol:
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/phillyq/495585461_3889b9d1cb_z1_zpsb4e3dae3.jpg)
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sweet you finally got one :D
Very nice. Very like mine apart from the things i mention below (oh and the zebra pickups... oh and mine has a thick veneer over the neck-thru centre bit, too).
is that a US guitar? the maple top isn't a veneer, and it's got the R logo. or were the Czech ones like that?
yeah they are. but they don't have the rosewood veneer on the headstock or all those switches or the badass (?) bridge.
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Hmm, I wonder if this was made in the Czech Republic? Would 2008 be about the same time as the Calibre models? It does "feel" like a far eastern guitar to me, though.
The bridge is a BC Rich "Quad" bridge. It's quite a neat design, individually height adjustable saddles with grub screws which don't stick up and scratch your palm! I am tempted to fit something more compact like a TonePros or ResoMax bridge, though (if they fit the stud spacing).
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Nice one. As you can probably guess... not quite my cup of tea...
But it's nice to know that some things never change and that 2013 looks like it's going to be just like any other year :D (I wonder what Twinfan's gonna buy this year month?)
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Amazing axe, nice one dude!
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But it's nice to know that some things never change and that 2013 looks like it's going to be just like any other year :D (I wonder what Twinfan's gonna buy this year month?)
I heard that! :lol: I've got an inkling for a couple of guitars, but I need to pay off the PRS Collection first.
Nice score Phil, I see you watch Mark's site as much as I do ;)
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Nice score Phil, I see you watch Mark's site as much as I do ;)
I look most days!
Not often he has many guitars at the more affordable end of the spectrum, though. :lol:
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Hi Philly, that's really nice. This is mine:
(http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af302/philking/1972Mockingbird_zps0a19538a.jpg)
I put double cream cold sweats on it (it came with double cream DiMarzios), and they work really well with the preamp and switches.
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:D Nice one, Phil! An original USA model, presumably?
Do you find the preamp and varitone much use? I was mucking about with them yesterday and wasn't crazy about them. The varitone sounds OK at "0", but just seems to get woollier and weaker sounding as you turn it clockwise. Of course the US version probably uses better-quality components.
I have already been thinking about switching to cream plastic parts - cream mounting rings for sure, to better suit the '70s look, and maybe double cream pickups.
I was also considering Cold Sweats, I recall them being mentioned a few times for neck-through guitars. I could get the chrome covers removed from my CS set, I think they're zebra underneath. What else would go well on a neck-through?
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(a) Hmm, I wonder if this was made in the Czech Republic? Would 2008 be about the same time as the Calibre models? It does "feel" like a far eastern guitar to me, though.
(b) The bridge is a BC Rich "Quad" bridge. It's quite a neat design, individually height adjustable saddles with grub screws which don't stick up and scratch your palm! I am tempted to fit something more compact like a TonePros or ResoMax bridge, though (if they fit the stud spacing).
(a) I dunno :lol: It doesn't look like mine, and i suspect it's different enough that it's not a calibre classic... that being said, when i got mine i looked up about them on the bc rich website, and they were specced as having rockfield pickups while mine has duncans, so it looks like the spec may well have varied.
I dunno if mine feels like a european guitar. It just feels like a nice guitar, lol.
I'm not entirely sure what year the calibres were... as i've (maybe? :lol: ) said before, I got pretty lucky with mine, I got mine a while after they'd been discontinued I think. They were still on the BC rich website when i got mine, but I think they'd already been discontinued for a while and BC rich was just a bit slow to update their site.
(b) ah right, thanks.
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Never saw that I'd see you with a BC Rich... But it's a cute guitar, for sure!
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Never saw that I'd see you with a BC Rich... But it's a cute guitar, for sure!
:D Well, it'll probably be my last one..... unless I stumble across a similarly-spec'd Eagle, Seagull or Bich 10-string. :lol:
I'm not really interested in the newer models or any of the "metal" shapes.
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^ yeah the only one i really like aside from the mockingbird is the gunslinger
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Where did you find that one?
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Guitars4You!
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Niiice guitar! Is it a neck through?
Nice flamed maple on that one, I like that alot. I think we need some pics from behind as well 8)
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Yep, it's a neck through - first one I've ever owned, in fact.
Pics from behind? :o That means having to take my own! I've been relying on the shop's photos up to this point.....
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Yep, it's a neck through - first one I've ever owned, in fact.
Pics from behind? :o That means having to take my own! I've been relying on the shop's photos up to this point.....
Get nak....*cough*.. I mean: pleeeeeeaaaaase, a really nice guitar has a really good behind as well! :D
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Very nice new toy mate! Something a bit different for you. I really like it.
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It's not going to replace Les Paul Juniors in my affections, but yes, it is something a bit different for me! I'm really pleased that it turned out to have a good chunky neck, so I feel at home with that if nothing else.
I want to get it really well set up, upgrade a few parts and components and get some new pickups - something relatively high output to keep it firmly in rock territory. It'll be good, I think. :D
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some new pickups - something relatively high output to keep it firmly in rock territory.
Blackhawks for sure, fits in with the vibe and the era (tonally).
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Jeezz.. YES! Blackhawks would look fantastic in that. :o
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Interesting..... I would quite like to try Blackhawks, but I wonder if they'd sound a bit harsh and clinical in all that maple? And visually, I'm quite drawn to the double-cream DiMarzio look, that's what I associate with these guitars really.
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Hi Philly, yes it is an 82. I do use the varitone a bit, I like position 5 quite a lot (or 2 depending how you count!). It sounds a bit c--ked wahish on mine. I don't use the boost as much, but I do use the series/parallel switching. I wanted one of the ones like yours, with the more exotic woods and the clouds, but this one came up at a really good price and once I tried it I was hooked.
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Always wanted one of these. Very cool buy
Martin