Looking for info on a BC Rich Gunslinger Please!!!

[Brow]

Hey guys.

I've been after 1 of the yellow BC Rich Gunslinger Retro Reissues for a while but I've just come across this on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/B-C-BC-Rich-Gunslinger-The-Outlaw-Edition-1992-RARE-/160441679855?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item255b11bfef and wondered if anyone knew anything about; where it was made etc and basically is it worth having or should I just save and wait for 1 of the reissues or something similar?

Thanks.

Craig

[Lew]

Don't know anything about BCRich, sorry - Feline is probably your best bet. I think he has a couple of Gunslingers.

[Philly Q]

Afghan Dave has one of the yellow reissues - not really my thing but it seemed well made and sounded good!

Don't know much about the '80s/'90s hair metal models, but I'm pretty sure this 1992 Gunslinger will be from the period when BC Rich guitars were being built by a company called "Class Axe".   I think they were a US company, and made at least some of the guitars in the US, but the guitars weren't well regarded - which is probably one of the reasons this one is so cheap!

[Stevepage]

Played a couple of those before and they're awesome. Great feeling necks and sound pretty good.

I also owned the Retro Blade Gunslinger, again awesome, sounded great, stayed in tune, played great. Only got rid of it because I don't get on with thin necks any more.

[dragonfire709]

I know nothing about them, but that is too cool-do it!!

[gingataff]

Afghan Dave has one of the yellow reissues - not really my thing but it seemed well made and sounded good!

Don't know much about the '80s/'90s hair metal models, but I'm pretty sure this 1992 Gunslinger will be from the period when BC Rich guitars were being built by a company called "Class Axe".   I think they were a US company, and made at least some of the guitars in the US, but the guitars weren't well regarded - which is probably one of the reasons this one is so cheap!

I didn't know about the Class Axe thing but that headstock looks wrong. I'm a big fan of the 80s style BC Richs but something about that one puts me off.

[Philly Q]

I didn't know about the Class Axe thing but that headstock looks wrong. I'm a big fan of the 80s style BC Richs but something about that one puts me off.

It's hard to find much info about these, but I do remember when people like Warrant and Tony MacAlpine were playing BC Rich back in the '80s (presumably US ones), I noticed that the end of the fingerboard had a very distinctive shape.  Also the edge of the headstock (opposite the tuners) is curved, not angled like "The Out Law".

Not suggesting it's fake, but probably a budget model - and maybe not even worth the asking price?

[dave_mc]

nice haircut

[HTH AMPS]

Kerry King was using BC Rich Vees back in the late 80s with that type of pointy headstock, like here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vcn5GfRsXE

[Brow]

Thanks guys.

I asked the same question on another forum and got this response:

The Gunslingers from back in the day were awesome guitars. I had one for a year or two but sold in 1993 and it is the one and only guitar I still regret selling. Mainly because it's virtually irreplaceable now.

However this guitar is bogus. The body may be a Gunslinger but that neck is not. It's been replaced with the neck from an NJ series something or other. You can clearly see the NJ series indication written on the headstock and the shape of the headstock is also correct to their shape from that time period.

No Gunslinger I know of was ever part of the NJ series and all had Made in the U.S.A. written on them were this says NJ series. The shape is also not correct for a Gunslinger. That little lip at the tip of the headstock was NJ series not their USA series.

The original Gunslingers did have licensed Floyd's but were stable though the trem arms were different. Also that neck plate looks like its been replaced as well. Gunsligers had a BC Rich Logo with a serial number and Los Angeles, CA, USA on them or something to that effect. This one seems to be smooth or blank. It also appears to only have two screws holding the neck on.

I'd stay away. Save your money for a reissue. The folks running BC Rich these days are making great guitars so even though it's an import it's sill gonna be a great guitar. I've consistently been impressed with their production offerings and bought a custom shop guitar from them a few years back that is just amazing.

Get the reissue and throw another pickup in there to replace the Rockfield POS they throw in that thing. But stay away from this Gunslinger on eBay.

If that's the case, I'll save my money and get 1 of the reissues!

[Philly Q]

Strange, I found another one which somebody sold a couple of years ago (only for $366!)

http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-38998-BC-RICH-OUTLAW-GUNSLINGER-CRACKLE-FINISH

[Afghan Dave]

OK....

Stay away from that Gunslinger!

It is from the "Class Axe" period when Bernie Rico sold the name to raise some cash and quality went down the toilet.

The guitar is wrong in many ways and was never "right" to begin with.

I've got the Yellow Gunslinger Retro and the quality is excellent & the hardware is all top notch.

[FELINEGUITARS]

The body on that one is also not an American one - the american bodies had an angled area where the neck plate goes

If you want a proper American Gunslinger - I will do you a killer deal on the one I have (which has one of the best playing necks I have ever had - I refretted it with Dunlop 6000 wire). The neck is from a USA ST3 - hence the rosewood board and non-reverse headstock. I used to have about 6 USA ST3s and Gunslingers and I took the best neck and the best body and made this guitar. I sold it to a friend years ago but bought it back about 8 years ago when he was looking to sell it and did the refret, refinish and brand new tremolo.

I'm selling it now to raise some capital to make the next batch of Feline Lions



The finish on this is a lot more stunning than any picture seems to capture - colours change as you move the guitar - it's like a nebula of stars, twinkling different colours depending on the angle ofd the light hitting the body- actually you get a hint of that in the pic below

[Brow]

Cheers guys!

Jonathan, I'll send you a PM!  8)

[FELINEGUITARS]

I also have this one
The body is a USA Gunslinger - one I got from a friend in a trade and then had refinished
The neck is a Feline - 3 piece maple with compound radius rosewood board - Dunlop 6100 frets
Hardware is Gotoh
Pickup is now a BKP Miracle Man

If someone has £599 I'll knock it out cheap to a forum member



Here you can see the angle heel area - didn't have a metal plate for this one so I recessed the bolts