B.C. Rich NJ Classic Mockingbird

I saw the ad on the internet this guitar was on sale for $600 its going online at music123.com for $830 so that was a steal! I bought it at guitar center here in Albuquerque. Thanks David for hooking me up man

I like the shape, finish and the pickups. The finish is beatifule it has a quilted maple top and a mohangony back, it also has two rosewood stripes along the neck one the body. The pickups get awsome distortion. They get great clean tones to but are a little bassy but i wont replace them unless i have to. The shape is awsome slap the beauty right down on your knee and play all day. IT ALSO FITS INTO ANY STANDARD CASE!! so dont let them rip you off for a BC rich case. I love the ebony fretboard with the cloud in lays they worn like crap online but the pics dont do them justice at all.

The only complaint i have is that it is neck heavy but i can deal with that. nothing else that i dont like.

the guitar is built so solid its a little heavy but nothing that i can complain about because i can deal with it. The electronics were well sodered together. great peice of ger the only modification that i will eventually do to it as i do to every elcetric i own is install a les paul style 2-way on/off switch

GREAT GUITAR thinkin about buying the classic BICH

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the B.C Rich NJ Classic Mockingbird after using a few Les Paul Standard models. I greatly preferred this “60s” neck over the larger “50s” style and new asymmetric style neck that are on other models. The “60s” neck is really pretty thick, but it is extremely comfortable. The guitar played really well right out of the box.

UTILIZATION


Very low action, with literally no buzzes anywhere. Every time I get the guitar out, I am struck by just how easy it is to play. The neck has not shifted at all in the month I’ve had the guitar, and no adjustments to the action have been necessary. With regard to sound, it is a very strong guitar. The Burstbucker III in the bridge position is quite bright, but it can be made to sound more like a Duncan 59 by rolling the tone control back to 7 or 8.

SOUNDS

I find that I really like the brightness, as it gives the guitar a clear, ringing sound when you want it, but can easily sound darker just by adjusting the tone. Dialing the tone down does not result in the muted kind of sound I’ve had from other guitars. It just give the bridge pickup a different sound. The coil taps on both pickups work very well.


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, this is a wonderfully versatile guiar. I’ve played the guitar out in several different settings, ranging from a loud blues club to a quiet coffee house and it has sounded great in all of them. I've been playing the guitar through a Fender Blues Junior with a Celestion speaker in it, and a Ceriatone 50watt HRM, which is a copy of a Dumble amp. The guitar did come with a few minor flaws. The finish on the back of the neck had one small area of “fish eyeing,” which looks like tiny pits in the finish. There was also one dull smudge on the side of the body. Because the guitar played so well, I elected to keep it rather than return it and hope for one without blemishes that played as well.

This guitar is a B.C. Rich Mockingbird classic. It has a Spalted Maple top which looks really good and unique. The headstock has a Spalted Maple veneer and 6 tuners. The headstock has creme binding. The neck is a 5 piece neck through with two strips of walnut breaking up 3 large strips of maple making the neck very strong. On top of that is an ebony fretboard with 24 jumbo frets and inlays. The edge of the body is beveled to kind of give it a natural binding look. It has two B.C. Rich in house pickups called rockfield mafias. The body is two mahogany wings attached to the 5 piece maple and walnut neck. It has a Gibson style tune-o-matic bridge and stop tail piece. It has two volume knobs and one tone knob with a toggle style 3 way pickup selector. The volume knob is right next to the brdige pickup so you can easily do volume swells.

UTILIZATION

With the guitars shape and heavy beveling it is very easy to reach the upper frets on the neck. The shape of the bottom horn lets it rest perfectly on your leg when playing sitting down. The beveling on the top of the guitar prevents the edge from digging into your arm and possibly hurting you. The neck is a D shape and it is not too thick. The ebony fretboard feels smooth under your fingers.

SOUNDS

Neck Through guitars are brighter than most guitars due to their construction. THe mahogany wings on the body balance out the brightness caused by the neck. It sounds more like a Les Paul than a strat due to its construction and hardware. This guitar is meant for heavy music and with the stock pickups you can do heavy music find. They have plenty of output and can drive most amp. Acoustically this guitar sounds a little thin.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar is very reasonably priced for the features. You will have a hard time finding another neck through construction guitar with an ebony fretboard. I dont know why more companies dont make their guitars like this. It is clearly the best method for neck construction. The shape may be radical to some but to others its a classic shape. The shape has been around since the 70s and was way ahead of its time then.