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BC Rich acoustic

Freeman Keller

By Freeman Keller
in Acoustic Guitars

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Freeman Keller Apprentice

Freeman Keller

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If you are like me, when you hear the name BC Rich you think pointy scary electric guitars played by pointy scary dudes in loud scary bands. You certainly don't think of bearclaw spruce and Brazilian rosewood and herringbone trim. So when I got a call last week from someone who wanted me to look at an old BC Rich acoustic I was totally interested.

 

A quick internet search told me what I was getting into - apparently the BC Rich family started with Bernado Rico who either imported some guitars from Mexico or hired Mexican luthiers to build them. First were some flamenco and classicals, followed by steel string (this was the '60's and '70's after all). A few hundred were made, they pop up on Reverb from time to time, often carrying some pretty dear prices.

 

This guitar is from sometime in the 1970's, is a model B-38 (Rico/Rich also had 28 series and maybe some plainer versions). It is perfectly quartered bearclaw Sitka spruce top and gorgeous Brazilian rosewood back and side

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"IMG_4588-1.jpg","data-attachmentid":32301532}[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"IMG_4593-1.jpg","data-attachmentid":32301533}[/ATTACH]

 

 

The repairs were pretty straight forward - several cracks in the top including one along side the neck extension. I closed cracks with HHG, cleated when necessary and added a "popsicle" brace under the neck extension. Did a little fret work, made and new saddle, yadda yadda - nothing too out of the ordinary.

 

What is out of the ordinary is the way this guitar is constructed. It has three unique "features" I guess you would call them, probably stemming from Rich's experience and choice of luthiers.

 

First, this puppy has a Spanish heel neck joint. The first clue was the shape of the heel, it was obvious when I looked inside at the crack. I could see where the sides were inserted into the neck and the little veneer wedges that held them in tightly.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"IMG_4590-1.jpg","data-attachmentid":32301534}[/ATTACH]

 

Of course the bad thing about a Spanish heel is that there is no way to reset the neck angle if it is ever needed, the good news is that this neck angle is perfect

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"IMG_4592-1.jpg","data-attachmentid":32301535}[/ATTACH]

 

The second thing that is kind of unusual is the lack of an adjustable truss rod. Waving a magnet around the neck told me that there was something ferrous inside, so it does have a truss rod of some sort, its just not adjustable. The bad part of that, of course, is that you can't correct problems with relief, the good news is that the relief was a perfect 0.008 and didn't need any adjustment.

 

The third thing is that while this is an X braced guitar, the rest of the bracing is unlike anything I've seen before. There are two tone bars, like a normal X braced guitar, but one of them runs into another tone bar coming from the treble side. In several places there are little finger style braces between the bigger ones. The bridge plate is a rather large piece of rosewood and is curved to meet the X's in a rather beautiful shape. The X braces are not scalloped but instead thinned, obviously by hand, the other braces are both thinned and scalloped, even the little fingers which brace the sound hole. It is the kind of worksmanship I would expect of some of our hand builders who seem to delight in making everything inside their guitars little works of art.

 

The bracing did strike me as somewhat over done however, but one of the benefits is that the top shape is perfect after close to 50 years. I was thinking that all that wood might stifle the sound - not to worry. This is a big boomy dreadnaught, probably superior sounding to most of the over built Martins that were come out of Nazareth in the '70's.

 

And to add to the whole package, here is the original warranty, "devoid of time limit" to the original purchaser.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"IMG_4595-1.jpg","data-attachmentid":32301536}[/ATTACH]

 

I called the owner and told him the guitar was done, he said he couldn't pick it up until monday and that I should play it over the weekend. Well, OK. Life is good

 

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DeepEnd Mentor

DeepEnd

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. . . I called the owner and told him the guitar was done' date=' he said he couldn't pick it up until monday and that I should play it over the weekend. Well, OK. Life is good[/quote']

Poor Freeman, having to play it all weekend. ;) Seriously, that's a sweet old guitar and the back especially is absolutely gorgeous. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on it for a few minutes. Another amazing Freeman find. :thu:

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Danocoustic Newbie

Danocoustic

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Trying to remember where I played a similar guitar---it was in Bay City Michigan in the middle 70s---could've been in the Music Center (retail store), could've been at a jam in Vet's Park---the 70s are kind of a blur, if ya know what I mean---:freak:

 

BUT I remember being very impressed with it, anyway.

 

Thanks for sharing that, Freeman.

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Freeman Keller Apprentice

Freeman Keller

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Thanks for taking the time to write this up and show us the pics Freeman! This is probably the coolest thing I've read all morning!

 

I want to thank you and all the other folks who encourage me to keep posting this stuff. When I run into something that I find interesting I try to pass it along to the group and I appreciate knowing that you like it. The forum is slow and I hope things I post will be fun to read, sometimes I think about just quitting completely, but your nice comments keep me coming back.

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katopp Newbie

katopp

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The forum is slow and I hope things I post will be fun to read' date=' sometimes I think about just quitting completely, but your nice comments keep me coming back.[/quote']

No, please continue. I always learn from your posts. Yes, it's slow here and it was much, much nicer before the multiple crashes that this forum had. And, yes, forums are pretty much yesterday's news in the world of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but I'm old and I don't like Facebook.

 

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katopp Newbie

katopp

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The forum is slow and I hope things I post will be fun to read' date=' sometimes I think about just quitting completely, but your nice comments keep me coming back.[/quote']

No, please continue. I always learn from your posts. Yes, it's slow here and it was much, much nicer before the multiple crashes that this forum had. And, yes, forums are pretty much yesterday's news in the world of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but I'm old and I don't like Facebook.

 

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DeepEnd Mentor

DeepEnd

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. . . And' date=' yes, forums are pretty much yesterday's news in the world of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but I'm old and I don't like Facebook.[/quote']

I'm (comparatively) old too and I don't do Facebook either. Mrs. DeepEnd yes, but not me. Except for commenting on a few blogs, this Forum is about as close to social media as I get. Anyway, good to hear from you. :thu:

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