The occasions when a broad smile spreads across my face while unpacking an instrument have become rare. The majority of all test instruments offer very good quality at sometimes extremely low prices, but sometimes disregard the famous show aspect, the "Punch and Judy", which makes the guitar sector so entertaining. All the nicer, when an instrument like the BC Rich B Legacy Double Neck with its 6-string / 12-string construction, which belongs to a proper "Punch and Judy show", almost immediately puts all the attributes on the tester's bread ;-)
The construction of the BC Rich B Legacy Double Neck
Few guitar manufacturers are as focused on the hard'n'heavy sector as B.C.Rich, founded by Bernardo Chavez Rico in 1969. Strictly speaking, the term "hard" can be left out of the stylistic repertoire, since the sometimes extremely unusual guitar shapes can be found almost exclusively in metal. Even if the resonance behavior of the manufacturer's higher-quality guitar lines in particular could certainly cover the entire spectrum of guitar music tonally, using a genuine BC Rich shape outside of bludgeoning, shredding and thrashing would, gallantly put, draw the undivided attention of colleagues and the audience.
Aside from the moderate body shape by BC Rich standards, the overall appearance of the instrument can simply be described as monstrous. Placing the instrument in a regular guitar stand? Completely impossible, which is why it also comes with a high-quality case to hand! It's obvious that a doubleneck in itself blows up the regular appearance, but what BC Rich adds in terms of circuitry extravaganzas finds its origin in the sound aesthetics of the eighties. In his time it was quite common to get out pretty much everything in terms of tonal variations, which offered passive pickups of his time and in the present instrument to a collection of a total of 13! Knobs, switches and mini switches. More on that later.
Even though the BC Rich Rich B Legacy Double Neck is available in two different finishes (Trans Red / White), the present transparent Cherry finish will probably create the strongest association with the forefather of all Doublenecks, the Gibson SG Doubleneck, which was the Jimmy Page showcase model for the live versions of "Stairway To Heaven". To be fair, it should also be mentioned that Don Felder also used a white version for the live performances of "Hotel California", probably an equal competitor in terms of hit potential.
In terms of design, however, the instruments are worlds apart, starting with the neck construction. Although also made of mahogany, the BC Rich has the more vibrationally favorable neck-through variant on both necks, whereby the necks are not parallel, but at an acute angle towards the body. An extravagant, albeit very sensible solution was implemented for the 12-string neck in terms of tuning machines. What may seem like an optical gimmick at first glance, in reality has a solid reason. We are talking about the placement of the octave tuners behind the one-piece bridge construction used on the necks and the associated 6 drill holes in the headstock of the neck.
On the one hand, the strings can be tuned much more relaxed, since the tuners do not sit so close to the headstock together. On the other hand, however, the BC Rich Rich B Legacy Double Neck is spared the head heaviness of the Gibson model, which constantly presses down in the musician's hand due to the 18 tuners and the huge headstock on the 12-string neck. A very successful detail.
The hardware
In the hardware area, light and shadow alternate. Extra praise goes to the built-in Super Rotomatic tuners from Grover, which on the one hand glide very smoothly over the synthetic bone saddle and with their "rod optics" also make a good visual impression. Also the BCR Quad bridge is in principle a showpiece in terms of mass and mechanics, if, yes, if there were not this buzzing on one of the high E-string of the 12-string neck.
What happened? Well, after some searching, I was able to find the problem in the contact pressure of the string on the rider. The angle from the rider to the suspension of the ball end on the bridge is so shallow that the resulting contact pressure does not push the string into the notch enough, causing it to strike and buzz in the notch. Although the B-string next to it has the same angle, even the minimally larger string diameter is enough to prevent buzzing. So it is really a matter of fractions of a millimeter.
You could prevent the buzz by raising the rider a bit, but that would be at the expense of string action, or you could attach a tiny piece of wood/metal to the top of the ball-end hole to make the string drop back at a slightly steeper angle. All in all, a fixable problem, but honestly, a 2 millimeter lower bore would prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.
The circuit options of the BC Rich B Legacy Double Neck
To put it in a nutshell, more tonal variety is hard to come by! Whether the extremely diverse sound yield can hold its own in practice is another matter, but the circuitry effort is impressive in any case. Let's start with the three large three-way switches of classic design. Besides the typical pickup circuit neck-both-bridge (2x), the third switch allows neck selection. There actually seems to be no proper 2-way switch for this range, because the built-in 3-way switch is, as with all other Doublenecks of this type with its circuit "both necks" completely counterproductive, because the forced swinging open second neck one tonally shatters the complete performance. Therefore always completely up or completely down with the switch. We continue with six knobs, three of which (Volume, Tone, Tone) are assigned to the six-string neck and three knobs (Volume, Tone, Tone) to the twelve-string neck. It really gets going with 3 mini switches that let the Seymour Duncan-designed HB-103 pickups rotate in phase as well as provide single-coil tone via coil tapping. To top it off, there's a 5-way filter circuit via rotary control, similar to what was used on the top models of Gibson's early ES series. I recommend every guitarist to come to band rehearsal an hour earlier than their colleagues and familiarize themselves with all the possibilities, or else you run the risk of being exposed to qualified comments in the style of "everything sounds the same anyway". P.S. The whole sound variety can only be worked out in clean or very, very marginal crunch. If you use high gain here, you can forget about almost all switches.
In practice
Those who are familiar with Doublenecks will know the effect at first contact. In direct comparison to my personal Doublenecks, the BC Rich Rich B Legacy Double Neck is still moderately in the middle in terms of weight, but this does not hide the fact that you are in fact strapping on two guitars at once. If you want to familiarize yourself with the situation, feel free to strap on two regular guitars at once and then try out your favorite moves on stage. The second challenge lies in the clean stringing of the octave strings of the upper neck, especially the accurate cutting of the same. If, for example, the cut ends of the E and A strings are still slightly protruding, you can easily get your right forearm latently perforated or scratched during the performance on the upper neck, something only for the true masochists among you. Before use, you now have the great pleasure of bringing 18 strings into the right tuning ratio. Especially on the 12-string neck, this can degenerate into a time-consuming action, since you can't avoid a certain degree of octave impurity due to the common tabs for each pair of strings. A good "well-tempered tuning" is called for. Now, if you tune the guitar as perfectly as possible, this shimmering sound does have its appeal, but mercy on you if even one string gets out of line. First we come to the dry dock, i.e. playing without a connected amplifier. Those who have been skeptical up to now will now be taught better. All of a sudden there it is, a sustain that is second to none. Of course, with the neck construction used, an excellent vibration behavior was expected from me, but what the oversized body throws again with its mass into the scale, is breathtaking. The vibration behavior of the instrument is overwhelming and compensates for everything that was initially slapped in front of you in terms of haptics. Almost endless tones without any deadnotes and that with a wooden construction, really impressive. Sound-wise, the BC Rich B Legacy Double Neck offers everything you would expect from a guitar of this series. The resonance is excellent, the pickups adequate, the playability good. A clear candidate for a "Very Good" rating, were it not for the faulty E-string suspension on the 12-string bridge, which for me means a point deduction.
Conclusion
With the BC Rich Rich B Legacy Double Neck, the American masters of optical provocation have struck properly. The classic 6/12 neck combination allows for an extremely wide range of sounds and offers far more than just the possibility of performing "Stairway To Heaven" and "Hotel California" live. If you need the combination of a shimmering clean 12-string and a classic 6-string rock'n'roll guitar within a song, or just want to really pull off the leather visually for once, you should definitely check this guitar out. P.S. Don't forget your gym subscription ;-)
Additional informations:
B.C. Rich Guitars: A Comprehensive Guide
B.C. Rich is a guitar brand that has been around for more than five decades. The company was founded by Bernardo Chavez Rico in 1969 in Los Angeles, California. B.C. Rich guitars are known for their unique designs, high-quality craftsmanship, and their association with heavy metal music.
History
B.C. Rich started out as a custom guitar shop that specialized in creating unique and high-quality instruments. The founder, Bernardo Chavez Rico, had a passion for building guitars and his creations quickly gained a following among local musicians. As the demand for his guitars grew, B.C. Rich began to expand its operations and started producing guitars on a larger scale. The first B.C. Rich guitar was the Seagull, which was released in 1972. The Seagull was an innovative design that featured a distinctive body shape, known as the "Bich" shape, which quickly became synonymous with the B.C. Rich brand. Throughout the 1970s, B.C. Rich continued to release new models, including the Mockingbird, Eagle, and Warlock. These guitars were not only unique in their design, but also featured high-quality components and construction. They quickly became popular among heavy metal musicians, who appreciated their aggressive sound and striking appearance. In the 1980s, B.C. Rich guitars continued to gain popularity, and the brand became even more closely associated with heavy metal music. Musicians like Kerry King of Slayer, Slash of Guns N' Roses, and Chuck Schuldiner of Death all played B.C. Rich guitars, which helped to cement the brand's reputation as a favorite of metal musicians. In the 1990s, B.C. Rich experienced some financial difficulties and went through a series of ownership changes. However, the brand continued to produce high-quality guitars, and by the early 2000s, it had regained its reputation as a leader in the heavy metal guitar market.
Design and Construction
One of the most distinctive features of B.C. Rich guitars is their unique and often radical body shapes. These designs are not just for show, however; they are intended to improve the guitar's playability and sound. For example, the Bich shape was originally designed to make the guitar more comfortable to play while sitting down. The Warlock shape was designed to improve the guitar's balance and make it easier to play while standing up. And the Mockingbird shape was designed to give the guitar a fuller, more resonant sound. In addition to their innovative body shapes, B.C. Rich guitars are also known for their high-quality construction. The company uses only the best materials, including mahogany, maple, and ebony, and all guitars are built by skilled craftsmen who pay close attention to every detail. B.C. Rich guitars also feature high-quality hardware, including locking tuners, Floyd Rose tremolos, and DiMarzio pickups. These components help to ensure that the guitars stay in tune, have excellent sustain, and deliver a powerful, aggressive tone.
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