BC Rich

B.C. Rich is an American guitar company known for its bold, aggressive designs and strong association with heavy metal and hard rock genres. Founded in the early 1970s by Bernardo Chavez Rico, the brand broke away from traditional guitar aesthetics with radical shapes like the Warlock, Mockingbird, and Bich. These guitars became iconic thanks to their striking looks, often featuring jagged edges, custom inlays, and elaborate finishes, as well as their high-output electronics suited for distortion-heavy tones. They were especially popular in the 1980s, endorsed by legendary metal players like Kerry King of Slayer and Lita Ford.

What set B.C. Rich apart wasn’t just its looks, but also its innovation—early models featured neck-through construction, onboard preamps, and multi-knob control layouts, offering tonal flexibility rare at the time. While the brand went through ownership and quality fluctuations in the ’90s and 2000s, it has seen revivals in recent years, with reissues of classic designs and modern updates. B.C. Rich continues to appeal to guitarists who want something unapologetically loud—both sonically and visually.