Vintage Bass Guitars – B.C. Rich Basses
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B.C. Rich came into existence in 1969 when an unlikely character, Bernardo Chavez Rico, began building some really cool electric and vintage bass guitars. What made him so unique was his background in building flamenco as well as classical guitars along with his flamboyant lifestyle. He loved fast cars, flashy clothes and motorcycles.
B.C. Rich Early Years
1976 Seagull
Rico was born in East L.A. in 1941 and began working in his father’s music shop when he was about 13. After Rico joined him his father, also named Bernardo, renamed his music shop from Casa Rico to Bernardo’s Guitar Shop. As rumor has it, during the mid 60’s the B.C. Rico name on their acoustic guitars seemed a little too ethnic so the company name was changed to B.C. Rich to appeal to a larger audience.
It was in 1969 that Rico began making electric and bass guitars. His electric guitars were copies of the Gibson Les Paul and his basses were copies of the Gibson EB-3. These were all handcrafted but only about 10 of each design were ever made making them very rare indeed.
Then in 1972 B.C. Rich offered their first original design in a bass they called the “Seagull Bass.” It had a single cutaway solid-body with two humbucking pickups. Unlike single cutaway horns on many basses this one had a unique downward tilt to it. The Seagull also featured neck-through construction which became a staple of B.C. Rich instruments. In 1976 the design was changed to a double cutaway body and it became known as the Seagull 2.
Unique Designs
But the Seagull was just the beginning as future instruments would become more outrageous with sharp horns, swooping curves and unique colors. This would become evident in their next offering in1976 called the “Mockingbird Bass”. This had a double cutaway design with an asymmetrical solid body, P/J style DiMarzio pickups, three controls and three position switches and appeared in both short and long scale versions. These vintage bass guitars came in colors like Black, Porsche Red, White, Blue and Wine Purple as well as custom colors.
The Mockingbird was followed by the surprisingly normal looking “Eagle Bass” starting in 1977. The Eagle was basically a redesign of the Seagull 2 which it replaced. However, there would be nothing normal looking about what followed. Starting in 1978, B.C. Rich introduced the “Bich Bass” which was designed by Neal Moser who was also responsible for the electronics found in B.C. Rich guitars.
The Bich Bass would become hugely popular. It had a double cutaway solid-body with two sharp horns and similar specs to the Mockingbird, however, what sets it apart was its radical shape which appeared that someone took a few bites out of its base. The Bich Bass was also offered in an 8-string version.
1980 Mockingbird in Ultra Violet
1981 Eagle Bass
1981 Bich Bass
The last of the B.C. Rich vintage bass guitars I want to mention is the “Warlock Bass” which made its debut in 1981. In talking about vintage bass guitars I typically don’t go past the 1970s because craftsmanship and the use of quality materials gave way to mass production and foreign imports after that time, in some cases it happened even during the 70s. But I’m personally a fan of the Warlock design and 1981 is close enough.
The Warlock design had a double cutaway solid-body with pointed horns with a large V cutaway at the bottom of its base. It came in both neck-through and bolt-on neck models with the bolt-on having 22 jumbo frets. It really gained in popularity after Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue got one and they are still being made today.
Early 80s Warlock Bass
Collectibility
The values listed below are only estimates and assume the bass is in excellent condition. Excellent condition means that the bass is in working order, it has the original parts and finish and although there may be some minor wear there are no major blemishes or any major damage or repairs.
Naturally, values will be lower than those shown below if the instrument is in a lesser condition. Conversely, their worth can be higher than these numbers in cases of custom builds and finishes.
The 1972 Seagull Bass could go for $2,800 – $3,500. The 1973-1975 models should be in the $2,400 – $3,000 range. The Seagull 2 might go for $2,100 – $2,700
The 1976 Mockingbird is the most valuable year and will run $2,000 – $2,500 while the model years 1977-1979 aren’t far behind at $1,800 – $2,000. The 80s models can run around several hundred dollars less.
The Eagle Bass from 1977-1979 could go for $1,700 – $2,100 with the 1980’s models running a few hundred less.
The Bich Bass could run from $1,700 – $2,000 for the ‘78 & ’79 models with the 1980s versions coming in around $1,200 – $1,500.
Last, and definitely not least, is the Warlock which will only cost you $1,000 – $1,200 for an early 1980s model.
The fact that the Warlock is still in production today, in several different models, shows that I’m not the only one who was a fan of these vintage bass guitars.
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