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B.C. Rich NJ BICH review

B.C. Rich NJ BICH is a fixed bridge neck-through guitar equipped with two humbuckers. Its body shape is original, it's a large axe that I think can be compared to Les Paul.

Tuning stability 9/10

The neck is rather thick, it's made from three pieces of maple and two pieces of walnut between them. It's reliable. You've probably had better tuners. Fixed bridge is tight and stable. Not bad in overall, however changing the tuners helped a bit.

Acoustic sound 10/10

NJ Bich gives an impression of a very solid and expensive instrument. Every note sustains for very long time. The guitar produces warm, saturated and loud tone. It's perhaps a bit soft, but meaty.

Electric sound 8/10

The electric sound of NJ Bich is good and balanced. If it had less low mids it would be perfect for me, also I would love it if pickups had more attack. I'm considering changing the pickups.

I tried replacing stock pickups with active EMG 85 and MERLIN ECLIPSE BRIDGE (fine pickup made in Poland). With this configuration BICH is hot as hell. I'm thinking of going back to that setup.

Finish 9.5/10

Flawless. This axe looks beautiful, better than it seems from the pictures. Medium jumbo frets are all even and nicely finished. Original nut was well installed however I replaced it with lower graphite nut as I like having the nut as low as possible.

Neck 8/10

The neck is as comfortable as it can be given its greater than standard thickness. Upper fret access is fantastic even for a neck-through. It's not very flat, rather classic type of radius.

Table 1 B.C. Rich NJ BICH neck dimensions

Features 8/10

Standard features, no extras like graphite nut or straplocks. One volume, one tone knob and 3-way switch that is accessible.

Balance 5/10

Straight from factory BICH is not well balanced. Strap buttons make a line that is parrallel to the instrument's neck and so the instrument trends to horizontal position. To make it useful in standing position I had to drill another hole and move one of the strap buttons. Now it's well balanced. On the other hand this axe is totally comfortable while sitting. It allows you to hold it normally as you would hold a Les Paul and also it sits easily between your legs like a V shaped guitar would.

Weight 9/10

Bich is quite heavy, this is the price one has to pay for it's tone.

Price 9/10

Price - around 350-500 euros new. It's worth it in my book. This isn't the type of guitar that is built like a fancy sports car, it's heavy, a little bit more difficult to play but it delivers fantastic tone, sustain and reliability.

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Specification

• 24 jumbo frets
• 24 5/8" scale
• 5-pc maple/walnut neck, neck-through construction
• Ebony fingerboard
• Nato body
• Fixed tune-o-matic bridge
• B.C. Rich BDSM humbucking pickups (HH)
• 3-way switch
• 2x volume pot
• 1x tone pot
• Finish - natural and red
• Year of production - 2009
• Country of production - China