BC Rich Warlock Rave 2 series

Price paid...us$300

Features...7

Traded in an old Cort guitar for this BC Rich over 10 years ago from a store that has been out of business for at least that long. Paid about $300 for the BC Rich, got $50 for the Cort (due to a really bad paint job by me). This is one of the rave 2 series BC Rich that I think was an entry-level line. I don't believe BC Rich sells rave 2 series guitars any more. The guitar came with a strat type of bridge and no name pickups in an h/h configuration. It has one volume, one tone and a 3-way switch. The guitar is finished in black, as is the back of the neck and headstock. I believe the body is plywood and the neck is maple.

Sound...10

This guitar has undergone many mods over the years. It is by far my favourite guitar not only for its great sound but also because it has great sentimental value. In its current state, it has the original neck pickup and a Seymore Duncan invader in the bridge position. The s.d. is very hot and gives this guitar a uniquely dark sound. The bridge is currently an old Khaler Spyder (Floyd type) whammy bar, which has been blocked solid to be like a fixed bridge. I routed the body myself to fit this so needless to say the guitar has a unique cavity for the bridge. Ha ha.  This bridge will soon be replaced with some other fixed type bridge since i have grown to hate Floyd type bars. The volume pot was changed about 2 years after I bought the guitar, I don't remember why but this volume pot works better than the ones in all my other guitars. The volume rolls away nicely and silently. Hard to explain. I never use the tone knob so can't comment. The no name pickup has remained because I like the warm round sound it produces. This pickup seems to compliment the s.d nicely. The tuners have been changed with Schaller locking tuners and I’ve been very happy with them. The originals worked fine but I wanted to try the locking type and this is the guitar I do all my mods on. The guitar would only be appropriate for metal or rock due to its dark tone.

Action, fit and finish...6

I remember the action being too high when I got this guitar. Also the bridge that came with it caused strings to break and the guitar go wildly out of tune. The store did the best they could to get it to a point where it was playable but it did take them some time. The original bridge pickup was a bit weak. The finish was very nice but not perfect. Since I believe the rating system is primarily aimed at "from the factory" features, I give it an overall 6.

About 3 years after owning the guitar, I attempted to completely take apart the guitar and rebuild it. I took the neck off and on one too many times. The neck would not go back on correctly because the screw holes became worn out. I brought the guitar to a local shop and they fixed it up nice. Now the action on the guitar is the best out of all my guitars and has been that way ever since. I’d give the guitar a 10 just for this alone. The neck is the same scale as a Gibson neck and roughly the same dimensions. It has 24 frets. Oddly enough, since I have small hands, I tend to like the smaller necks like the one on my Ibanez but since the action on this guitar is so good I hardly notice the "fatness" of this neck.

Reliability/durability...10

This guitar is a tank. I’ve been caught gigging in the rain, in dank basements, hot stages and smoky bars with this guitar.  Yup, the corners of this guitar are all chipped away down to the wood due to being dropped countless times (remember, she’s well over 10 years old) but the top of the finish is still the same as the day I bought it. The guitar is heavy and feels like a weapon, I’ve never had this guitar break down on me at a gig but I still have a backup.

Customer support...N.A.

Never dealt with them but would love to send them a thank you for giving me years of enjoyment because of this guitar. Also would consider having them build a custom for me.

Overall rating...10

Like I said, I have had this guitar for over 10 years and it has great sentimental value to me. If it was stolen or lost I would cry for days, offer a nice reward to have it returned, then kill the bastard when he/she arrived to collect the money.  Seriously, this has turned into a very unique instrument that I treasure and use all the time. For the money I spent, I got a guitar that has stood up to a lot of abuse and begs for more. I can't help compare it to a mutt versus a purebred. You usually pay a lot more for a purebred but sometimes the mutt is a way better dog.