Rico Jr Guitars and the Hybrid Vixen
Marc Johnson | Mar 10, 2010 | Comments 1
Like Father, Like Son: Rico Jr. Guitars and the Hybrid Vixen
by Marc Johnson for The ToneKing.com
Like father like son. The son of the founder of B.C. RICH Guitars, Bernie Rico Jr. is following in his father’s footsteps and building killer guitars. The idea behind Rico Jr. Guitars is limited guitars produced with attention to detail, and the Hybrid Vixen is a great example of that.
The Hybrid Vixen is a neck-through 24-fret guitar with an Original Floyd Rose Tremolo. Rico Jr. Guitars that are all made to order and part of a limited run. So, when you get one, it’s yours and you will probably never run into anyone else with the same guitar. The version that we ordered at TheToneKing.com had the high-gain Seymour Duncan Blackouts, but you could opt for EMG 81 and 85s if you prefer.
For everyone that knows us at TTK, knows that this guitar is right up our alley. It’s a rocker’s guitar, plain and simple. The neck-thru design gives the guitar great resonance that really works well with the high-gain pickups.
Rico Jr. Guitars is not limited to rock guitars and builds guitars to accommodate every type of musician from Jazz to Metal and everything in-between. There are essentially three types of guitars that they build; these include, Hand-Made Neck-thru, Hand-Made Bolt-on, and the Rico Jr. Hybrids.
The Hybrids are specifically offered to those who want custom guitars at not-so custom prices. The Vixen cost us a little above a grand. To give you an idea, most guitars with a neck-thru design and an Original Floyd Rose trem will usually start well above the thousand-dollar mark and very rarely offer you any other options at all. The wood for the Rico Jr. Hybrids are cut overseas, but, then, they’re shipped to, built, and set-up in their Custom Shop with the same precision as every other guitar that Rico builds.
It’s not surprising to find that the son of one of the greatest guitar luthiers building guitars. It is surprising, though, to find that Rico Jr. work rivals that of his fathers.
Watch The Tone King’s video review of the Rico Jr. Hybrid Vixen on TTK Channel by clicking here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUrLn6rhNvU, or simply click PLAY below! Thank you & ROCK ON!
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About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.