STOAKES GEAR TALK – B.C RICH SHREDZILLA EXTREME
I have had the pleasure of playing and reviewing some stunning guitars over the years and none have been quite so metal as the new B.C Rich Shredzilla that launched last year. B.C Rich over the past few years has been given a new lease of life, after being taken over by Bill Xavier. The brand had a little wobbly period prior to Xavier taking over, but I, along with other B.C Rich fans around the world am delighted that BCR have taken their place back towards the top of the ladder, right where they belong.
The Shredzilla is a super-strat of sorts. With it’s 25.5 inch scale length and it feels magnificent. It really lends itself to down tuning and let’s be honest, what is metal without some down tuned, mega riffage. The neck is really thin as well, which allows for some hardcore shredding action, in fact, it almost shreds for you. The guitar comes with two humbuckers, a reverse headstock and the whole guitar has a lovely binding. There are no fret inlays, but around the fingerboard there is a lovely pearlescent binding (different to the binding around the body) and a lovely embossed emblem on the third fret.
The neck, as I have said, is super thin and the guitar has a ‘neck thru’ body which is accentuated by the racing stripe type neck paint job. In all honesty, I would prefer the back of the guitar to be all one colour, I’m not a huge fan of the colour split down the middle. That being said, that is purely aesthetic and has nothing to do with how this thing plays. And, how does it play, I hear you cry!
Well, on the subject of the thru neck, I have to say, playability wise, it’s amazing. It’s so easy to get to those high frets, right up to the 24th fret, with no strain at all. It says it in the name, this is a shredders guitar! Sound wise too, no sound quality is lost at the top either, in fact, this guitar really comes alive above the 12th fret.
The BC Rich Shredzilla is an absolute beast. Because the neck is so thin and accessible, my fingers almost float across the frets. It is a super simple guitar too, just one volume control, no tone and a push/pull voice selector. I love the BC Rich’s kill switch, you can some awesome sounding effects from it. The pickups are great too and both have their own sound.
The neck pickup is a Fishman Modern Alnico Humbucker and the bridge is a ceramic humbucker which both deliver completely different tones. Neither are super-hot, I guess you do all that work with your pedals and by turning your amp up to 11. Combined, they really sing! I quite liked the tone of the neck, it felt slightly smoother, whereas the bridge is all out metal grit!
One thing I really didn’t get on with is the locking tuners. Again, this maybe a personal taste thing, but, I had a little bit of bad luck and had a few strings go on me. So, I preceded to begin the fiddly process of changing the strings and normal tuners are so much simpler! Give me some good standard tuners any day of the week! A good set of tuners very rarely stray too far out these days anyway. I would much rather stick with what I know. I would expect the tuning stability on a guitar of this price to be good, with locking tuners or not!
To sum things up, I’m a little torn to be honest. Firstly, the Shredzilla is an absolute dream to play, it’s lightweight which will enable you to throw it around the stage when gigs resume and the included strap locks will ensure your strap never comes loose. The pickups sound great, both with their distinct tones and I have really enjoyed my time with it. I’m not overly keen on the locking tuners or the racing stripe down the back (but, that is purely personal taste and has no bearing on how it plays) and the guitar doesn’t come with a gig bag either, which at this price point, I would have liked. Plus with just one volume control and no tone or trem, it’s missing a lot for the amount of money that you’re paying.
With all that being said, I can’t help but like the thing. The two humbuckers sound great, especially when you combine them and you know, when you actually play the thing, you forget that it doesn’t have a trem or a tone dial because all you are focussing on is the face melting solo you are playing and when you are mid way through that killer solo…. Nothing Else Matters!
Specs:
- BODY SHAPE: Shredzilla Extreme
- CONSTRUCTION: No heel Neck-Thru body
- BODY WOOD: Mahogany “Nyatah Palaquium”
- SIDES: Abalone Binding
- NECK SHAPE: Shredzilla Ultra Slim Countour with Satin Finish For Speed
- NECK WOOD: 5-piece Maple/Wenge neck for stability
- SCALE: 25.5″
- TRUSS ROD: Dual Adjust
- HEADSTOCK: 6-Inline reversed with Abalone Binding
- FRETBOARD MATERIAL: Indian Ebony fretboard
- RADIUS: 14-degree
- FRET SIZE: Extra Jumbo
- NUMBER OF FRETS: 24
- INLAYS: Extreme Abalone inlay 3rd fret
- NUT: Graphtech
- NUT WIDTH: 1.625
- BRIDGE TYPE: Hardtail
- BRIDGE DESIGN: Hipshot
- TUNING MACHINES: Grover Locking Rotomatic 18:1 ratio
- PICKUP CONFIGURATION: Dual Humbuckers
- NECK PICKUP: Fishman® Fluence Modern Humbucker Alnico (H) neck pickup pickup, Made in USA
- BRIDGE PICKUP: Fishman® Fluence Modern Humbucker Ceramic bridge pickup, Made in USA
- PICKUP TYPE: Direct Mount Humbuckers
- CONTROL LAYOUT: 1 x volume (push-pull voice selector) 3-way toggle and push button kill switch
- KILL SWITCH: Yes
- SPECIAL ELECTRONICS: 25K Linear pots
- NUMBER OF STRINGS: 6
- SPECIAL FEATURES: No Heel Shredzilla Neck cut for easy access to the 24th fret
- ACCESSORIES: Locking Straplocks Included
S.R.P: £1,545.00
