Glorious NGD: Bernie Rico Jr Jekyll 727 w/BKPs!! (lots of pics)

[yacker]

I have a question for BRJ owners though- is there some reason why the control cavity covers don't ever seem to be recessed? Not really a huge deal for me, but if I get one I would prefer recessed covers if he does them. The attention to detail, finish etc. always seem to be top notch, but I have always wondered about that one thing.

I talked to Bernie about this on the phone. They aren't recessed, but he did say they are radiused and thus less noticeable. He basically told me that the non-recessed way is the way his family has been doing it since before he started building guitars. So in a friendly way he basically told me that was the way that works best for him and he wouldn't do recessed. That said, I have no idea if he'd be opposed to doing recessed covers if it was a key design element for somebody...but he seemed to say most players don't even notice it.

The guitar I ordered still hasn't made it to me, so I can't comment on whether the covers are bothersome or not.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Fcuking awesome guitar, would love a BR Jekyll!!
Great purchase!

 

[Goatchrist]

Gorgeous! Congrats!
About the upper strapbutton, looks like a bad place where it is right now. But maybe I'm wrong! Tell me.

 

[kmanick]

Gorgeous! Congrats!
About the upper strapbutton, looks like a bad place where it is right now. But maybe I'm wrong! Tell me.

I questioned that when I got mine too, but the strap falls completely normal, so it works just fine.

 

[technomancer]

Gorgeous! Congrats!
About the upper strapbutton, looks like a bad place where it is right now. But maybe I'm wrong! Tell me.

Yeah KxK's recessed strap locks use the same location, it causes no problems at all

Still loving blue quilt

 

[xxxyyy]

Hey man, I'm from Italy too and I have two Bernie Ricos coming soon! It's not impossible to have them in Europe, you just have to be careful about customs...

How did you managed to avoid customs?
You might even become my hero, you know that?

 

[mikernaut]

Beautiful, but your not helping my long Gassing for my Rico to be done.

But it is great to see how many people are starting to grab some BRJ's and experience 1sthand that Bernie makes incredible looking and sounding guitars.

 

[technomancer]

How did you managed to avoid customs?
You might even become my hero, you know that?

Let's avoid discussing customs fraud, mmm'kay

 

[-Nolly-]

I must say that after playing this thing for the best part of 12 hours since it arrived, it's still f***ing awesome. I haven't had to touch the tuners once, which is a phenomenal feat, given the massive climate difference it's been through!
The setup is perfection, the action is extremely low but buzz-free. The fretwork is a masterpiece, the frets aren't huge but bending is effortlessly smooth.

The best thing, however, is that it sounds incredible - very clear, with excellent top and bottom end extension. Clean tones are very pure, and it retains a "piano-like" character under gain (very similar to my Blackmachine B2 in fact).
As expected, the Aftermath in the bridge brings the brutalz, the precision and tightness of this thing beggars belief. I'm swapping it out for a Black Dog though, after deciding that I simply prefer the open-ness and dynamic response you get from low to medium output alnico pickups.
The Riff Raff is an absolute definition monster. You have to work a lot harder than you do with a regular high output neck pickup, but the trade off is awesome clarity and wide open voicing. At the moment it's not really keeping up with the Aftermath in output, which I attribute to the fact that the pickup is moved along nearer the bridge to make way for the 27 frets - less string movement and therefore less output (I've played the same combination of pickups on one of Tim's personal LPs and not found any balance issues). Anyway, with the Black Dog in there it should pair up nicely.

So, to sum up,

 

[FLGearnut]

interesting choice for a set of 7-string pickups...never heard of anybody ever using a Black Dog for metal.

Nolly, did you have Bernie put a tremol-no in this guitar or is it full floating?

 

[-Nolly-]

Ah, the Black Dog is one of Tim's favourites - he often recommends it to extended range/baritone players. It's a PAF-style pickup, with a AV magnet and rather beefed up wind. The result is a really rich and "snarly" midrange, lots of clarity, very tight low end and smooth Alnico treble. This is a Black Dog:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/790683/Black Dog solo.mp3

EDIT: Forgot to reply - the trem is actually blocked up with some mahogany chunks. I wanted the stability of a locking nut, without the hassle of a floating trem system. I've always loved how Floyd's feel under the palm so it's win/win for me!

 

[FLGearnut]

Ah, the Black Dog is one of Tim's favourites - he often recommends it to extended range/baritone players. It's a PAF-style pickup, with a AV magnet and rather beefed up wind. The result is a really rich and "snarly" midrange, lots of clarity, very tight low end and smooth Alnico treble. This is a Black Dog:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/790683/Black Dog solo.mp3

EDIT: Forgot to reply - the trem is actually blocked up with some mahogany chunks. I wanted the stability of a locking nut, without the hassle of a floating trem system. I've always loved how Floyd's feel under the palm so it's win/win for me!

ahh very interesting. Oh and FWIW, i think a set of zebra bobbins in your next set to go in there would look badass

 

[Emperoff]

Hey Nolly, how does the back of the neck feel? I thought about leaving the back of the neck on mine oiled but yours looks awesome. I'd like to know your impressions about the finish on the neck.

 

[Duke318]

Nolly, I'm getting this exact same finish on my rico.

 

[-Nolly-]

^Awesome!

Hey Nolly, how does the back of the neck feel? I thought about leaving the back of the neck on mine oiled but yours looks awesome. I'd like to know your impressions about the finish on the neck.

It feels great, very slick! I'm usually an oiled neck guy, but this thing isn't sticky or gunky in the least, just very very smooth and slippery

 

[MF_Kitten]

I've been seeing this thing lately, and i thought i should probably chime in and say that it's amazing! I was always a sucker for coloured tops and natural backs. How did they do the trem blocking btw? Was a larger cavity made first, and then mahogany blocks added afterwards, or did they make a tight "blocked" cavity in the first place and plop it in?

 

[-Nolly-]

As I adopted this guitar after it had already been constructed for the most part, the floyd cavity had been routed out already. It has all of the hardware in place (springs etc), but with the mahogany chunks on either side of the trem block.
If you wanted something similar (as I do for my 6 string), Bernie can easily make just a small cavity to drop the trem block into.

 

[german7]

OMFG!! beautiful...congrats

 

[jwatso89]

That is gorgeous! Congrats man

 

[kmanick]

I've had mine for a bout a month now and I don't think I've played any of my other guitars for more than ............................an hour maybe?
I've lost all interest in playing anything but my BRJ.