Monthly Archives: November 2008

BERNIE RICO HYBRID VIXEN GUITARS!

BERNIE DELIVERS A LOWER COST CUSTOM!

by Eric McKenna

Bernie Rico Jr makes the world’s finest custom, handbuilt guitars. Period.

Now – in an effort to branch out with his designs and provide the guitar market a true Rico custom guitar at a lower price point, Bernie launches the Hybrid Series.

So, what is the Hybrid Series? Simply. A guitar constructed to Bernie’s Specs. Built roughly halfway in just the finest of Korean facilities. Then shipped to Bernie in his Hesperia California custom shop where Bernie personally completes the construction.

Unlike other manufacturers who import guitars then label them ‘Made in the USA’, Bernie Rico is – as always – a man of integrity. Integrity fostered and instilled in him by his father, Bernie Rico Sr, founder of B.C. Rich guitars.

These are true ‘Hybrid’ guitars. With construction in Korean and in California. Bernie works on each guitar – personally.

The Hybrid series is first launched with a run of 50 total Vixens. 30 Black and 20 White. And Boogie Street Guitars is spearheading the launch – as always. The Boogie Street price on these guitars is 1575 USD with hardshell case and certificate of authenticity!

Contact Eric at 412-716-3150 to acquire one of these new Ricos!

And more information on these guitar guitar is HERE!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To my American friends and family – Enjoy this day. I hope everyone has the chance to spend time with those you love and care for and let us all take some time to reflect on what we indeed have – enjoy and cherish. And also take time to reflect you can in some way – reach out to those who may not be a blessed as you.

To my international friends and family – although you don’t celebrate this exact holiday, I wish all the very best to each of you and your families and friends today! Enjoy each other!
.

EVEN MORE Pics of Paul Stanley PS5 Preachers!

Thanks to my good friend Steve Gill at Washburn in Chicago – I got some additional pictures of the first run of the Washburn PS5 Preachers I put together with Paul and the USA Washburn Custom Shop!

They are coming out amazing and will be at Boogie Street very, very soon! And for just under 2 thousand USA Dollara with case and UPS USA Delivery!!

Get ready – they are coming! With a signed certificate from ‘THE’ Paul Stanley!!

.

.

More Pics of the Washburn PS5 Customs!

As a follow up to our previous PS5 post here are some more pictures of the PS5 USA Custom Shop Washburn Preachers which I commissioned from Terry Atkins and his fine crew at Washburn, Chicago.

The guitars are coming out amazing!

As a refresher – mahogany body backs, carved mahogany body top, maple set-in neck…done in an OIL FINISH… plus: ebony fretboad with Mother of Pearl block inlay, Preacher headstock with art-deco Mother of Pearl inlay, Seymour Duncan JB bridge pickup and Pearly Gates neck humbucker, all gold hardware including Grover 18-1 tuners with keyston buttons, factory hardshell case, and signed certificate from Paul and myself.

All for a price just under 2K USD!

Nick Catanese photo shoot at BSG

Well – these are not the actual photos. My good friend Nick Catanese of Black Label Society and Nick’s new venture – Speed X, was at BSG to have some photos taken of him for some of his endorsers. The photo shoot was conducted by Dan Speicher of Dan Speicher Photography. What was cool was I was able to also shoot ‘behind the scenes’ and it was a blast.

I’ve known Nick – forever. And I’ve been marketing his signature Washburn Idol guitars with him since 2004. During this time we have shot thousands of marketing photos and done hundreds of hours of video filming. Nick is getting old hat at this kind of stuff. I passed on doing this shoot because it was time for a fresh perspective and Dan gave Nick just that. But – it’s still fun to post up my photos from the afternoon.

Nick is a scream when he is in a good mood. Luckily for us – he is usually in a great mood when he arrives and BSG and if he is not…by the time I get done giving him sh*t – he is in a great mood.

That pretty much sums it up! Dan Speicher should have his pictures up on his blog and website. Check Dan out here….BANG!

.

Paul Stanley USA Custom PS5 Preacher Guitars!

About 6 months ago I began working with Paul and Washburn’s Rudy Schlacher, Nick Ellingsworth, Bill Abel and Terry Atkins. The project I came up with was to reach out and find a way to get more organic with the Washburn Paul Stanley Preacher. To get more ‘raw’ while still remaining a fully spec’d and classy version of the Preacher.

I also had a goal of possibly getting a USA Washburn Custom Shop Preacher with a street price of just under $2K! That would include hard-shell case and a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Paul!

And I’m here today to announce the PS5. A USA Custom Shop Paul Stanley Preacher guitar – exclusive to Boogie Street Guitars!

The guitar has true ‘organic’ feel in that it is completely – OIL FINISHED! Plus – the guitar will have an ALL MAHGAONY body back AND carved top! Plus the neck will made of MAPLE! Again – all with an OIL FINISH!

The guitar is far from a stripped down model! The body has black binding. The hardware is gold including a TonePros bridge and Grover 18-1 tuners with Keystone buttons.

The headstock on the BSG commissioned PS5 run of Preachers is with full art-deco inlay! Just like the PS9200 USA Customs!

The 22 fret fingerboard is Ebony with large Mother of Pearl blocks starting on the 1st fret…spec’d just like the PS9200.

The first group of numbered PS5 USA Custom Preachers will have Gold covered Seymour Duncan humbuckers. In the bridge will be a JB humbucker. The neck will have a Pearly Gates humbucker.

We expect these guitars to hit around Decmeber or the first of January and have a street price of UNDER $2K for everything! Now – how about that!

For more information – check out www.BoogieStreet.com or email me at eric@boogiestreet.com or call me directly at 412-716-3150

.

Paul Stanley and Eric McKenna…by Andreas Knutsson

Well, my crazy friend, Andreas Knutsson has done it again!

Back in 2005 Andreas did a picture of Nick EVIL TWIN Catanese of Black Label Society and me. The photo was taken from one shot at the Boogie Street Guitars offices in Pittsburgh.

This time, Andreas took a picture of Paul Stanley of KISS fame and I at NAMM 2008

Is this cool, or what? The guy has talent!
.

Abby Abbondanza CD Release Party

We had the most amazing time! Abby and his crew as well as the great folks at Froggy Radio 98.3 (Frank Bell RULES!) always make Krissy and I feel welcome and indeed special.

We saw Junior and WV Push and they were amazing. Great, great band. As a matter of fact, I hope to do some work with Junior soon.

Abby was ‘ON’ – as expected. He burned through most of his new release “Promised Land” as well as old Povertyneck Hillbillies tunes.

We went with Mr. Jim and Tina Stuart and it was really, really good to have a great ‘night out’!

Danger from Froggy 98.3 and I got a chance to throw out some Boogie Street Guitars T-shirts and Caps as well as Froggy shirts. Boogie Street Guitars also donated an acoustic Washburn guitar which Abby signed. I was won by a great Abby fan.

20081108-20081108-dsc_2500-3

Going to Abby Abbondanza's CD Relase Party 2nite!

Krissy and I and our good friends Jim and Tina Stuart are headed out to see my good friend Abby Abbondanza tonight here in Pittsburgh. Abby was the lead singer of the Poverty Neck Hillbillies. Tonight he is releasing his solo CD and it’s quite, quite good…

check him out at www.AbbyAbbondanza.com

Pictures of the event to follow tomorrow. Boogie Street is one of Abby’s endorsers so this should be great!

Bernie Rico USA Custom 'HELLOWEEN' Diva Guitars!

Bernie Rico continues to amaze! Last year BSG commissioned 2 ‘Vixen’ models done up in Bernie’s ‘Helloween’ paint and trim. These year we did a numbered run of 5 ‘Diva’ models! #4 and #5 have arrived!

These things are amazing! And with price of LESS than 3K with case and delivery! An insane price for a USA Custom Handmade Bernie Rico Jr guitar!!

Here are some pictures of #4 of 5 HELLOWEEN Diva!

…if you look close below, you can see where Bernie hides ‘Helloween 2008′ on the neck back…

Bernie ‘etches’ in ‘Helloween’ on the 12th fret.

.

Here are some pictures below of #5 of 5 Rico HELLOWEEN Diva at Boogie Street Guitars

.

So… is that not one of the coolest guitars – EVER? Bernie Rico does it again!

.


New Video! Rico 'Helloween' Divas and Hybrid Series!

I recorded a short 10 minute video from the Boogie Street Guitars offices today. We presented the Bernie Rico USA Custom Handmade ‘Helloween’ Diva guitars. We also presented Bernie’s ‘HYBRID SERIES’ Vixen guitars!

More information on these guitars on the BoogieBoard thread HERE!

Bernie Rico Jr USA Handmade SPALTED Jekyll Guitars!

Yes indeed – Bernie sent me two more beauties I commissioned a few months back! Guitars that REALLY make a statement! And it’s a rarer guitar in that it’s Bernie’s ‘superstrat’ model – the Jekyll – which is usually in a Floyd Rose configuration.

But we commissioned these two with SPALTED Maple tops and in a stop-tail configuration! These are outfitted with TonePros bridge and tail as well as Seymour Ducan humbuckers. A ‘JB’ in the bridge position and a ’59 in the neck position.

Bernie hand cut the BONE nut for these guitars as well.

Typical appointments include the Rico diamond inlay on the 24 fret ebony fretboard. Mahogany body wings and a the Rico family maple neck-thru design.

These two guitars also have a ‘satin neck finish. This means the entire guitar is in high gloss. Except for the back of the neck which is finished in satin. This satin finish coupled with Bernie’s ‘Speed’ neck profile provides for any exceptionally fast guitar!! And when run through a great tube amp – that ‘classic’ rock tone is dead on.

At the Boogie Street Guitars website and the BoogieBoard Forum, these guitars are selling at the reduced price of 3375 USD. This price INCLUDES UPS delivery – ANYWHERE in the world! As usual, the custom G&G hard case, BSG swag and Certificate of Authenticity are included.

There are two pieces. 1 of 2. and 2 of 2. Bernie signed and numbered each on the back of the headstock, under the clear, of course.

Well… here are some pictures of #1 of 2…

.

Now here are pictures of #2 of 2…

As always – just email me or call at 412-716-3150 for additional information!

And as always – thanks for all the continued support!!

.

Bernie Rico Jr ‘HYBRID SERIES’ guitars have landed!

Bernie Rico in conjunction with Boogie Street Guitars has worked on bringing the Rico family neck-thru heritage, Bernie Jr’s progressive designs and the legendary demand for superior quality – into a guitar which yields a lower price point! Thus enabling more guitar players and collectors to acquire a true Bernie Rico Jr Guitar and experience the joy of owning a Rico.

Bernie has made what I believe to be a very wise decision to take his time with this process. He built and shipped out USA Custom bodies with full routes – coupled with an extensive collection of finished Rico guitar pictures, to over 6 different Korean facilities.  Yes – SIX FACILITIES!   As as I was in on this entire process, I can tell you each Korean prototype he received back from these factories were exceptional.   It was hard to choose between the final 2 contenders.   Watching this process, I was reminded just how darn critical Bernie is with workmanship.   That was why it took over 1 and 1/2 years to get this project finally to market.

Personally – I knew from the beginning that Bernie’s nature is that of a perfectionist.  And because of that fact – Bernie has decided that he does not feel comfortable going the ‘pure import’ route.  Instead, he plans to get personally involved with each guitar which will bear his name.   So involved in fact that a significant part of the entire construction, assembly and final inspection of this new series of guitars are being crafted  by him in his Hesperia, California custom shop.

Since this new operation decision has been made and Bernie is not going to market a ‘pure import’ guitar,   series has been more appropriately renamed the “Hybrid Series”.

This is indeed an exciting development!   What this means to the customer – the player and/or collector -  is that the guitar market will be presented a ‘true’ Rico.  A Bernie Rico Jr designed AND finished guitar! And at a price point at about 1/2 of what his USA Custom Handmade guitars sell for!


T W I T T E R
F A C E B O O K
E B A Y
V I D E O