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Offical B.C. Rich Club!

So this one is an oddball

Latt Combs ran the BCR wood shop south of the border and Jorge Pasaye built them

Around 82 Latt started his own brand " LPC "

This is the "Scorpion"

Very BCR for obvious reasons, it was built along side them

Looks to be koa under the paint

Bill lawrence pickups, Badass bridge

Factory lined fretless

Have seen a handful of guitars but not another bass

Latt died around 25yrs ago, Jorge still builds his own instruments

Found online at GC who had no idea what they hadView attachment 7462663View attachment 7462664View attachment 7462665View attachment 7462666View attachment 7462667View attachment 7462668
That's a cool one!
 
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Wood was wood back then, BCR did it regularly. Sometimes if someone wanted for example a black guitar they just grabbed a koa, quilt maple etcetera and painted it black. Different times
Yeah, that reminds me of my dad telling me how, when he was younger, he once moved to a new house and left a 1955 Chevy in the driveway, because it didn't run and back then they were a dime a dozen. He had no clue they would one day be as sought after as they are now.
 
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Hello, all.

I'm a big G&L collector, but just purchased my first ever B.C. Rich. Glad to finally have finally acquired one.

It's a late '70s Eagle short scale, with what appears to be some significant electronics mods. Sadly, these include the addition of a hole in the body, so the bass can't be seamlessly restored to as-stock.

The seller provided conflicting information on what the controls do. In his written description, he said that the knob in the Varitone position is a dummy knob, and that the bass had a battery modification at one point, but that it was reversed.

However, in his video, he said the bass is original except for the knobs, and that the knob in place of the Varitone is a volume control for the bridge pickup – while the knob farthest back are tone knobs, and the middle knob is a master volume. He doesn't say what the added knob (the one closest to the bridge) does, in the video. This is all very conflicting, and I hope to dig in and figure it out. The middle knob should have originally been a gain knob for the pre-amp, from what I understand. (Also, there's a brass nut that he highlights in the same video, which I am assuming is not original.)

I figure the B.C. Rich faithful might know this very instrument, and be able to provide me with some more details on it. That said, the guy said he has owned it since 1985, so maybe it isn't a known instrument in the BCR hobby community.

Despite all that, my main question is: What kind of hard cases did these originally come in? I'd like to put it in something similar, as it came in a gig bag.

A bit of a shame for such a rare bass to have been irreversibly modded, but I was so enamored with the thing, and it's still such an eminently usable instrument, that it wasn't a deal killer for me.

Here is a screen shot of a pic posted by the seller.

IMG_5175.jpg
 
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Hello, all.

I'm a big G&L collector, but just purchased my first ever B.C. Rich. Glad to finally have finally acquired one.

It's a late '70s Eagle short scale, with what appears to be some significant electronics mods. Sadly, these include the addition of a hole in the body, so the bass can't be seamlessly restored to as-stock.

The seller provided conflicting information on what the controls do. In his written description, he said that the knob in the Varitone position is a dummy knob, and that the bass had a battery modification at one point, but that it was reversed.

However, in his video, he said the bass is original except for the knobs, and that the knob in place of the Varitone is a volume control for the bridge pickup – while the knob farthest back are tone knobs, and the middle knob is a master volume. He doesn't say what the added knob (the one closest to the bridge) does, in the video. This is all very conflicting, and I hope to dig in and figure it out. The middle knob should have originally been a gain knob for the pre-amp, from what I understand. (Also, there's a brass nut that he highlights in the same video, which I am assuming is not original.)

I would actually LIKE it to be wired like he explained in his video, which is basically like the modern Guild Starfire basses (V/V/T/T plus a master volume).

I figure the B.C. Rich faithful might know this very instrument, and be able to provide me with some more details on it. That said, the guy said he has owned it since 1985, so maybe it isn't a known instrument in the BCR hobby community.

Despite all that, my main question is: What kind of hard cases did these originally come in? I'd like to put it in something similar, as it came in a gig bag.

A bit of a shame for such a rare bass to have been irreversibly modded, but I was so enamored with the thing, and it's still such an eminently usable instrument, that it wasn't a deal killer for me.

Here is a screen shot of a pic posted by the seller.

View attachment 7465412
He had it listed on here as well.
Electronics need replaced and yes there's an extra hole

Hit up Neal Moser for a new circuit

Join Official BC Rich Unlimited on Facebook

TKL or G&G were original cases
 
He had it listed on here as well.
Electronics need replaced and yes there's an extra hole

Hit up Neal Moser for a new circuit

Join Official BC Rich Unlimited on Facebook

TKL or G&G were original cases
Yes. It's a shame, and it needs some work.

I guess I could turn the extra hole into a master bass rolloff knob, on top of the new Moser circuit. If it's already there, might as well use it for something.
 
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He had it listed on here as well.
Electronics need replaced and yes there's an extra hole

Hit up Neal Moser for a new circuit

Join Official BC Rich Unlimited on Facebook

TKL or G&G were original cases
Ya know, looking at the picture of the control cavity, and trying to reconcile it with the guy's description and video, I have an idea of what might have gone on with this bass.

Here's a theory:

Someone wanted J-Bass style dual volumes, so they moved the Varitone to a new hole, and put a second volume pot where the Varitone had been.

Then at some point, they just removed the Varitone and installed a dummy knob in its place.

Perhaps this happened before the guy bought the bass in 1985, and he thought that this was all stock.

So when he said the Varitone was now a dummy knob, perhaps he was assuming that the Varitone had been in that new hole, closest to the bridge.

If that's true, it means that the only thing missing from the bass is the original Varitone – and in its place, a volume knob, leaving a volume knob for each pickup. The original pre-amp is still in there, so hopefully its associated knob is still doing what it was originally intended to do.

If that's the case, I can live with that – and maybe add that bass cut where the dummy knob is. Maybe I will rig it so the treble cut works on the bridge pickup only, and the bass cut works on the neck pickup only.

Volume for each pickup, treble cut for bridge pickup, and bass cut for neck pickup. Middle knob doing what it originally did (controlling the pre-amp). Not a bad sounding setup.

Or, maybe I will leave it with two volumes and no Varitone, and just make a decently matched maple plug for the added hole.
 
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Ya know, looking at the picture of the control cavity, and trying to reconcile it with the guy's description and video, I have an idea of what might have gone on with this bass.

Here's a theory:

Someone wanted J-Bass style dual volumes, so they moved the Varitone to a new hole, and put a second volume pot where the Varitone had been.

Then at some point, they just removed the Varitone and installed a dummy knob in its place.

Perhaps this happened before the guy bought the bass in 1985, and he thought that this was all stock.

So when he said the Varitone was now a dummy knob, perhaps he was assuming that the Varitone had been in that new hole, closest to the bridge.

If that's true, it means that the only thing missing from the bass is the original Varitone – and in its place, a volume knob, leaving a volume knob for each pickup. The original pre-amp is still in there, so hopefully its associated knob is still doing what it was originally intended to do.

If that's the case, I can live with that – and maybe add that bass cut where the dummy knob is. Maybe I will rig it so the treble cut works on the bridge pickup only, and the bass cut works on the neck pickup only.

Volume for each pickup, treble cut for bridge pickup, and bass cut for neck pickup. Middle knob doing what it originally did (controlling the pre-amp). Not a bad sounding setup.

Or, maybe I will leave it with two volumes and no Varitone, and just make a decently matched maple plug for the added hole.
In my experience and I've owned 100+ USA BCRs he likely did whatever he did. It would have had a stock BCR deluxe electronic set up. Regardless of what transpired throughout the years it ended up with an extra hole. He was correct about the short scale info though, maybe a half a dozen 30.5" Eagle basses, of course 99% of Bich basses were 30.5" however
 
Beautiful guitar, how you like it??
Haven't really played it yet, having the frets touched up at the shop and have to source a Badass for it, as the one on it has a bent leg. It's built nicely and crazy light (about 6 lbs). Appears to be all koa, patent pending BL L500s, Grover Imperials (which may have to go to help with balance, it's a serious neck diver, may have to track down the fine tuner tailpiece to get some more weight at the body end as well).
 
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Haven't really played it yet, having the frets touched up at the shop and have to source a Badass for it, as the one on it has a bent leg. It's built nicely and crazy light (about 6 lbs). Appears to be all koa, patent pending BL L500s, Grover Imperials (which may have to go to help with balance, it's a serious neck diver, may have to track down the fine tuner tailpiece to get some more weight at the body end as well).
If you mean an original Badass, Allparts is making them. I got one for my Bodine, so I could have the saddles notched to closer match my other basses.

 
Haven't really played it yet, having the frets touched up at the shop and have to source a Badass for it, as the one on it has a bent leg. It's built nicely and crazy light (about 6 lbs). Appears to be all koa, patent pending BL L500s, Grover Imperials (which may have to go to help with balance, it's a serious neck diver, may have to track down the fine tuner tailpiece to get some more weight at the body end as well).
I believe mine is koa as well, plays just like a BCR. Very cool grab!