Seagull

The B.C. Rich Seagull was introduced in 1972. Back in the early 70s a Flamenco guitarist and builder, Bernie Rico Sr., had an idea to make a unique neck-through electric guitar unlike any other. The result was a very unique looking and amazing sounding guitar called the Seagull. 1972 was an auspicious year. The first original guitar design, the Seagull, was handcrafted in Bernardo’s shop. True to future form, the Seagull was visually distinctive as well as innovative. Its neck-through design (now a hallmark of B.C. Rich) featured a heel-less design – very rare for that time. Bernie soon began using several talented designers to compliment his very talented craftsmen. One of them, Neil Moser contributed the ingenious electronics plan for the Seagull. Bernie had already built 16 Seagulls that were wired like a Les Paul. Neil says, “… I sketched out the layout of the pots & switches on a piece of paper and they didn’t change for almost ten years. I converted the 16 original Seagulls over to my electronic design by sticking the switches wherever I could fit them. After that we started with Seagull #1 with my electronic design. The rest is history.”