Munich, West Germany November 30, 1982
Photo by Werner Roelen
After the Mockingbird, Paul got himself a custom leopard paint job B.C. Rich Eagle. We don't know quite when he got it but it was in his hands for the press conference/video shoot at Zoetrope Studios in October 1982. Paul's Eagles were made of maple and had standard features like the Grover Rotomatic Imperial tuners, an all-brass Quadmatic bridge, and a brass truss rod cover. Also a standard feature—and a first for Paul—the Eagle had 24 frets. According to B.C. Rich this guitar was delivered with a DiMarzio Super II in the bridge position, but all available photos show the guitar with EMG 81's. Like the Mockingbird the electronics had been greatly simplified and looked more like the relatively simple layout of the import, and lower-priced, NJ series which was introduced in 1983.
It's best to get one thing out of the way right at the start so that I don't have to use two sets of "names" during this section. Paul had two Eagles in 1982-83. We don't know if he got them at the same time or if the second was acquired when he realized that the first was an instrument he liked. They had identical specifications and really only differed in the paint job. The guitar I've been writing about so far will henceforth be called Eagle no. 1 and it's slightly less animal-like "brother" (see below) will be called Eagle no. 2.
Eagle no. 1 was the guitar during the brief run of promotional playback "performances" in Europe during November and December but I have a feeling that was out of necessity. I have nothing to support this but I think the Eagle made this trip because the Hamer Vector and custom Standard were being re-finished with their own animal print designs. Once the 10th Anniversary Tour started Paul mainly relied on the newly zebra-striped Vector with the tiger Standard as his second. At the time he clearly preferred those two and if they had been available in late 1982 I have a feeling he would have brought the Vector. Just like he did for the Applausos playback performance in 1981.
Even though the zebra striped Hamer Vector was Paul's main guitar for the 10th Anniversary Tour, Eagle no. 1 slowly got more playing time over the first two months of the tour. It often opened the show as we can see from the photos below where it has a capo at the 3rd fret for "Creatures of the Night".
But as the tour went on the Eagle no. 1 got more playing time. As we can see below it was used for other songs which didn't require a capo and, at times, was even used for the end of the show. The photo from Norfolk below show that Eagle no. 1 was used for the tank finale for that show. (And, coincidentally, it was also used to open that show.)
And here is as good a place as any to note two minor details. First, the tuners of Eagle no. 1 had been changed, most probably before the tour began. We have comparatively few good photos of the headstock of Eagle no. 1 but we can see that the Grover Rotomatic Imperial tuners ahd been replaced by Paul's preferred Schaller M6. Eagle no. 1 also had a small symbol and some text on the back of the body. For obvious reasons this has rarely been captured by cameras. I would wager a guess that the text says B.C. Rich but there are no photos that are clear enough to say for sure.
And then, enter stage left: Eagle no. 2. Starting on March 1 it seems to have taken over the capo duties from Eagle no. 1 as seen in the photos below. Eagle no. 2 had a finish that was similar to Eagle no. 1 but the "spots" were a lot more drawn out and pointy, unlike any animal I can think of. That type of descriptive language has a tendency to mean very little but in a side-by-side comparison the difference is easy to see.
When Eagle no. 2 handled the opening of the show, Eagle no. 1 was "free" to roam and was seemingly used whenever Paul felt like it. Based on the photos available to me it had no specific spot in the set when it was called upon.
When the newly unmasked KISS set out to raze Europe for the first time in three years, Paul brought a whopping five guitars with him. The zebra Hamer Vector was still Paul's first choice most nights, and the Mockingbird saw a lot more action than it had on the previous tour, but Eagle no. 1 saw a fair share of action. Based on the photos I have, Eagle no. 2 was not brought along for this tour, its place probably taken by the brand new zebra Warlock II. The photos below show Eagle no. 1 used for different parts of the show during the fall of 1983.
Once the band returned Stateside Eagle no. 2 was back in business. We have no backstage instrument lineup photos to consult but I think that the zebra Warlock II was replaced by Eagle no. 2. For the duration of the US leg of the Lick it Up Tour Paul seems to have used both Eagles about equally.
Considering that the album was called Animalize, that they re-furbished the old European Unmasked Tour stage with animal print, and even got panther heads for Eric's kick drums, I find it a little odd that Paul chose to retire both the Zebra Hamer Vector and the Tiger Hamer Standard. They were both wonderfully image-compliant. But Paul had started endorsing B.C. Rich so even though he still got the Hamer Scarab, he chose to focus on his trusted Eagles and the Mockingbird. Both Eagles were unchanged when the tour began but that soon changed. Here we see Eagle no. 1 at the very start of the tour.
Try as I may I cannot see any defect in those photos. Granted, they aren't exactly stellar quality, but still. I want to believe that something should show. Because just a few days later Eagle no. 1 shows up with some gaffer's tape on the upper part of the body. The only reason I can think of why they would do that would be if the finish had suffered some damage or Paul right arm had worn it down. But there's no indication of this either at the end of the previous tour, in the one studio photo we have from this period, or in the photos from earlier in the tour. But that gaffer's tape would stay on Eagle no. 1 for the remainder of the tour.
Around the same time we see the first evidence that they had taped the control cavity of Eagle no. 1. I have a feeling that this had happened long before but there are precious few photos showing this part of the guitar so we don't really know. (We can say for sure that it was not taped during the 10th Anniversary Tour.) The photos showing the control cavity of Eagle no. 2 are even fewer, but my guess is that they started taping both guitars at the same time. And speaking of Eagle no. 2, it was still part of the arsenal but judging by the photos it got comparatively little use during this leg of the tour.
During the US leg of the our Eagle no. 1 remained the clear-cut number one. And it still had the gaffer's tape. Eagle no. 2 appeared to have settled into a role as the designated capo guitar. At least that's what the photos suggest. Some time in early January 1985 both Eagles start to have their cables secured by a piece of tape. Look closely at the photos below and you'll see it.
And then came Asylum... When pastels and bling took over the stage look, the old animal print finishes didn't cut it any more. Instead the Eagles got very different finishes and some changes to the hardware. Eagle no. 1 got a black base with pastel streaks and the original brass Quadmatic had been replaced by a chrome one. Curiously, they chose not to re-finish the headstock which still had the mahogany overlay. Note that the cable is still secured with a strip of tape. It was still Paul's main guitar throughout the tour and it even made an appearance in an ad in the tour book.
Some time over the course of the winter/spring of 1986, Paul changed the chrome Quadmatic back to the brass Quadmatic. I haven't been able to pin it down, the photos I have simply aren't good enough, but by the time William Hames shot the photos that were later published in Young Guitar, the bridge was brass. It's possible that the bridge was brass by March 29—see photo below—but I think we can only say for sure that it had been changed in the photos from the very last show at the Meadowlands.
Eagle no. 2 got a completely different finish, one that was a real eye sore. It had a day-glo yellow base with a few thin pastel streaks. I want to think that nobody could appreciate that finish but maybe it's just me. It appears as if it was originally intended to be used for "Tears Are Falling" as it had a Kahler 2310 tremolo installed. For some reason it also had the tone knob removed, but just the knob. The pot was still there. I have seen no photos that suggest that Eagle no. 2 ever made it onto the stage but there is anecdotal evidence from fans that it got used at least once.
But when Eagle no. 2 fell out of favor there appeared in its stead Eagle no. 3. This was more or less a serious attempt at a copy-paste of the Asylum version of Eagle no. 1. The finish is almost identical, and the pickups and hardware appear to have been exactly the same. Where it differed was in the inlays and the headstock, Eagle no. 3 had B.C. Rich's pointed headstock and triangular inlays.
Looking at the photos and the available video it doesn't appear as if Eagle no 3 had a specific job, it was more of a "fil in the blanks" guitar whenever Eagle no. 1 needed a rest. But more often than not it was part of Paul's solo spot. So far I have only spotted it from mid-February and onward but my collection is slightly limited when it comes to this tour. (If I ever get my hands on the backstage guitar lineup shots that William Hames shot earlier in the tour we might be able to say more confidently whether Eagle no. 3 was part of the arsenal during the entire tour.)
Eagle no. 3 was de-commissioned after the end of the tour and never seen again. Eagle no. 2 was part of the Convention museum displays and then auctioned off in 2001 as lot 1133. Eagle no. 1... well, Paul wasn't quite done with that one.
When KISS returned in 1987 after the hitherto longest hiatus of their career, Paul had gone all in on B.C. Rich guitars. There were a couple of new strat-style custom ST that became his main guitars, but the trusted old Eagle no. 1 was still around. It had, however, been modified almost beyond recognition. You’ll recall that I claimed that Eagle no. 1 was refinished in black with pastel streaks for the Asylum tour. The reason we know this is entirely due to how it looked in 1987 when it was part of the “Crazy Crazy Nights” video shoot.
Because here we run up against a truly odd phenomenon. Eagle no. 1 was used for the open-G tuning in “Heaven’s on Fire” throughout the US leg of the Crazy Nights Tour, we know that from the available bootleg videos. But there are no photos of it anywhere. Apart from the photo and video shoot, some of which were used in the tourbook, I don’t have a single photo from this period. I assume that the draconian restrictions on professional photographers were still in effect, but I would expect at least one photo from the many fans who brought a camera. Thankfully we can see most of the changes to the guitar even from this limited number of photos. (I have also had the distinct privilege of seeing a couple of professional reproduced Neil Zlozower and Mark Weiss photos from these sessions to verify these details.)
The headstock had been repainted black and gotten a new, more contemporary B.C. Rich logo. The Asylum pastels finish had been partially removed to reveal the original leopard print finish. (This suggests that the re-finish might have been a last-minute idea. If it had been planned well in advance they probably would have done it properly and sanded down the old finish before applying the new.) On top of this Frankenstein finish a number of stickers had been applied, most strikingly a large circular Body Glove logo behind the bridge. The neck pickup had been removed and the cavity covered by a piece of mirror acrylic, most easily seen in the Ross Halfin photo below, and the bridge EMG from 1985-86 had been replaced by an unknown humbucker with pole pieces. However, when it was used on stage it appears to have had an EMG again.
Lastly, the controls had been simplified to a single volume knob. What's most interesting about that is that one can actually see the holes in the video for "Crazy Crazy Nights". They are also very visible in the Zlozower and Weiss photos I've seen. However, in the Zlozower photo of Paul in the white vest below, those holes had been covered by adhesive red oval mini reflectors. This suggests that they were effectively working on the appearance of Eagle no. 1 over the course of these sessions. (There are several shots of Paul with the white vest and Eagle no. 1 in the video, but the cuts are too quick or the camera moves too much, one cannot see any details on the guitar.)
As covered elsewhere the plan for the Hot in the Shade Tour had been a kind of back-to-basics. Bring back more classic songs to the setlist and, to complement that, bring out some classic instruments. Although he eventually settled on Les Pauls as his main guitars, there were a few spots where Paul needed something different and that left the door open for old faithful Eagle no. 1. For this run of shows it looked more or less like the Frankenstein that it had become in 1987, but in 1990 the bridge had been replaced as well. In 1987-88 Eagle no. 1 still had the original Quadmatic bridge—or possibly the chrome replacement from 1986, I’m not sure.
In 1990 Paul opted for a Leo Quan Badass bridge with a fine-tuning add-on which made sense. Eagle no. 1 was used with a capo at the third fret for “Crazy Crazy Nights” and a slight change in the position and/or angle of the capo could affect the tuning. Having the fine-tuning add-on allowed Paul to adjust on the fly if need be. Thankfully, after the astonishing paucity of photos from 1987-88, I can at least show a couple of high-resolution photos in this section.
One minor wrinkle. When William Hames photographed the band’s guitars and basses during rehearsals in Lubbock (below), one of the mini reflectors was yellow. When the band hit the stage, all three mini reflectors were red. Did I have to drop that inconsequential detail? No. Am I slightly embarrassed that I even noticed it? You bet. But wait, there's more! Compare the Hames photo below to the photos from the tour (or this closeup). Either at the end of rehearsals or some time during the first month of the tour, Paul added two more stickers.
When Revenge rolled around Paul had reconciled with Ibanez and brought a veritable army of PS10’s with him on the road. During the club tour and the brief run of shows in the UK the only guitars Paul used were PS10 and the B.C. Rich ST Army which was still around because it had a Floyd Rose. But when the setlist was revamped for the US leg of the tour, a spot opened up for Eagle no. 1 to return. True to form it had been modified to better fit the new leather and black look. The neck pickup cavity had been filled and the body was re-finished black. There was also a small mirror pickguard and the tailpiece ornament from a PS10 added behind the Leo Quan Badass bridge (still with fine-tuning add-on). Luckily for our purposes, Eagle no. 1 was used for “Creatures of the Night” which opened the show—note the capo at the third fret— so we have a decent number of photos of it from this tour.
Not immediately obvious from the photos above the pickup had also been changed. Gone was the EMG 81 and in its stead we possibly see a Seymour Duncan. I say possibly because I have not seen any interviews with Paul from this time where he even mentions his pickups. The only thing I base the Seymour Duncan guess on is a mention in Young Guitar from 1994 when most of his PS10 were loaded with some model of Duncans.
Eagle no. 1 was finally retired after the Revenge Tour, at least I haven’t seen it in any live setting after 1992. Having been used for a full ten years, it was one of Paul’s longest-tenured guitars and I feel confident saying he loved this guitar. (He could easily have gotten another PS10 and slap a capo on there, but he chose to make this particular guitar more Revenge-looking, and I think that means something.) Eagle no. 1 was eventually auctioned off at Butterfields as lot 1134.
