Rich instruments were custom-made in the US by Ron Estrada whereas the mid- and low-end models were produced in different countries in Asia.

A year later, Class Axe took over importing, marketing, and distribution of the foreign-made lines and soon after that, took complete control.

Bernie went on to produce his own guitars under the brand Mason Bernard, these being handmade acoustic-electrics and Strat-shaped electrics.

His contribution was a wiring harness with coil taps, a phase switch, a Varitone, and a defeatable active preamp (or two in some models).

After Class Axe took over there were a number of different serial schemes designated for the American, Asian and Bolt-on guitars.

[8] This model was made popular by Brad Whitford of Aerosmith and Neil Giraldo, who played his Eagle on some of the early Pat Benatar albums and videos.

The Mockingbird experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s through Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash after he played one on the Use Your Illusion world tour.

The guitar was introduced as the "Rich Bich" at the 1978 NAMM International Music & Sound Expo as a custom-order model.

This unusual stringing was meant to obtain the brightness of the twelve-string guitar, while allowing higher levels of distortion before the sound became muddy.

This radical body shape also countered the common tendency of coursed electric guitars to be head-heavy due to the weight of the extra machine heads.

Rich the right to produce their own versions of the Bich ten- and six-string guitars, with Neal Moser retaining ownership of the original body templates.

Due to contract issues between Neal Moser and Hanser Holdings, only 16 of the PMS models were produced.

Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) was known to use the ten-string variant of the Bich throughout the early 1980s, although with the four additional strings removed.

The guitar was reportedly pawned, without Mustaine's knowledge, by Megadeth lead guitarist Chris Poland, which led to his dismissal.

Notable early players included Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe, Lita Ford, Paul Stanley of KISS (featuring a broken mirror top), Randy Jackson (Zebra), Craig Goldy of Dio and Giuffria, and a young pre-Les Paul playing Slash.

While Slipknot was gaining in popularity (early 2000's), guitarist Mick Thomson was well known for his signature red/black and black/white Warlocks with "HATE" fretboard inlays.

The Warbeast was also produced exclusively with the "3-in-line" headstock design, and with Floyd Rose bridges included as standard, except on the cheapest models.

Designed by Joey Rico in 1983, the Ironbird gained some popularity amongst heavy metal guitarists, including Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel.

These guitars are made completely of acrylic and their bodies are transparent, making the electronics inside visible.

Some models used custom battery-powered active electronics – pickups and tone controls inside the guitar.

These electronics were originally designed by Neal Moser[citation needed], who had been helping with bone crafted parts and many set ups in the custom shop.

Most recently Hate eternal and Cannibal Corpse Guitarist Erik Rutan has been playing a variety of Ironbird Guitars.