NGD - Backlund

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eclecticsynergy

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Last week there was a 50% off flash sale on the Tele-shaped Backlund Model 200, in red only. It has a forearm contour and belly cut, which make a T-type body much more comfortable to me. Angled singlecoil neck pickup and a well-potted humbucker bridge, too, a great combination. They're also beautiful, and I was sorely tempted - many of you know that I love my red & white Model 400.

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It was hard to pass up a half price sale but I did.
A few things helped me hold back: I have a number of Tele types already, and I own way too many red guitars.

For a few days I was able to congratulate myself on having saved some money leading up to the holidays.
Plus I could feel feel virtuous about exercising my will power.

Then it happened: I stumbled across a nearly-new Model 100.
Same pickups. Forearm contour & belly cut. Not even remotely Tele-like. And it wasn't red.

Recent 2019 model. Virtually unplayed - literally not a scratch, not even a smudge. Factory strings still clean on it, and some of the protective plastic on the pickguard. Plus it has a trem, something I occasionally miss on the other Backlund which is a wraptail.

Suddenly realized it wasn't will power that let me pass on the 200 - it was fate, saving me from that impulse purchase so I'd have the money for this one. Made an offer and was able to get it for less than I would've had to pay for the 200 on sale. The seller threw in a nice Gibson gig bag for good measure.

So, a new Backlund 100 DLX is mine. It plays wonderfully and sounds great. Neck is perfectly singlecoily, bridge position has a strong midrangey lead voice with good sustain, and middle position has body and nice sparkle without too much midrange at all.

Definitely has the distinctive retro-futuristic Backlund look to it.


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Thanks everybody. Still honeymooning for the first few months of course. But so far I like it a lot.

After a couple of hours together a few things have become apparent. First of all, it's quite solid and substantial - 8¾ lbs - and nice & lively. Medium neck carve, less than chunky but not especially slim either. The 400 feels similar in the hand, though the balance is quite different indeed.

Neither of them feels cheaply made. I admit that to me the Eastland prices seem a bit on the high side. Still, they certainly have the wow factor.

As you might imagine, this guitar's a bit awkward to play sitting down. Classical guitar position works just fine though.

If I had to find a feature to criticize, when the trem bar is in operating position it interferes with access to the volume knob. The original Model 100 design didn't have a trem, so John really can't be blamed for not foreseeing that. And it's easy enough to swing it out of the way.

I figured the neck pickup would be a stack but it's a true singlecoil rail. Great sound - I really love singlecoil neck tone for lead work. I may lower the bass side a hair for the sake of clarity, the extreme angle on this pickup makes an audible difference from high strings to low. Absolutely don't want to change the sweet balance in middle position by too much.

Solid-cover bridge humbucker is the same used on the Model 400, I think. When I first got that one I fully intended to swap the bridge out for something more vintagey. But it grew on me. Two years later, I still haven't replaced it. Not super loud despite a pretty beefy wind (didn't write it down but as I remember around 15KΩ and I'm guessing probably A5 mag, maybe even A4). Plenty of midrange - not nasal sounding though, nor is it spikey like a JB. More compressed than the PAF types in most of my humbucker guitars, certainly. But less congested than most high output humbuckers.

On first impression it reminded me a bit of the Rebel Yell bridge in one of my Explorers. (Full disclosure - haven't actually tried them side by side.)

And then the middle position defies all expectations by being quite scooped, almost chimey. A nice (dare I say, synergistic) combination of different sounding pickups - more than the simple sum of its parts. I think I may wind up spending a lot of play time on this position.

The color is cool - I would've named it Grape Frost rather than Burgundy Mist. Plenty of red in my stable but I definitely had room for more purple.
 
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