Introducing the Silverbacker

[Dr. Frankenrick]

Customised 360. Pickups are a D'armond style humbucker in the neck and a P90 style in the bridge, both made by Vintage Vibes.

Aluminium scratchplates and truss rod cover made by a local guy here in Ireland. 4-way Tele-style selector with volume and tone controls. The other switch is for taking a Creation Audio Labs Redeemer in and out of the circuit.

The bridge and tailpiece are from Winfield Vintage.

And finally the neck has been refretted with stainless steel frets and plekked. Two sets of locking tuners on the headstock, one Schaller and the other Sperzel. The nut was replaced, or rather a luthier friend of mine flipped the old nut and cut the string pairs closer together.

[aceonbass]

I like the somewhat industrial look of the aluminum. Where did you get those knobs?! You should get somone to print up a Rickenbacker decal for the truss rod cover.

[electrofaro]

Looks great!

Edit: does that ABR-style bridge change the sustain?

[Dr. Frankenrick]

I like the somewhat industrial look of the aluminum. Where did you get those knobs?! You should get somone to print up a Rickenbacker decal for the truss rod cover.

The knobs were made by the guy who made the scratchplate. Not bothered about the decal. If I had a decal on it, I'd probably already have a letter from Rickenbacker threatening legal action

[Dr. Frankenrick]

Looks great!

Edit: does that ABR-style bridge change the sustain?

I find the ABR style bridge to be a big improvement over both the Rick 6- and 12-saddle bridges.

Fuller sound, better string separation and playability. The strings are a lot less stiff feeling, making fretting and picking/strumming easier. Probably the mod that made the most difference to the playability of the guitar.

[Marvelicious]

Tell me about the lockers! Was there a reason for the mix and matched sets, or did it just work out that way? I see that the Schallers are have the top knob, while the Sperzels appear to be standard Sperzels...

I bought a USA Hamer with factory Sperzels years ago, and I was hooked. Almost every guitar I own has lockers of one brand or another...