NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!! Backline 734 Birch Solidbody Electric, 2019

New and from just northwest of Toronto, the Backline 734 Birch is a double-cutaway solidbody electric with bolt-on Roasted Maple neck. So far, this design is available with Birch, Big Leaf Maple, or Mahogany bodies.

Backline Guitars is based in the rural Ontario town of Tottenham, about 90km northwest of The Twelfth Fret and not far from Kenansville, which is now mostly a curve on a side road and almost a ghost town but once a thriving community. Ceded by First Nations in 1818, Tottenham grew slowly by the hard work of Irish and English immigrants. In 1872, the Hamilton and North Western Railway made plans to go through Tottenham, which then grew rapidly while other areas, including Kenansville, declined. However, in 1898, a fire originating at McKinney’s Foundry devastated the village, and it took some years to rebuild.

The Backline 734 line and in this post, the Backline 734 Birch pairs a hand-carved Birch Maple body with Roasted Maple for the neck and fingerboard, which is fitted with Stainless Steel fretwire. For hardware, Grover Roto-Matic tuners are at the head, with a Tone Pros tune-o-matic style bridge and stop tailpiece set at the body. For electronics, a pair of Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 style pickups feed through a 3-way toggle switch and master volume and tone. The output jack is on the side, mounted on an oval plate.

The Backline 734 Birch and other 734 guitars are well made, and it’s apparent that the builder has experience as a musician. The design and layout are simple, well thought out and effective, and they are resonant and responsive.

This guitar is sold with a black hard shell case made by TKL in Canada.

From The Builder:

“No two guitars are the same. I handcraft each one, paying attention to detail, ensuring every guitar is a work of art. From hand-picking the wood to choosing only the highest quality hardware, I cannot think of any better components that I could use to make each guitar a masterpiece.

As a musician, I wanted to build a guitar that is simple and beautiful, but also able to take a beating and stay in tune. I am proud of every instrument that leaves the BackLine workshop, just steps from where The BackLine band used to play. “