Getting the Most out of Your T and S style guitars
When it comes to sound of your guitar, the goal is to address either or both of two categories:
1) Get the most out of what is already there.
2) Augment what is already there.
Getting the most of your guitar includes: a good setup that complements your playing style including, correct string action, properly leveled and crowned frets, stable tuning gears, correct intonation, and not the least, fresh strings. With these fundamental, most basic items, you will be a long way towards getting the most out of your guitar. These items directly address the core, fundamental resonance and response of the instrument, at the initial generation of the guitar's 'voice'.
Augmenting your guitar includes: different pickups, bridge, saddles and nut. Within these items, there are myriad options and enormous combinations and possibilities that have an impact on the sound of your guitar. Such augmentations, or mods as they are typically referred to, enhance the response of the guitar, but not until after the guitar has already generated its 'voice'.
Backbone straddles both categories. Its mechanical design is focused on directly amplifying the core resonance of your guitar by creating a direct mechanical link between the neck and the bridge. Because it is a mod, (non-invasive, that is) it can also be considered an augmentation to the guitar. The moniker, 'resonance enhancer', is not only Backbone's technical title, it also accurately describes what it does. Backbone enhances the fundamental, core resonance of the guitar - becoming integral to the generation of the guitar's voice.
Backbone enthusiasts note that they can hear and feel the additional resonance and vibrations of the instrument simply playing the guitar acoustically - before plugging it into an amplifier. This is the responsiveness that they rave about when experiencing Backbone.
To be fair, there are other ways of getting an incredibly responsive guitar. Find a vintage instrument that has the benefit of decades of aging, or commission a custom luthier to build exactly what you want from select tone woods. Both of these options range from either very costly to prohibitively expensive.
The striking feature of Backbone is that it can be installed on even an inexpensive T or S style guitar and work its magic. And at $59 retail, it's one of the least expensive mods you can give your guitar while producing such dramatic results. In fact, Backbone is in a class by itself.