Silky is the result of years of research on one of the most known guitars in the world, the Strat. We all love the Strat tones and we all are familiar with this classic beauty. Heard in hundreds of loved songs since its introduction back in the 50's.
For BMC It has always been a challenge to re-innovate this guitar and provide features that today's musicians would need and find truly useful. Today we are proud to present the Silky. A guitar that you will fall in love as soon as it gets in your hands.
Silky Tones
The best way to describe how Silky sounds is "The perfect clean tone, in all five positions". It has all of this original 60's vibe. It is made to sound full, articulate and clear. It sustains beautifully and maintains the classic tones we all love . Its carefully designed pickups provide a sweet, dynamic and balanced response. Although we have implemented a modern perspective concerning hardware configuration, we achieved to maintain the vintage tonality of the guitar.
Tuners
Empress features GOTOH's HAPM Tuners. These Tuners are auto-locking and staggered. This sets us free from the requirement to use a string tree that comes together with unwanted friction. In addition, the auto-locking function of the HAPM tuners allows for quick string changes and also increases tuning stability. They look like ordinary tuners and they maintain a classic look with no bulky wheels at the back. The magic happens within the tuner.
Spoke Wheel Truss Rod
Back in the day, 50's guitars used to have single-way truss rods. These rods were difficult to adjust and most of the times a skilled luthier would be required to do it the right way. Not anymore. BMC Empress features a double-way rod with a spoke wheel nut. This allows for an immediate and precise adjustment that can be done easily, using the adjustment rods that comes with. This is extremely helpful for musicians who travel a lot and expose the guitar into different climates. Quick, easy and exact truss rod adjustment on the fly.
Buzz Feiten Tuning System
Empress features the Buzz Feiten Tuning System. We really couldn't resist to the benefits of tuning compensation. We created the Empress for demanding musicians and we know that good intonation is a must have feature. Take a look at the "Quality in Depth" section for more concerning the Buzz Feiten tuning system.
Hardware
Hardware is related to tuning stability. It is well know that 6-bolt vintage style bridges are made to be used more than vibrato bridges rather than extreme tremolos. They have to be perfectly setup to allow tuning stability and sometimes this may be difficult. Tuning is lost when something moves and does not come back at its original position. We have a system of components working all together here. The tremolo, the tuning machines, the nut and everything the string touches has to work perfectly to avoid possible friction or movement.
We have chosen Gotoh's 2-point tremolo for the Silky and we have made it recessed into the guitar body. The bridge sits parallel to the body's surface and allows for string pulling up to 3 semitones. The feel of this bridge is smooth and musical.
Guitar Standard Specifications
Scale Length: 25.5"
Nut Width: 43 mm
String Spacing at the bridge: 10.8 mm (54 mm E-e)
Buzz Feiten Tuning System
21 Stainless Steel Frets
Bolt-On Construction - BMC Tight Locks
Nut Material: Bone
Spoke Wheel Truss Rod
Carbon Reinforced Neck
Gotoh 510 T-FE1 Bridge
Options
Tonewoods
Neck Profile
Pickup Configuration
Fretboard Inlays
Fret Size
Hardware Color
Finish
Pickguard appearence
Photo Gallery
Options
Tonewoods
Wood Selection is the first thing that you should consider. It does affect tone, the way the instrument is going to behave and how it looks. You may go for a classic Alder body - Maple neck - Rosewood fretboard combination to get the classic S-style vibe or go for a combination that serves other music genres. The wood discussion is endless and we recommend you setting up the idea. Tell us what you are after and we will discuss the options you should look for and what to avoid.
Neck Profile
Silky, just like the BMC Empress, is recommended with the neck profiles listed below. We have designed and tested the necks to the point that almost all players feel comfortable to play. However, if you need a specific neck profile we can create it for you. But before getting there, take a look at the recommended shapes and see from there.
Recommended Neck Shapes
Medium C Tapper (21.5 mm at the nut)
Thick C Taper (22.5 mm at the nut)
Thin D Tapper (20 mm at the nut)
Medium D Tapper (21 mm at the nut)
Pickups
Getting the most out of the BMC Silky requires the use of a truly open and musical pickup set. You may go with the classic S-S-S pickup configuration or select a humbucker for the bridge position. All of our pickups are wound by hand (scatter wound) to maintain a rich harmonic content and provide the airy tones found on old pickups. There is a huge difference to the sound of scatter wound pickups and if you like the original Strat tones you should go for it. The HSS configuration comes with a Push-Push potentiometer so you can partially split the humbucker and get a 6k single coil in the bridge. The HSS Silky wiring also comes with resistance matching mod so you can hear single coils and humbuckers as they meant to be heard (matching pot resistance value). And that's not all... need the P90s tone? Yes you can have it too !
Fretboard Inlays
When it comes to the fretboard inlays the only thing to consider is how you want your guitar to look. If you are into classic vibes you may choose the 6mm Center Dot Inlays. If you like to follow a more modern path you may choose the 4mm Offset dot inlays. For the Empress there are also available the BMC Origami bird inlays and the BMC Butterflies. Choose what you like most.
