E-Bay Burns Vibra Artist

[David Martin]

The Burns Vibra Artiste Deluxe thats being questioned belongs to me. Ive collected Burns guitars for the last 25 years and have owned the guitar in question for around the last 20. The Black finish is the same Burns finish as on my 4pup bison and I believe it to be original....its slightly crazed just like the 4 pup Bison....it does not, repeat does not look re-sprayed. The bridge on this example is definitely original......Ive removed the scratchplate and there are no signs of any other bridge ever being fitted to this particular guitar, no marks, no holes, no filled holes....the Cradle type bridge fitted on this example was fitted at the Burns factory and the scratchplate is cut around the unit to suit, just like on the 4 up bison!!!! .......the bridge is also the same is fitted to the '4 up bison' and the 'Split sound 6 string bass'. Ive had this guitar for 20 years and I have not had the guitar re-plated it has however been cased and untouched really in that time.....The gold plating is not quite as good as it looks in the photos....but very very good all the same......the only fault I can see with the guitar is that the headstock badge has a piece broken other than that it all looks good.......correct Bound fingerboard, unlike the standard Vibra Arstiste and Pearl buttons again unlike the standard Vibra Artiste. I advise anyone to contact me personally via the advert rather than second guessing on here.............in reagrds to feedback Ive just sold A Fenton Weill ''Contra' bass and a Hohner 'Amazon' on the same account and both buyers are very happy with there purchases..... I believe this guitar to be original which makes it a very rare Burns find hence the £1500 price tag...........

Thanks

Adrian

Thanks for the complete info Ade...

[dusty fretz]

As I put in my previous posting, anything is indeed possible with Burns, as I know only too well! I wasn't casting aspersions on Adrian or his guitar, just suggesting that a degree of caution is naturally necessary when being asked to part with a four-figure amount for ANY instrument.

Adrian states he's had this Burns for the past 20 years, which means he acquired it around 1990. As the guitar dates from 1962, this leaves an intervening span of 28 years, during which time this example may have been the subject of some changes, either by necessity or perhaps owner whim. The latter affected many Burns back then, as post-1970 very little value was placed on Jim's products, making them ripe for major modifications.

I do know of other Vibra Artists equipped with the cradle-type bridge, so I'm sure that all the components are indeed as they left the factory. However, the white scratchplate IS worrying, because this contrast against a black body is certainly unusual for any Burns, apart from the very earliest Artists. All other Deluxe examples I've seen employ a thin black/white/black laminate material that is quite brittle and prone to damage, so this thicker white equivalent might be a later repair-induced replacement.

The same could apply to the black finish. Adrian states this has crazed, so it's obviously cellulose, as on the four-pickup Bison. However, the latter had an eggshell (satin) black finish and over the years the colour fades, taking on a green-ish hue. These factors easily identify a four-pickup Bison with an original paint job and if Adrian's instrument was done back then, Burns would've used the same finish and this would age in similar fashion. However, here the paintwork looks to be very black and shiny, which suggests a subsequent re-spray, replacing the usual cherry red.

I must emphasise that I'm not offering these as hard and fast facts to denigrate Adrian's guitar or to promote argument, but simply to posit a possible explanation for an end result that differs significantly to the accepted norm for this model.

[burnsbonkers]

Hi
I can vouch for Adrian, I bought that f.w contra bass off him on behalf a mate, and its as described. He kept me up to date with everything, And I was playing the beast within a couple of days...then my mate came round and took it away...mmmmmph.
By what he's told me, Adrian has some real beauties in his collection.
Thanks again Adrian!
Pat.

[mgeek]

If that IS all original, I think the asking price is pretty fair, because it'd be pretty much unique- which is more than can be said for the Ebay BIN graveyard of bog standard jazz split sounds and short scale jazzes listed for fifteen hundred quid BINs I keep seeing at the moment

Witness:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Sixti ... 45fcbaa611

See this kind of thing all the time at the moment...people seem to either think Burns guitars are old tat, or price them into the stratosphere.

[burnsbonkers]

There's a lovely Vibra artise on ebay at the moment.
Very nice.

[JimN]

There's a lovely Vibra artise on ebay at the moment.
Very nice.

This the one?

170687444905.

[burnsbonkers]

Yeah that's the one .
It will be interesting to see how much this one goes for, as ony a few months ago a v.artiste on ebay went for 500 +, and it had been stripped and fiddled with.