Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby Bill Bowley » Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:34 am

Lionel,

Thanks for the right info on the pamphlet - where would we be without hostorians such as you? :)

And for Erik, here's the pic from EBay that was there yesterday from Music Ground but gone today - they may have a buyer already!
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby ErikMAMS » Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:20 am

Thanks Bill!

Erik
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby RayL » Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:04 am

The restored 4 pickup Bison that was the original subject of this thread (you can see a pic in Message #5) was brought round to my studio on Tuesday of this week by its owner, Harry Evans.

It is a magnificent restoration. Fortunately, the pickups and the electronics in the 'wreck' were intact so when we tried it through my Fender amp, the sounds were as they would have been when it was made. Although the switch selections don't seem to follow any logical pattern, they produce some very useable tones - clear, with good harmonic structure.

A beautiful instrument.

Ray
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby BlackBison4 » Sat Sep 22, 2012 7:48 pm

Hi all,

I am new to the forum, so have only just seen the posts on the 4 pickup Black Bison!

The job that HAIRY did on the wreck that he came across is truly incredible - a fantastic job!

I was fortunate enough to purchase my first 4 pu BB when I was 16 yrs old (back in 1964) I had only just started work but was playing in a band 5 nights a week and earning more that way than with my full time job! I remember seeing the second-hand BB4 in a music shop in the centre of Leeds - it was on display in the shop window and I was absolutely mesmerised by its beauty. It was a truly impressive sight and I went straight into the shop to try it out! Well, I fell in love with the guitar immediately and remember rushing home to ask my Dad if he would be my guarantor if I bought it on hire purchaser! I managed to convince him to go with me to the shop on the following weekend (I was nervous in case it was sold before I could get my hands on it!) Together with a trade in (my red Rosetti Airstream III which had cost me 31 guineas new) it was purchased for 80 quid.

Well, that was a lot of money then, though about half the new price of the guitar. I paid for it over 18 months and absolutely loved it!

It played beautifully with as low an action as I have ever come across. I did not really take advantage of the many different tone combinations available and mainly used the bridge pickup. I also played very close to the bridge to get a rich twangy tone for instrumentals and the bit of lead work that I was capable of! I very well remember on one occaision propping the guitar up against a wall between sets (I don't think there were guitar stands then) and my girlfriend at the time walked past and clipped it - it fell to the floor and the tip of the top horn sheered off!!! - I was so distraught that I cried!! I did do a repair and stuck the horn tip back on with glue (as it was a clean break) but it was left with a clear mark around the horn in the thick acrylic finish.

After a couple of years the band split up and the BB4 went under the bed for a couple of years until I needed some cash to go on holiday with my mates - at the time the "beat boom" was at its end and electric guitars were "two a penny" - I took it to a second-hand shop in Leeds and got the princely sum of 19 pounds 10 shillings for it! (two days later it was in the shop window for 39 pounds 10 shillings!!)

Well, I went on holiday, camping, to Torquay with (almost) twenty pounds in my pocket (or rather in my wallet). Unfortunately for me, after visiting a pub toilet I discovered that my wallet was missing (of course I had put it in my back pocket!) So I rushed back to the gents toilet about half an hour after I had used it and found my wallet - empty!! After about two more days my mates clubbed together to pay my train fare and I returned home feeling very sorry for myself indeed!

It was not until many years later that I was able to afford another decent guitar and I decided to start playing again (the guitar was a strat) but I had always been a big Burns fan - I liked their look and their sound - and after the kids grew up I was able to save a few bob and began picking up bargains here and there. On one visit to Musicground in Doncaster what should I see but a 4 pickup Black Bison on display! That was it! I had to have it as I knew that it could be a long time before another one came on the market. I paid a pretty penny for it (it was Musicground after all!) but I have never regreted it and still have it. I have never gigged it but I tried it out one night at a band practice - through a Selmer Thunderbird 30 - which I also still have, it has some great sounds - and also some very quirky sounds that are not really very useable - also the pickups were a bit microphonic after so may years!

Reading some of the other posts regarding the BB4, in the 60's when I played my first BB4 in the band, the pickups were not lacking in volume, but I do remember playing through a Vox AC30 (non-treble boost model) and the guitar sounded very bass heavy. I had to buy a Vox treble booster to get a good sound and for some time the guitar went directly into the PA (through which it sounded fantastic - well, to me anyway, 'cos it was loud). At one point I went through a Marshal bass amp - and the guitar sounded wonderful through that!

But to get back to the fantastic renovation of HAIRY's BB4, I have been trying for years to locate a tremolo unit cover for a 1964 3 pickup Bison that I have - it is all original and in excellant condition, but sadly lacks the cover. Can HAIRY or anyone else put me in touch with someone who can solve my problem? Whoever renovated HAIRY's BB4 did an incredible job (everything looks like the real thing) and I would really like to obtain a replica cover for my Bison!

Paul
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby ala1940 » Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:08 pm

Page 21 0f Per Gjorde's excellent book "Pearls and Crazy Diamonds" 1952-2002 shows the Bison Guitar Model 4 1963-1964 while page 16 of "The Burns Book" by Paul Day shows a reproduction of a Black Bison advertisement showing the 4 pick up version, altough Day puts it as 1961-62.
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby Graylion » Mon Sep 24, 2012 12:17 am

ala1940 wrote:Page 21 0f Per Gjorde's excellent book "Pearls and Crazy Diamonds" 1952-2002 shows the Bison Guitar Model 4 1963-1964 while page 16 of "The Burns Book" by Paul Day shows a reproduction of a Black Bison advertisement showing the 4 pick up version, altough Day puts it as 1961-62.


Not quite sure what you're saying here - is it me who's confused or you? I think you've mis-read Per's book. In "P & CD" Per has used my scan of the 4-pickup Black Bison on page 18. (He used another of my scans for the Marvin on Page 29!) He also lists it with a photo on Page 18 as a 1961 guitar. On Page 21 he has a full-page pic labelled "BLACK BISON 4 PICKUP 1961" - NOT the BB 3 pickup Model 4. That's in a small pic on the facing Page 20 and is dated 1964. There's no contradiction with Paul's book.

Out of interest, the leaflet shown on Page 18 has a publisher's date of April 1962 on it. On the other side of that leaflet (actually just a single page) are the Vibra Artiste De Luxe and the Sonic Guitars.
I think my leaflet scans are still on this site somewhere - I'll check later.
Cheers, Lionel
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby Graylion » Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:48 pm

Just to follow up my last posting - I only recently acquired Per's book and it has been very useful. I haven't read it from cover to cover yet but noticed an obvious mistake (all books have mistakes!). On page 22 he lists the Sonic and says it had a "Bigsby-like" trem in the early days. No, it had an Artiste style trem. The one he's talking about is later, as must be his pic of the Sonic, which has the Mk9. This is very much like a Bigsby, and it was fitted to the last of the Artistes and Sonics. I mentioned the leaflet of the Bison with those guitars on the reverse side - with Mk9 trems. The 1960/61 models had a plainer trem. My Bell Music Catalogue from 1961 shows the earlier "non-Bigsby" trem, as were all the new guitars in the shops in those days.

What I found heartening on page 22 is something which confirmed my memory from 1962/62 of a Split Sonic I first saw in my music shop (John Beirne's, Shirley Southampton). It is the green one. :mrgreen: (1963 version shown) Apart from in my memory, I'd never seen one! I thought it was outstanding when I first saw it hung on the wall! :o

Nothing like nostalgia eh?
Cheers, Lionel
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby Billyboygretsch » Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:20 pm

Just been reading this old thread. Picture of Jack restoring a Bison in 1988 and someone mentioned Keith Wastell seen here working on a Marvin
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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby HAIRY » Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:32 pm

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Re: Burns 4 pickup Bison.....Whaaaat!?

Postby HAIRY » Tue Sep 05, 2017 12:06 am

The manager / bass player in the Bognor Regis semi-pro band Johnny Devlin and The Detours bought three Burns guitars from Tansley & Cooks in Worthing, for the band in the early 1960s. One of these guitars was a 4 pickup Black Bison. They played together until 1965/6 before became a pro backing band for Beau Brummell and subsequently disposing of their Burns guitars. In the mid 1960s a 4 pickup Burns Bison came to light again in Bognor Regis when it was bought by another local guitarist. Since then there are no other known records of a 4 pickup Burns Bison in or near Bognor Regis until until the guitar featured in this thread was purchased on ebay in 2007.

Three "sightings of a 4 pickup Burns Bison in Bognor Regis" is not conclusive proof that they are one and the same guitar. However, it is an interesting coincidence, bearing in mind Jim Burns only made 49 of these guitars.

It will be interesting to see if anyone can offer any more information on "sightings of a 4 pickup Burns Bison in Bognor Regis" and prove that this guitar is the same one that was used by The Detours.

The attached picture shows Chuck Fryer on the far right playing a 4 pickup Burns Bison when he was the lead guitarist of The Detours.
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