by BlackBison4 » 22 Sep 2012, 19:48
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
(BlackBison4)