Burns DOUBLE SIX 1964 Green Sunburst. Maybe the RAREST BURNS GUITAR. With Tremolo System. Incredible

BURNS

DOUBLE SIX

WITH MK9 TREMOLO SYSTEM.

EXTREMELY RARE.

VERY COLLECTIBLE.

EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY.

 

EXCELLENT

CONDITION.

Note: We will ship this guitar internationally but you must get a quote from us first.

 

MY BURNS GUITAR AFFLICTION.

First, my bias. As an American having grown up in the 1960's-1970's, many of my friends find it odd that my most cherished brand of guitar in my collection is British. BURNS. Even though I respect and honor the creative genius of Leo Fender, his guitars were just functional. No more-no less. They were basic.

 Jim Burns contemporaneously was too a creative genius. But his guitars were antithetical to Leo's. Maybe to the point where I would describe Jim as an "Artist" who "created" musical instruments and Leo as a "manufacturer of products that could be used to play music."

I can remember the first time seeing a photo of the Burns Bison, 4pup guitar. It not only caught my eye, it captured my imagination. All of those authors selling books about a "tipping point", "Eureka moment", "imagination", et al could have just shown a photo of that guitar and saved a lot of paper (I now own 14 of those original 4pup Bisons). Jim Burns was a genius and his guitars were simply manifestations of those millions of creative flashes that moved through his whole brain-left and right sides.

I understand this absolute affliction of affinity for Jim's guitars makes me a bit of an odd ball among collectors-but isn't that really the best way to be... different? Of course it is. I'll take creativity over function every day of the week.  Leo was the Engineer and Jim was the Architect.

Over the next few weeks, I will be offering many of my "more unique" Burns (Baldwin, Shergold, Hayman..) pieces for sale on ebay. All Burns guitars are unique-but some are "more unique" than others. And having 200+ in my collection, I can assure you that I have a lot of the "more unique" pieces. And you guys in the UK, get a national holiday for Jim. He deserves it.

NOTE: In response to several emails we have received about these incredible BURNS GUITARS we are offering to collectors, I want to offer these observations in answer to the question: WHY COLLECT BURNS GUITARS?

MY RESPONSE: For those of us who have been collecting guitars for many years, we are seeing a shift in collectible value  from the "street brands" that appeal to the "market" to  those brands that are truly unique and even "niche" (as in a "distinct" segment of the market).

How to explain this "shift"? I can't and no one else can. We can say that "new collectors" are entering the market who are looking to "catch the wave" for the next "big collectible"-and that is probably true. We can say that "new" and "old" collectors are finally recognizing the "true value" of the "off street brands" that are some of the best built and best sounding guitars in the whole market. Certainly that is true for Burns, Standel (Koontz), and several others. These builders were craftsman-not bench guys. Or maybe we collectors are becoming more savvy by diversifying our portfolios. You pick the answer that you like best and it will be correct.

THIS GUITAR

...model is in GRACELAND. I have seen it. Elvis played it.

But his was not like this one.

BURNS guitar fans know these things about the DoubleSix:

-Was built by BURNS in the UK from 1964 into 1965 and branded BURNS-later it 1965 it was branded BALDWIN.

-Scale length is 25 1/2" and it has 21 frets

-3 "Tri-Sonic type" pickups.

-Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard.

-Controls included (1) Volume, (2) Tone, and (1) 3 way Select.

-Really was a 12 String MARVIN.

-Had similar circuitry as MARVIN, could even do "out of phase" tone.

-Became a 12 STRING BASS by using "special set of octave below" strings.

-Could be considered the father of the twelve string rock and roll guitar.

-Played by members of many British groups including the SHADOWS, SEARCHERS, TROGGS, et al.

AND NOW TO THIS GUITAR AND ITS UNIQUENESS:

It has a TREMOLO SYSTEM.

According to Per on Page 30 of this great book:

"Only a few Double Six guitars with a tremolo system were made. Two were green with a modified REZO-tube and one was Red with a floating bridge. Hank Marvin has one of each.  ANOTHER ONE HAD A MK 9 VIBRATO ONLY WORKING ON THE SIX NORMAL STRINGS. The other green one is in a collection somewhere."

THIS IS THE "ANOTHER ONE". Is it the only one. I can't say for certain but I have never seen another one.

Regardless, this is one of the RAREST REAL BURNS GUITARS YOU CAN HAVE IN YOUR COLLECTION. But also, if you are a PLAYER, this is your ticket to fame. It is a FAME GENERATOR. Just imagine the sounds you can get out of it that can become your signature (regular 12 st with trem, bass 12 str with trem et al). It is the ultimate recording secret.

THIS GUITAR IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. I would rate it at 8.5-9.0. The lack of perfection is due to various scrapes, nicks, etc. that have occurred over years of taking it out of the case to show it off-in other words, they are mostly on the bottom of the rear bout that hits the case first. PLEASE LOOK AT PHOTOS.