Baldwin Burns Baby Bison Bass Guitar - All Original - Clean Poly Finish - Rare Palm Mute Included - Original OHSC included - 1966

I am selling my Baldwin Burns Baby Bison Bass guitar, manufactured in England around 1965 and sold in the US by Baldwin. This bass is in very good condition, is all original, with a clean glossy polyurethane finish, very few nicks or scrapes, and a mostly pretty neck with some relief. The bridge screws are most likely stripped so I have made a workaround for height. The frets are in playable condition and the gear box truss rod is working. Comes in the original Burns/Baldwin hard case.

Things to note are the following: 

- The neck double coil pickup works and sounds full, the bridge pickup does not work. 

- The tiny screws which raise and lower the bridge may be stripped or may just need the exact hex tool, which I do not have. I have added two dimes to get the action comfortable for playing and this could be adjusted. It is not the best designed bridge system but is original.

- The zero fret has some wear on the g string side (pictured) and there is buzz if you pluck the first fret on the G string too hard. I have not worked with the truss rod much except to be sure it turns (Hex tool included) and have not taken the neck off to add or remove a shim. Both could resolve this as the frets look clean and the neck is pretty straight. Notes play across the fretboard with some buzz if you pick hard around the 14th fret on some of the strings.

- The often missing bridge mute is included and the foam is still somewhat soft on it. I do not use it but you may find it to your liking. One of the screws is slightly bent but it does screw into place.

- After I took these pictures I was cleaning the case and found a small chip that had come off the upper horn. Must have been in there for a decade or two - it has been reglued and can be seen in the tight shot in the case and one of the later shots of the horn.

The controls on this guitar, and other Burns from the mid sixties (Vibraslim, Baby Bison guitar) work a bit differently than normal. The three way switch is standard, the first knob towards the strings is volume, the middle knob is presence (it dials in the second coil on the neck pickup) and the third is tone. The effect of the presence knob is to make a less bright tone (to my ear) and the tone knob allows for more tonal variation. I have not seen a bass pickup of this type - the “Bar-O-Matics” - available online but have seen, and own, a number of 6 string versions. I’ve considered putting one into the bridge position but would rather leave it intact for you the buyer to decide. With the presence and tone options there are a few variations in sound to work with as is.

This is a substantial bass with a medium to wide neck - yet also has a comfortable 30 inch scale. Nut width is 1.75 inches. From the tip of the headstock to the bottom it is 45 inches long and the bout is about 15 inches across. It is hefty and weighs around 9.5 pounds.

The truss rod gear box (the same one in Gretsch guitars via the sale of Burns and Gretsch to Baldwin between 1965 and 1967) at the base of the neck turns at a very high 16:1 ratio, which means that about 4 turns seems to needed to do a bit of adjustment. I loosened the neck about a few turns recently and the truss rod has much more adjustment in it if for some reason you want to tinker.

Important note: The gear box turns opposite of what is “normal”. To the left is tightening, to the right is loosening. Feel free to look this up - I did and was surprised. The patented truss rod key is missing (I did not receive it when I bought the bass) but I learned that a spanner insert bit, 1/4" Hex Shank works well on these guitars. I have an extra so will include it.

The heavy polyester finish on this guitar is remarkably clean - often they are weathered and creased by the change in environment after being shipped overseas. The original Van Ghent tuners work smoothly and keep tune.

It seems I replaced the original jack at some point, the old jack is included. I have also included an image of string height @ 1st, 6th, 12th fret positions on both sides of the fretboard. There is no room to include the individual shots, will send directly if you would like. I have included an image of the pots, wiring and gear box stem.

I do not remember what strings I put on it when I changed them a year or so ago. It once had black taped roto-matic strings which sounded and felt great.

The original Baldwin case is included - it is solid and in very good shape.

Another important note: I’ve described this 55 year old guitar as best as I can with words and images, if you have any questions be sure to ask me before you buy.

Will pack professionally and ship quickly. It is a heavy and large case so will let Reverb figure out the shipping cost.