1960s Baldwin/Burns GB 65. Beautiful precursor to the Virginian

guitarz.blogspot.com:

My main electric guitar is a Burns Steer so this beauty caught my eye. This Baldwin/Burns GB 65 is from the mid 1960s and apparently predates the Virginian. I love the lines on this semi-hollow single cutaway guitar. Two Rez-O-Matic single coils and a three way switch would likely be enough for my tonal needs at least half of the time. Note the simple yet elegant tailpiece as well, a good example of less is more.

Currently listed on eBay at $919 US

R.W. Haller





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1965 Baldwin Virginian

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Once in a while, an eBay seller seems to know what he's selling - lucky me because I couldn't have found better about this astonishing Baldwin Virginian:

"While appearing initially to be an amplified flat top round-hole acoustic, the Virginian is really a fully electric semi-hollow guitar with a laminated mahogany body and flamed sycamore top. The two Bar-O-Matik pickups are mated to the patented fully adjustable Rezo-Tube bridge, used without a vibrato only on this model. The full-scroll neck is shared with the Marvin guitar, anthough the Virginian has a shorter scale. The unusal three-knob density tone circuit was one of Jim Burns' latest creations at the time, consisting of a stacked pickup with a blendable second coil in the neck position combined with a single-coil at the bridge. The heavily braced cutaway mahogany body was called the Controlled Resonance design, developed from the slightly earlier GB65. Jim Burns himself was extremely proud of this instrument, which was completely unlike most guitars in existance in 1965. Despite its hybrid appearance the guitar handles very well and the sound is extremely bright and clear for a full-size hollow instrument."

We've seen another model of Virginian before, but it's such an interesting guitar that it's worth coming back to it.

Bertram D

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

11 on 11/11/11: #3 - Baldwin southpaw semi-hollowbody bass

OK, it's the 11th November 2011, that is 11/11/11, and as such today has been designated Nigel Tufnel Day. To celebrate this day of Maximum Elevenness, we here at Guitarz - for this day only - will be posting an unprecedented ELEVEN blog posts! So, keep tuned throughout the day for eleven weird and wonderful guitars!

Here's one for our left-handed friends, a vintage Baldwin semi-hollowbody bass, although I'm not sure of the exact model number or name (it gets tricky with all the various Burns-related companies!) so if some reader could enlighten me, I would be very grateful.

The Baldwin Piano and Organ Company of Cincinnati bought out Burns London Ltd in 1965 and guitars and basses that had previously been badged "Burns" were re-branded "Baldwin". Most Burns aficionados agree that this was where the rot set in, with standards beginning to slip in quality of construction. The carved scroll headstock on this bass would indicate that it was one of the later Baldwin guitars, this type of neck being adopted across the range in the last few years of production, circa 1967-1969. Baldwin finally gave up on the Burns guitar line in 1970.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £1,399.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Burns/Baldwin Virginian from the late 1960s

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We previously looked at a prototype Virginian from Jim Burns' involvement with Hayman guitars at the beginning of the 1970s, but the design predates that era and was previously issued in the late 1960s when Burns London Ltd had been bought out by Baldwin. This 1960s Burns/Baldwin Virginian is currently being auctioned on eBay, and is another Burns guitar I would dearly like to bid on if I had the available money. Design-wise it's a cross between an acoutic and an electric, and whilst for me such hybrid designs often just do not work, there is something about the Virginian that silently screams its coolness factor at me, in much the same way that Kurt Cobain's Martin D-18E seemed so cool during Nirvana's MTV Unplugged sessions.

I can't help thinking also that this guitar must have been the inspiration behind the later Burns Steer.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Electric 12ers #3: Baldwin Double Six electric XII

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Here's our third electric 12-string of the day. Jaimie says:

I guess Baldwins aren’t that crazy, but the green burst always gives them a slightly off-kilter look to me...

Of course, most of us would recognize this Baldwin Double Six electric XII in greenburst as being a Burns guitar, the Baldwin name having been applied following the sale of Burns London Ltd to the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company of Cincinnati in 1965. This particular example is from 1966-67.

Baldwin/Burns guitars lasted until 1970 when the Baldwin company terminated the range.

In the 1970s, after making a prototype for Hayman guitars, Jim Burns returned to making guitars in his own name using the trade names Burns UK and Jim Burns Actualizers Ltd. Burns UK produced the Flyte guitar - a favourite of ours here at Guitarz - and Jim Burns Actualizers Ltd were responsible for such models as the Steer and the Scorpion.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!