Great looking Hayman 3030 appears to be all original.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The internet is killing me today.

Look at this Hayman 3030. This beauty is in great shape and to my eye appears to be all original too. I have a 3030 that i picked up last year, but wouldn't it be nice to have 2?

This auction is ending in 10hrs as I write this so you have only that long (or as long as my resolve to not click on bid can last) to get in on one of these for a very reasonable price in my opinion.

R.W. Haller (backing away slowly from the internet for the rest of the day)

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1973 Hayman 3030. The Happy Birthday to R.W. edition

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Firstly, my apologies for a minimal amount of posts recently. Life has been pretty busy and though the actual posting of cool guitar pictures doesn't take long, the scouring of the web to find said guitars takes a while.
I do miss it. Both the posting and the scouring.

That said, not all is sad and busy in my world. I finally got a guitar I've been coveting for years. A Hayman 3030. I sold a bass and some smaller gear and got myself this awesome birthday gift.

The good:
1) This thing is in impeccable shape for something nearly my age. So very clean with just enough wear to show it's been properly used.
2) Almost everything is original and even has the oft-lost headstock disk.
3) It's super quiet. I've not had a chance to test it in a band environment, but at studio levels there is no noise at all.
4) I love the neck on this thing. It feels like home.
5) About 1/3 the cost of the last few 3030s I've seen for sale.

The Bad:
1)It's not all original.
2) The trademark pickguard with appliance style control plate is gone. The replacement is well made and in my opinion it looks pretty great.
3) The Re-An pickups are gone too. The replacements look similar to the humbucker on my Burns Steer, but more research leads me to believe that they could be late 1970 Dimarzio Super 2s. I'm not sure how to feel about this as I've never had Dimarzio pickups in any of my guitars. Time will tell.
4) The tuners have been replaced with Sperzel locking tuners. I know this may not be a bad thing but I'm the guy that wraps as much string on the post as he can. I've been that way for 30 years, going to take a lot to get past that.

The good very much outweighs the bad here. It's going to be a very happy birthday for this fella!

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Guitarz 5000th Post!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Though I'm not one to typically celebrate milestones I'm in the unique position of having been a fan of Guitarz for a lot longer than I've been a contributor.

So, I thought since I was going to abuse my power I'd celebrate 5000 posts by revisiting some of my favourite guitars featured on this site from when I was just a fan. Feel free to let us know if you have a favourite as well.

When this Hayman 3030 was posted it was the first time I'd ever seen a Hayman guitar. I don't think I'd even heard of Hayman before, which is made extra odd by that fact that I've been a Burns fan/owner for a long time. Some histories are missed. I am still on the lookout for a 3030 like this one to add to my arsenal, should anyone have an extra one they would want to part with.

This Forrest Custom Telecaster with B-Bender makes the list because it has 3 elements that I love ( aside from the fact it's a tele ). It's green , it's paisley, and it has a b-bender. A trifecta of telecaster love.

The Burns Jet Sonic designed by Pagelli came in two different colours. A Blue and Red combination and the less understated Black and Yellow/white shown here. I admit that I like the black version much more. If you have a crazy and unique design why bother dressing it in crazy colours. Probably the second or third guitar I'll buy if I ever win the lotto.

Another Burns! This Magpie from 1980 is a great example of the design and has the added bonus of a 6 in-line tuner configuration which in my opinion makes more sense with this design. The bird on the headstock is a nice touch too.

I've never disliked a Daion, and the Savage is probably my favourite design. The only fault I see in this Savage is that the original pickups have been replaced with dimarzios. Not that that isn't possibly an upgrade, I just think I'd prefer it to be stock.

This Greco Brawler BR600 is a great example of 1970s made in Japan quality, only this time it's not a copy of an existing guitar. The curves on this guitar are great and I see a nod to a Tiesco Tulip.

My first guitar was a 1984 Ibanez Roadstar and looked almost exactly like this one. But mine was a very reserved black. I loved this one on first sight as it simultaneously made me feel nostalgic and go "wow". I'm not sure I would have had the courage to play a bright beauty like this in 1984, to stand out so obviously. But I'd play it with pride now.

There is a lot to like about this John Birch guitar. The modular pickups, the simple design, the symmetry, the arm-carve on the bouts, and not least, the colour. This is one of those designs that I'm surprised didn't catch on. I guess it was ahead of its time.

This Quest Manhattan  is another fine example of Japan getting it right in the 1970s and 1980s. When I first saw this guitar I coveted it so much that I came to within inches of buying a seafoam green version at a very inflated price. I made the right decision and passed on the purchase, yet why do I feel remorse?



This Northern SG holds a couple of unique distinctions for me. Firstly, it's the only SG style guitar that I have loved the look of, even if it rails against all of my usual tastes. I cannot dislike this guitar.
Secondly, I'm pretty sure this is the first time Gavin posted a guitar that I sent him. It's really quite a beauty and is likely as playable as any 1970s Japanese guitar.


That's just the tip of the iceberg for my love of the guitars on this blog. Feel free to share your favourites as well.

R.W. Haller



© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Vintage Hayman 4040 Bass guitar with custom aftermarket paint work

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Having been a fan of Burns guitars for a number of years it's a little embarrassing that it was not until I saw this guitar that I heard of Hayman guitars. Haymans didn't really make their way across the pond. I had never seen them before.

I was hooked immediately.

I now have a hunk of walnut with a hayman body shape drawn upon it awaiting my saw and router.

This early 1970s Hayman 4040 bass was repainted at some point but seems to have aged quite well, even if it somewhat belies its own heritage.

Currently on eBay for  $875 US

R.W. Haller



© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Hayman thinline 2020

guitarz.blogspot.com

This is not the first time you can see here one of these cool and rare made-in-UK Hayman thinline 2020, but this one has single coil pickups and the characteristic plate between them (the headstock glass logo is missing, that leaves a hole...).

I find the shape really 2010s, you know this mix of retro and classy minimalism good designers reach when they really love guitars...

Bertram

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

guitarz.blogspot.com

Burns/Hayman prototype hybrid guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Am I the only one who thinks that modern electro acoustics and and hybrid guitars look just too sterile? I really never did like this business of hiding away all the gubbins. "Oh, you can't have any visible pickups or control knobs, that'll spoil the illusion of this being an acoustic guitar." Huh! As if those horrible little slider controls they stick on the rim of an electro acoustic are any kind of replacement!

I've always liked acoustics that have obviously been electrified with pickups and control knobs on show for all to see. They can have a rather Heath Robinson appeal sometimes (Oh, if only Heath Robinson had designed a guitar!), but to me they seem all the more honest, as if to say, "Yes, this is an acoustic but it's hardly unplugged!"

Think John Lennon with his Gibson J-160E, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain playing supposedly "unplugged" with a Martin D-18E, or John Martyn with a Martin guitar with pickups obviously gaffer-taped to the guitar creating loops on an Echoplex machine (as if an acoustic could do that without all the electrickery!).

So... the above pictured one-off Burns/Hayman prototype is a guitar that I find mightily appealing. It's an acoustic/electric hybrid guitar that proudly displays its electric components for all to see. I like the electric style compensated bridge set into an acoustic style "moustache" - that's a nice touch. Actually, I doubt that acoustically this guitar is very loud at all - looking at the picture of the back of the guitar (I'll put some more photos in the comments) it does appear to have a very shallow body. It's like they took the Burns Steer guitar, and made it a little bit more acoustic-y.

I don't really have much info on this guitar other than what the eBay seller tells us (hey, it is a rarity), so let's quote from the listing:

Rare Virginian hybrid guitar designed by Barry Gibson and Keith West of Burns London Ltd. featuring:

• Burns Rezo-Matik pick-ups
• Solid Spruce Top
• Rosewood back and sides
• Burns badged Gotoh tuners
• Burns Tortoiseshell bridge section

A real collectors piece for Burns/Hayman fans 1 only made as this model was never put into production. The guitar was made over 12 years ago in the U.K. and has been sitting in the Burns warehouse since then, untouched.

I'm actually surprised it's as recent as that; it looks older. Anyway, it has a starting price of £249 on it and a But It Now price of £850.

G L Wilson

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

Hayman 2020 with f-holes

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is a Hayman 2020 guitar, a rare model with f-holes. I'm guessing from its bolt-on neck design it's more of a "thinline" rather than a semi-acoustic, although it's hard to say from the photographs alone.

The guitar was designed by Jim Burns and would have been produced in the UK in the early 1970s before the distribution deal with Dallas Arbiter finished and the Shergold brandname replaced Hayman.

Note the glass(?) "H" logo inset into the headstock. This is what was missing from the hole in the headstock of the left-handed Hayman 4040 bass we looked at in October.

G L Wilson

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

Hayman 4040 bass from 1973

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another one for the lefties. It's a Hayman 4040 bass, built in London by Jack Golder and Norman Houlder of Shergold Woodcrafts Limited (established 1967). The Hayman brand name was applied to instruments distributed by Dallas Arbiter until termination of the contract in 1975. From 1975 to 1982 their guitars and basses appeared under their own Shergold brand.

G L Wilson

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

70s Hayman 30 30

I say, a guitar with a transparent pickguard and a fridge knobplate (not to mention the bridge) is a good guitar... So Hurray! for this Hayman 30 30!

I feel a little bit lazy today so if you want to know more about Haymans, please check here.

bertram