In for a full set-up and fret dress, this very attractive 1964 Burns is in super condition. The body of this guitar was found under the bench of Eddie Cross who was the engraver Burns used to make all their scratchplates, headstock logos in the 1960s. It was ‘fully loaded’ but had not yet been painted.
The neck pocket ahd the letters SG and was taken to suggest Burns had intended this guitar to be painted Surf Green. Therefore the body was finished in this beautiful colour.
The unfretted neck (made by ‘Phil’ see below) was also found under the bench and was thought to have been a pattern for fretting operations. The neck is actually intended for a Split Sonic (as the eagle-eyed will have noticed from the headstock design). The two were mated together to form the guitar you see before you.
Great looking guitar – but as the proud owner, I would say that….The Surf Green reasoning may be a sound theory, but I suspect that the finish is actually a very rare colour that Burns briefly used during that time period and was known as ‘Sonic Blue’. The neck is likely to have been made by a chap called Phil Sweet who worked at the factory during that time period and was in charge of’ Development’. That may explain why they mated they neck and body together – possibly as a rare prototype or experiment prior to the release of the Jazz Split Sound? Regardless of my speculation, as the owner, I am pleased to report that John has done a superb job of setting up and finishing this guitar to a very high standard indeed. It plays and sounds excellent and I can thoroughly recommend John’s services> Don’t hesitate if you are thinking about having a guitar set up PROPERLY. as opposed to the amateur tinkering I was doing – a professional makes all the difference !
Cheers John!