ONE DAY many years ago – I reckon it was in late 1962 – I was walking down a road in the centre of Middlesbrough in the North-East of England. I don’t know what I was doing in Middlesbrough, or why I was in the North-East at all, but on the left-hand side, half-way along the street, I saw a sight that stopped me in my tracks.

I was walking past a guitar shop in the rather slow way that guitarists do, and there, behind the glass, in the centre of the window, in pride of place so’s you couldn’t miss it was… well, I wasn’t sure what it was.

I mean, I’d played single-pickup guitars; even ventured into the realms of twin-pickup instruments myself. A three-pickup axe wasn’t an impossible dream if you had a few bob in the bank. What I hadn’t seen before – never even heard of! – was a guitar with FOUR pickups.

So I stopped; moved closer to the window, and stuck my nose against the glass. This was the first time I’d come across what we now know as the “original” ’61 Black Bison, and I’d have given my right arm to get my hands on it (I know this sentence doesn’t make sense, but I imagine you’ll know where I’m coming from).

I must have stood there for about fifteen minutes. The thing was truly droolworthy. I just had to have it. The answer was simple - just march into the shop, lay the money down, and stride off into the sunset…

Hmm, well... sadly, my name’s not Hans Christian Andersen. It would be nice to tell you of a happy ending, but I can't. I left Middlesbrough, and that magnificent Bison stayed where it was.

For all I know, it could be the very one gracing the front cover of Per Gjörde’s essential “Pearls And Crazy Diamonds – Fifty Years Of Burns Guitars”!

In the ’50s and ’60s, Gretsch made some fantastic guitars. Innovative, certainly; quirky, definitely. Often of an inconsistent build quality, some were just plain over-the-top (think “White Falcon”!). But some were real jaw-droppers.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Innovative, quirky, inconsistent build quality and OTT are all terms that can justifiably be applied to the products of James Ormston Burns. But jeez, there were some real jaw-droppers.

After all, there can’t be that many guitars that, nearly half-a-century on, remain the one memory of your one and only visit to the City of Middlesbrough!

...and that was it, until Burns London Ltd brought out the “Legend” in 1992.

Burns London Ltd have leaned heavily on the legacy of those five most glorious years (Ormston Burns London Ltd – 1960 to 1965). And why not?

Ultimately, they’ve succeeded in pulling off a trick that Jim Burns himself never managed; to consistently built guitars of high quality and reliability, and still make money.

Which sadly, in this evil ol' world, you gotta do...