1965-1966 Baldwin Burns GB65

  • $1,700.00
    Unit price per 


Summary: One of the rarest and most unusual Burns guitars, this model was in production for just over a year from 1965-66 and was one of the first instruments discontinued by Baldwin after they fully took over the company's operation. This is a flat-topped, fully hollow body guitar with two Burns “Rez-O-Matic”pickups, eccentrically shaped sound holes and a long 25 1/2" scale length. The heavily braced cutaway mahogany body was called the "Controlled Resonance" design by the company. This guitar handles very well, and the sound is bright and clear for a full-size hollow-body instrument.

Body: Single cutaway hollow-body mahogany with a flamed sycamore veneer top, unique asymmetrical sound-holes, cream colored binding, 2.642” body depth

Neck: Bolt-on maple, rosewood fingerboard, white dot inlays, original three per side “Van Ghent” tuning keys, 25.5” scale length, 1.706” nut width.

Pickups/Hardware: Two Burns “Rez-O-Matic”(bar magnet) pickups with covers that match the pickguards, double trapeze tailpiece, three way switch, one volume knob/one tone knob. The wiring has been redone and the neck pickup is very dark sounding. We are unsure if this is due to something in the wiring or is the pickup itself.

Cosmetics: This guitar plays and sounds great. It has a fair amount of finish checking. There is some extreme checking on the side of the guitar that almost appears as if it were a crack, but does not in-fact go through the wood. There is some heavy checking in the finish by the input jack. There is a small chip in the finish by the neck strap button. Everything described here can be seen in the photos.

Playability: Our in-house guitar tech has inspected, setup, and restrung this guitar with a new set of 10s. The neck is straight, the truss rod is fully functional, and the action has been setup low and comfortable. The frets are in good shape with no major grooves or divots from use and it plays beautifully up and down the fretboard with no dead spots or choking out.

Modifications: The three-way toggle switch cap may have been replaced.

Weight: 6lbs., 11oz.

Case: This guitar ships in its original hard-shell case, professionally packaged, and fully insured.