THE BASS THAT CAME FULL CIRCLE

The Burns is the first quality bass that I owned. I bought it in 1966 and sold it around 1970. After that it disappeared into the mist, as so many things from the late ’60s tend to do.

Around fifty years later, after I started this website, someone contacted me claiming he owned it. I couldn’t remember him at all, and even a photo didn’t help, but he proved it really was the same instrument.

Naturally I suggested buying it back, but he’d had it for decades and didn’t want to let it go. We decided to stay in touch and, later on, I sent him a recent gig photo. He immediately recognised the Fender Mustang I was playing and mentioned he’d been looking for one. That photo led to an agreement to swap.

The best part came when we finally met to exchange instruments. I was expecting a seventy-year-old bloke to step out of the car.

Instead, an eighteen-year-old appeared in my mind — and suddenly the whole story came flooding back.

1965 Burns Vibraslim bass