NGD - It’s a Weird One!

GAD

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7D25F6CD-8150-45F1-9393-933AC094516A.jpeg

It’s Burnside Warrior. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one for sale before.

A pawn shop in AL contacted me through my blog asking me about it. They had $150 in it and were thrilled when I told them I’d pay $200 which is about what I’ve paid for most of my Burnsides.

I think the only ones I haven’t owned now are the two Tele-shaped models: the Wizard and the Famous.

I never in a million years would have thought I’d end up with a Burnside collection.

This guitar needs some work, but it’s structurally sound and plays well.

My favorite part is that it has red binding which is a feature only the black one had.
 

GGJaguar

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That's definitely one from the "Now for something completely different" column. Congrats! Will a standard Kahler arm fit the vibrato or is it some weird size?
 

walrus

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Cool!

Am I supposed to be seeing a fish swimming to the left? I doubt it, it must be me...

walrus
 

tonepoet

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It’s Burnside Warrior.
Congrats! I notice that they mounted the pickups as Guild would with two adjustment screws on one side. If you get around to removing things during the clean up, let us know what the pickups might be. I'm curious if they may have used the ones stamped "California Pickup Co." on the back
 

GAD

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Congrats! I notice that they mounted the pickups as Guild would with two adjustment screws on one side. If you get around to removing things during the clean up, let us know what the pickups might be. I'm curious if they may have used the ones stamped "California Pickup Co." on the back

They’re likely Maxx pickups (I think) which were a Burnside thing.
 

PreacherBob

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7D25F6CD-8150-45F1-9393-933AC094516A.jpeg

It’s Burnside Warrior. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one for sale before.

A pawn shop in AL contacted me through my blog asking me about it. They had $150 in it and were thrilled when I told them I’d pay $200 which is about what I’ve paid for most of my Burnsides.

I think the only ones I haven’t owned now are the two Tele-shaped models: the Wizard and the Famous.

I never in a million years would have thought I’d end up with a Burnside collection.

This guitar needs some work, but it’s structurally sound and plays well.

My favorite part is that it has red binding which is a feature only the black one had.
Hey that looks like the missing piece I needed to finish an old puzzle!
 

GAD

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That's definitely one from the "Now for something completely different" column. Congrats! Will a standard Kahler arm fit the vibrato or is it some weird size?
I haven't tried yet. Today and tomorrow are very busy for me in real life, and I'm just not used to that. :)
 

GAD

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They’re likely Maxx pickups (I think) which were a Burnside thing.

Minor correction: They're likely either POWERSOUND or MAXX pickups. One catalog says all Burnsides are equipped with MAXX but my LANCE has POWERSOUND so it may vary by year.

Scroll down to the Pickups section in my Crossbow for details:

 

GAD

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Played the guitar a little bit before I had to run out earlier.

The tone pot is completely seized. The control cavity on these Burnsides is very small so there's no room for full sized pots - only little mini import pots, but if i can source those it's an easy fix.

The selector switch tip is some odd wooden affair.

The knobs are non-original, rusted, and possible both.

The frets need work. It looks like it may have taken a fall or something in its life because the B string is kind of indented on half the frets which makes it stick and buzz in places. I *think* recrowning the frets may fix that. Not sure, though.

It's missing a fine tuner on the bridge.

The locking nut is missing one of the clamps.

If I can find the parts I can fix all of that except for the frets.
 

Stuball48

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Cool!

Am I supposed to be seeing a fish swimming to the left? I doubt it, it must be me...

walrus
I thought it was the lead goose - in the "V" formation - looking for a safe landing spot.
Very unique guitar - congratulations on your acquisition.
 

fronobulax

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There's actually a statue for Ambrose Burnside? That amazes me. He was responsible for the Union defeat at Fredericksburg and the Crater fiasco. He resigned at the end of the war.
Burnside was an example of the Peter Principle, rebounding to his level of military incompetence more than once. But he was not a complete idiot. Before the Civil War he invented and held a patent on a breechloading rifle. He did, however, fail to make money manufacturing rifles primarily because his factory burned down. He served as Governor of Rhode Island and U.S. Senator of Rhode Island after the Civil War.

And the use of "sideburns" for facial previously referred to as mutton-chops and other name is attributed to him.
 
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The Warrior is also a solid wood guitar unlike the Blade to Wizard Burnside models which were layered composite wood. It also has a glued on neck, and overall fairly light. I grabbed one at the beginning of the pandemic that was over sprayed twice, once in purple and the second time with some sort of terrible rubber paint. I paid $100 for it. One of the pickups was actually a early 80's DiMarzio humbucker DDJ that is highly sought after and worth about $300! The neck pickup i assume is the Powersound as it looks the same as my Blade. But the Accutune bridge was a mess (like most are) and bent to hell because its made of cheap composite metal. I cleaned everything up, re-bent the bridge (I have a whole series of photos explaining this that i may post at some point), and ordered parts from https://www.whammyparts.com/ and everything fits properly. @GAD The Accutune 2 link will get you what you need you are missing bridge parts, and you can find a replacement trem arm and the locking nuts as well.

I removed all the terrible paint and was too suprised to find the red binding underneath. It was a really cool design, and i would guess a 'higher end' model for Burnside electrics. Unfortunately, i got cold feet at refinishing the guitar and it currently sits in the below condition. As soon as i figure out the paint job the rest is ready to rock. Ill probably do a black sparkle to give it a little Glam since it really wants to go that direction anyways! May add some red pickup rings and red strings too because why not.

IMG_9167.jpg
 

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GAD

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The Warrior is also a solid wood guitar unlike the Blade to Wizard Burnside models which were layered composite wood. It also has a glued on neck, and overall fairly light. I grabbed one at the beginning of the pandemic that was over sprayed twice, once in purple and the second time with some sort of terrible rubber paint. I paid $100 for it. One of the pickups was actually a early 80's DiMarzio humbucker DDJ that is highly sought after and worth about $300! The neck pickup i assume is the Powersound as it looks the same as my Blade. But the Accutune bridge was a mess (like most are) and bent to hell because its made of cheap composite metal. I cleaned everything up, re-bent the bridge (I have a whole series of photos explaining this that i may post at some point), and ordered parts from https://www.whammyparts.com/ and everything fits properly. @GAD The Accutune 2 link will get you what you need you are missing bridge parts, and you can find a replacement trem arm and the locking nuts as well.

I removed all the terrible paint and was too suprised to find the red binding underneath. It was a really cool design, and i would guess a 'higher end' model for Burnside electrics. Unfortunately, i got cold feet at refinishing the guitar and it currently sits in the below condition. As soon as i figure out the paint job the rest is ready to rock. Ill probably do a black sparkle to give it a little Glam since it really wants to go that direction anyways! May add some red pickup rings and red strings too because why not.

IMG_9167.jpg

Very cool! On what do you base your statement that "Blade to Wizard Burnside models which were layered composite wood"?
 
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