About the Builder:
In 1969, Ivor Arbiter invited Jim Burns to join the Dallas Arbiter organisation, to help develop a new range of guitars to be marketed under the 'Hayman' banner. He accepted and accordingly joined forces with Bob Pearson, an ex-Vox employee. Jim had already formulated some ideas for a new design, as had Bob Pearson, who had also been working on a perspex-body guitar with Beatle, John Lennon. The resultant combination of Jim and Bob's ideas produced a range of instruments with several innovative features and distinctive appearance. The guitar styling, suggestive of a Burns 'Vista Sonic' crossed with a Fender 'Telecaster', was still very 'British'. The designs incorporated many characteristics of the earlier Burns models, so retaining a definite 'family likeness'. In addition, the woodwork was by Jack Golder, with truss-rod design by Norman Holder. Re-An supplied the fittings while the finish was by Derek Adams, these all being links with the previous Burns and Baldwin instruments.
All four models produced were worthy successors to previous Burns instruments, if lacking a little of their predecessor's 'flair' and 'character'. The Hayman range can certainly be classed as 'Burns by another name'.
The talented partnership of Jim Burns and Bob Pearson came to an end in September 1971, when Jim decided to leave the Dallas Arbiter company. Bob Pearson continued to develop new ideas and additions to the range, and later versions of the original four models featured the new Re-An humbucker type pick-ups.
However, when Hayman came to an untimely end, Bob joined Jack Golder and Norman Holder, who, left 'high and dry' by the Dallas Arbiter collapse, had decided to 'soldier on' and produce their own 'Shergold' instruments.
Read more in "The Burns Book" by Paul Day.
About the Guitar:
This guitar is quite rare and it came out just before Dallas Arbiter collapsed in 1975.
Nice looking and playable guitar but as beeing a doublecut with the trussrod adjustment through a cavity at the body end and the three pickup configuration needing a large cavity just behind the neck there is not much wood left around the neckpocket. This fragile construction has therefore a not too brilliant sustain.
