1965 Ampeg Vista-Sonic Bass (SOLD)

Ampeg has been producing musical equipment since 1946, and are best known for professional grade bass amplifiers used on many stages and recordings. In particular, the Ampeg SVT was a staple of arena back lines. However, Ampeg also produced a number of very interesting guitars and basses, including designs by Burns and Dan Armstrong.

During the early 1960s, Ampeg entered into a licensing agreement with Burns of London for the production of Burns instruments. This included the Ampeg Vista-Sonic Bass, with a pickguard reading "AMPEG by Burns of London". However, in 1965 Burns was sold to Baldwin, the licensing agreement expired, and production of the Ampeg models ceased.

This 1965 Ampeg Vista-Sonic bass is in good playing condition and has fairly minor wear. It has three single coil pickups and the tone selector switch includes the famous 'Wild Dog' setting; while the type of dog is not specified, it is based on a high-treble and out of phase wiring configuration. The pickups coils themselves are actually low impedance, and a matching transformer is included as part of the circuitry.

Some readers may note a physical resemblance between the Vista-Sonic body and the shape of Hayman guitars. This may be because a few years after the Baldwin deal, Jim Burns was involved in prototyping what became Hayman, but could no longer market these designs as Burns models.

A Sound City gig bag is included.