Ian Bairnson & Kate Bush - studio and stage used 1974 Gi...

Hammer

£17,000

Ian Bairnson & Kate Bush - studio and stage used 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom 20th Anniversary electric guitar, made in USA, ser. no. 396135; Body: cherry sunburst finished maple veneer upon mahogany pancake body, buckle rash patch to back, further dings and marks but generally good for a guitar of this vintage; Neck: good, some finish wear to edges and light finish wear throughout; Fretboard: ebony; Frets: good, refret; Electrics: working, replacement Tom Holmes Vintage Style humbucker pickups with coil switches installed to control area (original pickups included); Hardware: replacement Schaller tuners, replacement control knobs, replacement nut, replacement pickguard (original retained), replacement pickup surround; Case: original hard case bearing Pilot stencil to the case lid, enclosing guitar strap, one original 1974 potentiometer, two original Ian Bairnson plectrums, the original pickguard, a spare truss rod cover, Gibson tag and original Pilot bumper sticker; Overall condition: good for age

*Sold with five sales award discs presented to Ian Bairnson for Pilot's hit singles 'Magic' and 'January', both of which this guitar features on. Including an RIAA gold disc to commemorate the sale of more than one million copies of the EMI record single 'Magic'; a disc to recognise the sale in the United Kingdom of more than two hundred and fifty thousand copies of the EMI single 'January', 1975; a gold disc to commemorate the sale of more than a million of the Capitol Records single 'Magic'; a gold disc to commemorate the sale of over seventy-five thousand units of the Capitol single 'Magic' from the Canadian Recording Industry Association; a gold disc presented to Ian Bairnson by EMI (Australia) Limited, August 1975

This guitar was purchased by Ian in 1974 from Take Five, Shaftesbury Avenue, London and was his main guitar from the beginning. The guitar features on work with Pilot, the Alan Parsons Project and Kate Bush, including her first four studio albums, most significantly used the solo of her debut chart topping single 'Wuthering Heights'.

 An excerpt from Ian's website states "Guitar players broadly fall into two main groups - those who consider themselves as "Strat" players and those who are "Les Paul" type players. I have always loved Les Pauls. Ever since I was about fourteen years old I wanted to play one. I prefer the sheer power and kick of a Gibson Les Paul. I bought mine as soon as I could afford one. It came from a shop called Take Five in Shaftesbury Avenue in London and cost me 315 pounds in 1974. It is a Custom model but over the years I have changed bits and pieces and now it looks more like a Standard. I suppose it is true to say that I built a career using only a Les Paul and a Marshall fifty watt amplifier. I never plugged anything between the guitar and the amp. If we wanted effects on the sound, we used the studio effects. They are far better quality and besides ... I couldn't afford that kind of equipment. This guitar has been with me through everything from the early recordings - Pilot, Parsons Project, Kate Bush etc right up to "Time Machine" and Pilot's "Blue Yonder" CD."

John "Ian" Bairnson (3rd August 1953 – 7th April 2023) was a Scottish musician, best known as a member of Pilot and the Alan Parsons Project. He was a multi-instrumentalist, who played saxophone and keyboards, although he was best known as a guitarist. He started his career as a session guitarist, before joining up with former Bay City Rollers' David Paton and Billy Lyall to form the band Pilot in 1973. His time with Pilot saw the release of the two hit singles, ‘Magic’ and ‘January’, the latter reaching number one in the UK and other global charts. Both of these singles have since become grounded as classic tracks from the era.

 Whilst with Pilot, he started his collaboration with the record producer Alan Parsons on their debut self-titled album. It was this relationship that helped incorporate most of the members into band. One distinctive guitar solo of note was on the track 'I Wouldn't Want to be Like You' that featured in the 1977 film 'I Robot'

 From 1978, Bairnson started sessions with Kate Bush, recording guitars on her first four albums, 'The Kick Inside', 'Lion Heart', 'Never for Ever' and 'The Dreaming'. The most notable track featuring Ian’s work was her chart topping debut single 'Wuthering Heights', where he can be heard playing his 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom on the solo towards the end of the song.  Wuthering heights stayed at the top of the UK charts for four weeks. The success of this track and the debut album (‘The Kick Inside’) on which it features, firmly launched her to international stardom.

Bairnson also played with Bucks Fizz, for whom he co-wrote their top twenty hits 'If You Can't Stand the Heat' and 'Run For Your Life'. During his session career, he played on more than one hundred albums within different genres for artists such as Yvonne Keeley, Joe Cocker, John Anderson, Chris de Burgh, Mick Fleetwood and Neil Diamond, as well as playing live with Sting, Eric Clapton, Beverley Craven and many more.


See videos of Ian playing this guitar here: https://youtu.be/0e8m4uzn0Zs?si=renahYRODqtTE0H2
https://youtu.be/4iiryJwvDtc?si=KQWXUddDf6D_vtPX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoGM7fByenQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNGwOinZo-I