Ampeg Wilddog/Split Jazz

1964 Ampeg Burns Wild Dog Split Sound Jazz Guitar. Reading the other 2 reviews on this page I can easily reflect the great vintage look and feel of this instrument. It's a VERY underestimated guitar in today's world and has many different tonal possibilities to it. Not for the mainstream player.. you have to be a creative force to truly appreciate the MOJO that a guitar like this would give to you. I have this and one other PLUS I have an early 65 Baldwin model - for all intents and purposes it's the same exact guitar. I get these often though! So check with me if you're looking for one! I should be able to help you out over time.

I can't recommend the sounds this guitar makes enough to all you truly creative players out there! This guitar is kinda like where BRIAN MAY started out. Actually it was close to this, but still a great starting point. As you know, the tonal possibilities on a Guild Brian May guitar are quite limitless, well.. these guitars are too but in many different ways. I LOVE all the pickups settings! TRUE though! A "mainstream player" will not get it. These guitars were WAY before their time - Jim Burns was quite a mad scientist and this was his "dark" Frankenstein's monster in my opinion.

Considering all these whacky parts.. the trem, the bridge.. all VERY unorthodox in guitar making... my guitars now play PERFECT but it took a while and I had to buy beat up models for extra parts I will admit it. The bridge pieces can be a nightmare! Make no mistake! But once these guitars are set up properly WOW WOW WOW !!! Let the games begin! Better than any strat or tele I ever played and challeging too! I love a guitar that can play well and challenge at the same time and these fit the bill baby!

This guitar is like a soldier's firearm to me. I wouldn't play a live gig without it! It's an extension of my soul and the 3 I have ALL are and yet all have unique personalities.

There are only a chosen few who can help you with these guitars in any way. The author of Pearls and Crazy Diamonds - Per Gjorde EMAIL: Per@addit.se Michael J Kramer - MJKAudioVisuals@optonline.net OR MAYBE Barry Gibson at Burns Of London. Otherwise forget it! Nobody knows more about these guitars than those guys!

I have over 50 guitars.. All Vintage! Fenders and Gibbys of all models. I've been a collector/buyer/seller/peformer since I was 15 years old.. I'm now about 40 give or take! ahahahaha My guitars are part of me.. extensions of my personality.. my creativity... and my soul... The Burns Ampeg Baldwin Wild Dog Jazz SplitSound guitars I have are in my top 10 and always will be. I kick MAJOR ass with them live and in the studio and that's that! They are an incredible value to me!

I bought my guitar in 1964 in Carbondale, Il. I have only seen 1 of these since then at a Legends guitar show in Nashville, Tn, in 1999.
The guy wanted $450 for it and it was in cherry condition. My guitar has a black plastic cover for the neck rod on the backside that states that the guitar was made in England. The serial number may tell someone the year, I don't know, but my serial number is 4338.
I played the guitar at The Red Barn in Harrisburg, Il. We played tons of Venture songs and the guitar was perfect for that. I wrapped up my band days at the Logan Hotel Cellar in Murphysboro, Il in 1967. This was the only guitar I ever used when playing.

The neck has 22 frets. I did have some buzz and uneven frets back when I first purchased the guitar. I managed to do a decent job of filing out the burrs even though I was 16. The guitar has always played exceptionally well with very close string to fret tolerances. I played the guitar in a dance band from 1963 to 1967.

One volume knob, one tone knob for a selector knob that has four ultra clean sounds, (Wild dog = super clean, sweet sound/ Treble = sounds like a strat bridge pickup, Jazz = strat middle selection, clean with more body and Split Sound = e 1st, b and g have a tinny, biting treble while the e6th a and d are a mellow Les Paul middle select type of sound.

3 Pickups configured just like a strat but are laid straight with no angles like the strat.

The guitar is cherry red with black trim around the edges. It almost has a air brush effect. The colors blend really smooth from the black to the red. The finish seems to have a clear polymer coat effect and after all these years is clean and crisp in looks. The pick guard extends from the strat like upper cutaway, to the bridge and down around the control knobs then back to the second bottom cutaway. The Ampeg name and the "by Burns of London" are cut into the guard in prominent cream white colors. The tones, wild dog, treble, jazz and split sound are also cut into the pick guard to identify to the player just where the selector is set. The letters are printed upside down facing the player. While being reminescent of the Fender strat look, it goes beyond that with a more "bygolly rock guitar" look. I loved it.

The guitar has a tremolo with a roller bar versus the usual spring setup. This guitar can nose dive 1 1/2 steps down to 1 1/2 steps up with no trouble. The tremolo is smooth as butter and never brings you back out of tune. Just really a superb tremolo with an arm that is firmly attached enough to hold its position but not be sticky and in the way.

The pickups are stamped Burns on the upper right of the pickup and "split sound" on the bottom left. These pickups are a chrome metal stamped part that each house six magnetic round inserts. Not as powerful as todays pickups but good for the times, (60's).

To string the guitar you feed the bitter end through a stop tailpiece and then through the rolling tremolo. Each string is adjustable in height and flat/sharp via inverted hex head machined nuts. The bridge is not adjustable as a unit, something of a downer.

Non-locking tuners with chrome finish were standard for this model. I must say that one of the things that atrracted me to this guitar is the fact that it stays in tune, even with bending, for weeks without adjustment. I pulled the guitar out from under the bed one time about 1978. The guitar had not been out of the case for 10 years. It was still in tune.

I personnally know of no accessories for this guitar.

My music style, pretty limited these days, is rock, blues, some country. Lots of Venture songs can still be heard.

I used a Fender Deluxe Reverb, 1 15 inch speaker.

Not noisy at all on any setting.

The wild dog, treble and jazz took you from surfer to strat bridge pickup sound to the smooth jazz club sound. The wild dog was especially sweet sounding. Ultra clean and clear across the range.
I found the split sound useless.

The variety of sound were pretty much limited to the "out of the box" selector switch.

I had some filing to do with the frets to remove some peaks. The frets are not as smooth along the side of the neck as they should be. The action is very good. I wish I could get my strat to play this well. The neck is somewhat thinner and not as broad as the strat necks. Very comfortable for those of us who are only 5' 10" with normal size hands, (not huge O.J. hands).

The pickup height can easily be adjusted with a philips type screwdriver. No problem.

The bridge is a metal insert with a rolling tremolo. Good, never changing setup.

This guitar had no flaws except that the frets needed some more finishing. This could have been a $3,500 guitar. Super well made.

I played this guitar 3 to 4 nights a week from 1964 to 1967. Still looks new out of the box. The hardware, even today is bright and shiny. No wear anywhere on this guitar, not even on the neck, amazing really. Strap buttons are solid and still tight. I did use this on every gig with no backup. Having a backup with this guitar seemed redundant and not necessary.

Zero support. I called Ampeg in St. Louis once. I foolishly rerouted the wiring and desparately need an original wiring layout. The guy had never heard of the guitar and was totally useless.

No warranty other than through the music store that I bought it from. Never had any problems.

I have been playing since 1963. I currently own a Fender Floyd Rose strat. Very nice but not worth firewood to the dealers. I also own an Epiphone Les Paul. Both of these guitars are typical of todays guitars and are very good. My old Ampeg is still like new. I don't believe my Fender and Epi will look like new in 2028. I wish that the strength of the output of the pickups were much better. They are kind of weak and you have to turn up to get the real character of the sound. I definately enjoyed my Ampeg and my friends who remember me playing it always ask if I still have the "dreamy sounding guitar". I love it and always have. My favorite feature is the dynamite looks and the fabulous tremolo.

I don't compare this guitar too much to other guitars. It's something like the Beatles or Ali. It's so unique that it really can't be compared.

this is a great guitar- although some wouldnt think so- its an ampeg issue from 69 i believe- burns and london were at the time the overseas version of fender- for one year ampeg took a shot at making an american version of this guitar- its very simular to a fender strat with a more demented(and i personally think cooler shape)-
it has a look that is vintage yet very futuristic- came with a whammy originally but mine was gone when i got it-
three powerful metal single coils yet the configs are tricky-
the lead is simply strat like and beautiful but the other settings are strange- i make it work by using different effects with them-
the WILDDOG which supposedly was added to sell the guitar can pierce an ear drum- it sounds like a cheesy surf guitar from a giget episode- although i used it with a big muff pedal- some delay and a wah and got a very interesting sound from it- when i play people tell me thats their favorite part-
mine is a red finish with a dark black pick guard in perfect shape- simply beautiful

since i like original sounds- this is a perfect guitar for me but those die hards that only like the sound that every fender or les paul makes would hate it- its sustain is good- very full and beefy- i play it through a fender twin and it sounds dangerous-
the other settings are best used with effects-

this is the down fall at least with my model-
it buzzes on lower frets- i set it- paid to get it set- lowered the action- raised the action and still-
i think there is a internal warp- but ironically i mastered the buzz and now i have a hard time playing a regular guitar-
top quality in looks- and i saw some of the newer models that look equally beautiful

built like a truck- depending on the warp and how serious that might get- i'd say it will last another 50 years

who knows- i went to burns and london site and tried to get a catalog or a dealer number from them to maybe purchase one of the newer model (going for like 1200 bucks- yikes) but they never get in touch- so...maybe its an american thing-

i love it- original in looks and sound and if anyone have one that they want to get rid of let me know-
christofer@musician.org