Ian Bairnson - stage used 1996 Paul Reed Smith (PRS) McCarty...

Hammer

£3,200

Ian Bairnson - stage used 1996 Paul Reed Smith (PRS) McCarty Custom Build HSH Custom 24 electric guitar made for Ian Bairnson by former production manager Joe Knaggs; Body: McCarty sunburst finished maple ten top upon cherry mahogany back, light surface buckle marks and other minor dings; Neck: mahogany, a few light dings; Fretboard: rosewood; Frets: mild tarnishing and oxidisation; Electrics: working, McCarty bridge and neck pickups, single rail middle pickup; Hardware: good, custom tuners, minor tarnishing to metal parts; Case: original hard case enclosing strap and Ian Bairnson custom plectrums; Weight: 3.96kg; Overall condition: good

*Used by Ian as his main live guitar from 1996 onwards. Ian's website states "I first met Paul Reed Smith when I was giving a show for Mesa Boogie amplifiers. During the course of the show the importer of PRS guitars came up to me and said, "Hey, I told Paul you play "Birdland" by Weather Report - he doesn't think it can be done on one guitar". So that was my first meeting with Paul - having to play the most difficult piece right there and then! Then we got to talk about guitars, I told him I had been looking for a really good vintage Les Paul for several years. He instantly said, "I'll build you a guitar that will sound just as good". I was a little sceptical, since the sound of the Les Paul has a lot to do with the design and construction. After some thought and a few faxes between us, I decided the best thing was to see if Paul could build me an instrument which would be the ultimate touring guitar. The result was this custom built McCarty model. It basically sets out to get pretty close to the Les Paul. Then with the inclusion of a centre single coil pickup and a trem, it moves into Strat territory. For the APP sets this is just perfect. I can get a great selection of "real" and natural guitar sounds without having to stop and change guitars. This is a big warm sounding guitar - just how I like 'em! I really believe it to be the "Ultimate Touring Guitar"."

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.