Bunt (music)

A bunt is a MusicAL instrument loosely related to the electric guitar, popularised by the cult British pop band Disco [...] in the mid-1990s. The Bunt was first utilised by proto-grunge outfit Balooon Samwidge between 1991-92. (See Essex County Standard, February 14 and March 29 1991)

The Bunt is believed to be a modification of the Encore Stratocaster, and is now exclusively developed by Jim Fleeting Guitars of Ripon, Yorkshire based on an earlier design by Knuckles Kirkpatrick of Pebmarsh. Kirkpatrick lived in Pebmarsh between 1988 and 1993. During this time he developed his taste for rum, and it is believed from the evidence of his unpublished memoirs that it was under the influence of Cuba Libres that he fled the District. His current whereabouts are unknown.

(See Pebmarsh Heritage Library, ref.KK.1/24.487.)

The Bunt is recognised by many connoisseurs as offering perhaps the truest sound of any electric stringed instrument in the guitar/mandolin family.

(J.J.Cale, 1993; Paul 'Wine' Jones, 1998; and InterViews held by Essex County Libraries with Emma Hammond, the great Essex pork chop cutter.)

Working, essentially backwards, from the classic design of the Encore Strat, Kirkpatrick removed extraneous paraphernalia such as controls and a scratch plate to deliver a pared down 'axe' consisting of little more than a plywood body, second hand neck, single pick up and bridge held in place by a simple combination of nails and football stickers held together with sellotape.

Fleeting, one of Britain's leading luthiers, has subsequently enhanced the Bunt design initially by testing the prototype to destruction throughout the 1990s and subsequently providing a supply of replacement second hand necks.

(One neck in particular interests luthiers and fanatics around the world: that from a Squier Bullet, acquired from J. B. Moles of Rowhedge.)

Stabilisation of the bridge with the addition of screws has further contributed to the bunt's robustness, whilst replacing many of the sellotape joints in the internal electronics with solder has created a purer sound and increased the bunt's longevity immeasurably. (It should be noted, however, that there is evidence to suggest that nails, and not screws, were used in this first repair venture.)

Fleeting, a bassist by trade, can be seen playing the Bunt in the Disco [...] tribute act "Disco [...]" to this day as his sole dalliance with higher frequencies. In the hands of this master swordsman, the Bunt is considered one of the greatest 'no nonsense' guitars of the modern age, delivering ear-splitting feedback and hard, slightly flat notes at Fleetings every whim.

Rumours of Fleeting producing Bunts as a commercial venture are, as yet, unconfirmed.