 Jim Burns' first commercial foray into electric guitar making came in 1958 when he designed and built the "Ike Isaacs Short Scale Model" for the Supersound Company.The timing of the establishment of Burns London was perfect with the British guitar market experiencing a huge boom, in part thanks to the popularity of British pop bands like The Shadows, and again thanks to the high tariffs on US-made goods.The US brand Ampeg imported British-made Burns guitars for a short time prior to the Baldwin takeover.