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Master Wilburn Burchette

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American musician (guitar, synthesizer) and "mail order mystic". Born in 1939 in California (USA). Found dead in 2023 (aged 84) in the home he shared with his brother Kenneth (also found dead, aged 76) in El Cajon near San Diego (USA). Burchette was a largely self-taught guitarist and self-taught mystic, whose fascination with the occult began around the age of 12 when he "had been transfixed by the parapsychological, spending as much time reading books on Tibetan mysticism fundamentals as he did practicing guitar, the vibrations of which he used to create tonal pictures and patterns." After time spent teaching classical guitar, he constructed an Impro guitar with 6 different woods, with mahogany for the base, soft pine, elder, and rosewood. The neck was inlaid with abalone shells. Then, in the 7 years between 1971 and 1977, he released 7 albums of guitar and synthesizer music, mostly via his Burchette Brothers label (run jointly with his brother Kenneth, a chemist). He advertised these albums via mail order ads, hidden in the back pages of Fate Magazine, Beyond Reality, and Gnostica News. On offer: Burchett’s seven-part, block-printed “Psychic Meditation Course,” designed to teach people how to listen to music. To go along with his lessons: his instrumental guitar and electronic records featuring ornate hand-drawn cover designs, complete with listening instructions from the master himself. After 1977, he abruptly burnt and discarded everything related to his musical explorations.