Non-casting Bard: Balance advice needed

[Laithoron]

So I'm trying to come up with an alternate version of a bard that retains their special abilities but gains martial prowess. My thoughts on the matter are this:
 
 
 
 

• Lose spellcasting and cantrips
  
• Gain good BAB, d10 hit die, martial weapon proficiency, and medium armor proficiency
  
• Lose good Will save
  
• Gain good Fort save
  

This leaves levels 4, 13, and 16 empty, but I'm trying to determine if the above changes would be too powerful, or if those levels would need to be filled-in to maintain balance.

As I see it, the Ranger and Paladin are the main comparison classes. Being as their abilities are more situationally specific, they retain 4-levels of casting whereas Fighters and Barbarians (whose special abilities have broader applications) lack casting.

Desired Usage:

Part of the purpose of this experiment is so that the bard can remain a viable choice in a Gestalt game when multi-classed with either a full-caster or a rogue. Since the bard as-is is something of a mini-gestalt in its own right, it suffers greatly in such a scenario. Either their 6-level spellcasting becomes redundant (gestalt with full caster), or they fall behind all the other characters in melee (gestalt with rogue) since they already have a great deal of overlap with rogue. (Compare with a ranger/sorcerer gestalt to see where I'm coming from.)

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[VikingIrishman]

In all honesty, I think giving Bards a full BAB/d10 hit die undermines the "Jack of all Trades, Ace of None" archetype. It puts him on even footing with the best fighting classes (Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, and Ranger).

Whenever I do non-spellcasting variants of Bard, I always add in more Bardic Performance uses and songs, some of which help out the damage capabilities, sometimes even replicating certain spells outright.

That being said, a well-built Bard can be more trouble than he seems at first. Greater invisibility coupled with a Brilliant Energy Bow means your attacking Flat-Footed Touch AC, which is more often than not 10, with a 3/4 BAB.

Just my 2c.