This works for me, without any lines. I see two obvious possibilities:
1) . matplotlib.__version__ python, 1.2.0. OS X 10.6.8 python 2.7.3, macports. ?
2) - , . . ( , .) , ipython --pylab, :
fig = figure()
valmin =-1.0
valmax =1.0
cm = get_cmap('RdBu')
Ncol = 501
cccol = cm(1.*arange(Ncol)/Ncol)
cax = fig.add_axes([0.15,0.15,0.05,0.4])
norm = mpl.colors.Normalize(vmin=valmin, vmax=valmax)
cb1 = mpl.colorbar.ColorbarBase(cax, cmap=cm, norm=norm, orientation='vertical')
draw()
savefig('/tmp/bla.png')
, PNG, , :

? - ?