Used Burns Usa Musical Instruments Product Values by UsedPrice.com Electric Guitar 2005 Description: Body: Basswood (Tilia, Linden, Lime) - Neck Attachment: Bolt - Neck Wood: Maple - Neck Construction: 3 Piece - Fingerboard: Rosewood - Frets: 21 - Scale Length: 24.75" (63cm) - Headstock: 3+3 - Cutaway: Double - Hardware: 1x Volume Control, 2x Tone Control - Pickups: Alnico Burns Rez-O-matik - Pickup Configuration: 3 - String Instrument Finish: Jet Black, Shadow White Burns Guitars Burns Guitars. Back in the 60s owning a Burns was really something, Fenders were expensive and difficult to get hold of and for a short time Burns were a force to be reckoned with. Eventually they were taken over by Baldwin organs and shortly afterwards vanished from the scene. (C.B.S had originally made a bid for Burns, Fender was their second choice.) An original Burns had their �Burns London� logo etched into the scratchplate whereas the current re-issues have it screen-printed on the top.

After the take over the logo was changed to �Burns by Baldwin�. The top of the range was the Marvin with it's custom trem unit which boasted 34 moving parts in their adverts, the trem had Hank Marvin`s signature etched into it's body. Really this model looked like a large bodied white strat but the neck headstock was of a scroll design similar to a violin. For a while The Shadows used nothing but Burns guitars and Vox amps. Bruce Welch's Marvin was specially made with a slightly narrower neck. The Shadows had two sets of Marvins; the second set being green sunburst, if you come across one of those it is a real collectable instrument. Shadows enthusiast will know that Bruce actually used an acoustic on most recordings and if you are looking for a terrific rhythm guitar player just listen to their recordings between 1960 � 1964. Moving down the range there was the Duo sonic (two pickups,) and the Tri sonic (three pickups). These were Stratish in design but without the scroll headstock. There were also various low-grade models at the very cheap end.

Machine heads on these models left a bit to be desired, plus the truss rod was adjusted through the rear of the guitar. (There was a little gearbox mounted inside the neck, which meant that the hexagonal adjustment key was at right angles to the base of the neck. There was a tool supplied with the instrument to fit over this key, loose that and the adjustment became a really tricky job.) There were also bass versions plus the famous �Bison� which resembled an SG but the two horns came right around like two bull horns, hence Bison. Burns also ventured into a copy of the Gibson flying V and a few acoustics and semi`s. I have only ever played one Burns electro-acoustic and although it played ok the body was made with such thick plywood that without being plugged in it was not much louder than a solid bodied guitar. Wild Dog and Split sound. If you wanted your own sound from a Tri sonic it was too bad, the guitar already decided for you what tones you required. The rotary switch gave you a choice of Treble, Jazz, Split Sound a forth position labelled �Wild dog.� Each pickup was actually two pickups with two separate coils and these were switched via a complex arrangement of the rotary control.

So with three double pickups there were six coils to switch, sadly the designers limited the outputs of these to just four options. So, �Wild dog� was actually an out of phase sound with very high treble, �Treble� was the bridge pickup, �Jazz� was the neck and centre pick ups and �Split sound� was a something quite original. The coil under the treble three strings on the bridge pickup was paired with the coil under the three bass strings in the neck pickup. Thus the sound was �split�, the treble strings were very treble and the bass strings very bassy. Actually Gretch once made a guitar with two bass strings and four normal and Chet Atkins made an album with it, just sounded like two separate guitars. These pickups were actually low impedance with a matching transformer built into the instrument. The coils were not wound onto the magnets as in a Fender Strat type design but were wound separately and then placed into the housing around the magnets. Because of this loose design the pickups could be quite microphonic but they do have a sound of their own, Brian May used Burns pickups in the famous guitar he built and plays.

Sadly, the quality of the Trisonic wiring left a bit to be desired nothing was screened and the whole wiring loom used to be laced up with a single black cable, which they didn't bother to earth. By any standards it could pick up quite a bit of hum and noise, earthing the lacing cable would virtually cure that. Rezotubes. If you have a standard Fender Strat the trem has several springs to hold it in position, as a side effect, these springs do give the guitar a resonance. Now Burns` trem didn't have these springs so they came up with a metal tube which each string passed through which was supposed to give that resonance to the body of the instrument. The word Rezomatic is stamped onto many Burns` pickups but it actually refers to these �Rezotubes.� The trem. The tremolo unit was quite amazing. The six bridge pieces sat on a plate which itself rested on a roller and could slide back and forth. The trem arm would move the roller, which would move the bridge pieces back and forth, there was a Bigsby type return spring which didn't always bring the bridge to the same place it started.

If you can afford one, Burns guitars are a lot of fun, sadly they now attract ridiculously high prices as �collectibles� rather than as a musical instrument. Burns Guitars Reviews & Articles Burns Guitars Reviews & Articles Burns Marquee Pro Video review courtesy of Guitar Interactive magazine The Marquee guitar was developed as a budget version of the successful Custom series Hank Marvin Guitar, keeping as many of the original features as possible. This guitar has won high praise in the European press and was awarded Guitar of the Year in 1999 and 2000. It is by far the best-selling guitar in the Club series. You can visit Guitar Interactive magazine's review of the Burns Marquee Pro by clicking here . Burns King Cobra Review from Guitar & Bass magazine The King Cobra, a guitar that pushes that model's specifications significantly further and you get a bound Indian rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, a hard-rock maple neck (with a scarf joint only as part of the headstock), locking tuners, and a proper alder body. You can also have a tasty Canadian maple flame top just like the one on our review guitar. You can visit Guitar & Bass magazine's review of the King Cobra by clicking here .

The British Invasion! Beijing Beatles to play iconic British brands in Shanghai If you're in Shanghai this week, pay a visit to the Farida/Burns booth (Hall E5, E12) and catch The Beijing Beatles playing Burns guitars as part of the ongoing British Retro Invasion. On stage 3.30pm Thu-Sat, 12:30pm Sunday. Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Center (2345 Long Yang Road). The Expo Center is 35 kilometers from Pudong International Airport in the east, 32 kilometers from Hongqiao Airport in the west. If you're coming by metro, please take line 2 or line 7. BURNS GUITARS  FEATURED ARTISTS Friendly Fires' Edd Gibson is featured in September issue of Foldback (Edd plays a white Burns Marquee.) Britain's most iconic guitar brand used by almost everyone in the 60s including The Shadows, Elvis Presley, George Harrison, and Jimmy Page plus more recently by Marc Bolan, Brian May, Mark Knopfler, Tom Petty, Oasis and Supergrass  to name but a few.

Burns Double Six Review from iGuitar magazine Said to be the most user-friendly electric 12-string on the market, the Burns Double Six is also a piece of guitar history. Elvis had one and so does this issue's interviewee, Wishbone Ash's Andy Powell! So how does Burns stack up in the world of electric twelves? Tom Quale finds out. You can visit iGuitar magazine's review of the Burns Double Six by clicking here . Note: Please click on the arrow in the top right for the full story. Burns Double Six Review from ProGuitarShop The Double Six from Burns is a 12-string with a distinct look and sound. A greenburst finish on both the artful basswood body and maple neck reflects Burns' legendary style. Tri-sonic pickups offer their wide frequency range and low noise which results in clean note definition and plenty of Burns sustain. Plus, the Burns Double Six has wider string spacing for easier chording and room to let the octave strings sing. You can visit ProGuitarShop's Burns Double Six - Greenburst review and video by clicking here .

Danni and Billy Fury's Burns Review from The Bum Note Club Danni Nicholls - Brighton-based singer-songwriter, music promoter and all-round good gal - has a cute little Burns, a short-scale jazz guitar made in Britain. Story goes that it once belonged to Brit rock'n'roller Billy Fury: "My uncle bought it off a guy in the late '60s who said he was a friend of Billy Fury's", she says, "and that he had bought it off him. There's no hard evidence but that's the way the story goes!" One of the budget models in the Burns range at the time (it's a model built 1962-64), it's not worth vast sums to a collector (unless it could be proved to have been Fury's), but the guitar tech reckoned that its "build quality and playability is quite amazing". You can visit Danni's website by clicking here . AGE-Pro Amtech review Review from issue 117 of Guitar Buyer Swedish company Amtech concentrates on computer and hi-tech activities, but dabbles in the music-making industry via a couple of echo units aimed mainly at guitarists.

The AGE-Pro's aural aims may be old-fashinoned, but its business-like appearance is far from antique. A sturdy fascia fronts and equally substantial steel casing and the unit occupies 2U of rack space or can be used in stand-alone mode. Burns Cobra Review in Guitar Buyer Magazine The latest cost-conscious Cobra boasts a new version of a classic Burns single-coil. Paul Dixon practises some scales and turns on the charm. The Cobra name dates back to 1998, appearing on the least expensive electric in the UK-origin Burns range. Fast-forward to 2004 and the Cobra makes a comeback, joining the cost-conscious Club series introduced five years earlier. Launched in 2010, the latest version maintains the same design, but now boasts Burns' latest pickup: a downsized version of the company's classic Tri-Sonic single-coil. Chinese magazine Review in Modern Player Magazine This is an article written for Burns' 50th Anniversary and designed for Modern Player Magazine in Chinese.

On The Record: Supergrass 'Richard III' Review in Guitar Buyer Magazine Legendary producer John Cornfield gives Matt Frost the lowdown on Supergrass' menacingly brilliant 1997 riff stomper, 'Richard III' Gaz Coombes has used a wide variety of guitars during his career, including a Burns Custom Legend, Fender Telecaster Deluxe and Telecaster Plus, and Gibson ES-335s, Les Pauls and SGs. Unfortunately, Cornfield can't remember exactly what guitar(s) Gaz Coombes played on 'Richard III'. Friendly Fires Review in Q magazine Indie dance trio Friendly Fires think thy've found the key to recording an album that's thrilling enough to top the slow-burning success of the Mercury-nominated 2008 debut: boredom. The Woodshed: Burns Guitars Review in Bass Guitar Magazine 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of Burns Guitars. Nick Wells of Bass Guitar Magazine meets Barry Gibson, the man responsible for reviving the company's fortunes Founded in 1960 by Jim Burns, a man often described as the 'British Leo Fender', Burns Guitars were a force to be reckoned with throughout the early 60s.

The company was later sold to the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company of Cincinnati in 1965, and the original Burns guitar line subsequently came to an end in 1970. Following several attempts to revive the brand over the years, it was Barry Gibson who successfully restarted the company in 1992. Missing Beatles Bass? Review in Bass Guitar Magazine The story goes that when Macca and co went into Abbey Road Studios to record the 'Paperback Writer' sessions on 13th April 1966, they were looking to experiment with a new bass sound. At the time, the group were said to have been listening to Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye and other Stax recordings, where the bass content was a lot stronger and often at the forefront of the mix. So when the Fab Four arrived at Abbey Road they had some new instruments, possibly borrowed or more likely hired from Burns London or Sound City as both were well known for gear hire.

Burns Nu-Sonic Review in Bass Guitar Magazine Nick Wells of takes a trip back to the future with this retro reissue from Burns Guitars Ever since Barry Gibson successfully relaunched the Burns brand in 1990, we've seen the reissue of various instruments from the original Burns catalogue. The Nu-Sonic is the latest arrival and coincides with the company's 50th anniversary. First launched in 1964 as a follow-up to the Burns Sonic, the Nu-Sonic bass was marketed as a budget, mid-range instrument that was very light, with a short 30-inch scale length. 50 Years Of Burns Guitars Review in GuitarBuyerMag In this special feature commemorating the 50th anniversary of Burns guitars, Paul Alcantara looks at the history of the original British electric guitar brand Few would dispute the importance of Jim Burns's contribution to the development of the electric guitar in the UK. The fact that he designed Britain's first solidbody guitars and basses would have been enough to guarantee him a place in the history books, but Jim's accomplishments went far beyond that.

The Return of Burns Review in GuitarBuyerMag Paul Alcantara meets Barry Gibson, Burns enthusiast and founder of the Burns London company, to find out how he went about reviving the brand Barry Gibson's love affair with Burns guitars began in the 1970s, a time when he still entertained ideas of 'making it' as a professional musician. "I was trained as a cabinet-maker but I was also in a band back then," he recalls. "I had an original Burns Marvin, a Bison and a Nu-sonic. They were the only guitars that I used in a 12-year professional career." Burns Dream Noiseless Review in GuitarBuyerMag The limited edition Dream Noiseless is one of the new six-strings that celebrates the Burns brand's 50th birthday. Paul Dixon goes for gold Burns can legitimately lay claim to being the best-known British guitar brand and this year sees the company celebrating half a century since the name was officially established. The occasion is being commemorated by various limited edition instruments, including the Dream. The Best of British Review in Guitar & Bass This year sees Burns celebrating five decades in the guitar-building business.

Roger Cooper relates the chequered history of this long-running British brand Arguably the best-known name among UK-made electrics, Burns has now been around for 50 years, having been officially established way back at the start of 1960. Click for the the full article on the convoluted history of the country's most enduring guitar marque. It makes for interesting reading. 12-String Electric Roundup: Burns Double Six Review in Guitarist: 2009 It's been over 50 years since the electric 12-string appeared; latest examples are pretty diverse. By Paul Day ...Burns and Fender favour Gotoh's clever and compact 12-saddle style, which has become the industry standard for providing individual intonation adjustment of all 12 strings. Click for the magazine's review of the Burns Double Six . The magazine's verdict in the review is that the Burns Double Six was the Guitarist Choice. APACHE!

Article in Guitar Buyer: 2008 This limited-edition burns celebrates 50 years of the Shadows, but it's not just for fans of Hank, as Paul Alcantara discovers Launched back in 1964, the Burns Marvin was designed to meet the needs of Hank Marvin, lead guitarist with British instrumental group the Shadows. Taking Hank's Fender Stratocaster as a point of departure, the new model incorporated various 'improvements' including Burns' new Rez-o-Tube vibrato unit and Rez-o-Matik pickups. Burns Marvin Shadows Custom Article in Guitarist magazine: 2005 Following on from last year's 40th Anniversary Marvin, the Shadows Custom version offers an alternative, updated approach in an even more limited edition package. By Paul Day Last year saw Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin renew his association with UK maker Burns via the 40th Anniversary Marvin, which commemorated the introduction of his original signature six-string back in 1964. Now comes a variation that incorporates some modernised features approved by both Hank and his fellow Shadow Bruce Welch.

Burns Shadows Bass Article in Dutch in deBassist magazine Het is begin februari, maar het voelt als kerst. Buiten sneeuwt het zachtjes en de koerier belt aan bij De Bassist-vintagekenner Chris Dekker met een enorm pak in zijn handen. Inhoud: de Burns Shadows Bass, een getrouwe replica van de bas van John Rostill, bassist van The Shadows. 60's-BurnsVista Sonic Bass eigenzinnige bas van de Britse Leo Article in Dutch in deBassist magazine In zusterblad Musicmaker is hij al vaker besproken: James Ormston Burns. Jim Burns was een legendarische Britse gitaarbouwer die in de jaren '60 zijn tijd ver vooruit was met zijn experimenten in gitaartechnologie en -elektronica. Mint condition Burns Cobra electric guitar with 15 watt amp and genuine Fender padded case. Lenzie, Glasgow Great condition Iconic Burns guitar with 15 watt amp, quality genuine Fender padded case and strap for sale.

This iconic guitar was called the Strat killer and I understand why as the guitar, with it's TriSonic pickups and the push pull knob gives a £240 Ad posted 2 days ago Save this ad BURNS BISON ULTRASOUND ELECTRIC GUITAR Bury, Manchester BURNS BISON ULTRASOUND ELECTRIC GUITAR IN TRANS.ORANGE. IN AS NEW CONDITION, HARDLY USED. HAS HAD FULL FRET LEVEL AND POLISH AND PROFFESIONAL SETUP BY LUTHIER. THREE ALNICO ULTRASONIC PICKUPS, 24.75 '' SCALE. TREMOLO BRIDGE. THIS GUITAR HAS £280 Ad posted 3 days ago Save this ad rock burn guitar Bolton, Manchester Rock burn strat copy in excellent condition,new lighter strings fitted. Squire (Fender) amp as shown,new strap and cable,suitable for novice or one starting out to play,cleaned fret board prior to new strings. Please tx/phone for contact. £50 Ad posted 3 days ago Save this ad Burns Marquee (Club Series) Guitar Shipley, West Yorkshire Classic model Burns Marquee club series guitar. Serial no.

2000700. Great condition white finish with tortoise shell decor and gold hardware. Rez-o-matic pickups and push/pull tone switch for extra tonal variations. No case. A great original guitar £250 Ad posted 3 days ago Save this ad USA PRS Custom 24, 10 TOP, Burn Almond ,Birds,Split Coil. Bournemouth, Dorset Hi , for sale is my PRS Custom 24 (TEN TOP), Burn Almond, Vintage Bass Neck pickup,HFS Bridge pickup.Regular neck by PRS. Hard case included. Can consider swaps.( Jackson USA King V or Kelly,Gibson LP Standard Ebony,Gibson V Ebony) Any question p £1,200 Ad posted 4 days ago Save this ad BURNS JOHN ROSTILL 1964 SHADOWS BASS LIMITED EDITION Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire Burns John Rostill 1964 Shadows Bass Limited edition No 249 of 500 Complete with original case , strap and all case candy. I purchased this bass new in 2009 and have used it probably A dozen times, for shadows tribute shows.

All in excellent pl £750 Ad posted 4 days ago Save this ad Burns Marquee club series guitar, in excellent condition. Awesome for every genre of music . £150 Ad posted 5 days ago Save this ad Burns Cobra Electric Guitar Rise Park, Nottinghamshire Absolutely pristine Burns Cobra Club Series which I'm ashamed to say has barely been played since I bought it. The 3 tri-sonic pickups are amazingly versatile and also has push/pull pickup control for even more variety. Comes with the official Burns £250 Ad posted 5 days ago Save this ad Burns (Bison) Ultrasound Guitar Gilford, County Armagh Selling a Burns Guitar.This was bought as a gift and has never really been played.In perfect condition.

3 x Alnico Ultrasound pickups One master volume Two tone controls Two pickup selector switches Push/pull pickup selector The three Ult £225 Ad posted 6 days ago Save this ad Burns of london brian may guitar Widnes, Cheshire This his my Brian may guitar in mint condition I believe there was only 1000 of this type made no 091 on this guitar so rear I have just purchased a original strap at £50 which his included thanks for looking no offers or time wasters please this gu £450 Ad posted 6 days ago Save this ad Burns guitar, excellent condition. Like brand new. Been retuned recently. Great instrument and plays lovely £200 Ad posted 8 days ago Save this ad Burns Bison Electric Guitar not Fender Gibson Cotham, Bristol Burns Bison in good nick. Nearly 6 years old now the Bison has been loved but is in used condition. Willing to travel to meet buyer. Priced for a quick sale - let me know if you have anymore questions.

This Burns Bison '62 reissue is a cult class £200 Ad posted 8 days ago Save this ad Burns marquee london Newtongrange, Midlothian Hi im selling this lovely burns marquee london. comes in this tweed case with a compartment to store the whammy bar ect. Case still retails at 90 Asking 300 for it all thanks £300 Ad posted 10 days ago Save this ad 2001 Burns Zodiac Prototype made by Patrick James Eggle 1/3 Boston, Lincolnshire Some times a collector finds something just so spectial that no matter what they just have to own it I was fortunate enough to drop on this, and while the person knew it was a rare guitar He did not do the research that I have done on it I know its £1,500 Ad posted 11 days ago Save this ad Baldwin / Burns Double Six 1967 Southampton, Hampshire Baldwin / Burns Double Six from early 1967. In good working condition with level frets. Cosmetically there are few dings as well as the usual lacquer checking (see pics).

Other things of note: small crack in the scratchplate near one of the neck pick £1,000 Ad posted 15 days ago Save this ad Awesome BURNS COBRA Guitar "Club Series" in Red! Angel, London Hello, Im selling this lovely guitar - hardly used, in excellent condition. I don’t really use it enough and I have too many other instruments, so need to make some room! Its a really really versatile great sounding guitar - for the price its quit £150 Ad posted 19 days ago Save this ad Burns of London, 'Club Series' Marquee Electric Guitar, Shadows White Finsbury Park, London Excellent Burns electric guitar in full working order. Great action and great sound. You get a lot for your money with these guitars. The scratch plates have been changed, as you can see.

The two holes for the old screws, at the top of the guitar, £180 Ad posted 21 days ago Save this ad Burns Bison 64 guitar near mint condition Kings Cross, London I have for sale a Burns Bison 64 re-issue in nato black Completely original 3 Burns Alnico Rez o magic single coils Plays fantastically Full set up including new strings I may swap for other guitar equipment?????

I am particularly l £495 Ad posted 22 days ago Save this ad Burns Guitar Marquee Lower Kingswood, Surrey Burns Guitar Marquee ,no case having clear out, collection only, 1 and half miles jct 8 m25 £180 Ad posted 29 days ago Save this ad Burns London BL-1300-BLK Club Series Bison 62 6-String Electric Guitar w/ Case Burns London BL-1300-BLK Club Series Bison 62 6-String Electric Guitar w/ Case Burns London BL-1300-BLK Club Series Bison 62 6-String Electric Guitar w/ Case Alternative Views: 1 of Basic Instrument Setup ($39.99 value!) Description You wonï¿½t believe all the pro features in the new line of Burns Club Series Electric Guitars! The same slim, fast-action neck from the top-line Burns models graces every Club Series guitar and the Classic Sounds of the legendary Burns Tri-Sonic single-coil pickups takes you right back to the Swinging ï¿½60s!

The Burns knife-edge tremolo system and two-way truss rod are just a few of the many top pro features you get in the Club Seriesï¿½ features that are exclusive to Burns and found nowhere else at any price! A five-position selector switch and a push-pull knob give the artist unlimited tonal effects and possibilities. With all these features, the choice is easy-grab yourself a Burns! A re-issue of the 1962 Bison guitar, celebrating the 40th anniversay of the classic Burns body shape with its inward curved body horns and advanced pickup selection system. With its distintive batwing headstock, this guitar was Jim Burns' greatest creation and this re-issue retains its strong look,sound and character.

Already the recipient of great praise from the music media, it has a punchy vintage tone but delivers great modern sounds with its unique Wild Dog and Split Sound settings Burns of London BL-1300-BLK Club Series Bison 62 Electric Features: Indonesian nato body with distinctive double-cutaway body design Bolt-on hard rock maple neck with a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard 24 3/4 inch scale length Burns Bi-Flex 2-way type truss rod 3 Burns Tri-Sonic pickups Burns deluxe tremolo unit Vintage-style pickup switching layout including an A/B pickup selector, Wild Dog, Treble, Bass and Split Sound setting options 1 master volume and 1 tone control Burns deluxe sealed gear machine heads Chrome-plated hardware Original sixties style black Traff-o-lite laminated pick-guard Classic polyester finish VINTAGE TRI-SONIC Pickup For many years Guitar players have expressed the need to obtain the Classic Tri-Sonic sound from their traditional style double-cut guitars, without the necessity of having to carve larger cavities in the instrument bodies or alter the pick guards/scratch plates to accommodate the larger original units.

By carefully engineering and condensing the original internals and easing them inside a narrower Tri-sonic casing, guitarists can now enjoy the thick, ringing mids and smooth sustain of the classic 60s Tri-sonic, whilst still having access to traditional single coil sounds and warm humbucking tones - all in one instrument! JAMES ORMSTON BURNS (1925 - 1998) has often been described as the 'British Leo Fender' a well-deserved and apt title because there are many parallels to be drawn between the two men. Jim Burns too was very much a pioneer, and his policy of continual development and refinement reflected a constant quest to realise his vision of the ideal electric guitar. Distinctive design ideas were more than matched by accompanying hardware and circuitry and although some such aspects bordered on gimmickry, others offered genuine innovation, and have become accepted concepts, later to be claimed as firsts by other, more illustrious conveniently forgetful makers. Such Burns-originated features include: the heel-less, glued-in neck; 24-fret fingerboard, knife-edge bearing vibrato unit; active electronics and stacked-coil pickups.

Despite these achievements and the high profile enjoyed during the early '60s, Burns fortunes declined after the takeover by Baldwin in 1965, and it was another twenty years before Burns oldies were accorded proper recognition and credibility, some models from that era having assumed the status of highly-prized collectors items, with values accordingly rising to similarly elevated levels. Demand for prime examples of the most sought-after oldies invariably exceeds supply, guaranteeing ever-increasing rarity and prices. There have been two major attempts to revive the Burns name, one per decade in fact, but despite good intentions and ideas, neither enjoyed any lasting success. Into the 90's, and this latest venture should be regarded as a case of third time lucky except that luck has nothing to do with it! The favourable response already received by BURNS LONDON is due to superlative product quality and equivalent performance potential. Any good fortune involved is there to be enjoyed by the player, as at last there are new Burns instruments available that successfully continue the fine legacy of those early classics. The BURNS LONDON company is run by Barry Gibson (no relation!) but is very much a team effort.

We at Burns London have always been big fans of Burns guitars, and we know a thing or two about quality guitar construction as well. We hope you like what you see on these pages, and we're always pleased to hear from you, so if you have any questions or comments, or you'd like to order a guitar or enquire about our prices, then please don't hesitate to get in touch with us, and we'll be glad to help. You may also be interested to know that we purchase all our British beech and sycamore from sawmills that support the Timber Trust Federation (TTF) Forests Forever campaign. Related Products... Burns Guitars Reviews & Articles Burns Guitars Reviews & Articles 50 Years Of Burns Guitars In this special feature commemorating the 50th anniversary of Burns guitars, Paul Alcantara looks at the history of the original British electric guitar brand Few would dispute the importance of Jim Burns's contribution to the development of the electric guitar in the UK. The fact that he designed Britain's first solidbody guitars and basses would have been enough to guarantee him a place in the history books, but Jim's accomplishments went far beyond that.

Through the guitar's boom years in the early 1960s, Burns instruments were the choice of many rising stars of the 'beat group' scene, including the Honeycombs, the Searchers and the Troggs. With the launch of the Burns Marvin in 1964, Britain finally had a solidbody electric that was fully equivalent in terms of sound and performance to its American counterpart, the Fender Stratocaster. Here we take a look at the story of the Burns company, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, taking in a rather special example of the Marvin model along the way. Supersound In 1958, Jim Burns joined forces with Alan Wootton of the Supersound amplification company to develop and manufacture a line of solidbody guitars and basses. A makeshift workshop was set up in the basement of Jim's rented accommodation at 131 Queens Road in Buckhurst Hill, Essex and Jimmy and Peter Farrell, the sons of Jim's landlady Louise Farrell, were recruited as 'helpers'.

Though they were primitive when compared to the instruments that Jim would build a few years later, the Supersound guitars and basses were nevertheless significant in being the first of their type to be manufactured on a commercial basis in the UK. Supersound's sole advertisement pictured the 'Ike Isaacs Short Scale' model, a single-cutaway Les Paul-like solidbody. Jim Burns later stated that he made around 20 of these, but all of those that have since surfaced actually bear the later 'Burns Weill' badge suggesting that few, if any, Supersound examples actually made it onto the market or survived. Burns-Weill The collaboration with Alan Wootton lasted less than a year, but Jim's appetite for guitar making had been whetted. He promptly entered into a similar arrangement with amplifier manufacturer Henry Weill. Once again Jim took care of the woodwork while Henry supplied the pickups and electronics. Marketed under the 'Burns-Weill' banner, the resulting instruments were the first to bear Jim's name. The range, which included both budget and professional quality models, comprised three solidbody guitars together with matching basses.

Styled after the Japanese-built Guyatone/Antoria guitars (as used by guitarist Hank Marvin in his days with the Drifters), the Fenton guitar was priced at £35 while the futuristic RP2G Streamline Guitar retailed at a hefty £56. Jim's partnership with Henry Weill ended acrimoniously when Jim decided to set up his own company, Ormston Burns Ltd, in late 1959. Henry continued to manufacture revised versions of the Burns-Weill models, now under the Fenton Weill brand name, but his efforts were ultimately eclipsed by the success enjoyed by Jim Burns in the following decade. The Burns Company The first guitar to carry the 'Burns' brand name, the Short Scale De-Luxe Artistes (sic) model, was unveiled in late 1959 and Ormston-Burns Ltd  a partnership that included Jim Burns, Louise Farrell and her sons Jimmy and Peter  was officially established the following year. The early Burns line included the Artist, soon superseded by the Vibra Artist, and the small-bodied Sonic model, plus bass versions of both.

Unlike the offerings from Watkins, Vox, Dallas, Rosetti and other UK-based companies, Burns products were never built to a price. The company's cheapest six-string, the Artist, retailed at £51 (equivalent to around £900 in today's money) while the top of the line Vibra Artist model sold for the princely sum of £78, a serious investment at a time when the average adult wage was around £7 per week! The introduction of the Black Bison in December 1961 reflects the confidence that Jim Burns must have felt in his new venture. With its all-black finish, forward sloping horns and gold-plated hardware, the new guitar made a bold visual statement. Innovative features included four Ultra-Sonic pickups (developed with the help of the Goldring hi-fi company), novel 'Split Sound' circuitry, a newly designed 'boomerang' tremolo unit and a 'gear box' truss rod system that was concealed within the neck heel. The model's £157 price tag singled it out as the most expensive British-built solidbody guitar of its era.

In practice, the Black Bison proved completely uneconomical to manufacture and as a result, just 50 examples of the original four-pickup version were made before the model was redesigned with three pickups, a bolt-on neck and a simplified vibrato unit. The Marvin Model Over the next few years the Burns Company added several new models to its line including the Split Sonic, the Jazz Split Sound guitar and the semi-solid TR2. With the introduction of the Marvin in December 1964, however, Burns came of age. That Hank Marvin  the lead guitarist with the UK's top instrumental group, The Shadows  should have laid aside his famous red Fender in favour of a British-built Burns guitar represented a remarkable coup for Jim and one that he could hardly have envisaged just a few years earlier. The Shadows, who were experiencing tuning problems with their Fenders, had approached Jim with the request that he build them a Stratocaster-style instrument that would play and stay in tune. According to Hank, around 30 prototypes of the new model were assembled before the guitar finally met with his approval.

"The 24 months of waiting was a nuisance but it all seemed worthwhile when we first began to use them," Marvin told the readers of his Beat Monthly column. Taking Hank's Fender Stratocaster as a point of departure, Jim had incorporated various 'improvements' including the newly designed Rezo-Tube vibrato unit and Rez-o-Matik pickups. With a £173 price tag (around £20 more than a sunburst Fender Stratocaster), the Marvin replaced the Bison as Burns's flagship model. Baldwin & Beyond In the 1960s, guitar-based pop music was seen as a passing fad and the Farrells were keen to sell before the bubble burst. With this pressure behind him, Jim accepted an offer from the American Baldwin Piano and Organ Company (which had earlier failed in an attempt to buy Fender) and the entire Burns operation was sold to Baldwin for £250,000 on September 30th 1965. Jim Burns remained with the company as a consultant but left after about a year. Initially little changed, but in mid 1966 Baldwin decided to rationalise the range, dropping several models in the process.

Those that remained were subjected to a design overhaul that was intended to facilitate production. A visible consequence of this 'restyling' was the 'flattened scroll' headstock now seen on the Bison, the Marvin and most other Baldwin models (only the Double Six 12-string and G.B.66 De Luxe hollowbody escaped intact with their original flat headstocks). By the close of the decade, interest in the Burns/Baldwin instruments had diminished to the extent that Baldwin decided to pull the plug, focusing instead on the Gretsch guitar and drum lines that it had acquired in 1967. After Baldwin Having left Baldwin, Jim Burns continued to develop his ideas, initially under the Ormston banner, since Baldwin now owned the 'Burns' brand name. In 1969 he joined the Dallas Arbiter organisation, where he collaborated with ex-Vox employee Bob Pearson on a line of guitars and basses that were sold under the Hayman brand name. In 1973, Jim was employed as designer and production controller for a Newcastle-based musical instrument retailer that operated under the Burns UK banner.

Despite its name, the operation was not owned or run by Jim, who had effectively relinquished the right to his own name once again. Burns UK models included the radically shaped Flyte guitar, the angular Hank seems suitably pleased: it's said that the scroll headstock was his idea Mirage and the LJ24. The 1980s saw Jim Burns resume guitar manufacture under his own name, this time as part of the PA:CE electronics group. Production began in 1980 with a series of all-new designs that included the eye-catching Scorpion, a model that found favour with Blondie guitarist Chris Stein. Interest in the classic Burns designs continued, however, and in 1981 the company responded by reissuing the Marvin and Bison guitars. Unfortunately, creating authentic reproductions was deemed uneconomic and as a result many characteristic details were sacrificed, including the Marvin's Rezo-Tube vibrato, which was replaced by a generic Strat-style unit. Poor management and inconsistent build quality resulted in disappointing sales and the company was gone by the mid 1980s. Burns London In the 1990s, Burns guitars began a much more successful rebirth.

Founded in 1992 by Barry Gibson, with Jim Burns on board as a consultant, the Burns London Company set out to produce new Burns guitars in the spirit of the original models, beginning with the Legend, an accurate reissue of the Marvin. Initially building guitars by hand in the UK, Burns London began producing guitars in the Far East in 1999 and today offers a full catalogue of electric guitars and basses, from the affordable Club Series to the upmarket Custom Elite range, together with limited edition instruments, such as the Dream guitar reviewed this month on page 26. Our Guitar Designed to replace the early 1960s Fender Stratocasters that Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch were playing at the time, the Burns Marvin incorporated a number of Fender-like features that included a 21-fret rosewood fingerboard, 25.5-inch scale length and three single-coil pickups. The model's circuitry was virtually identical to that of a Strat, with a single volume control, two tone controls and a three-way pickup selector switch.

(The earliest examples were fitted with a rotary switch mounted on its side in place of a regular three-way switch, presumably because a suitable switch wasn't available in the UK.) However, other details such as the three-a-side scroll headstock (a feature suggested by Hank himself ), three-section split pickguard and zero fret lent the Marvin a distinct visual identity of its own. The Marvin's 'Rezo-Tube' vibrato employed a knife-edge pivot and individual string anchor tubes, hence the name. To get around Fender's patents, the tension springs were mounted backwards beneath an extended baseplate, also adding to the model's unique look. Tension could be adjusted via a pair of bolts at the end of the baseplate. Early examples had a mahogany body and a natural-finished 'steamed beech' neck (the steaming process increased the timber's stability by reducing its resin content). Burns later substituted an obeche body (perhaps Hank and Bruce found the earlier mahogany bodies too heavy) and began using sycamore, a species of European maple, for the neck. Most Marvins were finished in white polyester and fitted with a brown or grey tortoiseshell plastic, three-piece split scratchplate.

Custom colours were also offered, which came with black plastic scratchplates, though these sometimes appeared on white finished examples as well. Initially Burns glued the two small sections of the scratchplate in place but soon switched to attaching them with screws  both the slot-head and Phillips variety can be found, sometimes appearing on the same instrument! Details such as the size of the scratchplate engraving, the position of selector switch, the vibrato hand-rest and the top strap button also varied. Back in the 1960s the detailing of Burns guitars was largely carried out by hand and as a result, the neck profile and the size and shape of the headstock scroll varied from one guitar to another. Mighty Marvin The Marvin pictured here belongs to the Managing Director of Burns London, Barry Gibson. According to Barry it is a pre-production model and details such as the switch angle and the full-width 'Rez-o-Matik' pickup engraving certainly point to an early date of manufacture. The guitar's body has been refinished and the two small scratchplates, which would originally have been glued in place, are now secured with Phillips screws. "The guitar was originally fitted with an unusually long vibrato arm," Barry comments.

"It was half as long again as the standard Marvin arm and I ended up playing over the neck pickup all the time!" A reissue arm has since been fitted and the original stored safely in the case. Around 300 original Burns Marvins were produced before the company was sold in 1965. Baldwin continued to produce the model for a further five years but most collectors prefer the original Burns-branded guitars. All told, this is a very nice example of what is undoubtedly Burns's most sought after model.

Question: What type of musical instrument is a Burns Bison?
Answer: Guitar