Burns Guitars Reviews & Articles
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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.

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.

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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.

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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'.

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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.

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Nu Sonic Bass 1964

Review in Music Box magazine (in Russian)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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