Anyone know anything about new Burns London guitars?

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Sat May 02, 2009 8:55 pm

Quite fancy this one, but haven't have time to try it out yet. Slightly confused though as their site is really crap and unenlightening. There's a Korean series that are generally held to be okay and cost Â£300ish, and a couple of Chinese models which are less. However this new Sonic (not the nu-sonic, that's something different ... Burns need to name even more of their guitars after wild animals or something) costs Â£899 rrp - I think it was Â£649 in the shop though. So where is this guitar made, and who by? Anything special about the pickups in this series?

The German carve on the tele shape looks gorgeous in real life.

Burns Sonic:
http://www.burnsguitars.com/sonicburnsguitars.php

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:03 pm

Yeah i want a Nu-Sonic (looks like the old 70s 'Magpie' model a little) or the Telecaster rip off. I cant find them anywhere except for direct from the Burns website and the RRP is a hefty blow on your wallet.
Let me know if you find them anywhere Tim.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:08 pm

Quite like this:

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:14 pm

Fran wrote:Yeah i want a Nu-Sonic (looks like the old 70s 'Magpie' model a little) or the Telecaster rip off. I cant find them anywhere except for direct from the Burns website and the RRP is a hefty blow on your wallet.
Let me know if you find them anywhere Tim.

In my research since I've got back from Denmark St, I've discovered that the nu-sonic is the cheapest guitar in the Burns budget 'club' range. They're made in China and cost like Â£200 on the street. The Burns range is completely confusing!

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:15 pm

thumbs down.

EDIT: I've always wanted a green burns steer

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:41 pm

timhulio wrote:
Fran wrote:Yeah i want a Nu-Sonic (looks like the old 70s 'Magpie' model a little) or the Telecaster rip off. I cant find them anywhere except for direct from the Burns website and the RRP is a hefty blow on your wallet.
Let me know if you find them anywhere Tim.
In my research since I've got back from Denmark St, I've discovered that the nu-sonic is the cheapest guitar in the Burns budget 'club' range. They're made in China and cost like Â£200 on the street. The Burns range is completely confusing!

Ah, just refreshed my memory. The Nu-Sonic is a Tele rip off, its the Jet-Sonic i really like. What the other guys posted up.
They seem to retail at about Â£800 though, thats serious money in the guitar market and i dont know if they are up to it.
I would expect tri-sonic pups and the whole shebang for that ammount of cash.

I've seen none of these models hit ebay.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:42 pm

Yeah a particularly odd endorsement, considering he's very well known for playing Les Pauls, and from a band who are now singularly unfashionable (and it should have been obvious that The Darkness would wear out their welcome in the blink of an eye).

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:51 pm

They're a bit odd, those Burnses, in that they're advertised on their (out of date) site, but I've yet to see one anywhere. I had a Marquee, which I loved to bits, and I'd like a Bison and a Barracuda too, but they seem so all over the shop as a company...

Some fella on the Matamp forum was selling off all of that Darkness cocksocket's gear a little while back, including loads of bespoke Gibsons for far less than a standard costs.

C-c-c-c-c-cocaine...

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:51 pm

I've only ever played a Burns Marquee and it was bloody great.
EKWatts has a Batwing right?

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:56 pm

I had a quick strum on Erics Batwing, it was nice, felt solid and had some nice features like neck binding.

To be honest i keep looking at the old Hayman Modular series stuff when it hits ebay, it still sells quite cheap and its british made. Which is appealing, the 'Burns of London' imported from China puts me right off the brand. Still, i want a Jet-Sonic.

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Sat May 02, 2009 11:39 pm

I have been looking at (online) the Burns Marquee bass's. 32" scale, so shorter than standard but not as short as a bronco bass. they look nice though:

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:18 am

How much?

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:26 am

I have seen them online new for about Â£360. I will probably look at 2nd hand though, as its only gonna be used for recording and a bit of playing here and there. There is one on eBay at the moment which I will keep an eye on, but I would prefer to try one out first so I doubt I will be bidding on anything too soon.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Sun May 03, 2009 3:18 pm

I emailed Burns.

Me wrote:I'm slightly confused by the three different series of guitars with the Burns name on these days, and your website doesn't make the differences too clear.
Where is the Sonic made - is it made in the UK and who by? I kinda assumed from the price that these aren't made in Korea. Anything special about the pickups in this series, or does this guitar share hardware/pickups with the Korean or Chinese Burns models?
Hope you don't think I'm being nosy, just like to do a bit of research before buying expensive guitars

Barry Gibson, head of Burns! wrote:Hi Tim

Sonic part made in China assembled in Uk using a variety of parts from Korea and USA. Don't be fooled by the China made stigma, if you choose the right factory they will exceed USA and Uk quality ( by far ). We have proved it and recently other manufacturers have had the same result,
This guitar is far too cheap and will probably be about Â£ 1200 to Â£ 1400 next batch due to the bad dollar exchanges.

There was also a cheaper Nu-Sonic from Korea, not available now until end of this year.

I hope that's helpful to you.

best regards

It sounds like the same dealio as current Reverend production. Final finishing and setup done in the UK. I do wonder which parts come from where, and think the brand would benefit from a little more transparency. It seems that this particular Burns series is some of the most expensive Made In China guitars available. Gonna pop back and try this one for a good while next week.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:05 am

timhulio wrote:I emailed Burns.

Me wrote:I'm slightly confused by the three different series of guitars with the Burns name on these days, and your website doesn't make the differences too clear.
Where is the Sonic made - is it made in the UK and who by? I kinda assumed from the price that these aren't made in Korea. Anything special about the pickups in this series, or does this guitar share hardware/pickups with the Korean or Chinese Burns models?
Hope you don't think I'm being nosy, just like to do a bit of research before buying expensive guitars

Barry Gibson, head of Burns! wrote:Hi Tim

Sonic part made in China assembled in Uk using a variety of parts from Korea and USA. Don't be fooled by the China made stigma, if you choose the right factory they will exceed USA and Uk quality ( by far ). We have proved it and recently other manufacturers have had the same result,
This guitar is far too cheap and will probably be about Â£ 1200 to Â£ 1400 next batch due to the bad dollar exchanges.

There was also a cheaper Nu-Sonic from Korea, not available now until end of this year.

I hope that's helpful to you.

best regards
It sounds like the same dealio as current Reverend production. Final finishing and setup done in the UK. I do wonder which parts come from where, and think the brand would benefit from a little more transparency. It seems that this particular Burns series is some of the most expensive Made In China guitars available. Gonna pop back and try this one for a good while next week.

Ah, beat me to it. They tried out the manufactured in China and assembled in the UK a while back on one of the more affordable Marvins, and it seemed to take off. There are sort of three ranges now, with top end custom jobs, the mid-level stuff like the Nu Sonic and Jet Sonic and then the Club series, which are made in Korea (which my Batwing is).

They're all brilliant, basically.

So buybuybuy.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:14 am

I wish they would RI that old trem. I don't know if it was any good or not, just that there used to be one on my Gretsch. I don't know why they have some kind of ROLL BAR on their now, so your hand doesn't get sucked in. Now that's vibration!

vivadeluxxe · Post by **vivadeluxxe** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:36 am

DanHeron wrote:I have been looking at (online) the Burns Marquee bass's. 32" scale, so shorter than standard but not as short as a bronco bass. they look nice though:

I have the sunburst one...
They were going for less than Â£300 new this time last year, but the prices may have been hiked up now....
I find it really nice to play, there's not a massive difference from playing a full scale bass, but enough to make it more comfortable if you're a guitarist...

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:02 pm

timhulio wrote:and think the brand would benefit from a little more transparency.

I totally agree. The amount of times i've had the hankering for a Burns guitar but totally given up with frustration after browsing the various models. Atleast with the Hayman and Shergold stuff you know its a limited UK build which generally means it will be quality.

James · Post by **James** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:38 pm

DuoSonicBoy wrote:Quite like this:

I saw some of these at a NAMM style show three years ago. They look good in person. Here's a pic I took when I was there, it has straighter looking pickups but that could be the angle of the photo.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:55 pm