Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
When we talk about Burns Guitars here on Guitarz, I confess we are often being lazy and lumping the various differnt Burns companies together into one gestalt entity. In fact there were a succession of companies within which Jim Burns was associated, beginning with Burns London in 1960 which was bought out by Baldwin in 1965. Baldwin-branded Burns guitars appeared until 1970. Jim Burns was involved with Hayman from 1969-1973, that company being the forerunner of Shergold. From 1973 to 1977, Burns UK Ltd produced guitars including the above pictured Flyte model. Then in 1979, "Burns" guitars were produced by Jim Burns Actualizers Ltd producing such models as the Steer and the Scorpion, and this company lasted until 1983.
The present-day Burns London Ltd company was started in 1992 by Barry Gibson, with Jim Burns on board as a consultant. This company re-issued many of the older designs from previous incarnations, as well as producing completely new instruments. In 1999 they began outsourcing production of instruments to Korea, so sadly these days not all Burns guitars are UK made (although it's the same story everywhere of guitar companies having to resort to Far Eastern production in order to compete in the marketplace).
All that may sound complicated, but I was in fact simplifying the story. For a fuller picture please see the Burns Guitar Museum website which has pages dedicated to the "different Burns companies and their guitars and basses".
From the "Burns UK" period (1973-1977), the Burns Flyte in gold finish pictured above has just been listed on eBay UK with a very low starting price. I was going to comment that I'd never seen a Flyte with this finish before until reading in the listing that the seller had played this guitar in the band Age Of Chance. Then I realised I had seen it before when that band appeared on BBC2's Whistle Test in 1987 performing their version of Prince's "Kiss". What's more, Flyte fans, the bassist is also playing a Flyte.
Or if you prefer, here in much better quality is the promo video of the same song. You get to see the guitars much more clearly, although obviously here the band are miming.
Apparently this gold Flyte was also loaned to Lee Ronaldo of Sonic Youth back when it wasn't for sale. Anyway, I shall be watching this auction with interest, and wishing I was able to bid myself.
G L Wilson
© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
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Guitar
Burns Flyte in Gold - ex Age Of Chance and Sonic Youth
guitarz.blogspot.com:
The present-day Burns London Ltd company was started in 1992 by Barry Gibson, with Jim Burns on board as a consultant. This company re-issued many of the older designs from previous incarnations, as well as producing completely new instruments. In 1999 they began outsourcing production of instruments to Korea, so sadly these days not all Burns guitars are UK made (although it's the same story everywhere of guitar companies having to resort to Far Eastern production in order to compete in the marketplace).
All that may sound complicated, but I was in fact simplifying the story. For a fuller picture please see the Burns Guitar Museum website which has pages dedicated to the "different Burns companies and their guitars and basses".
From the "Burns UK" period (1973-1977), the Burns Flyte in gold finish pictured above has just been listed on eBay UK with a very low starting price. I was going to comment that I'd never seen a Flyte with this finish before until reading in the listing that the seller had played this guitar in the band Age Of Chance. Then I realised I had seen it before when that band appeared on BBC2's Whistle Test in 1987 performing their version of Prince's "Kiss". What's more, Flyte fans, the bassist is also playing a Flyte.
Or if you prefer, here in much better quality is the promo video of the same song. You get to see the guitars much more clearly, although obviously here the band are miming.
G L Wilson
© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
- Burns Uk Flyte 1999 Prototype - A Reissue That, Sadly, Never Came To Be
guitarz.blogspot.com: Regular readers will know already that the Burns Flyte is one of my favourite guitar designs. Here's a UK-made prototype for a reissue from 1999, and doesn't it look fantastic? I wonder if the the neck is just a generic Burns...
- Burns Bandit From The 1980s With Odd-shaped Body & Pushbutton Switches
guitarz.blogspot.com: The Burns Bandit is a model that I was previously unaware of. According to Burns Guitar Museum website the Bandit is from the 1980s and the general design and pushbutton selector switches would seem to support this. As such it would...
- Ampeg (by Burns Of London) Jazz Splitsound
guitarz.blogspot.com: Here's another familiar-looking guitar with an unfamiliar logo on it. This 1963 Ampeg guitar is a re-branded Burns of London Jazz Splitsound (although to be perfectly fair, the logo does say "Ampeg by Burns of London"). Ampeg,...
- 11 On 11/11/11: #3 - Baldwin Southpaw Semi-hollowbody Bass
OK, it's the 11th November 2011, that is 11/11/11, and as such today has been designated Nigel Tufnel Day. To celebrate this day of Maximum Elevenness, we here at Guitarz - for this day only - will be posting an unprecedented ELEVEN blog posts! So,...
- Burns/baldwin Virginian From The Late 1960s
guitarz.blogspot.com: We previously looked at a prototype Virginian from Jim Burns' involvement with Hayman guitars at the beginning of the 1970s, but the design predates that era and was previously issued in the late 1960s when Burns London Ltd had...