Burns Artist - going back

[burnsbonkers]

Hi Ray.
Glad to know that you're taking the Artiste back to its original configuration. I'll keep a keen eye on its progress.
cant wait to see it completed.
Bills castings are great, and with a bit of time they can be made to fit the posts. They look pretty much spot on when installed.
Also agree on using the original plate as an accurate template.
All very exiting!.
P.

[mgeek]

'Problematic polyester', eh? That sounds like the finish that I had.

Will,
Yes, I've made several plates in the past - perspex, trafolite, even aluminium. They all took ages to do and of course I didn't have all the tools that would be used by someone doing it full-time. In the same way I used to change the engine oil in my car because it saved a few bob. Now that I can afford some modest pleasures even in these thin and piping times, it's worth having the plate made, in the same way that it's worth having the garage change the engine oil.
Ray

I'll remember this conversation next time I'm into my 8th hour of sweating over a piece of 3mm acrylic with my whittling spoon!

RE: The finish, honestly not trying to have an argument, but the original finish on your guitar was nitrocellulose. All early Burns, Burns-Weill, Fenton Weill, not to mention Gibsons, Fenders, the lot were finished with the stuff, and your description of the fine cracks is textbook 'what happens to nitrocellulose paint as it cures'. Polyester will craze, but in a totally different way, even theoretical 'problematic polyester', and generally after a lot longer. Sure, polyester was mentioned in the advert, but so were 22 frets and an unfathomable switching system that no one has ever even seen.

[dusty fretz]

The 22 frets mentioned in that advert refer to the accompanying instrument pictured, which very visibly does employ this number, not the 24 Jim Burns soon settled on. The poor paper reproduction makes it difficult to discern the actual controls on this obvious prototype, but at least the layout CAN be seen sufficiently to determine it definitely differs from that employed on the rapidly revised Artiste. The rest of the advert text describes the features incorporated quite comprehensively and accurately, so I therefore think it's possible Jim decided to give polyester a go on his new creation, but obviously no one knows just how many examples might have employed this finish before he reverted to cellulose. The latter ages very differently to polyester, crazing rather than cracking, while it's also a much thinner covering coat, making it hard to confuse this with the more synthetic, plastic layer look of polyester.

[RayL]

On Monday I'll contact Bow Finishing, who have the Artist body for spraying. When they strip off the black paint layer, it is possible that some red is left in the routed areas under the plate. That may give a clue as to whether it was nitrocellulose or polyester.

As I mentioned earlier, the original cherry red finish had cracks rather like crazy paving. It was not the 'crazed' look that you get with the glaze on old crockery. I can't imagine that Jim Burns would have regarded cracks as a selling point. None of the later Artists that I have seen have this problem in the way that my guitar had it, so it certainly points to a finish that didn't work.

By the way, in the great Artist / Artiste controversy, I have been guided from the first by the Bell Music catalogue. Still a schoolboy, a long cycle ride from Croydon to Surbiton in 1961 on a bike with one-speed gearing got me the catalogue and page twenty-four shone out like a beacon.

Burns Artist Bell catalogue pic.jpg (17.76 KiB) Viewed 13556 times

Ray

[Billyboygretsch]

Paul Day once sent me a note which was written by JB I believe Paul said it was a note to Ike Isaacs. It states the modifications were from the Artiste with the addition of a Tremolo Arm. Of course the very first ad from Burns describes it as the Artistes model. I remember back at the beginning some people referred to it as a Tri Sonic model ?
Perhaps Paul Day can confirm the details of the note.

[cockroach]

Ah , the old Bell catalogue! I remember writing off for that using a coupon from a magazine advert!

Whilst approximately half the retail price of a Fender Strat at that time (about 160gns IIRC?) the Burns Artist(e) was still an expensive guitar back then..85 quid all up with a case...

My dear old dad was only earning about 10-11 quid a week then...

[JimN]

Ah , the old Bell catalogue! I remember writing off for that using a coupon from a magazine advert!

If you have (or start) a Facebook account, you can peruse several Bell Musical Instruments catalogues (and related items) in my FB Group, which is cunningly entitled "Bell Musical Instruments - the catalogue dreams were made of".

The scanning is all as high quality as I can render on FB. For some odd reason, you can magnify them better on a tablet (eg, iPad) than you can on a PC screen.

You can find it at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/345084965591129/

[dusty fretz]

In the Dec 19th 1959 Melody Maker ad, Jim's all-new guitar was blessed with the snappy title 'Short Scale De-Luxe Artistes Model', but very sensibly this was soon shortened to Artist/e. No doubt the debate about that extra 'e' in the name will continue and the company obviously couldn't decide either, as Burns publicity material vacillated between both definitions during the three year production span of the various relevant six- and four-strings, while other dealer and distributor catalogues, adverts etc. were similarly variable. When compiling The Burns Book I considered combining the two as Artist/e, but decided this looked confusing and clumsy, so I opted for 'Artist', simply because this spelling had emerged as the majority choice.

The note Bill mentions was indeed written by Jim Burns, but I certainly don't recall suggesting it was a note to Ike Isaacs. It actually appears on the back of a studo shot of the Artist and Jim's description refers to the addition of the first Burns vibrato tailpiece. The appropriately re-named Vibra Artist was introduced in May 1960, but here Jim does nothing to help settle the name game, instead harking back to his past by preferring S.S. Artiste. Of course it would've answered all arguments if Jim had employed a proper model reference headstock badge, as on the accordingly easily recognised Sonic, but for some reason he stuck with just 'Burns London', causing many subsequent owners/sellers to then use the Burns 'Tri-Sonic' title, this being the only name apparent on these guitars and basses.

[RayL]

On the earliest pickups, not even the name Tri-Sonic

Burns Artist Tri-Sonic pickup.JPG

(61.01 KiB) Downloaded 12241 times

Were they made by Alf Jarret in Sprowston Mews?
Ray

[Billyboygretsch]

They were obviously experimenting back then as a number of examples have the same plain covers but with solid magnets. I have now seen several examples of these including another I owned early maple neck but with a tremolo