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I've never seen a Burns guitar except from the audience the one used by Hank on stage with Sir Cliff earlier in the year. I like their tone and in my mind imagine them as a cor anglais if a Strat were an oboe (not that a Strat sounds like an oboe or a Burns sounds like a cor anglais but to my ears the Burns guitars have a more mellow tone).

Anyway I just wondered how easy they are to play as they seem to be a lot larger than Strats and presumably heavier. (I won't be running off to buy one - well not yet - and they're probably very expensive - but am just curious).

Thanks
All the best
Rosemary

HI
Hope you are well ?

To me ,living in Romford Essex close to the Burns factory when I was a young lad means that the Marvin will always be the guitar .My legend is heavier than a Strat and slightly harder to play but the sound is more mellow and airier ,by the way thats a nice looking Strat in your picture

PS Thanks for the Beatles web page

Have a great Christmas

Nigel

Hi Nigel

I currently live in Romford, dont suppose you have any pictures of the Burns factory as it was please?

THanks

Hi Steve sorry no I havent (all in my memory ) but as a young lad i can remember walking from St Edwards School guitar in hand (Rapier 33) to meet my Father who worked at Betterware Products most evenings and looking in Pioneer ?Music in North Street Romford and drooling at the Marvins and Vox Amps in the window ,to me a guitar had to be a white Marvin ,still the best ever designed and looking guitar . Had to wait till the guitar show in 2000 to get one LOL but it ended up Pink with a maple neck .

Cheers Nigel

Ah, yes - I remember that music shop in North Street. Can't remember the name of it though!

The window was full of Burns - especially Black Bisons which was my dream guitar at the time. At the back of my mind
is a vague recollection of being there when Unit Four+2 were picking up a new set of guitars and/or amps. I think they were a locally based group.

My guitar collection includes a couple of Strats (American Vintage and Custom Shop Masterbuilt) and one Burns (Apache) with another on the way( Dream). There is certainly a different feel to the Burns from the Strats, but not in the sense that one is better than the other. What I particularly like about the Burns is the ability to select neck and bridge PUs together, which give a beautiful mellow tone for the slower instrumentals. The Burns isn't harder to play but it somehow feels more staid, rather like a Maiden Aunt as opposed to the 'teenager' Strats. But don't let that put you off - some Maiden Aunts love to rock, too!

Hi Nigel and Noel
Thanks for that info. I must try to get to see a Burns close up sometime.
Nigel: Thanks for the comments about my guitar. It's actually a sunburst but looks red in that photo. It's an American Standard I bought at a guitar show a few months ago. I'd never played one before and didn't know anything about the different models then so tried out quite a few and that one just seemed to fit me best (strange as that sounds). I also have an acoustic and a back up second hand Mexican Strat, also nice to play but not as nice as the American Strat.
Best wishes and happy Christmas
Rosemary

It must be a very light sunburst? I'd have sworn it was fiesta red

It does look red in Rosemary's avatar but you can see the correct colour in some of her videos...

Hi Hugh and Noel
On the Fender site it appears to be called Sienna Sunburst. I'll take a good photo of it sometime but here's one I took once to demonstrate the differences between it and the Mexican Strat I think and it shows there's quite a lot of red in it.
best wishes
Rosemary