What; Swap My Fender For The British Pretender? You Might Be Right!! (Burns Legend Guitar 'S' Type)

Member Name: Caveat-Emptor

Product:	Burns Legend Guitar 'S' Type
Date:	05/10/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Innovative Style, 60's Cool Retro Design, Very Distinctive Sound

Disadvantages: A Little Too Fancy For Some, Not As Well Known As The Straatocaster

My review of the Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar
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Use The Force Hank!
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Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away... oh sorry wrong story -lol!! Once upon a time back in the early days of rock and roll music there was only one place where aspiring young guitarists looked to buy (or dreamed of buying) their instruments from; The good old USA... and even more specifically from the Fender guitar company!!

Thanks to a misunderstanding by Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin as to which guitar legendary guitarist James Burton played (Hank wanted whatever Fender guitar James owned)... Cliff ordered Hank what was to be the very first Fender Stratocaster to reach British shores.


Not Guilty; It Wasn't Me - Says Jack!!
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...Incidentally, thanks to an interview Elton John once did many folks thought/ think that Jack McKechnie of the Hedley Ward Trio was the first person to import an American Fender Strat; (but Elton made a mistake, and being a piano player rather than a guitarist we can't blame him -lol)..

But it was definitely Hank who had the first one (Jack was a very fine jazz musician who used strings as thick as tow ropes (his definition not mine -lol!!) ...hence Jack was never that keen on the thin stringed, solid body Stratocaster, and certainly didn't import the first one :-).


Not All Cliffs Are Dangerous!!
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...And so thanks to a complete accident, Hank Marvin got his now legendary Fender Stratocaster guitar, and countless other guitarists over the years would be inspired to follow his lead; it seems that Hank and the Fender Stratocaster go together like Luke Skywalker and his light sabre -lol!!

But it wasn't always this way... There was a time when Hank and the Shadows, along with some other famous 60's bands did the unthinkable and changed their allegiance from American made Fender guitars to (gasp horror!!) an English company; Burns Guitars....

Was it is wisdom or folly; let's use the Burns Legend Guitar 'S' Type guitar to find out (you knew I'd get to the point sooner or later ;-)


Burns A Wee Rival To Yon Yanks!!
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Though (arguably) far from as well known as they were back in the 60's... Burns Guitars were almost always very fine instruments, easily equal to guitars made across the pond in the USA (some would argue that Burns guitars even had the edge!).

Many guitar manufactures had copied Fenders sexy, curvy styled instruments, but few if any manufacturers had dared to be innovative and push the designs even further. Not so with Burns; they positively delighted in innovation; better truss rod designs, new pick up designs, and the legendary zero fret (which I'll come back to)...and so it was that back in 1964 Burns designed the Burns Marvin guitar, upon which the Burns Legend Guitar 'S' Type Guitar is based.

Eventually Hank would, as we know, change back to his beloved Fender Strat -but there's no denying some of Hank's finest work was done on a Burns guitar... and the sound of a Burns guitar is still very sought after in certain circles (60's/retro influenced bands like Supergrass and Oasis often use Burns instruments), hence there's been a bit of a resurgence in interest over the last decade or so.


Can It 'Burn' My Strat Though??
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But what of the actual guitar? ...Well the Burns Legend Guitar 'S' Type Guitar is clearly influenced/ based on a Fender Stratocaster, but there are enough differences to make it very distinctive...

The Legend has a Rez-o-tube tremolo unit, 3 Burns designed Rez O Matic Pickups (James May of Queen uses Burns pickups too!!)...

The fretboard is made from Rosewood which is a common fretboard wood on many guitars, but the use of English Beech instead of Maple to make the neck is definitely off the beaten track -lol!!. A scale length (distance from bridge saddles to nut) of 25½ inches is common to both the Stratocaster and a Burns Legend...

...which gives both guitars a punchy, sound with a lot of sonic impact, due to the extended scale length (other guitar makers such as Gibson guitars tends to use shorter scale lengths, which are less punchy sounding -but have other advantages to make up for it)... But the Truss Rod design on the Burns is arguably a lot better and makes it easier to adjust the neck to an optimum setting -not so straight that the strings buzz, not so curved that action and intonation are noticeably affected.

(Truss rod =the metal rod(s) that runs along the length of the fingerboard, underneath it hidden from view - used to adjust the convex/concave nature of the neck for better playability, and also to protect the neck from breaking under string tension).


A Japanese Zero Fighter? No Its A Burns Zero Fret!!
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Another major difference between the Burns Legend and the Fender Stratocaster is the zero fret. On a Fender Stratocaster each string relies on its respective nut slot being cut very accurately in order to produce a good tone, a sensible action (height of the strings above the fretboard) and good intonation (the ability of the guitar to be in tune with itself).
On the Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar a zero fret is fitted, which does away with Fender's the reliance on an absolutely perfectly made nut. The zero fret is simply an additional fret, fitted just before the nut, at the very end of the fingerboard. Though the zero fret is a great idea, you do need to get your frets levelled (stoned) every once in a while at your local guitar shop (every few years for most players) to make the best of this feature.


A Jigsaw Scratch Plate? -Lol!!
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The Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar also has a very fancy tortoiseshell scratch plate which is split into 4 parts (purely for cosmetic reasons -only the scratch plate around the strings serves any practical purpose), but it does really look the part if you're into 60's cool!! (A Fender Stratocasters scratch plate is a one piece affair; though it does still look very good).

The body of the Burns is hollow, which gives a warm and springy sound (Gibson did the same thing on some of their double cutaway Les Paul models, to great effect) while making the guitar distinctly lighter and more comfortable to play... The body of the guitar has a ripple effect sycamore veneer which looks superb.

The end of the Headstock on the Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar is looped over in a kind of scroll design, which is (like the 4 piece scratch plate) a lovely embellishment when compared to the Fender Stratocaster's flat design (though it could be argued that the Stratocaster design is more iconic).


Play It Again Uncle Sam...
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Playability-wise, the Burns legend is a delight to play when well set up (I used to work in a guitar shop so got to set up many Burns guitars over the years). You will never achieve the ultra low actions of very modern 'speed' guitars, but then again; guitars that are made for speed playing, generally score very low when it comes to actual tone and character...

...The Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar however, just oozes tonal character (even more so than the Stratocaster) and style, plus it can still be very nicely set up to play well. For myself; I'll take sound over mere playability any day...


Conclusion; Panache Versus Cash!!
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It's difficult to say whether the Burns sounds better than it's arch rival the Stratocaster though; I've owned both and I couldn't choose between them... They're both great in their own way...

At the end of the day, if you love retro guitar sounds (and stylish looks) and you don't mind putting your hands into your pockets to pay for it (The last one I saw for sale was around the £550 mark) you won't be disappointed in a Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar...

If your budget doesn't stretch that far, there are other cheaper Burns alternatives; such as the Burns Marquee -which is still a very good guitar ...or of course there are many cheaper Stratocaster copies..

...But if you love the sound, cool retro look, innovation and attention to detail that the Burns Legend 'S' Type Guitar possesses, then a Stratocaster can be a little 'plain' in comparison -lol!!


Thank you so much for reading my review and I hope you found it interesting!!!

Best wishes,
Caveat-Emptor

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