Collector´s item´s !! ??

pictures coming soon

The world of electric guitar´s and My own fashination for these musictoy´s started already in the early 60´s. As many other youngster´s I wanted to become a pop-rock star!! Unfortinutly it did never come true but I still carry that dream in my mind, even if I know it will never come true.

I wrote about this earlier, but shit happens and ....  anyway in the 70´s I started collecting guitar´s, on my behalf I wanted a wall full of Burns guitar´s! With price´s next to nothing the wall was soon covered with nice Burns guitar´s. The collection of 16 different guitar´s was later sold and very much missed. Still I didnt loose any money on me collection.

But the only reason for collecting em was to use them as much as possible. Not to save them in hope they would raise in value and give me a fortune. Today prices of those guitar´s have raised a lot. To buy the same guitars once again, to start a new collection is-was for me impossible.

During the same time two of my freinds did also collect guitars, Burns guitar among em. One of them a guitarpalyer in a band, the other one just a collector och Rock´n Roll.  Mr X collection was really stunning, at least 5 Marvins, a Bison 4-pu and various other Burns models, all in mint condtion. He kept his guitars locked in a room. Only a few time´s I was aloud to try one of em.

Mr Y had a huge collection of nice guitar, with at least 30 Burns guitars. As He didnt play em, I was offered to help him adjust his guitars, and during that time I got the possibility to use, play and learn about Burns guitars. He waas a bit of a trader, swapping guitars almost every week, never there was any big money involved. Today He is trying to sell part´s of his huge collection, mainly caused by age. We who was young in the 60´s keep growing older day by day. 

Sometime´s I wonder why we start collecting things. I was and may still call me self a car-collector with to many Jaguar´s and other cars stored. What will happen the day when we sit there with a huge collection that natuarly people may envy, but also. To what use? I had a toycar collection with more then 3000 1-43 cars, they was stolen after I stop´d collecting. Iwasnt interessted in buying a toycar for a fortune. A couple of Swede´s (twinbrothers) just open a Guitar Museum in Umeå in a way to show their huge collection a electric guitar´s. So is it time to open a Burns museum. No  i dont think so, who would ever pay to look at someones collection of 50-200 Burns guitar´s, some of em looking exactly the same as the other´s.

Can it be that those of us that collect as an exampel Guitars could see the future. Today  they have a hig value, but when our kid´s one day take´s over. Will they keeep the collection or maybe they want to sell it. How do you sell a huge collection of guitars, of classic cars?? and get the money that they really is worth? 

Some 15 years ago a carcollector and freind of mind said good bye to this world suddenly. His wife and kid was to take care of his collection, worth at least a fortune-maybe two.  There was among all things app 10-15 ton´s of rare vintage car parts. 10000 kg. Furter investigations show´d 130 cars from the 1920´s to 60´s. An ad was placed where the askingprice started at 100000,oo£ bids was accepted. It all ended in a tradgedi, they was forced to pay lots of money to clear out the cars and all the parts. His life collecting was worth absolutly NOTHING!!

At least that tell´s me that the high value of my collection´s may one day be worth nothing. As time´s change´s so in 20 years if we are unlucky there will be no interesst at all in 50-60´s electric guitars. The thing then may well be cellphones, laptop´s och videogames. It all depends on the generation coming after us. The average age of carcollectors today is 55, youngsters dont get any knowhow in restoring cars. Collecting stamps- coins is today something from the past and it´s value is near nothing.

A couple of years ago, I realised that there still was a minor chanse for me to have a Burns guitar. Not one of the oldies, but a brand new one! So with the help from the woman in my life I bought a brand new Burns Marquee.  Some of you may call it some kind of Strat-copy, but to me it still is Burns all over. Burns styling and it even sounds like the old Burns guitars. One thing that stunned me was the weight of the guitar that was far less then the original guitars.

A great guitar at a fair price that was so much a player´s guitar. Mainly cause my intention alwys is to use my guitars. As a number 1 they are instruments that I want to  use every day.

Next was a second hand Albino Bison-62, reissue. Looking like one of those 60´s Bison with a few exeption´s. Once again a guitar made to be used, and played with a load of different sound settings buildt in the body, very much similar to the intentions of the late Jim Burns!

During the year´s I have also buildt me own guitar´s, most of em as some kind of Burns clone´s as I really love the design of Burns guitar´s. A collection, no i cant call it that butit may be is my Burns amplifiers. At this moment 3 combos and a bass-amp. all of em from the 60´s. Still they are used almoste very day and they sound just as good today as they did in the 60´s.

To me it doesnt matter if you collect those old Burns guitars or the new one´s. They are still Burns as well as we still call a 2013 Fender Stratocaster a genuine Strat. Fender was sold to CBS, Burns sold to Baldwin. Maybe we should say that the Baldwin guitars isnt good enough to be collected? And Strats after CBS takeover is not Strats?

I dont bother, I do love my new and my old Burns guitars and find it great to use them as often as I can. If they are worth something the day I die, thats okey with me. But to tell the truth I dont bother as long as they are nice instruments that I love to play.

Well thinking of it once again, a Museum filled with Burns would be GREAT, a museum where people pay a small amount of money not only to watch those great guitars but also get´s the opportunity to try em, to play on all guitars shown. A living Burns museum!!

Why? Well Burns did massproduce "one-offs", they are not to be compared with Mona Lisa who only exists in One original painting.

Back home!

Finally We was back home, home where everything seam to be normal by a Swede. There in UK people seams to live in a different way. Even if we do  share the same culture? anyway it´s home is always home.

In the luggage was as You may already know a brand new Burns guitar! Already since I first saw the Burns Bison-64 reissue I was wishing that I some day could try one out. And natuarly I wanted one in my small guitar collection. Anyway counting each pound in our budget it was clear that if I found a nice guitar, I could buy it.

Me freind Markku had already sent me money in hope that I could find the possibility to buy a Burns Cobra on his behalf. We went to Bristol and a couple of blocks from the shopping centre was RICAXXE music shop situated. An authoriside Burns dealer. 

At arrival to Ricaxxe I realised that he did have several Burns guitars in stock. But not the Bison guitar. I asked him and He told that a black Bison-64 was arriving on monday!

Natuarly we stay´d the weekend in the nice town of Bristol and first thing monday morning I was back at Ricaxxe. There it was, and the deal was done.

How come Barry Gibson uses cheap looking Fender knobs on the Marquee line and Bison-64´s? On my behalf I cant understand this. Mainly cause it make Burns guitars looks partly as some kind of Fender copies, even if they not are!

Once at home with me new guitar it was set up and adjusted to make it if possible even better then it was at delivery. A set of knobs taken from a 60´s Burns amplifier was used, and suddenly the guitar ws much more of a Burns. 

A mail was sent to Barry Gibson in hope that I could buy a complete set of proper knobs for me new guitar. Unfortinutly for me and maybe for Barry the cost of em was 68,oo pound!! 

If I wanted Fender, Gibson even Gretsch knobs it would have cost me less then 20,oo. this for an item that in my oppinion should have been fitted from factory.

Yesterday three orginal Marvin-Bison knobs was fitted and after grinding the switchknobs the guitar looked exactly the same as the original 1964-65 Burns Bison.

The result on my behalf is stunning!!

MORE BURNS NEW´S!

Three new Burns modeles was show at the music messe in Germany. 

the Burns Marquee  R2 with twin humbucker pickups that seam to have been constructed by mounting 2 RezOTube pickups together.

the Burns Marquee R3

2 x RezOTube humbuckers and one singelcoil.

and the entirely new Burns Dual Sonic.

with one humbucker and one singelcoil. the guitar as such seams to be a Tele design.

a trip to Burns land.

So me love together with Her daughter and I took of for Brittain. Off we went from the westcoast down to Malmoe,

passing the long bridge to Denmark and finally we arrived in Esbjerg where the ferry was expecting us.

Anyway 18 hours later we did reach our destination Harwich, a flip on the steeringwheel and we was driving on the lefthand side of the road.

This page is supposed to be about music, not a travel guide so I stick to the parts of our trip I can regard as music.

On our trip we  drove off to Bristol where rumours said there was supposed to be a Burns dealer.

Finding a spot to park the car isnt that easy in a large town like Bristol´s center. Anyway found a sign about a musicshop and used their customers parking. Inside I found an enormous Fender Stratocaster.

"BURNS Steer" 

at Ricaxxe priced:545,oo£ inc case!!

BURNS Bison basses

 and Marquee bass

BURNS Cobra at 265,oo£

RIC the man behind RICAXXE-Bristol

BURNS Cobra Sunburst

the guitar now living in Töreboda-Sweden

As I didnt see any Bison guitars at Ricaxxe I asked in regards of such a guitar. Ric told he expected a Bison-64 mkII the coming monday. So with that in mind and that the Ladies really enjoy´d shopping in Bristol we stay´d. With fingers crossed I wnet back on monday to find that the actual Bison had arrived. An hour later I was the pruod owner of a Bison-64 mkII made in 2013. In other words brand new!!

"the Legendary ELECTRIC LADYLAND GUITARS"

in Bristol, where the legend is kept alive with help of it´s legendary shop owner.

Last wisit app 15 year´s ago was interessting. Already by then entering thrue a sidedoor to the more the crawded shop. Back then after carful entering with guitars, amps that seamed to attack me I found the shopowner sitting on a chair in the very small space in the middle of the room. 

The same problems was stil lpresent entering the shop, the main difference that the small open space in the middle of the shop where shop owner sits, was if possible even smaller.

Denmark Street - London

Lot´s of interessting guitarshop where it actually was possible to walk inside the shops. 

Burns Marin in window display.

pic below a couple of Burns.

finally the Burns Bison-64 mk2 guitar that was bought at

RicAxxe in Bristol.

Couldnt resist taking a pic of the Cobra and Bison

outside the Hotel in London.