Burns UK appeared in 1974 and lasted until 1977.[5] Burns
UK guitars were not made in London, but instead were manufactured close to
Newcastle upon Tyne in Jim Burns' native north east. Only one guitar model sold
well, The Flyte, which was originally to be named the Conchorde, after the
supersonic plane, because of its shape. Its design proved popular among glam
rock performers of the time, such as Slade and Marc Bolan.[6] They were also
used at the time by Australian band Sherbet, most notably on their "Life... Is
For Living" album, where they were acknowledged on the back sleeve liner notes.
Despite their unconventional design (which often added to the production cost),
the guitars had a rather conventional sound, and again Burns ceased to produce
guitars--but not before of few examples of the Burns Mirage, the successor to
the Flyte, had been produced.
Burns is most famous for the guitars he created before selling his business to
Baldwin Piano and Organ Co. in 1965, including the Bison, Hank Marvin, and Jazz
Split Sound (with the Wild Dog setting. But his career continued, off and on,
until his death in 1998, and along the way he left a number of curious
instruments, including this stealth-shaped ca. 1976 Burns Flyte.
But it wasn’t stealth aircraft that inspired the Burns Flyte, rather it was the
supersonic transport (SST) – the “Concorde.” The Concorde was conceived in ’62
and begun as a joint project of the U.K. and French governments. The maiden
voyages of the first Rolls Royce-powered prototypes occurred in 1969, and in
January ’76 the first commercial flights commenced, to great media fanfare (and
environmentalist protest due to its extreme volume). Indeed, the Flyte was
originally to be called the Conchorde, although it’s not known if any were ever
produced under this name.The Flyte was Burns’ first design under his own name
after he sold the business to Baldwin. In between, he worked for Dallas Arbiter,
which produced his Hayman line of guitars in the early ’70s.Following the demise
of that company, in ’73 Burns hooked up with an outfit in Newcastle and began to
work on guitars to be sold with the brand name “Burns UK Ltd.” There, the
Conchorde/Flyte was developed and introduced in ’74. Basically, the guitars were
made by Shergold and the electronics by Re-An.Coming at the height of the “copy
era,” the Burns Flyte was a pretty radical design for 1974. Its symmetrical,
bi-level, swept-wing body styling and sharply pointed head were truly supersonic.
The body was mahogany, the bolt-on neck maple. At least some of the fingerboards
were, oddly enough, ebonized maple. The Flyte was outfitted with twin Mach One
Humbuster humbuckers with unusual five-sided metal covers.Building on some of
Burns’ ’60s ideas, the Flyte had a Dynamic Tension bridge assembly with
individually height adjustable saddles on a bridge plate. These came in several
shades of silver, white, natural, and even with Union Jack graphics.
By
Michael Wright
Last week I opined about my
penchant for unusual, not to say, ugly guitars like the Fenton-Weill Tux-master
from England. Now, I don’t mean to throw (rolling) stones—the States has
produced its share of butt-ugly guitars—but Merry Old England has contributed
mightily to the cause. And even though he’s revered in the U.K. as their very
own Leo Fender, Jim Burns has had a hand in more than a few guitar models that
might crack a mirror if they could see themselves. One case in point: the Burns
Flyte.
Now, the Burns Flyte is definitely a step up from the Tux-master, but not such a
very big one. James Ormston Burns (1925-1998) began designing guitars in around
1958 when he made a short scale Supersound guitar for the musician Ike Isaacs.
In 1959 Burns teamed up with Henry Weill to form the Burns-Weill company,
producing the rather ungainly forebears of last month’s featured Tux-master.
Burns and Weills apparently weren’t a match made in heaven and they had parted
ways before the year was out. In 1960 Burns struck out on his own, founding
Burns London Ltd. And putting out what’s now a legendary line of soldibody
electric guitars.
Probably the most famous feature on Burns guitars of the 1960s was the setting
called “Wild Dog” on the Bison and some other models. I can remember not being
able to wait to plug in mine when I got it. Wild Dog!! A snarl? Growl? Sharp
bark? Imagine my disappointment when I learned that Wild Dog was simply a
somewhat weak phase-reversal effect like you get in-between pickups on a Strat!
Now there was the marketing department run amok!
Burns guitars quickly won the hearts of British guitar players…there were,
indeed, few other quality options. Plus, they arrived at just about the time
that teenagers were trading in their Skiffle washboards for their first electric
guitars in order to play that new music from the Colonies.
Meanwhile, in the former Colonies, guitars—especially electrics—had become hot
commodities among the young. And there were lots of young folks, the Post-War
Baby Boomers, hitting the right age to become a “market.” Savvy businessmen
wanted in on the gold mine. Companies as diverse as Norlin (a brewing
conglomerate) and CBS (TV, movies, and records) started buying guitar companies
(Gibson and Fender, respectively).
Into the corporate feeding frenzy jumped the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company. At
least it was in the musical instrument business to begin with! Initially Baldwin
was a bidder for Fender, but lost out to CBS. On the rebound, Baldwin set its
eyes on Burns of London and in 1965 began importing Baldwin-badged versions of
Jim Burns’ guitars.
However, Baldwin’s affair with Burns was relatively short-lived. In 1966 Baldwin
struck a deal to purchase Gretsch and they proved to be much better sellers in
the U.S. marketplace. Baldwin held on to the Burns property until closing it
down in 1970.
Burns wasn’t through with guitars yet. From 1969 to 1973 Burns manufactured
Hayman guitars for the music distributor Dallas-Arbiter. As part of the
agreement, Jim Burns couldn’t use the Burns of London name, but somehow Burns UK
was acceptable and Burns resumed making guitar in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1974.
Which brings us to the Flyte.
The Flyte—originally supposed to be the Concorde (or Conchorde)—coincided with
the debut of supersonic aviation. Hence the swept-wing appearance. If you
appreciated weird guitarflesh, this should tickle your fancy. I keep looking at
it it just keeps getting weirder, and in an especially good way! Those pickups
are called Mach One Humbusters. The Dynamic Tension bridge is pretty interesting…well,
no, it’s not. It’s just weird. Indeed, much like Hayman guitars before it,
Flytes were well made and pretty unremarkable except for the eccentric
appearance.
Apparently, Burns UK Flytes were played by so-called Glam Rockers like the band
Slade and Mark Bolan (who made a career of eccentric guitars, among other things).
Wikipedia lists other Flyte players, but I’ve never heard of any of them, not
that that signifies anything. But, you have to stretch to find Flyte fans; they
never did take off.
I have no idea how many Flytes were produced, but I suspect
production quantities were not enormous. They were only made for about 2 years.
In around 1977 Burns UK introduced the Mirage to replace the Flyte, with
re-designed Mach Two pickups. Burns UK then bit the dust.
Jim Burns gave guitars one more go with the oddly named enterprise “Jim Burns
Actualizers Ltd.” From 1979-83, but that met with even less success than Burns
UK and the Flyte.
Still, you have to give Burns high marks for chutzpah and if your taste, like
mine, runs to the unusual, you should be sure to catch a Flyte the next time one
come your way!
Dave and Jim were both given Burns Flyte instruments,
around the same time that Marc Bolan was seen with one..
It is believed that Dave later sold his on (as he tends to do with any
endorsement guitars he is given).
What happened to Jim's Burns Flyte bass is not known.
Marc Bolan and Flyte
London Boys & Telegram SamTX: 21 February 1976
On 17 February 1976, T.Rex performed new versions of London Boys and Telegram
Sam. For the former, Marc performed atop a revolving Perspex stage; for the
latter, he emerged – a little unsteadily - from a make-believe rocket. For both
he was sporting a bleached streak at the front of his hair and toting a
Burns Flyte guitar.Bolan
seems to have struck a deal with the guitar manufacturers as he was also
featured in the Daily Mirror, giving the guitar away in a competition. The
relationship was presumably short-lived as Bolan flung the instrument from the
stage at the end of London Boys.
