Burns Guitars

While industry giants like Fender and Gibson have dominated the guitar market since the '50s, there were many alternative brands pumping out niche guitars in the '60s and '70s to contend with them - just as the foundations of rock music were being established. Burns Guitars was a popular UK company, which aspired to make "mass-produced one-offs" - in the words of founder Jim Burns.

Early Burns models included the Marvin and Bison, which were designed as radical alternatives to Fender's Stratocaster guitar. Both featuring three single-coil pickups and proprietary tremolo units, the Bison was more of a departure with its "Wild Dog" electronics that allowed for unusual pickup combinations.

Tri-Sonic Pickups

Speaking of pickups, Burns Guitars pioneered the acclaimed 'Tri-Sonic' single-coil. Synonymous with Brian May, who fitted his legendary "Red Special" guitar with a set of Tri-Sonics, these pickups feature ceramic magnets and are constructed differently to conventional pickups.

The coil of a Tri-Sonic pickup is wound into an oval (rather than on a bobbin), which is fitted directly around its ceramic magnets. Each pickup features two magnets joined end-to-end, which are mounted onto a flanged metal base that causes the magnetic field to be produced all around the coil and not just in the centre. This leads to a richer sound with plenty of harmonic overtones and sustain. You'll find these distinctive single-coil pickups fitted in the majority of Burns models.