Burns Nu-Sonic Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1964), made in London, England, serial # 6674, cherry polyester finish, Agba wood body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black alligator hard shell case.
This is a very nice all-original example of the Burns Nu-Sonic guitar, the London company's student-level instrument after mid-1964. It was introduced to replace the original fairly crude 1960 Sonic series in spring that year, built to a completely new more modern design. The model was offered as both guitar and bass in cherry or black finish at around half the price of a flashy Bison or Marvin guitar, roughly the UK equivalent of the Fender Mustang.
This guitar has a short 23 3/8" scale neck on a small sculpted double cutaway body finished in transparent cherry. The pickguard carries two single-coil Nu-Sonic Pickups under engraved plastic covers, wired to a 3-way switch with individual volumes and master tone, making for a good-sounding and surprisingly versatile package. The trem system is simple but reasonably effective; the original bridge and arm are still intact on this one.
Despite its lower-budget intentions, the Nu-Sonic is a well-made guitar and was not particularly cheap by contemporary standards. Perhaps in light of this, it was one of the first models dropped by Baldwin after they bought the Burns company in September 1965. As the Nu-Sonics were discontinued by the fall of 1966, the total production run was very brief at only about two years. Original Burns-labeled examples like this are comparatively rare, especially in the US where they were available primarily under the Ampeg brand (in 1964) and Baldwin (1965-'66). The inspection sticker on this one is dated 26 Jun 1964 making it a fairly early example; the presence of a US-made case suggests it is one of the very few imported here by New York jobber Morris Lipsky in spring 1965.
The Nu-Sonic is a very light and handy guitar capable of quite a snarly tone when pushed. This is a cool original UK Burns rarity and neat little player's piece. UK Anti-Folk songster Richard Dawson is rarely seen without his identical Nu-Sonic, showing this obscure but delightful little solidbody has considerable range beyond its beat-group roots!
Overall length is 37 7/8 in. (96.2 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 3/8 in. (594 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows mostly light wear overall but remains in all original condition. There are dings, chips and scrapes to the finish overall and some of the typical Polyester crazing on the body. A couple of deeper scrapes on the lower body edge were amateurishly touched up, but apart from that the finish is all original. It also shows less fade than many, with a brighter orange/red hue retaining a more of the original cherry color.
The twin Nu-Sonic pickups pots, switch wiring rig and all external hardware remain complete and original including the original plastic-button VanGent tuners. Even the plastic-tipped vibrato arm (which has often gone missing) is still present and working. The plating on some parts shows typical amount of wear.
The original frets have only a little wear; The fingerboard shows some light divoting up to around the 7th fret but the guitar plays well. This one is just a nice, very playable example of this fairly rare and short-lived Jim Burns creation; better preserved than many and a superbly light and handy little guitar. It resides in an original NYC jobber-style black alligator grain HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.
