Strange Guitar

François RAVEZ

Hi Martin b,

Thanks for solving the mistery. I have the book by François CHARLE but I had never noticed this add.

Does anyone know if these Burns guitars have anything to do with the Burns guitars famous in the beginnining of the 60 's and played by Hank Marvin, the Shadows, Elvis Presley, Georges Harrisson and many more, a company which recently came back into business?

Best

François RAVEZ

martin b

Hi Francois,
No, it's just a coincidence it would seem. A google search of Alex Burns Ltd revealed nothing, so the mystery remains; was it a workshop or showroom, who actually made them, how many, are they any good? Shaftesbury Avenue was the centre of London's instrument dealers at that time, so there must have been something going on.

martin b

What a fab clip!
It's remarkable isn't it, if you want to know what year Leo Fender changed from slot head to cross head screws, it'll take no time at all to find out. But just twenty years earlier, and in the glare of the West End spotlight, it's as if you're entering the realm of archaeology.

François RAVEZ

Hi,

Very interesting clip, but it demonstrates that in fact the headstock is different between Burns guitar and the french players guitars.

Best

François RAVEZ

Svanis1337

There was another post regarding similar but different guitars to these, unfortunately I can't find it at the moment but it was on these forums. They came to different conclusions.

Anyway, here's another photo of Baro Ferret with that guitar.

Photo shared by Teddy Dupont.

François RAVEZ

I also found this picture in a DVD about Stéphane Grappelli. This guitar looks like a Burns (headstock).

Note that this Stéphane Grappelli playing saxophone.

Best

François RAVEZ

François RAVEZ

Another happy owner of a Burns guitar in 1933, His name was Feldman, he worked with Stéphane Grappelli (here on piano) and Pierre Allier (trpt) in the Orchestra called Gregor and his Gregorians.

Best

François RAVEZ

klaatu

François RAVEZ wrote: »

I also found this picture in a DVD about Stéphane Grappelli. This guitar looks like a Burns (headstock).

Note that this Stéphane Grappelli playing saxophone.

Best

François RAVEZ

And the sax player on the right bears an uncanny resemblance to Ninine Garcia.

klaatu

stuart wrote: »

There's a clip of Jimmy Messini singing Dinah in the first minute of the 1932 film Both Sides of the Curtain here:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/both-sides-of-curtain/query/both+sides+of+the+curtain

Although he does not play it, he is holding his Alex Burns guitar throughout the clip.

And note that he is singing without a microphone! They could do that in those days.

You should watch the rest of the clip as well. You don't want to miss the "famous dancing chorus!"

Teddy Dupont

klaatu wrote: »

François RAVEZ wrote: »

I also found this picture in a DVD about Stéphane Grappelli. This guitar looks like a Burns (headstock).

Note that this Stéphane Grappelli playing saxophone.

Best

François RAVEZ

And the sax player on the right bears an uncanny resemblance to Ninine Garcia.

That's Andre Lluis who recorded with Django.