Pinball Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 (edited) [color=#000000]As requested a review of my new toy! A 34" scale Burns Marquee.[/color] [color=#000000]I am the 2nd owner. This bass was came in a Burns Custom case, which contained a ticket that said made by Burns London in November 2014 bought new in 2016 from PJS Music in Barnsley. I have no idea why it was made or if more exist but it is a factory product. [/color] [i][color=#000000]Update: I have an email form the Burns CEO/Barry Gibson telling me that they have been making 34" scale Marquee basses since mid-2014. [/color][/i] [color=#000000]The current Burns bass line up consists of the Marquee short scale bass (32"), The even shorter scale Nu-sonic, the Elite and more expensive Shadows Bass and the Bison Bass. [/color][color=#000000]I had ruled all of their basses out for various reasons[/color][color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000]but I have tried and like both the Bison and Marquee and often found myself thinking "if only Burns made a 34" Marquee I would buy it". Well now they do and this one came up on ebay and it's now mine [/color] [color=#000000][b]The review:[/b] This bass is based on a Burns of the 1960's and has remained true to the origonal design.[/color] [color=#000000]This 34" scale bass has some differences from the 32" Marquee. To achieve the scale the neck is longer and the plastics altered to allow the bridge to be moved. To ensure that the bass remains well balanced one of the strap attachment points has been moved from the back of the bass on to the end of the horn. A cosmetic difference is that the back of the neck and head are unpainted unlike the usual finish of the Marquee or Bison. [/color] [color=#000000][attachment=228586:Burns FR.jpg] [attachment=228587:Burns bod.jpg][/color] [color=#000000][b]Features:[/b] It is British designed but probably a far eastern (Cort factory?) product. It is well made and attractive IMHO, with a white body with tortoiseshell 3 piece scratch-plate. It has a zero fret, a rosewood fret-board and maple neck and the famous "Burns batwing" head, that is tilted back to avoid the need for string trees. Marquees have a basswood body and a substantial Marquee bridge, 3 angled Tri-sonic pick-ups. 5 way selector Switch. Master volume knob and two "tone" knobs. The top tone knob does what you would expect, While the bottom tone knob appears to do little other than act as a push-pull Switch to bring the bridge pick-up into play and access additional neck/bridge and neck/middle combinations. This gives a total of 7 different pick-up combinations. The Burns sealed machine heads appear quite small by modern standards but of good quality. [/color] [color=#000000][b]Sound:[/b] The previous owner had fitted a cheap set of round-wounds on it which I subsequently swapped for Roto 77 flats. I wondered if this choice would work well but I needn't have worried. Using the P-UP selections alone gives a wide variation of usable sounds. The Tri-sonics are silent and buzz free. They give the Marquee a very pure and unique voice, with the neck pickup being more precision like and the others being progressively more jazzy as you move towards the bridge. The Tri-sonics give a nice clarity to the individual notes or when playing chords with no muddiness present. I quickly found my favorite sounds, which are based around the neck pup. [/color] [color=#000000][b]Action, Fit & Finish:[/b] No complaints as the finish and fittings seem excellent. The neck is a pretty skinny Jazz neck and on this particular model has some nice tiger stripping The guitar shone from the inside of it's fitted case the first time I laid eyes on it. The paint work and chrome look wonderful and the shiny Tri-sonic pickups add some bling. Very impressive.[/color] [color=#000000][b]Reliability & Durability:[/b] With my past experiences of modern Burns kit, the good build quality and attention to detail I see no reason to worry here. Time will tell.[/color] [color=#000000][i]Note: The thin jazzy neck stuggled to retain a good action with the flats on it so it was changed back to rounds, which suit it better.[/i][/color] [color=#000000][b]Overall Impression:[/b] It is a really nice piece of kit and very easy to get on with. It is from Burn's cheaper "Club" range but seems well made. It's old style good looks and 3 piece guard make it stand out from the crowd and I do like the big bat-wing backward tilting head too. The combination of the big body, big head seem to be exaggerated by the skinny neck. I would describe it as a medium weight bass but it is perfectly balanced. The sound is impressive in terms of voice and clarity. It will cover most types of music but as a passive jazz bass it is probably most at home with jazz,folk, rock and blues. Having said that I have heard a Marquee used very effectively in a heavy punk band and there is some funk under the bonnet too. [/color] [color=#000000]You can see it next to Paul's P bass for a scale comparison [/color] [attachment=228588:Burns comp.jpg] [attachment=228589:Burns BK.jpg] [attachment=228590:Burns Head.jpg] Edited December 28, 2016 by Pinball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 I've had a play on this and it's really nice. I found that playing with the pickup switch gives you a set of sounds that replicate the common bass types. There's a P sound, A PJ sound, a J sound and an MM sound in there. Not quite replicas of the real things but a good usable range of sounds. The neck is classic P bass neck. Different to my 2015 MIM P bass slimmed-down neck. That's my P in one of the pics above for comparison to the Burns.The P may look wider but the Burns is just a bit wider than the P. It's a nice bass and looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Great review! I've always fancied one of these - or to be more accurate, a Bison with Marquee electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 good review, enjoyed reading that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinball Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 (edited) [quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1474892293' post='3141256'] good review, enjoyed reading that. [/quote] Thanks I enjoyed writing it [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1474890006' post='3141229'] Great review! I've always fancied one of these - or to be more accurate, a Bison with Marquee electronics. [/quote] Unusual controls are a pain for occasional use Edited September 26, 2016 by Pinball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1946 Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 I used to sell them in my shop, well made and they came from China. Don't know a lot more than that except Burns were heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinball Posted September 27, 2016 Author Share Posted September 27, 2016 [quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1475001485' post='3142233'] I used to sell them in my shop, well made and they came from China. Don't know a lot more than that except Burns were heavy. [/quote] Yes I had 3 lead guitars and they varied. A Double Six, a great guitar in every-way but like you say heavy and awkward to lug around in it's hard case so I sold it, A Marquee Special, which I just didn't like. That wasn't heavy enough and a Sonic Elite, which I really like and still have. That is nice and light, a bit like a tele and bright sounding. This bass is very comfortable but that is probably more to do with the good balance rather than the weight. I don't have scales for an exact weight unfortunately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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