ElEctric Guitar £319.99 REVIEW FACTFILE Burns CluB series King BURNS CoBra DEScriptioN: Club Series King Cobra Solidbody electric guitar. Made in China. pricE: £299.99, or £319.99 How do you make a good thing even better? if you’re burns with flamed maple top london, then you simply add a sweet upmarket version of your builD: Hard rock maple bolt-on neck with 22-fret recently-launched cobra to the roster. review by Marcus Leadley Indian rosewood fingerboard, three-piece alder bod, knife-edge t just £249, the burns cobra vibrato, unbranded locking got a big thumbs-up for both machineheads sound and value for money ElEctricS: Three Mini in July’s G&B (issue 25/10). Tri-Sonic pickups, master A volume and independent However, the materials, build quality tone controls (with push/ and the finish were appropriate for its pull action for two extra lower-market price tag. Now, hot off pickup settings), five-way the boat from china, we have the King selector switch cobra, a guitar that pushes that model’s lEFt-HaNDErS: Yes FiNiSH: Honeyburst, specifications significantly further. For fiesta red, redburst, just £40 more, you get a bound indian green sunburst rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, ScalE lENGtH: a hard-rock maple neck (with a scarf 647mm/25.5" joint only as part of the headstock), NEcK WiDtH: locking tuners, and a proper alder Nut 42.8mm body… and if you fancy splashing out 12th fret 53.2mm DEptH oF NEcK: a further £20, you can have a tasty Alder body with an Original peghead all-over sunburst and locking tuners First fret 20.5mm canadian maple flame top just like the 12th fret 23mm one on our review guitar. StriNG SpaciNG: the cobra is based on the ’90s Drifter For just £40 more than the Cobra you Nut 35.8mm custom. the double-cut body shape has Bridge 53mm actioN aS SuppliED: a full and rounded form reminiscent get a bound, block inlaid fingerboard, 12th fret treble 1.8mm of the ’70s (and in another connection locking tuners and a proper alder body 12th fret bass 2mm to that decade, the King cobra is not a WEiGHt: 3.7kg/8.2lbs lightweight instrument). at the same of class which is a little reminiscent the result here is very good, with the coNtact:Burns London time the richness of the two-tone of Gibson. While many contemporary intonation between fretted and open + 44 (0) 208 7833 638 vintage sunburst and the mint green burns fingerboards are buffed to a strings being spot-on. www.burnsguitars.com separated scratchplate seems to echo shine, this one exhibits the even dryness one of the uniquely burns features more of a ’50s or ’60s aesthetic – a little you’d expect from quality indian of the King cobra is the trio of mini bit like a Hofner, or a Framus. rosewood; it feels very good under the tri-Sonic pickups. created by adrian the neck’s gloss polyurethane finish fingers. the zero fret we encountered turner, these are designed to emulate also feels quite ’70s, but it’s wider and on the basic cobra model (a spec that the classic, larger-format vintage flatter than the Fender equivalent of may be changed in time) is absent pickup’s sound but in a smaller that era and there’s a definite ‘burns’ here, so the first-position feel will be footprint, and this offers advantages feel to it. the medium-gauge fretting more familiar to the majority of today’s in manufacturing as they can fit is excellent and the white edge binding players. Guitars without a zero fret into a standard S-type rout. it also and the block markers add a touch require a much more precise set up, and makes them ideal as replacement ➻ NovEmbEr 2014 Guitar & bass 53 ElEctric Guitar REVIEW £319.99 time is excellent as this gives the most Like this? accurate approximation of the King Try this... cobra’s natural acoustic tone. Gradually increasing amp gain brings squier vintage modified on a range of gnarly, edgy blues and Stratocaster rock rhythm sounds that are uniquely Very ’70s inspired Stratty burns-esque in flavour. it’s a character action with a rosewood that’s hard to pin down, but the pickups fingerboard, vibrato bridge are slightly microphonic in a way that and a tasty two-tone sunburst option, plus emphasises the dynamics of each note, Duncan Designed pickups ensuring good separation and clarity, for those classic sounds but with a slightly brash, choppy feel. rrp: £298 this makes for a pleasingly rough amp esP distortion and a unique rhythm sound… ltD St-213r it’s the classic tri-Sonic flavour. Close tribute to the famous Driving an amp harder brings on three-pickupper with a massive rock chords and scorching bolt-on maple neck, choice of maple or rosewood leads. the standard cobra seemed a board, a tremolo, three little better at the wailing brian may- single coils and lots of The regular-size Tri-Sonics style sound, but this impression changes suitable colours available give this a guitar a very when you start to fiddle with the tone rrp: £325 different flavour controls. Designer alan Entwistle has Vintage voiced each of the two circuits slightly v6 icon pickups for players wanting to add brash than the standard cobra. once differently, giving good potential for Value-packed triple single-coil guitar in the burns character to another brand of plugged in, the difference between smoothing and filtering to create all familiar double-cut style, instrument without having to modify the two instruments is even greater manner of classic lead sounds. the King and pre-aged too the body. in order to retain the same than expected – perhaps illustrating cobra also performs well with pedal rrp: £299 character the design continues to use the difference body timber can make. distortion, and it works fine with very a pair of ceramic magnets and a loose Whereas the cobra’s bridge pickup processed lead sounds. wire coil, and as they retail at £120 a sounded a little flat in the midrange, set, you can begin to see what good the King cobra rings like a bell, making Verdict value the King cobra represents. it ideal for clear, bright chords and the King cobra is pretty superb; the the controls include a master volume intricate picking. regular cobra is a solid performer, but and individual tones for the neck and all the basic pickup voices are this King version offers some of the middle pickups. a five-way switch gives very good, with each offering a nuances and refinements of an the usual selections, but there’s an slightly different version of this richly instrument from a much higher price extra: if you pull up on the lowermost detailed clarity. the ‘out of phase’ bracket. it also sounds distinctly like a tone control, the neck pickup is added positions deliver plenty of pick edge burns, so it’s a great way to add a to whichever switch selection you click and a funky quack that’s at least unique character to your guitar stash happen to have chosen (unless it’s as pronounced as on the Fender without busting the bank. the mini already on, of course). this gives you equivalent. the neck pickup is smooth tri-Sonics really do nail the character of two additional voices: neck/bridge, and and rich with a broad-spectrum the larger-format original versions, and neck/middle/bridge. both the standard sound that delivers clear mids and the result is great fun to work with. if cobra and marquee are wired like this. a polished low-end. things get even you’re a player who likes to use an better when you pull up the tone pot; infinite array of clean and slightly sounds singer-songwriters and lovers of jazzy distorted voices, this guitar will the cobra has a bright, clear acoustic and melodic playing will appreciate continue to surprise you; punky, thrashy signature, and our initial impression is the neck/bridge sound, and the ability players will love its rhythm style, but it that the tone is a little warmer and less to dial in all three pickups at the same also delivers more traditional lead sounds, and it gives good brian may – a See-through logo and A push-pull tone knob truss rod cover add a adds the neck pickup to sound that you can’t really nail without nice ’60s touch any selector position tri-Sonics. at this price it’s excellent value, so if you’re in the market for an instrument under £350, you need to check one out. FINAL SCORE burNS club SEriES KiNG cobra Build Quality 18 / 20 Playability 18 / 20 Sound 18 / 20 Value for money 18 / 20 Looks 18 / 20 total 90% 54 Guitar & bass NovEmbEr 2014.