Steer Review

The steer was described in the USA guitar magazine as a new guitar with bizarre beauty because of its original design and sound-hole feature-catching the eye immediatly.

Features:	9
Sound:	9
Action:	8.5
Reliability:	8
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.7
Users rating:	5.5

overall: 8.2

Reviewed by: Tcoldsteel, on may 26, 2008

Price paid: $ 640.5

Purchased from: imuso

Features: It's a guitar 'made in China' last year. 2 tone pots. 1 master volume. 3-way selector. Tap-coil Switch (loving this feature)lets you Switch from a humbucker to a er, not-humbucker pick-up. Excellent hard-case, kinda silver crocodile skin (! ) and a superb black leather 'Burns' strap. Also all the Allan keys you'll need for minor adjustments, a cleaning cloth and some written bumph telling you how excellent Burns' is. Excellent finish and quality overall. Love the tap-coil option (whoever heard of being able to turn a humbucker off? ), makes a much thinner trebly sound which I love (good lead sound too). I can't fault the freebies that come with this guitar (Probably more than I've ever got with any other guitar I've bought) like 'free' popadoms or prawn crackers. I like that it says 'Burns of London' but is 'made in China'. Go figure. I thought I was supporting British industry. // 10

Sound: Apart from the bloody fret-buzz. I play mostly bluesy /Bragg, electric-folk / blah-blah-blah. I knew what to expect when I bought this and definitely no punk/grunge sound is forthcoming. In fact, I've had problems getting feedback from this bloody thing. This is for this. Country players will love this guitar I suspect. I got the cutaway version which offers much more access to the higher frets so lead is possible. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: Overall a well finished instrument. Glossy and gaudy (why I bought it) with no sharp, infinished corners or dodgy paint-job. A lovely looking guitar. Very shiny. I can't fault the cosmetic appearance of this beauty. I do think this guitar needs serious attention before it leaves the factory though. I've seen other reviews that say the truss rod needs adjusting. I concur. I bought this from the factory and I think I will need to take this to a tech. There's awful fret-buzz all over the neck. Only the look of this instrument makes up for any technical faults. Take heed Burns! I've tried adjusting the saddles but then broke 2 strings cos they were over-stretched at the bridge. The only reason I mark it down is cos' I'm gonna have to spend on having it adjusted (I'm not that technical), maybe some of you guys reading this will be able to fix this on your own. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I've never played it 'Live'. I changed the strap-button for locking ones. It is top heavy and the neck will go ground-ward if you use the supplied strap (black leather lined with white fake fur, beautiful but not that practical). Solid hardware apart from the neck pick-up. I noticed the pick-up descending after a few weeks and needed to tighten the screws to keep it in place (is this normal? ) cos' it nearly fell inside the body. Unfortunately it has left me wanting a solid-body guitar as well as I feel that this couldn't take too much punishment. It feels more like a solid (meaning sturdy) electro-accoustic than a main guitar. I see myself sitting down to play this. // 7

Impression: I've owned several guitars (cheap LP copy, a few Teles and an Epiphone Sheraton 2) and and this is definitely the weirdest and possibly most versatile. We'll see if this changes after I've had it adjusted. I forgot to mention that the paint has chipped a bit from around the 'earwig' headstock. God knows how this happened. To be honest, I probably wouldn't buy it again if it was lost or stolen. For £350 (nearly $700) I could probably get a different guitar, like a Gordon Smith, but I'm aware that 'idiosyncracies' can add to a guitar's attraction. Be happy. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on october 31, 2007

Purchased from: GAK

Features: The Burns Steer was originally made in the early '80s/late '70s, but as it was very popular, Burns decided to re-make them in 2004. It is made with a maple neck. It has Burns everything. Burns tuning pegs, bridge, pickups. The pickups are; Burns Tri-sonic, and a burns hum buckers. This guitar features a sound hole feature, which gives the guitar a deeper sound, however this is not a semi-acoustic. // 8

Sound: I play this guitar through my Laney Extreme 35. This guitar (on the bass setting) can give a really nice bass-y sound. This is ideal for the type of music I play mostly, which is stuff like Billy Bragg, and solo things, and it gives you practically a bass guitar with it. Great for things like that, however it can also play things such as My Chemical Romance, with no problem. Not a great guitar for playing solos, as it is designed to have an acoustic feel, so there is not easy access to the higher frets. I think the most I've been up to is 19 without any problems. But overall, it's a great sounding guitar. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up extremely well, and when I got it, the action was perfect. I had to move the pickups slightly down, as they were a bit too high, but not a major problem. The guitar didn't have any flaws, and I've had it for 2 years now, and there have been no problems what so ever. The wood is really nice, and with a bit of buffing it, it looks really nice and shiny, great looking guitar, with great action. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar withstands Live playing brilliantly. I've had it 2 years, and there's never been a problem. The strap buttons got a bit loose after the first year, but a bit of tightening with a screwdriver and they've never been a problem since. I would definitely use this on a gig with no backup, as it's such a great guitar, and there's never been a problem with it. The finish has stayed on, and is still looking strong, and great, as I said earlier, the only scratches on it are from when I wore a studded belt, and it went a bit bad. // 9

Impression: My overall impression is that this guitar is great for whatever you want. Looks slightly strange, but good with the sound hole feature. I love the really great sound you can get with it. I just love everything about it really. Great guitar. I highly recommend it. // 10