
Burns, founded in 1959, is one of the iconic British guitar brands. A video has recently been shared by Atlas Obscura of these classic electrics being fashioned in 1965 in their Essex factory.
Watch a video from the Burns guitar factory in 1965. Complete with a jaunty jazz soundtrack and preposterously posh voiceover, it’s a real delight.
As the guitar moves through the assembly line, you get to see the initial shaping of the body and recesses being carved out for the pickups.
Then the guitar moves onto the fretwork phase and finishes up with the glowing paint job. They make it look so easy!
While marvelling at the “Two miles of fine wire in each of these music boxes” the narrator goes onto lament that all this craftsmanship is only for creating a “bedlam of adolescent noise.”
This peek into the production of these instruments is a window and into the infancy of rock and roll, where electric guitars could’ve been seen as a passing phase.
Check out the Burns website for more background.