The instrument is short scale and the neck is absolutely rock solid inspite of being fairly narrow and shallow. Unusually the 'binding' is aluminium. The head is symmetrical, two a side and tapering to a slight point.The bridge is another idiosyncratic Burns device. It looks like a cross between a tune-o-matic and some 1970s central heating control - but it works perfectly well. I think the whole thing is supposed to look 'streamlined' and 'aerodynamic' - I'm not sure it looks either but it is very distinctive and to my eye looks very stylish in its own, typically Burns like oddball way.

The chunky pickups put out plenty of signal and the tone controls are effective enough (I never use them anyway). The instrument has a fairly low middly sound which, with a bit of amp tweaking can producing an astonishingly deep bass for an instrument that looks so weedy. Tweak the tone in the opposite direction, however and you'll find that the tone can sound a bit weak. It's passable but it doesn't quite sing out. In summary I would say that the tone is very good in the low middle range and is only limited at the bottom end by the insuperable issue of the limited scale length. You can get very nice deep bass out of it but you can't get a low E kick-in the-head sound. You couldn't for instance drive a giant rock group with it. Neither could you sing out with a lot of twiddling. What it does very well, however is fit in with a wide range of music where you need a solid lower mid rhythmic punctuation approach.

The neck is oustanding. It's small width and depth makes it very easy to get around and it always feels 100 per cent solid and imperturbable. The body is incredibly light and perfectly balanced and the instrument is almost unnoticeable to wear. If you can live with the sonic limitations of a short scale instrument you'll find that this guitar is very easy to play and live with.

In summary I'd say that this is not a versatile instrument or one for muso twiddling, but that it does what it does well. The short scale means ease of playability (and transport) that isn't to be sniffed at but obviously it can't kick at the bottom end with rock god power. And, importantly it's a Burns and so comes with it's own very distinctive looks and styling. I've never seen another bass like it. If you're on the Burns wavelength you'll love it. If you're not then you'll probably just be bemused.

Construction	95%
Playability	100%
Appearance	100%
Sound	90%
fr what it does well, 75 for the rest
Value	100%
Overall	95%
but it's definitely either 'you' or not