Burny RLG

Mid 80's - early 90's Japanese-made Gibson Les Paul Custom 'clone'. Burny is made by Fernandes as their Gibson copy line. Vintage Gibson-like features such as: deeply carved maple top, medium chunky neck shape, fret-edge binding, medium frets, mahogany body, solid mahogany neck, maple top, and gold hardware. The guitar was originally equipped with the now infamous 'VH-1' PAF-style pickups. The tuners are ultra-smooth operating Gotoh brand with tulip shaped buttons. I grade this Burny a '10'. It's everything an almost-vintage Les Paul Custom needs to be.

This Burny Les Paul Custom copy is on-par with the Gibsons that were being offered in the late 80's and early 90's. The guitar originally came equipped with VH-1 PAF-copy humbuckers, but my guitar was fitted with Seymour Duncans some time ago....'59' model in the neck position, and a 'Custom' in the bridge position. I've used these pickups in other other guitars, and they sound incredible.....rich and full without being too mushy when overdriven hard. Definition is key, and these pickups have it. The guitar resonates like a quality vintage guitar should, even though the finish is understood to be 'poly' or 'urethane', instead of the proper nitrocellulose lacquer. It looks and sounds like lacquer to me. I have a newer Burny Les Paul Custom that definitely has the urethane finish, and it looks and feels a LOT more plastic-y than the old Burny does. I'd like to learn a little more about the older Burny finishes.

Fit and finish is FAR better than the 2 70's genuine Gibson Les Paul Customs I had. If the Gibsons had felt, looked, and played this good, I'd still own them! This Burny is a great guitar. I can't think of any way it could be improved. It is lighter than the Gibson LP Customs of the same era, and plays every bit as good. Now, many folks will tell you that Burnys are superior to Gibsons, period. That's merely opinion, and is very subjective. I currently own a '91 Gibson Les Paul Classic flametop that flat out SMOKES. I swapped the original ceramic mag pickups out for a set of Seymour Duncan '59's, and feel that the guitar is now perfect. The nitro lacquer finish is aging nicely, and the guitar has a very woody resonance that gets compliments every time I can take it on a gig. I also own an '04 Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus AAA that is awesome. The BurstBuckers are incredible sounding pickups. The '04 Gibson is flawless in the fit and finish department, but then again, it IS a $2500 guitar. For THAT kind of coin, it better be awesome. Anyway, it is, and that's why I own it.

The guitar is on the verge of being vintage, and has held up VERY well so far. I don't expect any major issues.

I was in the market for a Les Paul Custom, but wasn't ready to drop $3000+. I saw the Burnys on eBay, and thought I'd give them a shot. I purchased 2 - this one, and a newer Korean-made model. The Korean-made model will soon be resold, but THIS mid-80's to early-90's Burny is a keeper. I'd recommend the older models to any experienced guitarist that in the market for a quality, on-the-verge-of-vintage Les Paul Custom clone. The newer Burny models are fine for someone who doesn't really know the difference between higher quality guitars, and run-of-the-mill quality guitars (think modern Epiphone, ESP, Schecter). I also own a '91 Paul Reed Smith Custom that is absolutely phenomenal, as well as the other 2 Gibson Les Pauls that I mentioned.........I played a 06/07 New Year's gig, and the old Burny saw the most action while my '04 Gibson Standard Premium Plus AAA flametop sat in the stand and looked pretty. ;)