Edwyn Collins

Edwyn is playing a Burns Nu-Sonic guitar.

Used on "A Girl Like You", as specified on Macari's Sola Sound Bum Fuzz product page. Collins' unit was the basis for the replica.

REPLICA OF EDWYN'S 'GIRL LIKE YOU' FUZZ

So why the BUM FUZZ ? - well legend has it that a 'U' sticker was put over the '&' on the original making it into the BUM Fuzz - we thought that was pretty cool so we went with it .

Well we took Edwyns unit and replicated it - well David Main of D*A*M replicated it . .

Part section and specification on this first run are all based exactly upon Edwyn's own personal B&M Fuzz Unit. Resistor values and even potentiometer types can vary greatly within the vintage units so performance and tone can differ greatly from one example to the next. These reissues are built with exacting attention to tonal detail so those raunchy and sleazy fuzz tones are easily achieved. The circuit's are loaded with gain selected BC184 silicon transistors that offer a very low signal to noise ratio. The fuzz tone is smooth with a broad and very even EQ balance. The lows are full and chunky, the highs a bright tangly sizzle. The available sustain goes from a dirty low gain drive tone to a full-on high energy fuzz. The Sola Sound BUM Fuzz Unit is simple but very versatile fuzz box that is equally at home with a small tube driven combo or larger high powered amplification.

Colorsound Tonebender is included in this diagram of Edwyn's setup.

MXR Micro Amp is included in this diagram of Edwyn's setup.

Fender Vibro-Lux combo amplifier is included in this diagram of Edwyn's setup.

“When I was in my first group, Orange Juice, I got a Gretsch Blackhawk. I saw the advert in the Glasgow Evening Times and got it for £115 in 1979. It has great pickups.”

Edwyn’s bargain-hunting prowess was on top form when he bought his 1964 Fender Stratocaster in Denmark Street in 1989 for £800. Stripped of its original finish, this authentic L-Series Strat has the battle scars to prove its worth. “It’s a lovely guitar, and pre-CBS,” he says. “You could just about make out its sunburst when I got it.”

Included in this diagram of Edwyn's setup.

His white 1965 Telecaster, for example, has kept its place in his guitar roster because of its unique sound, but only just. “Everybody loves that guitar; Roddy Frame [Aztec Camera] in particular,” he says. “But the back pickup isn’t a Tele pickup; it’s from a Strat, so it gives it a unique sound. It was like that when I got it.”

Boss TU-12 is included in this diagram of Edwyn's setup.

Boss DD-3 is included in this diagram of Edwyn's setup.

Edwyn says in this interview that he has a 1958 Gretsch Anniversary.

A trio of Gibsons in the live room have a similar aura, with each bearing the tell-tale signs of a much-loved instrument. Edwyn picks out a beautiful L-00. Known for its bright tone and quick response, the guitar is suited for fingerstyle country-blues, although he maintains it can handle anything. “It has a V-shaped neck,” he explains, “but it’s light. It has everything. It plays beautifully. I still play it from time to time working out chords, choruses and verses. It’s magical.”

It was an introduction to Pete Q Harris, in-house engineer at Battery, that broke down Edwyn's resistance to hi-tech. "I was a bit trepidatious at first, but when he showed me round the Fairlight III, I thought it was fantastic. I didn't realise the potential for plunder."

Four songs were demoed at Battery, and Grace took these around the record companies. Numerous business lunches later, Edwyn was better fed but no better off — apart from a Teac 8-track. "Chrysalis, they're insane. They just gave me £2000 to buy a 388, that 8-track with its own desk. This was to do demoes and the contract was that if they didn't like the demoes, I got to keep the machine. They didn't like them. I was learning how to use the 388 at the time, which might explain it, as I'm not the world's best home recordist."

Edwyn wrote 'Don't Shilly Shally', his first solo single, just after the demise of Orange Juice, using his 1965 Telecaster, a Drumatix and a TEAC 244 portastudio. "I had this relentless driving rhythm all the way through, with the bass drum on the first three beats and the snare on the last.

Edwyn wrote 'Don't Shilly Shally', his first solo single, just after the demise of Orange Juice, using his 1965 Telecaster, a Drumatix and a TEAC 244 portastudio. "I had this relentless driving rhythm all the way through, with the bass drum on the first three beats and the snare on the last.

Edwyn Collins is seen using a Burns Marvin Electric Guitar in a performance of "A Girl Like You" on Top Of The Pops in 1995, as shown in a YouTube video from his official channel.

"I always write on guitar. I've got lots. I've this [the blue Jazzmaster, as featured in the nice photographs by Mr Sheehan] which dates from about 1962. I often use a Gretsch Black Hawk on stage; it's a model below the White Falcon, which it was discontinued in favour of. I foolishly had mine resprayed pink [a Pink Hawk? Surely not...]. But I think I'll get it sprayed black again. I used that on all the Postcard singles, that and a black Burns Nu-Sonic which I picked up for £40. The Gretsch cost me £115 from an old man in Glasgow, who put an ad in the Evening Times — it must be worth over £600 list price, a real bargain."