Show us your Burmans

[gronkadelic]

Haha well you could certainly fry an egg on the back in seconds! I could do a full english breakfast for the band after gigs! (Don't let them hear that though! They'll expect it on a twice weekly basis!)

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='gronkadelic' post='671780' date='Dec 2 2009, 01:54 AM']The matching 4x12 I've just got off ebay from North East bassist Ian Thompson[/quote]

Great guy, great player!

[agoulding]

These must have hefty price tags. Want.

[rogtehdodge]

I have a Burman 502 for sale if anyone's interested. It's in very good nick and has just been serviced by Steve of Steve's Amps fame. I'm asking £450 & it's in Bristol

[joegarcia]

[quote name='rogtehdodge' post='753378' date='Feb 21 2010, 11:28 PM']I have a Burman 502 for sale if anyone's interested. It's in very good nick and has just been serviced by Steve of Steve's Amps fame. I'm asking £450 & it's in Bristol[/quote]

Ooooh. I'm in Bristol and don't remotely need it. Would love it though, trade for a 501 and cash?

[kayjay]

[quote name='joegarcia' post='585182' date='Aug 30 2009, 03:00 PM']Also, if anyone ever sells one of their Pro 4000's I really really want it![/quote]

hello there - just seen your post - i have a burman pro4000 that i am going to sell if you are interested - as far as i know everything is original serial no. E9853 and flight cased - i am going to advertise it on ebay but perhaps you would like to make an offer

thanks kayjay

[joegarcia]

[quote name='joegarcia' post='585180' date='Aug 30 2009, 03:55 PM']Quick pic of my pair:

[attachment=31890:P1000973.JPG]

Top to bottom..

GPA guitar preamp
SL100 100w power amp
MPA PA preamp
SL100 100w power amp

Will get some gut shots soon. The GPA is a bit crackly at the moment but the MPA sounds great for guitar or bass. Gonna get them both serviced and revalved with KT77's when I can afford it.

Big thanks to The Bass Doc for them both, really pleased with them![/quote]

Thinking of selling the above GPA preamp and one of the SL100's. PM me if anybody's interested.

[pete.young]

[quote name='joegarcia' post='789893' date='Mar 29 2010, 08:40 PM']Thinking of selling the above GPA preamp and one of the SL100's. PM me if anybody's interested.[/quote]
Dunno about that Joe, but if you're interested in trading your Pro 501 for my Pro 2000 drop me a PM!

[joegarcia]

[quote name='pete.young' post='790007' date='Mar 29 2010, 09:52 PM']Dunno about that Joe, but if you're interested in trading your Pro 501 for my Pro 2000 drop me a PM![/quote]

PM's coming.

[JPJ]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='657147' date='Nov 17 2009, 05:11 PM']I'm pretty sure that's true. Greg Burman had a request from local eccentric bass player, the late 'Bumper Brown' to build a 4x18" cabinet. He duly did and found it would not fit through the shop door when finished. I imagine some part of the doorway surround had to be removed.

Fancy standing in front of the cab when 'Bumper' wacked a bottom E! It was the 70s when flared trousers were all the rage so that's when I reckon the expression 'trouser-flapping bass' was coined.[/quote]

Did that cab ever leave the shop? I remember there being a cab in the empty shop just before the Handyside closed down, often wondered why it was there?

[Conan]

[b]"Gan doon canny wi' Borman!"[/b][i][/i]

Is it just a Geordie orban myth, or was that really used as a marketing phrase?

[url="http://www.burmanamps.fsnet.co.uk/"]http://www.burmanamps.fsnet.co.uk/[/url]

Edited March 30, 2010 by Conan

[The Bass Doc]

The local saying was in fact 'Gan doon darza wi' Burman'.

As to the legendary 4x18 cab, the top of the door frame (fixed window type) had to be taken out to enable the cab to leave the shop - I'm sure it did actually gig at some point.

[Conan]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='790704' date='Mar 30 2010, 03:36 PM']The local saying was in fact 'Gan doon darza wi' Burman'.[/quote]

I stand corrected.... and indeed impressed!!

[Kiwi]

Gregg just emailed me today out of the blue which thrilled me to bits. I hope my reply wasn't too waffly but I was more than a bit star struck.

[pete.young]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='793942' date='Apr 2 2010, 12:43 AM']Gregg just emailed me today out of the blue which thrilled me to bits. I hope my reply wasn't too waffly but I was more than a bit star struck.[/quote]
Apologising for the permanent sound track on the new website?

[Kiwi]

LOL, which site is that?

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='793942' date='Apr 2 2010, 12:43 AM']Gregg just emailed me today out of the blue which thrilled me to bits. I hope my reply wasn't too waffly but I was more than a bit star struck.[/quote]
Ah, good. I spoke to him last week and gave him a gentle nudge

[Kiwi]

thankee soir

[pete.young]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='796024' date='Apr 4 2010, 09:19 PM']LOL, which site is that?[/quote]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=83165"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=83165[/url]

[Kiwi]

aaaaah, its back.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='790704' date='Mar 30 2010, 02:36 PM']As to the legendary 4x18 cab, the top of the door frame (fixed window type) had to be taken out to enable the cab to leave the shop - I'm sure it did actually gig at some point.[/quote]
Howard, I asked Gregg about that cab and this was his reply which I felt compelled to share (with his permission):

[b]So did you remember making that 4x18 cab for Bumper Brown? Did it ever get an airing at a gig? [/b]

[i]Where do I start? We built it in our first workshop in Handyside arcade, no 59. It had a inch and a half front and the same for the back which was built like a safe door. We fitted the loudspeakers with the cab lying on the floor of the workshop and fitted the "safe door" back. We could feel the pressurised air in the cab hissing out as the back slowly seated in. We then realised that we couldn't lift it! We had to wait until the next day when 6 arcade workmen could help us lift it upright and then we tested it.

We used a Burman SL100 powerpack, pre amp and a Fender Precision bass. We connected everything and I hit the bottom open E string and the whole system went dead. (Were the loudspeakers too much for the amp or what? The amp was still on so what was the problem?) Then we could all smell gas! The pressure of air escaping from the sealed cab had 'spat' the jack plug out of the socket on the back of the cab! I think we were then one of the first companies to use EP series XLR connectors to our big cabs. The high pressured stream of air had blown out an industrial gas fire about 8 feet away in one split second long, quarter inch wide jet of air.

By the way, try and get a copy of 'The Nice' book, Keith Emerson's bass player mentions his 4x12 and 4x15 in 1 cab as well! The cab was his idea but I got the blame from their roadies! When they were on tour I would get calls in the middle of the night from Baz Ward (tour manager) obviously at the gig. The phone would ring, wake me up, and all he would say was

"Burman, you're a bastard", and then he would hang up!

Anyway, a local band called 'This Years Girl' wanted to try it so they took it to the Lacarno Ballroom in Sunderland for a gig. I gave strict instructions DO NOT SWITCH IT ON UNTIL I GET THERE! As I arrived the bass player had switched on the amp, plugged in his bass and was about to pluck the bottom E string.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! Everything went slow motion as i moved towards him. He hit the string and all the glasses of the previous nights drinking just disappeared from the top of a grand piano. I don't mean vibrated off the top, they actually disappeared and smashed to the floor!! Light fittings in the ceiling fell out and crashed to the floor! Worse still, people standing by the bar at the back of the room looked like they were vomiting beer!!

I turned from the stage area and ran towards these people. As i ran from the stage to the bar, an distance of about 20 yards, i could feel the air waves of low frequency going up and down my body which made me feel nauseous. At the bar, the bass was punching and hitting everyone including me in the throat! I discovered that the people at the bar weren't being sick as such, they were physically incapable of swallowing their beer!

I managed to reach the main switch behind the bar and everthing came to an abrupt end. Of course the bass player turned round oblivious to the mayhem and destruction that had happened. To him the sound on stage had sounded normal but the cab was producing ultra low frequency that is unaudible to the human ear but can destroy your internal organs at high volumes! I can't remember Bumper Brown taking delivery of the cab! In fact I can't remember much at all after that episode - it's a blank.[/i]

[The Bass Doc]

That's fascinating CK. We can't ask Bumper Brown for any info 'cos he died a while ago.

If that cabinet still exists, it is likely to be occupied by a family of illegal immigrants somewhere in Newcastle's West End.

[wateroftyne]

Ace story!

By the way, here's a video of Bumper Brown. His 60s band, The Chosen Few, reunited for a TV show in the early 80s.



Burman 4x18 notable by it's absence...

[Kiwi]

If you go to 6:38 you can see a Pro4000 head and matching cab though.

If any of you have Burman stories, particularly involving Gregg that he might not remember, feel free to share too.

[The Bass Doc]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='798539' date='Apr 7 2010, 11:37 AM']If any of you have Burman stories, particularly involving Gregg that he might not remember, feel free to share too.[/quote]

As a frequent visitor to Gregg's place I may know too much.

Not particularly gear related, but he could be asked about the time he experimented going without sleep at night. His lovely (and long-suffering) wife Margaret may not remember that period with any fondness.