the science of badges

Not to often you´ll get the chanse to test a load of guitars. I´ve done it before and then once again today. 

 "Applause C30"

"Ovation Elite USA"

My main reason for wisiting the guitarshop was the intention to swap My Ovation and Applause roundback guitars, to something that I prefered. (Never understood the thing about those roundbacks-ugly).

Instead I found me self playing like mad on different Fender-isch guitars. Most of em Fenders or Squire´s but also a couple of copies made inte never land. 

"Fender Jauar"

"Fender Jazzmaster" (800£)

Started of with my own favorites among the Fender´s- The Jaguar and Jazzmaster once the top of the line at Fender, now a days something rather cheap. All tested with the same amplifier and settings. 

"Squire Jaguar" (350£)

Then the Stratocasters, one of them a signed extreme at the price of 2000,oo£ +. down to cheap China made copies at 100£, 

"Fender Stratocaster 1960" extremly expensive.

As Im not a Strat-fanatic I didnt mind the sticker on the headstock. didnt even bother about it, just looked at the finish, the playability, the sound and the rest.

"Ibanez Stratocaster Lawsuit 1972"

Leaving the shop a Squire Jaguar and a set of new Gotho tuners was a bargain at less the 350 £. And there was several great Strats at less the 500. A Stratocaster at 2000+ £ seamed at that point as a fully loaded robbery, with no sense at all. the sticker could be bought för a couple of pounds at ebay. 

"Fender Stratocaster Jaguar edition 5000£"

So in my very own oppinion the buisness with Strats is totaly mad. Making people belive that they buy high quality and the best sounding guitar ever with the right sticker on the headstock. I for one doesnt belive that anymore.

Left the shop with the f-ing Ovation and a Strat. The applause was swapped for a really nice Strat-ish guitar. 

"Rämje Stratocaster"

the body wasnt painted but showed the fine structure of some kind of wood, looking great. The neck strait and perfect for me fingers. 

Pickups sounding as well as the most expensive Strat, and a tremolo that must make Strat owners mad out of jeloasy, a real good one similar to the orginal Strats but working perfectly. 

"Rämje ES335"

the brand was a swedish importer brand, a former producer and importer of harmoniums imported a thousand guitars in the 70-80 ies. this is one of them. A Strat that is really good value for the money and also a true competition to the originals. 

As good as my Burns guitars? To be honest - NO not a chanse. but during the years I have owned really bad Burns guitars thats for sure.

the art of noice

There´s no doubt about, the so called Studio of mine is pure pleasure. The small guesthouse formely used as a storageroom, was to when we moved in used for carparts. Almost a ton of old parts filled the house. 

Until the day when me love Lise-lott asked me why I didnt convert the guesthouse to a musicstudio.



As You already seen here on different pics, suddenly the guesthouse was my studio. A studi in constant change, where music gadgets is connected to each others in hope to create a possibility for making music.



All in all hours been spent och soldering cables, to properly connect all the electronic parts together. 



But what was it about Good Soil that God gave us? Somehow He seam to have ginven me bad soil (bad earth) somewhere among all those cables and gadgets theres a bad noicy earth connection, that make the whole system sound bad. Lucky for me theres some kind of noicereduction system included in my AudaCity music studio program. But I would rather have the whole system silent from the start. 



So today I spent a couple of hours re-routing all cables, moving the best mixer unit in to the controlroom. all with the hope that the noice would dissapere. But someone up there possibly told me, dont even think about such an easy sollution. so the search goes on until a sollution is found.


 
In hope to test the, well new system layout I recorded a song, one of me all time favorites. And after several attemts to play everything right (havnt yet understand how to cut pieces out and replace them) so my way  of doing the job is exactly the same as when I use a reel to reel taperecorder.



Then its was time to play a bassline, a natural struggle (Im no bassplayer) but after app 10 test it sounded fair, if not even good. Even if I while listening to the recorded channels could hear some kind of reverb that wasnt included. Might be caused by the room and all speaker cabs, I use a microphone in front of the huge basscabinet. So tomorrow new test is scedeled.





The problem seams to be solved. On the other hand in me colelction of gadgets I already told about the new Fuzz-boz. The Burns Buzzaround Clone (the original are extremly rare and one was sold a couple of monthes ago at 5500,oo$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I built me clone me self with assistans from an electronic freind.



Maybe something weird happened today. Was connected to NuMuBu a Canadian-International site for musicians. Listen to a woman singing such a fantastic ballad. Sounded almost like randy Crawfford.

 It made me think about one of me songs, and how it may sound if She sing it? A mail to her where I told that I liked her song and also asked if she might be interessted in my songs. 

A couple of hours later I got a mail answer from Califorina where She said she would be happy to listen and eventually record my songs, if she found a liking to them. so next step will be to send her the lyrics and an mp3 song.

fingers crossed.....

"new - old sound"

In a way I seam to have missed Great artist like Jimi Hendrix. Those guys made their guitars sound awful (at least that was what I thought during that time), 

I did prefer the clean guitar sound of players like Chet Atkins, Les Paul and why no Hank B Marvin. Often with loads of echo as a part of their sound.

So what happens, the Youngster become´s a Man, hmm partly an old Man and suddenly their seam to be an urgent need in his own guitar sound for DISTORTION!!!!!! 

Somehow I ended up with a Behringer Bass Over Drive, conected it to me guitars and there it was, for me a new sound. Not the perfect sound that kept ringing in my ears, but at least something similar. The gadget was set up to give only a small part of distortion.

The Bison guitar plugged to the OverDrive and then a lead to me Burns Orbit amp. But something in this chain of sound seaméd to be wrong. Suddenly I remembered that even Burns did produce a distortion pedal, or a Fuzz box as it was often called during the 60-ies.

So I started to search for everything that was written about this box. The Burns Buzzaround, already the name of the gadget seamed perfet for my purpose. I found pictures of the real thing but also pictures and electronic schematics that would make it possible to make my own "Buzzaround" Clone.

Even if once upon a time my electronic skills was great, today it scare´s the hell out of me to even try solving an electronic fault. So a call to my electronic freind PEO was made, maybe he could help. Sent him the schematics and got a quick answer. 

-Well I do have everything you need, and I did solder the parts together. IT SOUND LIKE SHIT!!!!! YOU DONT WANT THIS GADGET CONNECTED TO YOUR GUITAR, DO YOU?

So in the meantime I constructed a nice suitible box looking at least partly as the orginal box. Painted it with original Double Six grey metallic paint (Daimler D6 that is) and in a short while the box looked really nice. 

To end it of I even put a Burns badge on top of the thing!

The holes for the three controls have not yet been drilled. It also seam to be in need of a flashy "BUSSAROUND" sticker in front.

Hopefulle the electronics will arrive next week and I will have my first opportunity in life to play me guitar with the sound of an Original Burns Buzzaround.

 

 The original from the 60-ies has even found an Original Clone if the form a the Burns Buzzaround made app 2000.

"the new amp" once again!!!

Anyway, the Burns Orbit Two amplifier has settled in at "dare studio´s" and is as such a work in progress. One of its two 10" speakers is exchanged, still missing one, but as soon as I can fit it into my rather small budget the last speaker will be mounted in the cabinet.

Anyway a bit more then a month ago, yet another Burns amplifier was on sale at the Swedish market. A Burns Orbit Three Double Twelve! Its name is as big as a f-ing storm and would have been perfect on a US - car  of the 60-ies.

In a couple of minutes the owner was contacted, where He told it was for sale to highest bidder!  There went my chanses to buy it up in smoke. He also told that He already did get a couple of offers, but all of them was ridiculus. Asking me I told the truth! Yes I want to buy You amp, No I have no money what so ever at this moment. The amplifier could be worth anything between 50,oo£ to 6-700,oo£!! 

What would you pay if you have the money, he then asked. I told him that app 250-300 £ was okey. A minute later we agreed to make a deal, I was to send him a down payment and as soon as I could collect the amp and pay the remaining money.

So Me love, two daughters and I went way up north to wisit me father-mother in law and natuarly we stopped to collect the amplifier.  

It was almost mindblowing to turn on the power switch the next day, in hope to test it for the first time. Natuarly it did work, hmm exept the reverb that seam to dissapere every now and then.

the Orbit Three double twelve has since then been performing great, with a fully working reverb unit.

So up until now it seams that Ive started a collection of Burns Amplfiers, and guitars. With two guitar combos in the house, next step would be to find a PA amplifier and some speaker cabinets. Those are extremly rare and therefor hard to find.

more Burns

During me quick stop in Stockholm there was time for rehersal with Johan and Martin. Everything went great, and among all Johans gadgets was an old mixer. Unfortinutly the power unit was missing, but I took it home in hope to find such a unit. Phonecalls and internet search  gave almost no correct answer, but at last i found a company who could order one for me. 

Wisiting a rather new freind of mine (a Burns Man) gav me the possibility to borrow a power unit suited for a similar Behringer mixer. Luck was with me and natuarly my new mixer worked as supposed to.  So now i only have to wait for the power unit Ive ordered.

I also found a sollution to my microphone problem, and used some wood to make a suitible microphone holder to use when recording the sound of an amplifier. Might not look 100% pro but still works perfect.

new site

During the last month´s or so Ive been involved in writing about Burns Amplifiers and gadgets. The result is a website entirely about this subject.

BURNS AMP´s

welcome