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Burman GX3 Pre-Amp

Article from Music UK, January 1983

The Burman GX3 pre-amp — Gary Cooper hears a revolution — will he award high Marx



Despite not being the sort of manufacturer whose equipment is in every high street music shop (very far from it, in fact) Newcastle's Greg Burman has one of the most prestigious names in the amplification business. That reputation is largely founded on the fact that Greg's amps have seen service with any number of pro bands, among whom Thin Lizzy (on the guitar side) figure very prominently.

Apart from a build-quality which ensures a reliability record on the hard slog of World tours second to none, what attracts the players who use Burman amps to them is, needless to say, the sound they make. This is, perhaps, exemplified by his 100% valve approach — but even then, not just any old valve will do. He specifies those superb GEC KT Series valves, refusing to heed the arguments (excuses, some might say) of makers who fit dubious valves to lower the unit costs of their products. And what goes for valves goes for other components. Open-up a Burman 501 combo, for example, and you're opening-up a work of sheer beauty to an electronics engineer, or to anyone who can appreciate the quality of hand-wiring, sturdy chassis, high cost components properly assembled which epitomise these products.

But of course such quality doesn't come cheap and few retailers have stocked Burman's amps to date, leaving musicians who wanted them to usually have to go direct to Greg to get what they wanted.

But now Burman appear to have found a solution to getting that hyper-valve guitar sound out of their equipment — or out of their equipment and any other.

The unit in question is the newly launched Burman GX3 pre-amp, which I was privileged to be the first journalist to see when Greg left one with me recently to play around with.

The idea behind the GX3 is that most of us cannot afford to own the amplification equipment we'd ideally like (how true and how sad!). Thus we make do with something less ideal, descending on a scale of iniquity depending on how little money we have to spend on our equipment.

A couple of years back Greg was telling me that he found it frustrating that younger and poorer players were stuck with equipment which didn't let them get the perfect guitar sound. He could see (as we all can) that a poor quality amp can inhibit our growth as players, that most of us play better through an amp which responds properly and, especially for rock guitarists, many of the tricks and sounds used by the top players are only possible on high quality amps.

The outcome of all this was that, rather than make a cheapened Burman amp he retreated to his Tyneside fastness and spent month after month working on a valve pre-amp system which could be plugged into any (yes, I said any) amp and which would enable that amp to sound like a proper professional quality product. The dream of a madman? A kind dream to have had at any rate!



"THE DREAM OF A MADMAN? A KIND DREAM TO HAVE HAD AT ANY RATE!"


Anyway, when Greg visited me recently he had the GX3 with him. I'd been expecting a large unit, maybe something near the size of a normal 50watt head — but no, the GX3 was small, and very light to carry.

From a size point of view the GX3 half-rack mounts. That is to say that two of these devices side-by-side will fit into the normal width of a 19" rack system, a deliberate ploy for the studios (who are already buying the GX3's I gather). The sturdy little pre-amp features a lot of ideas which are simple to grasp, although using the unit properly takes a bit of time, as I discovered.

The GX3's front panel carries a relatively straightforward array of controls; at the top three red capped pots fitted with those easy to read yellow pointers (a typical Burman feature this). These are the three gain controls, so much an essential feature of all of Greg's amps and something which i'll cover more fully when I go on to describe how I learned to use my sample model. Following the three gains is a small switch with three settings — -8dB, 0dB and +4dB. Last along the top panel is a large red neon light showing on/off status.

Beneath this first tier of controls lie twin jack inputs (high and low) plus a slider switch marked 'amp', 'aux', and 'amp-aux'. These give the choice of which sound you use — your own amp's or the pre-amp's.

Next come a series of black tone pots (yellow pointered again for ease of sight on dark stages) which are marked on 1-10 scales covering bass, middle, treble and presence. A small slider sits between the middle and the treble pot and this allows a choice between having a narrow or single band of mid-frequencies boosted.

The back panel is an ergonomic delight, too. This has a small plastic on/off switch, an IEC mains inlet, a recessed voltage changeover switch, a 1 amp fuse and a series of jack sockets marked 1v line-out (which is what you jack into your normal amp), effects loop 'send' and 'return', 200mv pre-amp link/direct injection outlet and two sockets marked 'amp' and 'aux' plus a four pin socket for a footpedal (remote 9 volt powered) which enables digital switching to take place in set-ups where one amp is used with the GX3 and another without it — thus enabling you to switch between the two units.



"WHAT THE GX3 OFFERS IS A REALLY CHEAP WAY TO A PRO SOUND."


So, having set your Burman up on top of your combo, cab, or however you want to stack it, plugged your guitar in, then comes the business of setting it to get the sound out of it you want.

Perhaps a normal human reaction when confronted with any guitar amp is to whack your controls up full. That is not the way to use this unit. What in fact you have to do set all three gains flat and then start working with the last in the chain (which seems to function as some sort of pre-amp output level) and the first in the chain (perhaps a pre-amp input gain?). The middle of the three gains comes into effect when you want to begin to add distortion. Here you have to gauge very much the balance you want between the enormously variable effects which the GX3 can deliver. Turn it a shade too high and it's easy to initially convince yourself that you're running the dirtiest thing since Richard Nixon's last term of office. It's all a matter of trial and error initially, getting those three gains set to the point which makes your guitars and your amp sound right. At first it's not always easy, but, from my own varied tests, I can assure you that the sound is in there somewhere — and how!

So once you've grown used to the idea of the GX3's three gain operation, does it matter which model of amp/speakers you currently own? Well, yes I think it does. Greg's idea is that the GX3 will plug into any amp, from the driest old boot of a solid state cheapie to a vintage valve amp with just not quite enough meat in its acoustic stew, and make them all sound fine.

Well, I tried several amps and many instruments. Each amp needed a different setting on those three gains and tones, each guitar had to be assessed properly — but once you'd got there — well how often have you ever been able to soar away into feedback/sustain and sweet whine at a listening level guaranteed not to wake Grandpa snoring downstairs? I kid you not; 'men, it can be done' (as those ads used to say)!

With some amps I found that it was even possible to use their own tone controls along with the GX3's, adding just a shade more top here, a slice more upper-mid there, it all depended on what type of amp you were plugging the GX3 into. But finally I always got there, got a sound which I'd be happy to walk on stage with.

What the GX3 offers is a really cheap way to a pro sound. Instead of chopping your rather average 2x12 100 watt combo for a professional type (probably costing you well in excess of £400) you simply stick with what you've currently got and add-on a GX3. It's cheaper, more convenient and far more flexible. For example, one of the best tricks of the GX3 is that it enables you to switch from your amp plus the unit to your amp alone, which means that you are, in effect, gaining a twin channel amp, one channel of which is capable of sounding absolutely superb in a rock solo lead capacity (ie the GX3 channel). Furthermore, the unit will also drive straight into a tape recorder or a normal mixer, making it ideal for sound engineers who want to use guitarist's sounds un-miked. In fact bands could do without backlines altogether with a set of these GX3's whilst still getting that sought-after solo guitar sound or nice crunchy valve chords! What we've got here is what could well become a revolution in amplification if enough players realise its potential. For example, how about taking just GX3's on foreign tours — it won't matter which amps you hire when you get there — with the GX3 you will be guaranteed a good sound. Or, fancy real mega-death guitar power? Then link one of these to a heavy duty power amp (something like an HH V500, or Amcron DC300) and then through a whole pile of cabs — that's going to give the strongest weapon yet in the heavy guitarist's armoury! Technically, the unit is almost totally silent, (even the Eq when set up high makes hardly any noise), subjectively and from any point of view, the GX3 has got to be a very important introduction in this field.

Overall, the sound of the GX3 will produce ranges from the enhanced smooth cleanliness with warmth of the best valve amps right up till it overdrives into an obscene heavy sound. I tried my sample with many different amps and guitars and the unit never failed to sound anything less than breathtaking once I'd worked out which setting suited which guitar and which amp the best. Whichever way you fancy using a GX3, in my opinion you will be most unlikely to find a sound which you won't end up raving over. In fact I can even see players using one of these as their main amp and using whichever combo or head/cab arrangement they happen to come across almost regardless of what it is or who made it. Amazing!

Quite a few retailers have already picked-up on the GX3 and it looks as if the guitarist in the street is buying them almost as soon as they're in stock. If you want to contact Burman direct or find out who stocks the GX3 in your area then the address to write to or call is Burman Customer Services, (Contact Details).

(RRP £242 inc. VAT)



Previous Article in this issue

Odyssey Attila Guitar

Next article in this issue

Alligator AP150 Combo & KGB Cab.


Publisher: Music UK - Folly Publications

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Music UK - Jan 1983

Gear in this article:

Amplifier > Burman > GX3

Review by Gary Cooper

Previous article in this issue:

> Odyssey Attila Guitar

Next article in this issue:

> Alligator AP150 Combo & KGB ...


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