1998 Burner???

[Bob Faulkner]

Enjoy, and welcome to the bassist brotherhood! In time you will understand the folly of that puny guitar and become one with the bass!

[Chuck Cheesman]

Thanks Bob!

OK. Dumb question: Which knob is which? Obviously the one closest the strings is the volume, and that's the one to pull for passive. Which reminds me... the battery is dead. Do I open up the back to repalce the battery?

Below the volume knob and next to it appear to control tone? Which is which? The bottom one appears to effect the treble more? I'm not used to messing with bass tone.

Diagonal from volume (closest to the jack) I can't quite figure out. Does it blend the pick-ups? Which way for neck? Which way for bridge.

I bought a Yorkville Bassmaster 100 for 300 bucks. Seemed like a really good deal - the local guitar shop matched an online price - and it was what I could afford. I did some playing today. Fun stuff. I haven't quite discovered the tone I'm looking for yet, but I've got to get a new set of strings on it. And, well... I have a lot of practicing and experimenting to do! LOL I'll bet I'm the least bass-wise guy on this forum at the moment.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Chuck Cheesman

Thanks Bob!

OK. Dumb question: Which knob is which? Obviously the one closest the strings is the volume, and that's the one to pull for passive. Which reminds me... the battery is dead. Do I open up the back to repalce the battery?

Yes, the Volume and Passive/Active Control is closest to strings and Neck P/U. Yes, open the back and replace the battery: Sounds like it's dead if you can't discern between Passive/Active and/or Tone Controls.

Below the volume knob and next to it appear to control tone? Which is which? The bottom one appears to effect the treble more? I'm not used to messing with bass tone.

The Control below and closest to the Volume Control is the P/U Pan/Blend: Clock-wise for neck P/U; counter-clock-wise for Bridge P/U; center detent for both Neck and Bridge P/U.

Diagonal from volume (closest to the jack) I can't quite figure out. Does it blend the pick-ups? Which way for neck? Which way for bridge.

The Control closest to the Input Jack is your Bass Tone Control. The Control above you Bass Tone Control and next to the Volume Control, is your Treble Tone Control.

Hope this helps if you haven't figured it all out by now.

[Ken Smith]

One special note I would like to add about the BSR B Custom models are the wood.

On these Basses wit 2-pc bodies and not the earlier 3-pc ones as seen on the Burners, the wood was from our shop that was not only cut and dried by us but I personally picked out each board from the Mill myself. I would drive to an upstate Pa. Lumber mill and go thru the piles of Curly Maple (tiger') and select the boards that met my personal grading specs. The wood was freshly cut and needed to be dried. I would personally drive the rented truck up and back to the mill to buy the wood. The following day we would cut a small piece off the end of each board and apply a sealing wax and then stack the lumber with spacers for natural air drying. The wood would sit for about a 2 year minimum inside the heated building before usage to ensure proper acclimation. For basses made with wood cut before 1998/9 we would use maple that had been purchased many years earlier that was already kiln dried but still was stacked to acclimate in our building.

We would then cut the body woods selecting 2 matched pieces that were consecutive from the boards and then wax them once again and store them for future use on the Burner Basses. When we stopped the production of the Burner Basses, we continued to use all of the Body sets we had cut earlier on the J and M model. All of the 2-pc Js and Ms that were made since about the year 2000 (maybe some earlier) were made from these very same sets of wood.

Here are some interesting photos o f the shop showing the lumber and sets used for the 'B' model.

The pile closest to my left hand is 2" (8/4) Tiger/Curly Maple dried and stacked, acclimating in the shop until it needs to be cut into body parts;


Here is some fresh Maple (at that time), prepared with waxed ends and stacked for drying just after a trip from the lumber Mill;


Here is a pic of some Walnut sets getting end-waxed to be put into stock for further acclimation. This wood has already been dried but each time we cut a fresh edge, waxing it helps to prevent end splits until the set is made into a Bass body;


Here is the world renown Bassist Melvin Davis visiting the shop to pick out some wood for his 'then' next Bass and pointing to a shelf full of Figured Maple and Walnut body sets freshly cut with waxed ends for acclimation until which time we ship them to Japan for Burner production. Many of these sets later became J and M models when the Burners were discontinued;

[Chuck Cheesman]

Originally Posted by Bob Faulkner

Enjoy, and welcome to the bassist brotherhood! In time you will understand the folly of that puny guitar and become one with the bass!

Well.... the bass is quite a bit longer. But my Guild F212 has more girth, three times as many strings, and if the power goes out it is about 100 times louder!

Somehow, I can't picture myself doing a two-hour set of my originals with only a bass as accompaniment! These coffee shops can be pretty lonely gigs as it is.

[Jason Mendelson]

much better than a fender or music man!

great catch!