1998 Burner???

[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;