Burman Pro 4000 Head

I have two of these heads - one an early one with red transformers and another is a late model (1984?) all original and mint with 10 hours playing time. I play blues, soul and funk where I use the amp to obtain more 'classic' bass sounds.

There are two channels, both have the same 3 band eq and separate channel gain. I think channel 1 might be higher gain but I can use both channels simultaneously in any case. There's also a master gain and a master presence control which gives a sparkle comparable to more modern amps.

The amp has more than enough power for small to medium size gigs so long as you have the right cabs (at least 1x15 or 4x10). The best cabs are 4x12" according to Greg Burman.

The amp is great for gigs where I use a Musicman Stingray or similar for a warm, fat, solid sound. I've had a friend use his reissue 70's Fender Precision through it and the tone was pretty much a bass players wet dream.

There's virtually no noise from the older amp although with the later head there's seem to be slightly higher gain settings over all. Active basses tend to overload the amp more easily regardless of the input, so I'd recommend using passive basses for the best sound.

There's a great variety of sounds available from 'parp' to punch although for boomy stages, some additional eq might be necessary to cut 100Hz a bit more precisely without sacrificing warmth or power.

I can't say I've gigged the Burman heavily, it does tend to get extremely hot, to the point where its not possible to leave your hand on the front panel for any length of time between sets. Definitely not a good place to leave your cold beer ;)

No ill effects to the amp seem to have come out of this but its something to be mindful of at the end of the day when you're packing the gear up.

Haven't had the priviledge of talking to Gregg yet and I understand he's been unwell in the last 12 months. My amp tech had no problems servicing it however and the build quality is exemplary, as you would expect from a company with Burman's reputation.

There's a new Burman website at http://www.burmanamp.co.uk/ which has been under construction for about at least 14 months at the time of writing. If you use the email addresses on the site you can get responses out of Ian at least :) No reply from Greg himself yet.

I've been playing since 1986 and I own backline by Eden, Mesa Boogie, Trace Elliot, Lexicon with Smith, Alembic, Musicman, Jaydee and Pedulla basses. I couldn't replace either Burman it if they were lost as they're not manufactured any more (like most of my gear), let alone find one in mint condition.

I love the fat tone, but as with all valve amps its a heavyweight to lift :). I used to own a Mesa Boogie Bass 400+ and still own a Strategy 400 power amp. Although the power amp is probably cleaner and less coloured, the Burman is as musical sounding as the Bass 400+ and probably a little warmer and sweeter.

The Pro4000 could benefit with a graphic or parametric eq to isolate key frequencies on stage. It could also probably do with a fan, just to make it less of a hazard to lift and pack after the gig.