'62 Vibra Artist and '59 Rapier in Guitar & Bass

[RayL]

The latest Guitar and Bass (August) includes (P.92) a nice example of a Vibra Artist from 1962 and (P.93) a 1959 Watkins Rapier (one of the first).(Oh, and the gallery includes a whole array of very tasty vintage instruments, including a 1955 Les Paul Junior).

Ray L

[almano]

Hi, I've just recently joined this Shad's forum after a rather long 30 year break from guitars and I'm over the moon to find such an interest in the old Burns guitars. I will forever regret swapping my Vistasonic in the late '60's for a Selmer bass set up (bass guitar - model unknown I'm afraid + amplifier and Goliath - I think it was - speaker/cabinet) - but, sad to say, in those days I thought I had a good deal - how wrong can you be in retrospect?
However, I recently (just a few months ago actually) dug out my old 3 neck screw Strat' (yep, one of those early CBS things I'm afraid) and my '63 Les Paul/SG from storage and plugged them into my prehistoric JTM45 amp - sad to say, it didn't sound right for HBM at all - not surprising really I suppose!
Anyway, I went and got myself a new Boss Space-echo unit and a Line 6 DL4 modeler to try to improve things - but with those guitars - it still isn't right. So, I contacted Barry Gibson a month or two ago and I've now ordered myself an Apache Special Noiseless. I just can't wait for the guitar - somehow I know it's going to be right! From what everyone anticipates, this is going to be THE guitar! Now, if only I can get my decrepit fingers back into full working order, I am fully going to enjoy this guitar - if, of course, I can at all do it justice!
Thanks to you all for your wonderful Shad's enthusiasm, - I'm genuinely inspired!
Almano.

[David Martin]

Welcome Alan...

Your old guitars are really valuable now... so the Apache will have good company!!

[almano]

Thanks ever so much for the warm welcome David - it just proves this is a really brilliant forum to be a member of.
Do you know, I thought those old CBS Strat's such as mine were rather looked on as being rubbish - not a patch on the pre-CBS era instruments - I'm amazed that my one could be worth a bob or two. Mind you, it had been put away in storage in its lined hard case for a good 30 years - and when I opened it up about three months ago, it actually looked as if it had come fresh from the factory! Not a blemish on it, it hand't crumbled to dust as I'd feared - and it was nearly in tune (well, a good tone or two down - but otherwise...!)
I've now even sorted out my old Precision Bass ('79 or '80 - I can't quite remember which - I've got the original receipt somewhere which should hopefully tell me the correct year) - surely that one, which is also I would think a CBS, is not another of those collectable items? I actually thought those CBS guitars were looked on as being somewhat of a joke? Have I really got things so wrong? Perhaps I'll have to look upon my old gear in a new light from now on! None the less, I still bet the new Burns is going to knock the socks off my old CBS Fender gear for accurate HBM sounds!
One last thing concerning Burns, I notice from Barry's "Burns" web site that he is selling the "Amtech age 1 guitar echo" unit. Has this been tried out by anyone on this forum? From what I can find by a quick "Googling" of it, it looks like it could fulfill my quest for an authentic early Hank sound. I'd very much appreciate hearing any first hand opinions of this unit.

Many thanks once again,

Alan.

[neil2726]

Barry uses this echo on both "Local Heroes" CDs - One of Our Shadows is Missing - Two of Our Shadows Are Missing.
Both available from Leos Den. Sounds pretty good to me!

[David Martin]

Alan... both your CBS Fenders are worth serious money now...

Opinions on the Amtech vary... check out the "How To Get That Sound postings before parting with cash...

Where in the world are you? (I have several echo machines you could hear...)

[almano]

First off, may I say thanks Neil for the info about Barry's disc at Leo's Den; that will provide an excellent reference source regarding the Amtech echo unit. I also note that I can get backing track CD's from there as well - this will be really perfect for me - I won't have to annoy family and neighbours with my rusty and creaky fingering of the fretboard whacking out some poorly timed backing chords into Garage Band on the Mac - I can do the lot very quietly, in the hopeful starring role as Hank, through headphones! Probably the best option for me these days I suspect! - Now where can I get some 3 in one oil for my fingers? - they used to work so wonderfully up and down the fretboard years ago! - Where's it all gone now?
Many thanks also to David for the info on the Amtech - it will certainly help me in working out my ultimate goal with these echo units - it's definitely a tricky subject. Oh, by the way, yes, I actually reside in the old East London suburbs - so, if I find myself up in your neck of the woods at some time in the future, I would very much appreciate any chance of comparing various echo units.
At the moment I'm repairing a MKII Watkins Copicat and I'm hoping that unit may give an authentic sound when it's sorted - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the heads are still in good shape - although I believe that replacements are still available (hopefully!)
And, - not only that, I'm also getting a really ancient Vox AC15 (with the prototype treble boost circuit fitted by Dick Denny himself) back into working order. The usual suspects, HT smoothers and EF86 have "gone west" - but the rest of the amp looks good - so it's fingers crossed time with that project.
My references to those CBS Fenders came from the June issue of Guitar and Bass magazine which I chanced upon while shopping - I recognised the headstock on the front cover, it caught my attention and more significantly, it reminded me I had a couple of those actual guitars - so I "dug them out" and here I am now as a new member of this forum and a purchaser of a Burns Noiseless Apache - and all through reading an interesting looking guitar mag a couple of months ago (it came out early for some reason). They, the Guitar & Bass mag, seemed to think the CBS era was rather variable - and the chances of a good Strat' from those days was suspect - although, I somehow believe Jimi Hendrix may have succeeded well with a CBS one - so perhaps things may not be all that bad after all - hopefully!
Apologies for rambling on - I'm afraid that I do tend to chatter on quite a bit I'm told.
Thanks once again for all the info,

Cheers,

Alan.