- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,605
- 222,080
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
I always tell people that isn't a fair statement to either of them. They were both inventive, but in different ways. Burns did some nutty things. A gearbox truss rod adjuster for one, turned by a key inserted from behind the heel of the neck. Circuitry was low-impedance, with transformers inside. The guitar's whammy was kind of amazing, with the bridge baseplate riding on roller bearings--the strings didn't slide across the saddles, the whole unit moved, helping to improve return to proper pitch. Sometimes he was infuriating, though; the pickups had each half wired separately, so with three pickups I once counted at least a couple dozen potential combinations. But only four combinations were provided with the rotary switch, one being the almost useless "Wild Dog" setting.
The Vista Sonic shown is probably also the heaviest bass I own. I don't have an accurate scale, but I think it's close to twelve pounds of solid sycamore.
Ampeg didn't sell many of these. Due to import duties, the prices made them an unattractive purchase compared to domestically built instruments.
Thanks for this - I absolutely love having "those who know" weigh in on a topic! I'm hoping for his sake that the one played by Nick O'Malley is lighter!
