Double Six bass?

[Bill Bowley]

D6 and prices etc.

[Graylion]

Yep - scary aren't they Bill? I have the original Burns catalogues from around 1962 to 1965. I have the one you posted with the pics. It's the tall thin one with the first photo of the Marvin, right? That's about 1964 and the price list I believe is from 1965. I've just bought that on CD from eBay! I have the Sept 64 catalogue which only shows a line drawing of the Marvin.

I want to know how to convert the standard D6 into the octave down "Hank Marvin" one! Incidentally, when I was speaking to Barry Gibson the other day I asked why he went the painful route of designing the "Bass D6" with a trem. He said that Hank wanted that type to match the first one Jim Burns made for him. I didn't know Hank's early ones had a trem!
Cheers, Lionel

[Bill Bowley]

Lionel,

If you have a look at the two 12 string BURNS in these pics of Hank's guitar collection a while back, both have tremelo fitted -the early one has a 'roller block' as fitted to the Jazz guitars etc and the other one a Rez-O-Tube same as a Marvin. That tends to support what Hank was speaking about methinks.

[Bill Bowley]

Lionel,

And here's the early D6 (prototype?) with trem in use on stage way back when -listen to the gutsy sound it belts out!

[Graylion]

Thanks Bill, I have the "Hank's Collection" photo on my computer somewhere. I had never noticed the trem before! According to Barry G they would have originally been strung with tapewound strings. Hence Rotosound going into their archives for the new one. I certainly DO remember the sound of the standard bass version when used by Southampton groups on stage. It needs a really gutsy amp/speaker combination to carry it. I wouldn't consider using less than at least one 15" speaker - preferably a 12" or two and a 15" in a seperate cabinet. I had planned to build a speaker cab with a 15" - come retirement in the Summer maybe!

I still have my Bird Golden Eagle with a 15" Goodman, so I expect it would sound good through that. When I started out playing live at age 16 we ran all 3 guitars through it, as you did in those days! I also have a modern 2x12", 4xEL34-powered 100watt amp so could use a 15" extension cab with it. I don't think I would chance it through the AC15TV!

I'm hoping Chas will get back to me to let me know how he altered his D6 to take the bass strings.
Cheers, Lionel

[chas]

Hi Lionel,

Sorry for delay with reply (the days just slip by...). I don't re-call whether I adjusted the neck or not - if I did, it wasn't by much. The bridge was no problem - no modification. The nut was straight forward thanks to the zero fret. Having first experimented with some normal bass strings I decided to get some made specifally for 25.5" scale. Newtone did this for me, and the only thing that didn't quite work out was that I forgot to mention to them that the octave down strings go through the body, which wasn't a problem except for the lowest. Where it steps down in thickness towards the machine heads, it needs to be a few millimetres longer. I put a small shim between the string and the zero fret for the purposes of trying it. Sounds fine, though I haven't got around to trying it at a rehearsal. I'd be interested in trying flat wound strings - probably sound more authentic. Trouble is the only number I'd use it on would be On The Beach, and I can get away with the 'normal' D6 for that. It's only a few notes at the beginning of the first solo that falls below the range of the normally strung D6. Interesting though, I always fancied a D6 strung this way.

Chas.

[Graylion]

Many thanks Chas - amazing! No alterations to the bridge pieces? I'm surprised the strings go over the top without rolling off. That will save a lot of work! Re-cutting the nut shouldn't be too difficult. Now all I have to do is persuade Barry G to sell me a set of the tapewound strings! Mind you - they'll be different lengths to the set needed for the standard D6 as they are designed for the trem system. I bet your specially made strings were expensive!
Cheers, Lionel

[ErikMAMS]

In relation to the tension put on the neck with the bass string setup this might be of interest:
http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/stringxxiii.html

Erik