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It seems like only yesterday that the Burman PRO-501 was let out of its cage long enough to prove to us that it was as fearsome a combo as ever stalked the streets of North London. At that time (May) its designer Gregg Burman had just three dealers for his new line of four amps. As I write, he has built this dealer list up to twenty-five, and more join by the week. A testimony, in other words. to the rapid word -of-mouth reputation that the range has acquired in seven short months.

The monster of that range is the Pro-2000. It was actually the first to be developed, and represents an important step in the history of amplifier manufacturing in this country since it is entirely valve powered, and yet incorporates the sophisticated technology of the transistorised age.There are many other British companies making combo amps -possibly too many. But those still producing valve models are few and far between,and those designing new ones can be counted on one hand.

Without wishing to risk charges of over reacting to a product, I feel bound to say that not since the days of the mighty Fender and Marshall boom has there been anything on the market quite so striking as the subject of this review. Even as C.S. and myself wrestled with the monster in an attempt to drag it into the editorial office (and this is before it had even emerged from its
box), we were predicting that here was something liable to blow the roof off.

But before the whole thing gets completely out of proportion, let us get down,in the time -honoured fashion, to the technicalities of the brute. The amp delivers (nominally) 100 watts into a pair of 12" Burman speakers (XP5012's). These are the type used by Burman on previous models since 1969. Gregg tells us that he gets requests from musicians to substitute JBL's, but will not guarantee them if this is done. In short. he believes the XP5012's to the superior. The cabinet is pressurised, i.e. closed back, and there is a socket on the back panel for connecting further speakers as required. It is also possible to link up to four PRO-2000's together - a prospect of quite horrifying power in the hands of one man.

The cabinet construction need not detain us for long : heavy-duty plywood that would probably put a dent in the front wheel of a steamroller. The grille cloth is also exceptionally tough, and all corners are protected. There are no castors on any of the models in the range; instead each stand on a pair of "drag skids" (think that's what they're called), and transportation is by means of the two snap -down handles at either end. These are designed so that they neither raise bruises on the back of your hand nor pull your arm out of its socket. It should be pointed out, however, that one man attempting to lift a 100 watt valve combo is in danger of giving himself a hernia. Two people can carry it with relative ease.

In case you missed the PRO-501 review, the output valves are KT77's (four of them) and the input valves are six ECC83's and one ECC81. Front panel facilities are as follows: channel one - input socket, cut switch, gain, bass and treble; channel two input socket, cut switch, gain 1, gain 2, gain 3, bass, middle, treble, presence reverb and on/off button. There are a number of sockets on the back panel: one for a reverb footswitch ( not yet available - but soon), direct inject, link in and Iink out (for connecting further PRO-2000's), extension speaker and alternative speaker.

The three gain controls are the most obviously "different" feature of this amplifier.In fact, as far as channel two is concerned what you've actually got is a master volume (gain 3) and two channel gain controls. Gain 3 also acts as a master volume for channel one, which may appear not to work unless you are aware of this. But why so much gain? The answer is that they provide you with absolutely any type of sound from clean to infinitely sustained, with the entire spectrum of subtle clipping, blues bite and heavy metal thunder between. The brochure that comes with every Burman amp (and if it doesn't, get one) shows seven different settings for the control panel, with which you can achieve such varied sounds as flat response, full sound, bright sound, compression. reverse compression, sustain and "touch-sensitive pickup response".

It is possible to spend literally hours toying with these settings and, of course, inventing your own. As far as pure tonal response goes, there are few limitations. I fail to see how any style of guitarist could fail to achieve "his" sound with the PRO 2000.

Some of the operations are not immediately obvious. The cut switches, for example, function as modifiers for the presence circuit; they cut off the very top end of the presence with the intention of reducing hiss. Or to look at it another way, when switched in they give extra bite to the presence. The reverb is made by Accutronics, and works perfectly, with a particularly sonorous deep echo in the latter stages of its travel. Since this is a professional-quality amp, anyone using it will require a footswitch for the reverb. You can't keep rushing over to turn the reverb up and down as required in the middle of a gig.

There we are then. This amplifier is one of the two best I have ever reviewed in the pages of Beat. The other was a Music Man costing £650. I think that tells its own story.