Burns B3 Deluxe. Bad decision?

The theremin is a learning journey. Each of us give our opinion from past experience. When you watch a theremin performance the Thereminist is using $$$ of equipment to get the sound they share. Rarely does anyone mention what add-on equipment is involved. Many are selling something so they want to put a good face forward.

I have no experience with the Burn's theremins, Thomas is an excellent Thereminist and helps promote them for his friend. The ESPE01 is designed & sold by Thierry. It adds an octave or two on the low end but has no direct effect on linearity which mostly comes from Thierry's gifted hand at tuning the antenna circuits.

I don't like the sound of the EWS but have corrected that in my neighborhood. I give everything away, if you lived down the street you would be playing original classic sounding theremin by the end of the week.

Can't make the decision for you but you will have more than one theremin in your lifetime if you get serious about the instrument. Then you will be able to tell what you like and don't like about the different models.

This is the most difficult of all musical instrument to play well, the reason why you will learn in your first week.

Christopher

I know it's incredibly difficult, and I'm planning on spending MANY years learning how to play it. Decades even.

Here is my two cents worth from first hand experience with the EWS and the B3.  

I own a B3 Pro and for about two years as a beginner used both theremins.  Aside from being a very beautifully crafted instrument the B3 Pro has a nice tone and is relatively easy to play in my opinion as compared to the EWS.   My EWS had no modifications and had a more robust tone in the lower bass end of the spectrum.  Yes...with the ESPE01 bass module it is much richer and smoother sounding but certainly not a deal breaker for learning on an unmodified EWS.

Remember that your skill and ability will have more to do with what you get out of the instrument than any modification that can be done to it.  Watch Thomas Grillo play the tiny B3 standard that costs about $150 and you will be amazed.  That was my first theremin given to me as a gift and I never made it sound that good!

Eventually I had a Subscope Theremin built for me by Dominik Bednarz and about a year ago acquired an EW Pro for a fair price.  I also have the ESPE01 module in my EWS which I enjoy but tend to play the Subscope more than anything.

Bottom line is that in your price range I don't think you can go wrong with either the B3 Deluxe, or the EWS.  Here are a few pros and cons you may want to consider.

Etherwave Standard    Pros: Can be acquired at a good price used as suggested in above posts.

                                           Has a good range and acceptable linearity. 

                                           Can be upgraded at a later date if you decide to pursue your musical endeavor. 

                                           It's very portable and durable for transport if you want to do outside gigs.

                                           Has a more "classic" theremin sound which can be modified to some degree. 

                                           Easier to resell if necessary. 

                                  Cons: I really can't think of any for a beginner.  

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B3 Deluxe                    Pros: Good price point.

                                           Easy to play and easy to follow Thomas Grillo with in his instructional CD.

                                           Lightweight and portable.

                                           Nice smooth string-like tone.

                                  Cons: Weak sound for bass in the lower end.

                                           Tone can't be modified (This may be a plus as it is less to fuss with while learning.)

                                           It may leave you yearning for something better as your skill progresses.

I hope this helps and if you have any specific questions please post them here or contact me directly.  I am also thinking of selling my B3 Pro and will let it go for a price you may like.

Thank you for the additional insight :D

Bottom line is that in your price range I don't think you can go wrong with either the B3 Deluxe, or the EWS.  Here are a few pros and cons you may want to consider.

Etherwave Standard    Pros: Can be acquired at a good price used as suggested in above posts.

                                           Has a good range and acceptable linearity. 

                                           Can be upgraded at a later date if you decide to pursue your musical endeavor. 

                                           It's very portable and durable for transport if you want to do outside gigs.

                                           Has a more "classic" theremin sound which can be modified to some degree. 

                                           Easier to resell if necessary. 

                                  Cons: I really can't think of any for a beginner.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B3 Deluxe                    Pros: Good price point.

                                           Easy to play and easy to follow Thomas Grillo with in his instructional CD.

                                           Lightweight and portable.

                                           Nice smooth string-like tone.

                                  Cons: Weak sound for bass in the lower end.

                                           Tone can't be modified (This may be a plus as it is less to fuss with while learning.)

                                           It may leave you yearning for something better as your skill progresses.

I hope this helps and if you have any specific questions please post them here or contact me directly.  I am also thinking of selling my B3 Pro and will let it go for a price you may like.

                                                    I do think another drawback is the lack of sensitivity in the volume antenna on the B3, at least on the one I have.  At this point, I am planning to learn for at least a year on the B3, but I'm also interested ultimately in a subscope, whose sound I like very much.  (Especially when Amethyste plays it.) 

But I want to mention one other thing about the B3 -- when I first got mine, I thought the sound was really muddy and I was unhappy.  As it turns out, there was something wrong with the wall wart, which ultimately got worse when a fuse in our house blew.  I replaced it w/a different one (that also pushes 12 volts instead of 9) -- and the sound improved a lot.  I'm not a techie and would never have figured it out without my husband -- I was ready to send the instrument back.  

I think the whole point of this thread was to help someone make an informed choice about a first purchase.  Now he knows what some people think are pros and cons to these options, and he's made a choice based on what he can afford, and has decided to accept its limitations.  It won't help this forum stay alive if people then criticize his choice.

note:  The previous post was supposed to start w/bisem's quote about pros and cons -- not sure why it looks like I wrote it.  My remakrs start w/"I do think another drawback..."

Thank you for understanding :D I would rather spend 4 years learning on the B3, then upgrade to an Etherwave or something, than get the Etherwave now, and starve to death :D

I chose the Moog Theremini. I'm glad I did! Since I'm not a trained musician, it has helped me out with learning my hand movements for pitch. I'm not playing the traditional way, but that's ok. I'm playing! It feels great and sounds good too. I chose this route for practicality and price. However, when I am farther along in skill, the Etherwave will be my next purchase. My advice to you is get what you want, love what you play, and learn from our predecessors. Have fun! Keep us posted on your progress!

Christina

PS- At times it can seem like others on this site are criticizing you, but the truth is, everyone here is here for the love of the Theremin. They are just trying to help by sharing their experience and knowledge. It's this love that binds us. 

Luna,

I agree with the muddy sound of the B3.   I am going to try a 12V adapter and see how it sounds!

Do let us know if that helps, bisem.  If so, we should tell Dan Burns!

(I'm wondering if he got a bad batch of adapters, or if it's just underpowerd at 9v in general.  How long ago did you purchase yours?)