It's a Double Bass daddio!

Advantages: They're beautiful.
Disadvantages: You'll cry if you have to sell it.

...It's difficult to buy a double bass in the simple way you might buy a good quality electric guitar or electric bass . For a guitar you can sort of decide if you're Fender, Gibson, Gretsch etc type of person by seeing what you're favourite players use on the telly and then trying them out in any good guitar store. But for the double bass we're in different territory all together and different rules apply. If you try out the bass in a store or room that is stuffed with other double basses or even other wooden acoustic instruments its going to resonate a little in each of those instruments and lead you into believing you have a lovely sounding bass when you probably haven't. Some spaces can make an unamplified double bass sound great. I like to play mine on the lower landing of my stairwell - always sounded beautiful there. If you...

padfoot100 17.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Double Bass

Getting back to Bass-ics

Advantages: Good quality budget guitar
Disadvantages: none really

...I have been hankering for a Bass guitar to fiddle with as a project and when I earned a few extra quid for a private job I started to browse eBay for a likely candidate. I found a Yamaha RBX170 4 string bass on a pick up only deal in Ringwood, a place that I pass through regularly. This bass retails between £120 - £150, putting it in the higher end of the beginners' market. When I collected it, along with the 30 Watt amplifier which I got with it for a very reasonable £73, it was a bit grubby and looked as though it had been used for serving pizza. There were several torn and grubby stickers on it and I feared that I had bought a pup. I got it home and plugged it in. The first thing I noticed was the weight, for a full scale bass guitar it is very light, I can hold it out at arm's length with ease. The range of tones is...

JeffFromPoole 14.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Yamaha RBX170 Bass Guitar

The Double Bass. A very very big instrument!

Advantages: Great fun
Disadvantages: Very large to store and transport

...My family are all rather musical and we have acquired quite a collection of instruments over the years. For a significant anniversary I decided to buy a double bass. In his younger days my partner had played the electric bass in various bands and had always said one day he would like to have a double bass. Well now he has. ♫ ♫ What is a double bass? ♫ ♫ Well I suppose the short answer is that it looks like a giant violin, although it?s actually descended from an instrument called the viol. It dates as far back as the 16th century and is the largest and lowest sounding instrument in the string family of instruments. The other instruments in this family are the viola, the violin and the cello. No one seems quite certain where the name comes from but one theory suggests it is because the double bass...

perfectlypolished 09.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Double Bass

My luvverly cherry red Washburn bass.

Advantages: *
Disadvantages: *

...Having started playing bass with a cheapo Fender Precision copy, after a year I decided it was time to move up to a better make. It was a toss up between a classic jazz bass with all the tuning pegs lined up a la the Fender or one of the newer "Gothic" style ones like this. In true Mr Pink fashion a beer or six was consumed whilst I perused the choices avaliable, finally deciding to take a chance on this beaut and the deed was done! The purchase was made from a firm in South Bend, Indiana, USA (isn't the internet wonderful) for a total of $303, approx £165, of which the actual bass cost $202 around about £110, pretty good considering the going price for this make in the UK is around £150-£200, and it arrived in less than a week so I was very pleased. A quick run through the scales showed that it was tuned up nicely too...

pinkmatchstick 23.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Washburn XB120, Bass guitar

Shandy Bass " bring back the memories"

Advantages: Remember when you were young, taste, contains beeeeeeeeeeer
Disadvantages: Prize, age , we can compare now with proper beer

...This shandy bass drink reminds me of being younger, times when you couldn’t have a “proper drink" at the pub with your parents and the only near alcoholic drink you could get your hands on before you were 18. Astoundingly this drink has never gone away it has always been around and the other day and on various occasions in the pas 12 years I have had a can with its distinctive taste to reminisce. 'Shandy Bass, Made With Real Beer' was the selling point when I was young wow made with real beer, now with years of drinking the real stuff you can tell its watered down, but hey its still funnily enough very refreshing. The distinctive 330ml can with shandy bass in gold and white writing and the unique red triangle above. In its slightly changed darker colours of blue and gold sat next to the coke and fanta probably...

dingoo 24.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Shandy Bass

The ultimate bass

Advantages: Great guitar
Disadvantages: Expensive

...Rickenbackers are reknowned the world over by the bassists around the globe. With its unusual shape and beautiful tone, it makes the ideal instrument for any serious musician. Its a Solid Maple bodied guitar giving it the weight you associate with quality. The Neck is long and slender for a bass, making it easy to get nimble fingers up and down quickly. The Fingerboard is made from finest rosewood giving it a beautiful dark finish. To protect the body, an unusually large pick guard adorns main part of the guitar as well as proteting under the strings. They look really nice in a Dark colour with a light coloured pick guard. It looks very retro too, being a model originally released in the 60's. The sound is famous for its ringing sustain and beatiful pitch. It really does send a chill down your spine with a set of thin strings on...

andycharger 22.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Rickenbacker 4003 Electric Bass

Best Beginners Bass Guitar. Period.

Advantages: Great Looking, Smooth Neck, Good Sound.
Disadvantages: No Active Pickups

...I bought this electric bass about a year ago, along with a Fender Rumble amp, as my first proper instrument, and let me say this - I couldn't have been happier with it. First, lets go through some specs. My model is an older style that the one Ibanez now advertise and sell, so mine doesnt have the Phat II EQ Bass Boost control that newer models now come eqipt with. The body is Agathis, which is not a great wood for guitar bodies, but ibanez use it well to get the best out of it. All basses/guitars in this price range use it, as it is the cheapest musical wood. This wood is a relative of true mahogany and gives nearly the same tonal characterists. Warm lows with a fairly strong sustain. The neck is made out of maple, and the finish is just perfect for my tastes. It is very thinly varnished, so you don't get the stickiness...

janestone 22.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Ibanez GSR200 Electric Bass

The Daddy Of All Bass

Advantages: Just about everything
Disadvantages: The iniablity to be satisfied with another bass after playing this.

...Rickenbacker began making basses back in the 1950's and since then has been saw as one of the most distinctive looking and sounding electric bass guitars in history. As far as basses go it is the king of sustain aided by through neck construction, making those bottom end notes shake the house. This bass has been used by the best players throughout time, Paul Mccartney of the Beatles and Rodger Waters of Pink Floyd were early users of the rickenbacker. However it has been seen used by many bands throughout the music scene, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols use dit in the Punk era and it has also been used by bands such as Motorhead and Metallica. One of the most noticeable features of this bass is the double jack output, which eneables you to get the most of the lower (brighter sounding) pickup and the higher (bassier) pickup...

WMRichardson 12.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Rickenbacker 4003 Electric Bass

Active Bass for Under £250!!

Advantages: Value for money, active electronics, easy to play
Disadvantages: only comes in 3 different colours

...If you want a small bass with a punchy sound and active electronics but don't have much cash, the SR300DX is the bass for you! I've had my SR300DX for about two years and in that time it's never let me down even after many times of being dropped, knocked over, bounced about in the back of vans and cars, left in damp rehearsal rooms and gigged. Before the Ibanez I used a Fender Jazz bass. The jazz bass hasn't been touched since I got this bass. The Ibanez feels like a guitar compared to the jazz bass because of its weight and short length but still manages to have 24 frets (2 more than the jazz). The neck is very slim and the frets are low and fat making this an easy bass to play. This bass would suit someone who is small or has small hands. The cutaway gives plenty of access higher up the fingerboard. The fingerboard itself...

Werksheye 05.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Ibanez SR300DX Electric Bass

The Millennium is a great all round bass

Advantages: Good Quality, Reasonable Price, Nice Fretboard,
Disadvantages: None

...The Peavey Millennium is a great bass to go for if you're looking for a quality instrument but don't want to spend loads. I've had mine 5 years now and have never felt that it was an inferior product, obviously there are going to be better basses out there for people willing to spend more, but this does a good job, its durable, sounds good and has a look of quality to it. Would highly recommend to someone who is just starting out, its good enough to take on stage and if you decided that bass isn't for you, you haven't just shelled out a fortune for it. Would also recommend it to solo artists looking for a bass for recording, good value for the money. Peavey also has more expensive ranges Cirrus and Zodiac, which are worth looking into if you have a bit more to spend. The Active version of this bass is also worth looking at, its a bit...

Faijex 11.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Peavey Millennium BXP4 Bass