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

The Husband by Dean Koontz

Advantages: fast paced, great read, imaginative, interesting characters and plot
Disadvantages: it's over too quick!

...This is a fantastic read, one of my favourite Dean Koontz books and possibly even one of my favourite thriller books of all time. An ordinary guy, Mitch Rafferty, gets a call from his wife whilst he is at work, she has been abducted and her kidnappers demand a two million dollar ransom for her safe return, but of course Mitch does not have that kind of money, however the kidnappers know a place where he can get it. Through desperation of trying to get his loved one back Mitch is lead on an unforgettable journey. This novel is so fast paced that you can't stop yourself from read more and more, Mitch's character is so endearing and you instantly feel sympathy for him, allowing you to relate better to this book than to many other thrillers. Although a slightly clichéd storyline of ordinary guy versus pschopathic villain, Koontz does it...

CLDbizz 11.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Husband - Dean Koontz

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

Dean Koontz - Icebound

Advantages: Good thriller that's worth a read
Disadvantages: Not his usual horror story

...I got this book from my local library as i spend quite a bit of time travelling on the train now and need something to do, and books are soooooo expensive when you read them in like two days. So whilst browsing the shelfs in the library i'm looking at the Koontz books and most of them i've read, but not this one so i get it on loan. This book was not what i was expecting and is totally different to what i know and respect Dean koontz for. I like Dean koontz for his horror stories that make Steven Kings look weak, but are not as good as Richard Laymon (if you haven't read any of his, do so you will not be disappointed!!!), however this book is totally different but not in a bad way. It is more of a thriller book than a horror, but still a damn good read and at times difficult to put down. The basic story is that a widespread drought is...

markyeadon 10.07.2007 (19.07.2007) · Read review
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Review of Icebound - Dean Koontz

My heart belongs to him, once more! Dean Koontz Relentless

Advantages: Pace, characters, thrill.
Disadvantages: Not long enough

...I have always been a Koontz fan. I read my first novel at nine years old, and have read everything in print, from this bestselling novelist. However in recent years I have felt his work has lacked heart, direction, and 'meat'. The stories were always exciting and fast paced, don't get me wrong, but they seemed so formulaic. It was as if he had re-read some of his earlier work and morphed them into one book, with no depth to the characters (unusual for Dean) and I have to admit, after reading 'Your heart Belongs to Me' I began to question whether it was time for Dean to put down his well used pen and retire in the Californian sunshine. Then Relentless appeared in print, and made me consider the fact that Dean may never be ready to stop telling stories. Nor am I ready for him to stop. The characters are loveable, and of course, once...

alaynasmummy 21.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Relentless - Dean Koontz

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

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

Dean Koontz - Brother Odd book review

Advantages: Thrilling, Gripping, Fantastic Plot
Disadvantages: Quite a saddening book in parts

...I have recently just finished reading Dean Koontz's 'Brother Odd'. Because it is a book set in a monastery I assumed it was not going to interest me because I have never been to a monastery or met a monk. However in his usual manner Dean Koontz dragged me in and showed me something new and amazing whilst enriching my knowledge of something new. [ There will be no spoilers in this review ] - Characters - The characters in the book are excellent and provide a much needed humour to balance the terror in the book. Dean Koontz even manages to weave in a tiny bit of political humour with 'As dangerous as a woman with a knife, a man with a gun or a U.S Senator with an idea.' His dry sense of humour makes me actually laugh out loud whilst reading the book. I got some strange looks from parents and colleagues There is a character...

Autumn1991 26.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz