Well, after borrowing for some time and letting languish after a short burst of enthusiasm, my brother-in-law had his bass guitar back. Of course, not long after I really had the hankerings of a bass. So after some research, I ordered a Vintage V940. It arrived safely, in one piece courtesy of TNT from a company I've used for bits of PA - iMuso. So why did I order the V940 - the price was right - especially for a beginner and was sufficiently flexible to accommodate different styles. It also looked good.

So my first impressions? The guitar is heavier, longer and yet beautiful - being in a natural wood finish. How does it sound? Great - to my largely untrained ears.

I have a couple of books, some TAB, some songs and little time - but I hope to make some progress with it along with some cross-fertilisation with the 6-string normal guitar. I think that I will be using a metronome and drum backing tracks more often.