Epinions Recent Reviews for Beatmonster

General Purpose at an Elite price

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:23:21 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Well, as promised, a review of another cymbal in the Paiste Signature lineup. This time it's the 18" Full Crash. As I mentioned when I reviewed the Signature Ride, these cymbals are not my own, as they belong to our backline...

Think twice before Signing Up...

Wed, 27 May 2009 23:16:06 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - OK - so I recently got to use a full set of the much-hyped Paiste Signature cymbals, made from the Swiss company's new, patent, special bronze, which they call Paiste Sound Alloy. Needless to say, as a bit of a...

DW it to me...

Mon, 4 May 2009 06:47:18 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Introduction Drum Workshop, or DW, are arguably the biggest name in modern drums. Young drummers with rich daddies and old drummers with huge overdrafts can be seen grinning like loons behind these kits, safe in the knowledge that every...

RMV drums - that's why Brazilian women shake their... well you get the idea.

Sat, 2 May 2009 21:25:03 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - RMV drums are entirely made in a single factory in Brazil. Everything is made there, heads, shells and hoops, lugs, stands, and pedals, and they do their own finishes too. RMV calls this "Sonic Optimization", and it's aimed at producing a component match...

Dusky Turkish Delight

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 09:27:05 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Introduction The Zildjian A Custom Crash - a bit of an icon, really. The A Custom series cymbals, while not as famous as the vintage K's, are still highly desirable bits of clangy bronze. The Zildjian name is synonymous with quality Turkish cymbals,...

Hand-Made Band-Mates

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:31:50 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Introduction I had to buy a set of Wuhan "S" Series cymbals as an emergency stop-gap after some kind-hearted soul decided to relieve me of the excess weight of a complete set of Istanbul Sultan hand-mades one afternoon as we were...

The Rock of Gibraltar

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:44:46 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Introduction A very good friend told me about the Intruder 9611 Direct Drive double bass drum pedal. He endorses Gibraltar equipment though, so I naturally thought he was exaggerating its merits until he lent me his spare...

Why, oh why aren't I Rich?

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:22:50 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - The 999R is the jewel in Ducati's crown. Hell, it's the jewel in anyone's crown. And if you avoid poking the “back” button for a second more, I'll tell you why... Overview More power, superior aerodynamics, and a more refined...

A Handsome Prince kissed the TT600...

Tue, 8 Aug 2006 10:22:28 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - ...And turned it into a frog called the Daytona 650. Then a second, dedicated smooch with a hint of passion turned it into a Daytona 675... "Um... Whassat?" I hear you ask. And the answer is that this is the bike that Triumph ought to have made...

This Trip's a Trip

Wed, 22 Aug 2001 19:22:40 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - I last rode a Triumph in 1973. My Dad had a beautiful blue-and-cream Bonneville 650 which I thought was the prettiest bike on the road at the time. I still remember how the old parallel twin pulled hard on a handful of revs, growling purposefully as the...

April-yeah!

Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:34:37 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - V-twin engines. During the last ten years of World Superbike racing, they have taken the riders’ championship eight times. The constructors’ championship shows an unbroken Ducati decade. That’ll be a pretty hard record to follow then. Could this be why...

Stop playing for time - choose one of 'em NOW!

Wed, 3 Jan 2001 15:51:02 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Twins. Identical until you scratch the surface. Now I’m not advocating that you go and hack a lump off Mrs. Brown’s pair of little angels to prove my point, but if you can resist the “Back” button for a few more seconds, I’ll try and explain.

...

Chuck the rest of your Bowie Bootlegs

Sun, 31 Dec 2000 07:45:04 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - The word is that a recording by David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars – including the band’s first live performance with Mick Ronson – is out on the street... Somebody has evidently been beamed behind the two-feet thick triple-locked carbon-steel...

A Close Encounter of the Heard Kind

Fri, 22 Dec 2000 08:36:23 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - In 1970, an astronaut was trapped in orbit, unable to return to Earth - due to a dead circuit, he was "sitting in a tin can, far above the Moon". This was the moment that Major Tom, and his creator David Bowie, erupted into my Sci-Fi oriented...

En-Lightning

Wed, 13 Dec 2000 15:03:35 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - A Sporty Harley Sportster? Yeah, right. Just how sporty can a 45° aircooled V-Twin with two pushrod operated valves per cylinder be? Granted it's a big V-Twin at 1203 cc, but hey - cubes only count for so much. As they say, Mr Buell - the proof of...

Don't tell my friends

Tue, 12 Dec 2000 19:38:25 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - because up until very recently, my usual knee-jerk reaction to anything that didn't have a Z or a Y or an X prefix, or an evocative name like "Ninja", either involved studied indifference or outright derision. What's this? Luggage? A stereo?...

TL - Too Large?

Fri, 1 Dec 2000 13:27:49 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Hey, Good Lookin' (not)

Another Suzuki that has been given a severe walloping with the Ugly Stick. The only other bike that offends the optical nerves to a similar degree is the Hayabusa. If Rubens had been a motorcycle designer, the...

Sonique: Wham, Bam - It's Sonique Ma'am

Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:31:29 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - I'm definitely no Rocket Scientist, I play drums for God's sake. But guess what? I can work the Sonique MP3-and-just-about-everything-else Player. Wow! Maybe I should have gone to a School for Gifted Children, instead of Reform School? Nah, let's not get...

Volcano Chat

Tue, 28 Nov 2000 14:20:33 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - It's early morning, and most people in the city of around 20,000 souls are asleep, blissfully unaware that their hometown is about to enter the annals of history.

Seventeen years ago an earthquake had levelled this city, and reduced it to collapsed...

Home from Home

Thu, 23 Nov 2000 11:50:28 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - They drive like clockwork mice. Maybe that dates me, but it conveys the idea. When the average Neapolitan gets into his car, the road from home to his chosen destination undergoes a dramatic transformation.

As the tinny door slams, and the...

VTR SP1 blows out Firestorm

Fri, 17 Nov 2000 13:29:21 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - The fully-faired VTR 1000 SP1 is the 998cc version of the 996cc Firestorm, called the Super Hawk across the pond. The RC51 race version of this bike took Colin Edwards to the top of the heap in WSB this year, so when I was offered a ride on the...

***king awful

Wed, 15 Nov 2000 12:09:57 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - This was almost the shortest review in history. "Ack! Ptui!" to paraphrase my favourite American beagle. Then I realised that this, although honest, wasn't exactly the most constructive criticism I could come up with - so I decided to detail...

Old, peculiar falling down syndrome

Wed, 15 Nov 2000 09:47:33 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Say what you like about the English (I normally do!), but in some parts of their bit of the Sceptred Isle they certainly know how to make beer. Take North Yorkshire for instance, where we find a beautiful little market town called Masham (pronounced...

Newky Broon

Tue, 14 Nov 2000 09:45:19 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - I have to admit to being less than enamoured with the poor excuses for beer that infest cans or bottles bearing some big American brewery labels (names intentionally omitted to protect the guilty).

In an attempt to disguise the complete lack...

Wanted - Pet Monster

Mon, 13 Nov 2000 14:59:58 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Beatmonster - Attitude. That's Ducati's M900S Monster. Just look at it - buffalo-hump fuel tank, flat bars and a minimalist frame based on the 851/888. The purposeful looking twin-cylinder lump bolted into the frame as a stressed member is Ducati's time-honoured...