lowregisterhead

Just a little bit of background on eBay's shiny new 'Global Postage Programme', which some of you may have seen as the preferred method of shipping on some US auctions in the last couple of months. I've just received a bass I bought from a eBay seller in the States, who sent it using the new eBay system. It was a bit unclear how it all worked, but the idea of paying all the shipping and duty up front to speed things along, so no hoops would need to be jumped though to get through customs etc., seemed a good concept in theory. Unsurprisingly, it was a little different in practice. Let's start with the good bit - I received the bass today, and it's great! The seller shipped the bass on the 8th of January from their shop in North Carolina, and sent me a message to say it was on a 2-day service. Wow, I thought, that's fast. What then became clear was it was on a 2-day service to eBay's International Shipping Center in Erlanger, Kentucky. Via my eBay account, I could see it had arrived there on 11th January. 3 days then, but never mind. There were a couple of other entries the same day, 'processing' then 'customs documentation', then silence. Yesterday, it was finally shown as shipped internationally. Another shipping number appeared today, showing it was in the UK with a company called Citipost. With nothing further to go on, I called them, but was told they were just a handling company, and the parcel had been transferred to Yodel for final delivery. At this point I was seriously worried, for the reasons described here: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jan/10/yodel-worst-parcel-delivery Citipost gave me a phone number for Yodel, which had an announcement saying it had been discontinued, so in desperation I checked their webpage using the reference number Citipost had given me, and lo and behold, it was out for delivery to me today. I was in and out of the house all day, so left notes on the door, alerted the neighbours etc., but nothing came. Then about 7pm, I was upstairs and thought I heard a light tapping at the front door. I should add that I live in a detached house with a large and very obvious entryphone panel right beside the front door, but they didn't use that for some reason. I shot downstairs and could see a large box propped up against the glass, so I opened the door, and was just in time to see the driver getting into his van out in the street. He saw me, and pointing to the box, mouthed 'parcel'. If I'd been 5 seconds later, he'd have gone, leaving the best part of 2 grands worth of bass on the doorstep. No signature was required, apparently. Despite eBay's assurance that the item is their responsibility as soon as they receive it from the seller, and that it's fully covered against loss, damage, and any other mishap, if there are yawning gaps in the tracking, they use the cheapest and worst delivery agents in the destination country, and they dump valuable items on the doorstep after dark without even waiting to see if anyone is in, I'm seriously unimpressed! It leaves me feeling that despite having received my goods unscathed, frankly I got lucky. Anyone else used this scheme?

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1389543241' post='2335284'] A lot of Top Twentys were rebranded Teiscos, made in Japan, so unlikely to be more than cosmetically similar to the Kays, which I think started appearing 10 or so years later. For anyone with a genuine interest (or a morbidly perverse curiosity) about these crude & faintly disturbing instruments, there is, as there is for any slightly unsavoury personal predilection, a website: [url="http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/"]Teisco Twangers[/url] J. [/quote] Wow. Some of the basses are wild - I particularly like the '68 Phantom-B! BetaFunk makes a fair point though, there was not a lot else around within a teenager's budget, especially in the 70's where I grew up, in North East Scotland. There was one 'posh' music shop in Aberdeen (Bruce Millers) but if me and my mates dared to set foot inside it, we were usually sent packing by the assistants, presumably for fear we'd trash the guitars. When I eventually got some money, I took revenge by going to their rival, Middleton Music. Any Aberdeen muso over 40 will remember Brian... he had better gear anyway! Happy days.

As a young boy, I was always hankering after a 'Top Twenty', the Woolies brand. Not sure if they did a bass, but here's the guitar version, perhaps only slightly less hideous than the Satellite and Kay offerings... same factory, perhaps? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Top-Twenty-single-pickup-model-from-the-sixties-/290870375530

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1389349679' post='2333067'] I've got some rocks that must be a few hundred million years old. I wonder if I can get big £££££ on ebay if I describe them as 'rare'. [/quote] I'm old, rare, yet seemingly worthless if you listen to some of the people I've worked with over the years...

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1389112962' post='2330171'] It's a joke, I think... [/quote] Sorry, too subtle for me.

[quote name='Bikenbass' timestamp='1389051182' post='2329462'] I think you'll find it was all Carol Kaye. [/quote] I'm not sure you're talking about the same song. New York Minute by Don Henley from the album Building The Perfect Beast, has Bob Glaub, Larry Klein and Pino credited on bass. I don't have the track listing to hand, but it certainly sounds like Pino's fretless playing to me.

Where'd it go???

How about one of those "Faker" logos in Fender typeface?

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1389048075' post='2329412'] I forgot to mention, his bridge was honed and his nut demagnetised to reduce flux capacitance, so all in all it was a sweet deal. [/quote] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCRUvX2D0E

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1388927294' post='2327647'] lucky for me, I don't like that kind of wood/finish... ouch, the USA Laklands are not cheap, eh? [/quote] That's obviously a used bass too - a new 55-94 Deluxe would set you back well over 3K... great basses though!

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1388761747' post='2325742'] if only it were that simple... No Stingrays made with wide string spacing, I'm afraid and the lakland 55-76 (single MM pickup at the Stingray position) is so rare! The neck on the Lakland 55-02 is wonderful. I never tried the 4-string counterpart, 'though. [/quote] I had never heard of that one until now - and here is one for sale... you wouldn't get much change out of two and a half grand after shipping and import duties though! http://www.thebassplace.com/basses-used-basses-c-17_36/used-lakland-55-76-deluxe-flame-maple-5-string-bass-amber-p-1232

A rather unusual entry in the 'Musical Instruments / Guitars / Bass' category, but I suppose it might make quite a good home for the itinerant bassist.... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IFOR-WILLIAMS-HB511-2012-HORSE-TRAILER-/151203027555

A circle? Boring. Surely a crucifix or a swastika would be more rock 'n' roll....