BigRedX

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1456822875' post='2992462'] I've done some to Europe. I stipulate to them, 1. They need to pay me by bank transfer. They need to know sometimes this will take 3 days to clear. 2. After funds have cleared, THEY need to organise and pay for INSURED courier, simply telling me what day the courier will collect. In the rare event something goes wrong with a courier, well, if worst comes to worst in UK, I can get in the car, drive to the firms HO and eyeball the gaffer. I can not do that in Europe. I stipulate the above for fairness to both parties. It has cost me sales, but it's the only way I will do it after a couple of expensive and worrying nightmares. NEVER PAINPal! [/quote] As a buyer I would probably walk away from any deal requiring me to organise the courier, not because it is difficult, but because IME it's the easiest part of the process and because I am then responsible for the delivery but have no actual control over how the bass is being packaged. Lose-lose all round IMO. Also the one time I have allowed a buyer to organise their own delivery for an item going to Hungary, the courier who turned up was the Hungarian equivalent of a man with a (Hungarian) van. Luckily it wasn't a very expensive item so I was prepared to take the risk and lose money if it went wrong (it didn't), but there would have been no "Gaffer to eyeball" if there was a problem unless I was prepared to take a trip to the continent.

You don't need to worry about using PayPal provided you use a decent courier where the same company does all parts of the transit process. That immediately rules out any postal service options, where delivery will be handed over to one of their "partners" once the parcel leaves the country. That way you have a single "paper trail" of the parcel's journey and a single company that is accountable. This means using one of the big well-known international companies such as UPS or FedEx. I usually use UPS booked through Interparcel, as all parts of the collection and delivery are handled by UPS (however check before you send as it may not be true for every country - you can do this by clicking on the ? icon on the Interparcel page which will show if any part of the transit process is being handled by another company like some of the cheaper TNT options). The other important things to do are to pack the bass properly. That means the bass really ought to go in a hard case with plenty of padding inside and then the case should then be wrapped in bubble wrap before being boxed in a strong cardboard box. Cut down bicycle boxes make excellent containers and generally are far more robust than the average guitar packing box. If you don't have a hard case then double-box the bass. That means put it in a smaller cardboard box first before bubble wrapping and packing in a larger one as before. If you need to make an insurance claim for damage, the packing is the first thing the courier company will look at, so make sure that it is more than just adequate. In fact if the hard case is an important part of the deal then I would suggest double boxing the case with the bass inside! I've had to use Interparcel's insurance claims service twice - once for damage and once for the loss of a parcel (neither were musical instruments or particularly expensive - both under £200). They paid promptly and without fuss on each occasion, but with the damage claim they insisted on seeing photos showing exactly how the item had been packaged and that the packaging had been sufficient by their standards (which are on the Interparcel website) before paying out.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1456774138' post='2992182'] Indolent so-and-so that I am, I copy the Imgur link, then paste that, as is, directly into the text box. Other OS may be different, of course, but the less I mess about with codes and stuff, the better I feel (done it for too many years, now... ). The icône to the left of the Imgur code field even does the copying for me, so it's all win. [/quote] The whole point of modern forum software is so people don't have to bother messing around with code - even the relatively simple IP Board tags. However it's always useful to be able to look "under the hood" and understand what is going on when things don't work as expected.

It looks like we have a result!

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1456773681' post='2992177'] Interesting......... I can't replicate that & get a result! [/quote] Have a look at my reply above. Check your code by clicking the light switch icon top left in the reply window which stops the Forum from trying to parse the code and shows what has actually been typed/copied/automatically generated.

Right. I think I've worked out what the problem is. It appears HJH is using the correct link but then placing it in Basschat with the image button effectively wrapping it in 2 sets of IMG tags: [code]" class="ipsImage" /> Nope. Doesn't like Imgur either.[/code] If the link you copy from your photo-hosting site already contains the IMG tag you can paste it into the reply directly without having to use the image button. HTH. Edit: it would help if I actually could type the right tags myself!

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1456773058' post='2992163'] Edit: Looks like a similar route to BRX. [/quote] No mine is exactly what HJH was trying to do except that I accessed the photo URL directly and then made my own IMG tags in the Basschat reply.

Very weird. The only way I could make the image actually display in the forum properly was to copy the URL from between the IMG tags into the address field of a new browser window and then copy the address again into the reply field in Basschat with my own IMG tags that I typed myself.

I think the problem might be with the way the code is being entered into the Basschat reply field. If I go to that Imgur link and make my own IMG tags the photo appears OK (in the preview window at least). If I try to quote your Imgur post the code appears to be broken - the opening IMG tag is lost, but then the photo appears after quote. Like this: [quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1456772280' post='2992146'] " class="ipsImage" /> Nope. Doesn't like Imgur either. [/quote]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1456771738' post='2992134'] Yes, exactly that and it will not work for me. Just doesn't copy the link form where it used to on my old PC (exactly where you have circled). [/quote] That's because your new Mac doesn't have Flash installed. There's a little .swf (Flash) element on the page that automatically copies the contents of the link field that you click on, into the clipboard of your computer. IIRC without Flash installed you can't even select the link let alone copy it. I always copy my links from the thumbnail view in the album, which doesn't rely on having Flash but you do have to manually copy the code (either using command-c or from the edit menu). I don't worry about the link giving away my album, because I have a separate Photobucket account just for use with Basschat.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1456753680' post='2991900'] Steve Russell's original site was one of the first home-grown enthusiasts' sites and, although it grew out of his love of vintage Hofners, it rapidly expanded to also become one of the best on-line resources for vintage British valve amps and a whole bunch of other stuff. 2000? Yup, sounds about right. Books? Surely you jest? There's loads of stuff about Hofners out there, both books dedicated to the brand (I have half a dozen) and books dedicated to the music of the era (I have at least a dozen) which in turn have to include loads of information about Hofners because almost every rock star of the 60s and 70s started by playing Hofners. If what you're after is a reference book / bible for all vintage Hofners, then the book you want is a rare hardback called [i][b]Hofner: Made In Germany[/b][/i] by Michael Naglav. Next time you're down in London set aside half a day and come round to my studio ... [/quote] Thanks HJ! Is that book in English? My German is a bit too primitive to understand a whole book on guitars. And I may just take you up on that offer some time. Thanks again!

The copied bit doesn't work because it relies on having Flash installed and if you have a new Mac it won't be. The link you want is the IMG one. The format should look like this: [code][IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Forum-Banner-2_zpszyj7v3et.gif[/IMG][/code] I can't help you with exactly where this is because I have customised my Photobucket preference to only show this and the HTML links.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1456502165' post='2989741'] If this stuff interests you, my own personal archive of (almost) all the Hofners I have owned is here: [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/library/Hofner%20vintage%20instruments"]http://s1128.photobu...e%20instruments[/url] By far the best resource I've ever found is Steve Russell's excellent and now much expanded website: [url="http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/"]http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/[/url] You can also spend a hugely rewarding hour looking at this: [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/library/Other%20music%20related/Selmer%20Catalogue%201963"]http://s1128.photobu...atalogue%201963[/url] [/quote] Thanks for those links HJ. The Vintage Hofner site has a wealth of information even if it looks like it was built before 2000! Has no-one bothered with a book for Hofner guitars and basses yet? As a Burns fan I have access to 2 excellent publications which between them cover pretty much everything I would want to know about the instruments of Jim Burns. Also can anyone recommend a good on-line or printed resource for Danelectro information? Thanks!

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1456605684' post='2990753'] 2 great venues have shut down in Nottingham this week. [/quote] What's the other one? I only know of one, and IMO it could hardly be called great...

[quote name='matski' timestamp='1456493899' post='2989604'] Baldwin Vibraslim? [url="http://guitar-auctions.co.uk/portfolio-post/lot-188-baldwin-vibraslim-bass-guitar-made-in-england-circa-mid-to-late-1960/"]http://guitar-auctio...d-to-late-1960/[/url] [/quote] AFAICS from "The Burns Book" by Paul Day and "Pearls And Crazy Diamonds" by Per Gjörde the only Burns Basses made in 1960 were the Artist and the Sonic. Baldwin didn't take over Burns until 1965.

Two things I can see from reading your ad: 1. It's not a permanent position in the band 2. "zany singing drummer" that would make me think twice.

[quote name='JJW' timestamp='1456440537' post='2989178'] I love it! [url="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575090229&toolid=10001&campid=5337531593&customid=&icep_item=121900750441&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg"]http://rover.ebay.co...&mtid=824&kw=lg[/url] [/quote] Beauty is obviously in the eye of the beholder. I think it looks cheap and tacky. And I've seen Rory Gallagher's actual guitar in person - it's fairly nasty looking especially the metalwork. I see that Fender haven't bothered to accurately re-create that, as you'd probably need a Tetanus jab in order to play it!

Thanks for those links. Looking around it appears that I can get a Danelectro or Hofner from 1960 for less than half the price of an equivalent age and condition Fender, so win all round! Now to get out there and try some to see if they are actually worth having...

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1456440789' post='2989180'] In the EU everyone pays VAT (or that country's equivalent). What you don't pay is customs duty and additional VAT ... because it's a single market. Let's hope it stays that way or we'll be adding about 20% onto Thomann prices [/quote] It doesn't quite work like that. If I buy a bass from Ishibashi in Japan, I don't pay the Japanese sales tax, but I do pay VAT at the UK rate. So theoretically the price would only increase by the cost of the import duty - around 3% ( and which IIRC doesn't apply to items under £135) and whatever clearance fee gets added on by the company delivering the items in the UK.

You can't really calculate the total amount accurately, because firstly HMRC don't always classify basses properly which means that the import duty they calculate might not be the the same as the one you have excepted. Secondly the clearance fee that you will be charged varies depending on the overall value of the item and the company who is doing the delivery in the UK. Adding 25% on to the overall cost and shipping generally gives you a slightly higher figure than the the actual final cost but at least you won't have any nasty surprises. Except... the VAT and import duty will be calculated on the declared (insurance) value of the item and shipping so that if the seller over-insures the bass, you will be charged the full insured amount and then have to try and claim back the excess.

In the interests of keeping the original loom intact, I'd leave the earth wire attached and check how it is attached at the bridge end before doing anything. With a bit of luck there won't be a solder connection there and you'll just be able to pull the earth wire through into the control cavity, and then replace it with a new one to go with your new pickup and controls.

[quote name='Kevsy71' timestamp='1456352609' post='2988296'] I'm about to do something similar on my 79 P. I'm replacing pickups, pots, cap and jack; and keeping the originals joined together with their original solder and wire for provenance. All that is lost is the original connection to the bridge ground wire. [/quote] If I was doing that I'd put in a new bridge earthing wire. Is the original even soldered to the bridge plate or just trapped between it and the body?

Thanks HJ. I was hoping you'd appear with some info on the Hofners. In which case the 500/10 sounds like just my thing. Not only will it satisfy my current interest in semi-acoustic/hollowbody basses, but it's also rarer than a rare thing! Although IME it doesn't matter how rare an instrument is supposed to be at some point it will show up for sale on line. On several occasions in the past 15 or so years that I've been seriously buying basses several instruments that I never thought I'd ever see have turned up for sale and in a few instances the price was right to allow me to buy them. And just in case I can't find one and decide to go for a 500/5 did you own one of those, and if so what did you think?

Fretless? ACG is going to be hard to beat.