molan

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1469397488' post='3098032'] I'm surprised there are that many rules for taking things with you!! But yes, none of this applies to using the postal service to send items home, which I think is the OPs main query. [/quote] There are lots more rules - this was just a brief summary The import guys are fairly hot on ex-pats returning with goods (either shipped or posted). With a lot of products being cheaper overseas than in the UK it's very common for people to try and 'fund' their move home by bringing things over purely to sell. Jewellery is very common and, unsurprisingly amongst musicians, guitars. I know someone who brought three expensive basses back with him from the US and sold each one for around £1,000 profit over here. As the pedals have been owned and are not intended for sale I'd be tempted to check all the govt regs and maybe post them and make the declaration stuff first. If the import guys decide to tax them it's a nightmare getting the money back

Official govt line is: " You can bring in your personal belongings or private vehicle free of duty and tax so long as you: are moving your normal place of residence to the UK only have had your normal place of residence outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months have possessed and used the belongings for at least 6 months outside the EU before they are imported did not get them under a duty/tax free scheme (but see paragraph 5.3) declare them to us as explained in paragraph 3.2 will keep them for your personal use do not sell, lend, hire out or otherwise dispose of them in the UK or anywhere else in the EU within 12 months of the date of importation, unless you notify us first and pay duty and VAT on disposal"

I'd get it in to a top pro luthier to look at the frets that are causing the problems. Sometimes a full set up with neck shims etc can reduce the worst of the issues without damaging the resale value of the bass.

We use Dr Ducks in the shop - it seems to work on anything and lasts for ages! Be sure to use sparingly though

For flexibility, starting with a really clean core tone, I'd look at the Demeter integrated head. The 800 is my personal preference but the 400 is very good and it's smaller/cheaper but still with plenty of grunt. I use the 800 for most gigs these days. It happily works with pedals in front of it as well. I generally have a compressor, envelope filter and octaver, sometimes a distortion as well.

New order about to go in if anyone fancies anything 😁

Jens Ritter offers a 34.5" as an option on 5's - best of both worlds? Also his 4's are often 33.3" - I love this on a 4. So much so that I have 4 of them 😂

£36 in stock, free delivery and if you ask nicely you get an extra £1 off for being a BC member http://www.bassgear.co.uk/product/dr-lo-rider-nickel-5-string-medium-45-125/

[quote name='rmcki' timestamp='1467360151' post='3083030'] Cheers, just founds some 125's at Thomann [/quote] Looking expensive now following last week's referendum. 10% more than UK price (plus they charge for shipping and lots of UK people offer shipping for free)

I've seen 45-125's around. They generally sell faster than the 130's so most people either don't stock the 130 or just order in small numbers

I've done all of these places - will try to gather my memories. As a fairly experienced US road trip person I can say that the journeys from place to place aren't the most interesting. On a lot of my trips the journey itself has been fascination but the roads and countryside in this area get very samey very quickly I'd plan to move from each one to the next as quickly as possible but add in more time at each destination to get a proper feel for the pace

Lead guitarist in our band had a nice Epi LP that was lacking a bit of 'oomph'. Our guitar tech fitted a pair of Fatboy pickups and changed all the pots, switch, Jack, caps wiring etc to quality parts at the same time. Totally transformed it. It sounds absolutely huge now and has great sustain. Makes me smile every time I hear it 😄

There's an older thread here about this: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/286544-bassics-preamp/page__fromsearch__1

The new PJB BG400 is cool. I tried one of these recently and it sounded pretty good. With the matching extension cab it'll handle a lot of gigs too