Sean

Uuuuffffff. I can’t believe I missed this back in the day. I missed it when Beedster bought it from someone, I think. It would look lush hanging next to my black one.

Above and beyond tech support and first class service from James. Another reason why this Basschat community is so valuable to us all. Thank you. Much appreciated.

100% the Yamaha. The Franconia is, I believe late 70s, early 80s. It's niche, quirky and very much a collectable or enthusiast instrument. Pickup spacing is unconventional too. @Bassassin will undoubtedly be able to shed some light on Franconia basses.

1. What's under the screw-on lid? Pre? Battery? Stash? 2. What's the logic on the pickup spacing? 3. Who did all the graffiti on the Limelight one? Is it replica gráffiti?

My uncle was an assistant chief constable. I geddit. He was a thirty something degree freemason and CBE from QE2 herself. Crime number.

There is absolutely no way that a bass guitar gets accidentally delivered to an auction house and then that auction house proceeds to list it for sale. "Oooh, look! Something got accidentally delivered. Let's list it." The whole thing stinks. I'll speculate that someone at the auction house is a fence and uses the business to move on their stolen goods that come in from a network of theives that include contacts in courier companies. The reluctance to cooperate might point towards this incident being just the tip of a large iceberg. If it's gone back into the Parcelforce system it will have a new tracking number, shouldn't it?

Wilkinson hardware is generally good and stands up well against other brands. Schaller and Hipshot are higher quality and associated with more premium or high end spec instruments. I've only had good experiences with Wilkinson hardware. Another brand that is gaining popularity and a decent reputation is Guyker. One thing to be aware of when swapping out this kind of tuner is the mass. If the V96 is light, putting heavy Schaller vintage-style tuners on that are heavier than the stock ones, could cause neck dive or at least a change in balance of the bass. Another consideration is that the OEM tuners aren't the same spec/quality as the aftermarket ones. That the WJBL200 tuners supplied from the factory aren't as good quality as the aftermarket. I've seen this before on various products. Sometimes it's impossible to change to another tuner without having holes. I'm doing one this afternoon and will post a pic. I'm putting the old screws back in the old holes... ...probably.

I've done it myself a few times but recently I've done it 3 times through https://www.bassjapandirect.com/index.html Danny Stewart is the chap. He charges a small fee for his export services however this is the only route I'll use these days. He has a Bass Finder service but if you know what you want and where it is he reduces that to just his admin fee.

I loves a look behind the scenes. Thank you for posting this.