Beedster

If price is set by the dealer, are you suggesting a conspiracy among dealers in Europe who all agree to set the price at around £500 above the USA level?

I think that's the crux of it

Stores have them for $999, so I assume they're taking their cut http://www.basssandiego.com/bassampscabs/mesaboogiebassampscab.html

Exactly, in the days when different US and UK power voltages needed to be taken into account fair enough, but a £300 mark up? I love Mesa gear, but at times think they must be pissing themselves at the prices they get away with over here

Why is UK retailer's cut higher than US retailer's cut?

Likewise, I simply do not understand Mesa’s pricing in Europe, it’s like they don’t want us to buy their gear?

Yep, $999 in the USA, it’s a pretty big difference

Great demo

Mate, a courier lost my Mesa 1516EV a few years back, it's the size of a small building. Never underestimate couriers

Did you send the parcel to a home address or was it address to one of the eBay collection points? There is a big problem with the latter, as whilst buyers can indicate that they want items delivered to one, it seems that only items sent through eBay's courier service can be delivered to them, whilst several couriers explicitly won't (UPS being one of them as I found out after I'd sent the same item three times and it had be returned to me three times!). On a more optimistic note, I wouldn't panic just yet as Parcelforce's tracking is bloody awful, and it might still show up with the buyer.

RIP Colin, you were clearly a much loved guy. Chris

I now have only one electric bass, an all time low, and I feel curiously unstressed about it Now thinking about offloading all but one of my amps and cabs...

Ped, perhaps speak to the mod I spoke to as he apparently had his suspicions also. Either way, if it's not against any rules or expectations, there's clearly no problem, so no need for me to report anything.

I must admit I was hoping the seller was going to say "get it fixed and we'll cover the costs", but he started a return process so i went with it. I paid top end of the reasonable value range, hence my decision. But no joke, it's so light you can easily forget it's round your neck, being used to a 12lb monster Precision, I almost walked through the studio door with it on a couple of times!

Thanks chaps, had quite thorough discussion about this with the mod who PM'd me about the thread, and explained my thoughts then. Point is, if it's not against any code of conduct, what's to report, hence my posting this thread in the first place? It's no biggy really, I just picked up a few vibes in a recent thread - one that the Mod team are aware of - in which one transparent manufacturer was arguing the point with what appeared to be a non-transparent contributor, and it made me wonder whether as a site we're happy to accept this type of thing. I wasn't advocating a new cohort of Transparency Mods or similar, just wondering what the forum thought, and I guess I got my answer

This had to go back unfortunately, there was an issue with the circuit that I couldn't fix myself, and at the price I paid I didn't want to have to get that fixed professionally. However, as a bass it was absolutely lovely to play, and perhaps importantly for many, weighed nothing. It's also got the micro-tilt neck which means that despite the bridge looking pretty crude, you can get very very low action. I really did go around in circles as to whether i should keep it or not, and I'm kinda regretting sending it back, but c'est la vie. If light Precisions are your thing, keep an eye out for when this comes back on the market with the circuit fixed, it's well worth the money

A defining feature of the internet is that everyone is genuine and above board

There are, The might also be people trying to influence others to not buy certain brands, and those people might be employed by the manufacturers of rival brands. In my opinion, the expectation here should be that if you receive money or contribution in kind from a brand, supplier or similar, you should declare it so that any post you make can be read in that context.

As I've just said in a PM to one of the mods, I'm not going to name names, but I do think that if you work for a business, or take money from one, it should be declared out of professional courtesy, especially when expressing strong opinions about the gear made by your competition

Agreed, but they're not influencing opinion and/or buying habits whilst doing so?