dustandbarley

Hello Julien, are these what you're looking for? Sorry if I've got it wrong. https://www.thomann.de/gb/elixir_nanoweb_nickel_x_long_130.htm https://www.thomann.de/gb/elixir_14087_ebasssaiten_nanoweb.htm

Very very good. A joy to watch! Thanks.

IIRC the one I used to own also had a different tone circuit called TBX which I think allowed some highs to leech through when the tone was rolled off giving a scooped sound. They also had a couple more frets and for some reason wider string spacing at the bridge which was wider than the usual Fender BBOT. I don’t think the neck was wider and this lead to they E and G strings being VERY close to the neck edges (I think this is shown in the pictures in the link in the 1st post)…. The body shape felt great however and the bass was comfy to wear. I replaced mine with a 75 type jazz which IMO was a significantly better instrument.

South Paw, Midi paw or Bear paw.

Update... I checked the tracking this morning and was surprised to see that the details had been amended to say it was out for delivery??? I updated the buyer and he confirmed later that the parcel has now been delivered to him. Well I am relieved. Unless I hear from ParcelForce I can only guess as to whether or not contacting the CEO's office did anything or this would have been the natural order of events. Certainly the communications with InterParcel lead me to believe the situation was pretty hopeless. Thanks for all your messages and advice over the last weeks. It was posted...

Update I've heard back fro the Managing Director’s Office of Parcelforce Worldwide as follows: "Following on from our telephone conversation earlier on this week, I am just wanting to let you know that I am still looking into your enquiry for your item with reference number of TG6115939. I do not have any further information at present, but will of course be in touch with you as soon as I have an update for you. Thank you for your patience and for bringing this matter to my attention." It seems they are doing something, hopefully a big search. Interestingly the ParcelForce employee who took my call asked if there was any distinguishing features about the parcel, and unfortunately there wasn't, other than fragile tape. Makes me think that if there is a next time and I still can't bring myself to pay for the insurance (musical instruments may not be covered, not value for money etc.) I would consider using a rattle can to spray the box a bright luminous colour before attaching the address labels. Anyway, thanks to all for your contributions I'll keep you posted...

I'm not sure I understand your point. Regardless of my insurance cover if I paid for my Fiesta (or Lambo) to be delivered to a new owner, and they delivered it to Fords of Dagenham (one of their biggest customers - we'll have to assume its the 1980's) instead, then decided they wouldn't continue with the delivery or even call the Dagenham plant, then I would be looking to claim off their insurance the value of the car. If on the other hand I hadn't prepared my car for the journey by not putting oil in it and the engine broke then I think with no insurance I'd be responsible for my loss. Is this not more a case of insurance vs no insurance? I acknowledge there is a a compulsory cover that you can't avoid, but this isn't a consideration for me. How do you feel about the enormous profits made by courier companies on these dubious at best policies for shipping musical instruments?

Glad to hear this 😀

Thanks Skol303 and dannybuoy, I like the restaurant/food analogy, but I'd like to tweak it for accuracy as follows. I have a bottle of Moog wine worth £350. My buyer and I are very excited about drinking wine so we are going to go to a great restaurant and pay a corkage charge of £9 and enjoy the wine with our food. We are offered a premium corkage charge of £25 incase the bottle is dropped (damaged) or lost (label falls off etc) I don't think this is necessary as I have stuck the label on well and its in a very strong anti smash bottle. Our food arrives, without the wine, so I enquire and after going back to the kitchen, the waiter comes back and tells us the wine was given to a couple who are one of their biggest customers sitting somewhere on the back patio, but he can't find out if he can get it back because he doesn't have their table number and I didn't pay the premium corkage charge and he is very sorry about that.... So far as "hindsight being a wonderful thing" I still see insurance as a spectacular rip off.... the payout is less than 1% yet they charge 4-5%, that means for every £100 they pay out, the have £3-400 sitting in a bank account, and we think that's ok / good business acumen or whatever. For now I think I've learned that this sorry episode signals the end of distance selling for me. There is a thread somewhere here about Londoners wanting local pickup only, well I think going out of my way to meet a fellow musician to trade far more palatable than accepting the rigorous shafting from the eBay, PayPal, Courier and Insurance fees. Sorry for the future sales I'll be missing out on, and the multi nationals will sadly miss out on their commissions, but I think I might be happier and look forward to meeting some cool folks. I'll keep you posted....

Very kind offer, but I don't think it will help, the tracking number is PBTG6115939001 if you want to enquire. So far the tracking info is still showing as delivered despite several requests to change the status incase it returns to the system and is delivered for real...

Thanks for all your replies.. I have continued the dialogue with Interparcel and am waiting to hear back from the MD's office of ParcelForce. From this weekend I'll be away until Easter so I've said that I'm hoping the parcel will complete its journey within the next month. I'll reply back here with developments from ParcelForce or Interparcel and after Easter, if the parcel hasn't turned up, I will begin the process of trying to get some money back through the small claims court under the consumer rights act if it looks viable and some polite but shaming messages to the offending CEO's on social media. Any other suggestions are gratefully received. I'll keep you posted...

Latest info. I received a reply from Interparcel:- "Dear Justin, Thank you for your e-mail and I am sorry for the delay I wanted to raise this with my director before I replied. Unfortunately this is still a lost in the system and we cannot offer any further compensation as no further cover was taken at the time of ordering. We are not governed by a ombudsman or regulatory body, if you do wish to take this further you can write onto the customer service at the address below: I am very sorry for all the inconvenience this matter has caused you." A lot of the points and requests I made to Interparcel were not addressed. I did a bit of searching on the internet and got a number for the Managing Directors office at ParcelForce, got through and they listened to the whole sorry saga. They are saying that posting the parcel down the wrong chute to eBay was an 'operational error' and resulted in the parcel being lost. ParcelForce did take my contact details and would look into it and try to contact ebay to see if they would send it back to ParcelForce or could have a look for it, so I am waiting..... ParcelForce said I have to go through Interparcel and their terms and conditions will dictate how they proceed. So far it's grim, but I will pursue them. I'll be off on holiday next week so before I go I'll give them a month to find it, then form some kind of plan to try and get some money back. I'll keep you posted...

I'm fighting it, in my reply I asked Interparcel to ask Parcel Force to do more to find it. I suggested they contact the ebay hub it went to and add a note to the tracking so it can re-enter the system if returned. I checked the small print and its not crystal clear, it only mentions loss or damage, so I might have chance for incompetence if it doesn't turn up. I'll wait to hear back from Interparcel and hope the parcel is returned from eBay. I'll keep you posted....

Not really the news I was hoping for : Hi Justin, Thank you for your e-mail, The standard cover that comes with this service is £25.00 as no further transit cover was taken this is the maximum we can settle your claim for plus the postage fee. Do you have a PayPal account that we can settle your claim by on this occasion? Apologies again for all the inconvenience this matter has caused you. Kind Regards, I'll reply stating it's not acceptable after I've had a cuppa... I'll keep you posted.....