Hurley Virtuoso pup

[lockpicker1969]

I finally ordered myself a Hurley Virtuoso pup from the USA .i feel my K&kbassmax is to boomy .
if readers remember i had trouble with the first Hurley order not turning up .

anyway a missed card was left today and it looks like i am having to pay £14.70 customs charge on the thing before i can pick it up from the post office.
Surly it cant be all that? The pup only cost £34 including p&p, if my maths is right that feels like a 50000% customs charge

[thisnameistaken]

You should be paying VAT at 20%, and there may be a 3.something% import duty if it's classed as musical equipment, and usually there's a handling fee of about ten quid from ParcelFarce, so honestly you seem to have got off quite lightly there.

[oggiesnr]

You're paying about a tenner for the "privilege" of having Royal Mail deal with the custom's paperwork. I've been caught out like that before as well.

Steve

[lockpicker1969]

guess i will have to stump up

[PaulKing]

Some of the more ... 'helpful' ... US traders , suggest on the packaging that the enclosed is a gift. They are so thoughtful to do so ... as it can mean zero taxes.
Buying from the US is always painful otherwise.

[fatback]

[quote name='PaulKing' timestamp='1358768674' post='1944554']
Some of the more ... 'helpful' ... US traders , suggest on the packaging that the enclosed is a gift. They are so thoughtful to do so ... as it can mean zero taxes.
Buying from the US is always painful otherwise.
[/quote]

Read somewhere the other day that EU/USA talks on a customs union are starting up again and might get somewhere this time. Just imagine...

[Jonnydoghouse]

Lockpicker, what was the outcome of all this? I just ordered a virtuoso yesterday and then read your post. I've been using a k and k rab for the last 10 years or so and recently changed to gut strings from rotos. Been having problems for a couple of years with the balance of string volume, odd harmonics on open strings etc. how does the hurley sound? It was recommended highly to me by a friend in the states who's a pro upright player in a blues combo. Are you using a pre amp with it?

Looking forward to hearing back....

[Clarky]

Might be as well to drop him a PM (assuming that sends an email to his computer) as he hasn't been on BassChat for over three months

[thisnameistaken]

TPJ very kindly loaned me his Hurley a while back when I was complaining about the sound of my Bass Max. To my ears it had a similar sound (I imagine all wing-slot piezos have a similar sound) but it wasn't as awfully honky as the Bass Max.

[Mr Bassman]

I've never found a bassmax to be honky

[ceilidhswinger]

Hurley is a great pick up for the money! in my experience, what sounds great to one guy will sound crap to another bass player.
he is now making pre amps too!