cetera

Sod that.... I'd rather spend the money on drinking with a hot girl. Where's Caroline gone? Must be Marguerita Time by now....

An excellent update (for me!) just received from APHA re:CITES and Ebony... woo hoo!! Dear Gary THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA (CITES) EC REGULATION 338/97 & 865/2006 – IMPORT / (RE)-EXPORT PERMIT Please note - the only Ebony listed on CITES is Diospyros spp from Madagascar, and this only applies to logs, sawn wood and veneer sheets. As the Ebony on your guitar is on a worked item (like ebony keys on a piano), it is does not fall under the controls of CITES – therefore you do not require any CITES permitting for movement of the instrument out of the US or into the UK. Do ensure however that there is not Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) on the instrument, as permits will be required for this wood species as it is CITES Appendix I, EU Annex A, but any other rosewood species (Annex B listed) on the guitar should not now need permitting as their weight within the instrument will be under 10kg following the new rulings at the conference of parties in 2018. Kind regards Simon

No idea! That's what my local tech guy is for... lol!

Change the pickups to full active EMGs first. That may be enough and save you a ton of money.

Ah, possibly not - the holes may need widening... Not sure about retaining a normal tone control but the BTC is normally used on 3 hole set ups. A BQC would give you a master volume, balance, bass/teble concentric pot and mid level/mid freq concentric pot.

Lovely score! Try an EMG BQC in it..... or get a Haz from Bass Direct?

A few more have been uploaded over the last month..... and more to come. Once I've got some of the KISS requests out of the way there will definitely be some more variety too Don't forget to like/subscribe if you enjoy them. Thanks!

Yes, but you will need to upgrade them to full EMG P & J in soapbar format. They are a lot more full/powerful than the Hz versions...

Replace the pickups with EMG 34 P4 and 35 J active pickups. This should bring the bass alive. If still not happy, upgrade the preamp to an EMG BQC (if you want 3 band eq) or EMG BTS/Spector Tonepump preamp (with trimpot) if you want a 2 band option.

There is a bass I'm thinking of asking a friend in the US to pick up for me from a seller local to him and then sending it to me here in the UK. It's a 30 year old Hamer with ebony fretboard. Will he have any problems shipping it re: CITES. Not sure of the current situation/thinking.... but I believe ebony is ok? Cheers for any help/advice!

I've given some of my more 'budget' Spectors an upgrade with Spector crown inlays. Makes them look even classier.... I also customised my cheap-as-chips Harley Benton 'none-more-black' P-bass with MOP jazz block inlays. Looks great!

Yup, Spector --> Tuner --> Chorus (occasional) --> GK Head & GenzBenz Neo 2x12 cab. Job done.

Any recent US NS2 is gonna set you back £4k+ new and £3K+ used.

Sold a bass to Mike.... and regret it already! lol! Great comms & quick payment. What more could I seller ask? Recommended!

Saw one of these in Andertons and thought it looked gorgeous - that finish is a thing of beauty. Congrats! I'd definitely dump the Barts and gets some EMGs and a preamp in there if it was me though...

New one up:

If I were to start all over again and just buy one bass/amp - I'd buy a late 80's Kramer-era Spector NS2 and a late 80's/early 90's Gallien Krueger 800RB head. Cab to be decided....

Thanks chap. So, if I wanted to upgrade it - what hardware/pickups should I be looking to get?

Just been given this Bass Collection 'Californian' Rickenfaker. Seems to be Indonesian made and sounds pretty good. Any info on these? Thoughts? Quality etc?

Ooh..... good idea. Will have to think about that... so many great songs....!

Duly noted....!

Yes indeed, thanks again for parting with her...