Graham A

Haha, I may live to regret it yet!! Being a lefty if you see a bass you want you just have to go for it. God knows when i'll see another one for sale. I would accept there's an element of risk, more so since Brexit, but that could be said for a lot of online purchases. It would be the same as importing a bass from the US, which was the only other place i've seen what i was looking for, for sale. As previously mentioned i did try & source what i was looking for in the UK with no success. I couldn't even order the model.

Doesn't it depend on the value of the goods? Goods under i think it's around £150 ( can't recall exact figure but it's on one of Thomann's / Brexit threads ) have the VAT paid for at Thomann's end...not sure about import fee's etc. If you've got the goods i think you must have slipped through the net. The girl at the UPS depot i visited yesterday said that they had a storage room at the depot where goods were being held because the fees hadn't been paid.

I think the UPS app isn't very reliable Kev, that added to UPS's reputation ( look at Trust Pilot reviews!! 😮 ) leads to a bit of an uncomfortable wait. The girl at the Sedgefield depot has my number. I'm hoping that as soon as it lands there she might give me a call & i can go & pick it up in person.

I posted on another thread about a left handed Musicman Sterling which i ended up ordering from Thomann's on the 15/01/2021. I had been waiting a few months before Brexit hoping that it would come in stock beforehand, sadly it came in about 10-11 days after...sods law. I did try & source one from the Musicman distributor in the UK but they informed me that there were no lefties, & none becoming available in 2021!! As Thomann's only had one in stock I bit the bullet & ordered. Prior to Brexit the price seemed to fluctuate between £2030 - £2050 from what i can recall. Price after brexit was £1699 ( no VAT added ). It was shipped on the 16th by the UPS, & seemed to sale through Germany. I received an email on the Thursday night ( 21/01 ) saying that i owed charges totally £399.71, which was the ball park figure i had worked out around the £400 mark. Government Charges - £388.21 Brokerage Charges - £11.50 On the Friday (22/01), it appeared to cross into the UK, as the app showed it had been imported & accepted into Stanford Le Hope. Then there was nothing...... With no apparent movement or update since the Friday i decided to visit my local UPS depot yesterday, as it's only a few miles away in Sedgefield, & definitely better than trying to get through on the phone. That seemed to do the trick & last night it actually cleared customs, something i assumed had happened last week reading the app, but at least it's back on the move. The girl at the depot did mention that there is a huge backlog at Stanford Le Hope with goods trying to get through customs. Fingers crossed it gets here in piece. I would say to anyone buying from Thomann's now, don't expect a quick delivery, mine looks like it's going to be at least two weeks, & a few heart in mouth moments when you think you parcel has been lost.....saying that there's still time for that to happen!!

This appears to be the case, i've been watching the one from Thomann's, & it's been on a countdown for months. I was hoping it might have come in prior to Brexit, but sadly that wasn't the case. They confirmed this morning that they only had the one item as well. With that in mind, & not knowing when the next left handed Sterling might come along, i've bitten the bullet & ordered it from them. Fingers crossed it's a pretty painless experience, but i'm expecting it to take longer to arrive, & cost more than pre-Brexit. I've calculated the 20% VAT, import fees, paperwork fees as best i can, & come up with a ball park figure, so hopefully there'll be no nasty little suprises along the way. Hopefully i'll be able to report good news on here. If you don't hear from me, you'll know that it ended badly!!

Looks like i could be sticking with the basses i've got.......but GAS does terrible things to a person!! 😂

Don't blame you @Al Krow, if you like them etc there's minimal risk. Being left handed you can rarely try basses before you buy, so i rely on the ease of return to minimise the risk of not gelling with it. In the case of the Sterling i was looking at if it was damaged or i didn't get on with it i would be chasing the best part of £340 with no guarentee of getting it back!! 😮

Sadly, that's the way i'm starting to feel about it 😟

Thanks @Steve Browning More red tape & form filling....what a suprise!! 😂

Wise move 👍

I know, as a lefty you usually have to snap basses up when you see them. It's usually a case you snooze, you lose. I really am on the horns of a dilemma!! 😂😭

Well i've spoken to someone at Thomann, who has informed me that there have unfortunately been delays with goods being sent to the United Kingdom, he didn't elaborate. Despite wanting the bass i was looking at, i don't need it......it's only GAS, & i'm beginning to think there maybe too many unknowns at the moment to part with a huge wad of cash. He did inform me that Thomann are looking at some sort of clearing service for UK customers to deal with fees etc, & they hoped in a few weeks to be able to show on their website the actual price including VAT, fees & any other add ons. It may come too late for me if the left handed model i'm after sells out, but they clearly realise they are losing out on UK sales. A shame really, in a pre-Brexit world the order would have already been placed 😞 PS If anyone does have any real life experience of buying an instrument from Thomann's post Brexit feel free to contribute, i'm easily swayed 👍

That's the reason i was was drawn to Thomann's. I've made enquiries regarding stock coming into the UK this year, with some Musicman distributors & drawn a blank, add into the mix that i'm looking for a left handed model & it gets even harder!!! 😟😟 That doesn't fill me with confidence. I suppose in the first case at least you received the goods, but as you say you don't know what the final bill will be, or when it'll suddenly land on your doormat... which isn't good. I suppose as a private buyer if you've got your goods you just sit tight & wait. Rubbish for businesses though with cashflow etc to consider!! The second case is to me my worst case scenario, you buy the bass & it ends up stuck in warehouse with no idea when it's going to be delivered. Anyone got any good news stories?? 😂

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to sleep on it, but then will more than likely go ahead.....unless it sells out before then!! If i knew someone in the UK was going to get them in i would wait, but from what distributor has said they don't expect any to hit our shores anytime soon. They rarely come up in the secondhand market for us lefties either, so purchasing new seems to be my only option. I think the only issue i can see with returning an item to them now is, i would assume, you would get the purchase price back but not the VAT as you would have paid that to a courier, along with your handling fee. I'm not sure how easy it would be claiming the VAT back if you did return it!! I bought from Thomann before without issue, & as a band we purchased a new mixing desk at the back end of 2019 with no problem. I suppose it's just the whole Brexit thing / jumping into the unknown that's putting me off.

Interesting thread as i'm having to weigh up whether to order from Thomann's or not. I've been looking for a left handed Musicman Sterling since the back end of last year. I've tried an number of UK stockists with no success, even the Musicman distributor for the UK says there's no stock in the country, & nothing due in, in 2021. I even bought a Spector bass just before Xmas, as i'd given up my search, although i sent it back as it just wasn't for me in end. I've now noticed that the sterling in vintage blue is back in stock at Thomann's, after months of it not being available. I wished it had been in stock prior to Brexit, but that's sod law ( along with being a lefty ). As was asked before, has anyone had any real life experience of dealing with Thomann since Brexit? All a bit annoying as i would have already ordered it if we were still in the EU, but i'm slightly waring now in case it ends up in a cold warehouse for days on end before it's finally delivered!! 😭

Bought a Smoothhound belt adapter, along with some other bits & pieces for the Smoothhound. Great communication & fast postage. A pleasure to deal with. Thanks

I think my jumping around days are well behind me!!! 😂😂

Cheers @Paulhauser👍

Well this bass landed on my doorstep on Christmas Eve, & fair to say i haven't put it down since. I'm predominately a Fender player, apart from a spell where i played a Stingray which ended up, quite literaly, being a pain in the shoulder if the gig went on too long!! I've always fancied a Spector, & liked the look of the Euro's, but being left handed the only ones that seemed to come up were the cheaper Legends. Then last week i noticed this Spector Euro 4 Classic come up on the Bass Direct website, so i decided i'd take the plunge. So pleased i did, just plugged in around the house it's amazing, can't wait to try it out at gig levels. Such a shame as any normal year it would have already been out to play at a Boxing day gig. Added bonus it only weighs 3.5kg ( 7lbs 10oz ) due to weight-relieved North American Maple body wings 😊

This early Christmas present landed on my doorstep on Christmas Eve....a Spector Euro4 Classic ( lefty ). I'm usually a Fender guy, but loving the Spector, i haven't put it down since it arrived. Think it could become my new main gigging bass when we're allowed to get back out there 👍

Mine arrived today. Looking good. Cheers @ped 👍