kodiakblair

Molan There's no way I'm going to ask what the order was for. That's company business alone. Judging from the products for sale the charge could be on products retailing at £2000 odds and the company would go bust up to a retail value of £32,000 where it's about 5%. That's still a lot of money but in line with normal business practise. Import duty is 3.5% and Customs Clearance is £8 so the importing company's fee isn't high. As the VAT is pasted on to the customer it's not at issue here nor is the cost of importing and insuring small quantities of valuable instruments. My problem is Fender,Gibson et al banning companies from selling direct to the UK and forcing us to pay prices they set, not what the UK shops have to charge.It costs no more to ship a container from the Far East to the UK than it does to ship to the US. That's why I used the Squier example. I said those companies won't get my money not the shop used as an example. Hope that's clear, this is not a dig at UK shops.

That's the one I think. The Fender sold far too cheap I reckon.

Okay Skelf we'll agree to differ.

Right I'll find the link again. Even allowing for 4% import duty that was still a £40 price difference I quoted and that was with the VAT removed.As you know VAT is pasted on to the Buyer in country,you buy in Germany you don't then pay VAT in the UK. We're not talking about unique items here but stock goods. Fender have distribution centres in both the UK and Germany so shipping is greatly reduced though it will be costed for.These centres supply the whole of Europe and that's a lot of basses. I showed two companies selling the same item,both with overheads and staff to pay yet the UK store charges £72 more or £40 once VAT and duty are removed.Remember these are store prices so all costs are ready included. Do you really think it costs anything like another 20%. I'm not singling out the UK shop it was the first I compared with GC. Try that link again http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ups-worldwide-logistics-tunes-up-fender-guitars-european-supply-chain-74657872.html It's basically USPS ship Fenders to Europe then give them a Set-Up before they go out to stores. That might eat into the 20% but it also comes out of the staffing costs so swings and roundabouts.

Skelf You know as well as I do Fender ship containers over to Europe and the orders go out from there. Shops don't contact Fender for stock directly they use the rep. What you're describing is different.Importing raw materials from overseas is not the same as ordering from a central depot. Here's a link to the USPS/Fender service. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ups-worldwide-logistics-tunes-up-fender-guitars-european-supply-chain-74657872.html.

Here's a thing I've noticed about " price fixing " if that's the right term. Go to Guitar Centre and set the country to UK. 59 basses come up. No Fenders or Squiers but 22 MTD and 11 Rogue are listed. You get the same result with Sweetwater and Musician's Friend. It's in the t & C if you look. Protects the dealers over here but also tells me if the US store with overheads can sell items at $299 say where are all the £240 deals for us. Squier VM Jaguar SS costs $179 at GC that's £119 but it's £191 from PMT even allowing for 20% VAT that's £48 more. Remember GC have already included their costs in the $179 and US employees are subject to minimum wage and benefits too 25% more to buy a Squier in the UK then and the main reason I'll not buy any Fender products,it's the same with the other big players. They don't get my money either.

AndyBob09 That's a good bit of news to start your year with. Long may it continue.

I've never saw the Custom Line advertised either. I was going to say an old line but they might be prototypes. Mechanical defects on the guitarron probably just mean faulty tuners AT. Email them for more details. I did regarding payments as PayPal is not a listed option.

Get yourself one of these to wear with the George gear [attachment=180626:$_12.JPG] Bloody hell that's heavy mine only weighs 11lbs

Thomann have a ebay seller account where they sell the damaged basses. Things like cracked body acoustics or faulty pickups get listed there. There's a HB-60 with a slack jack,snapped screw at the truss rod and no signal from one of the pickups. Currently 100 euro with nearly 4 days to go. "[color=#212121][font=inherit][size=4]Instrument unplayable , must be repaired. Consequential damage due to defects can not be excluded "[/size][/font][/color] [color=#212121][font=inherit][size=4]Makes our Deko sound even better.[/size][/font][/color]

I'm getting 4.8mm on my early 90's Foundation. I also get 4.2 mm on my 82 T 45. Those sizes any good.

Hey Tom That's fantastic you got the last Blue Vantage. It's some bit of kit. Congratulations on a fine choice

Jono I've got some digital calipers coming tomorrow so I'll get the size from one of the Foundations. Be around dinnertime before I can let you known. All went well with the build then ?

Well Happy New Bass Day UglyDog Took a while but sounds like you got yourself a cracker .

Owen I got my friend in Chicago to post my bass to me in Scotland. Seller didn't want to ship abroad so I got the pal to buy it. A Peavey T 45 in a hard case cost $125 with USPS. You can book it here and prepay it too.Only thing is the documents need to be printed and slipped in the clear bag. He went to the post office on Friday and it cleared UK Customs at 12.30am today so should be ready to pick up on Saturday. With customs and VAT I expect to pay around £80 Bloody expensive on a £200 bass but they tax you on item cost and shipping cost then there's the handling fee. So £80 shipping with USPS and £80 taxes etc on a £200 bass. It's the last time I'm buying outside the EU. Edit I was wrong the VAT and duty + Parcel Force handling came to £46.42. Picked it up on Thursday night so it only took 5 days from posting to clearing to depot. Pretty damn good I think.

Andy You won a watch there I think The 2 D indentations are the marks saying it's failed the QC and so it won't get sold as B-stock. Most of the dekos have them. Very classy looking Sax.

pfretrock Thanks for the offer. I think he's in Germany so I message him and see what he says. There was a deko HBZ-2004 this morning for £59. In the time it took me to realise it was only because it was £59 I was interested. 5 minutes tops. Somebody else bought it first

Get a look at this fretless folks. http://www.ebay.com/itm/231438662437?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l4455&_trkparms=gh1g%3DI231438662437.N7.S1.M1259.R1.TR4 I've saw the H.K brand before but think they were cheaper models. The finish on this looks fantastic,shape's not to shabby either.

Absolutely brilliant description Planer

A fellow Harley Benton acoustic owner ( BK-35 NT ) is wondering about the strings supplied. He's emailed Thomann asking what brand they are but no reply, Can anyone here help ? Cheers KB They are huge eh Planer

That took no time Pete. Good for you on trying something new in 2015, I've never tried one either and as they're sold out it'll be a while yet Congratulations on the NEUBD

Glad that's sorted out Twincam. Now you can get on enjoying that fine bass

Tsvetan Firstly :- [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]Chestita Nova Godina[/size][/font][/color] [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]Thank for the kind offer but it's completely unnecessary. When you bought the T 40 It had already been altered, [/size][/font][/color] [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]there's no way you could have known.Please put this from your mind.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]The switches have been ordered and thanks to you another T 40 will come back to life.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]There will be a delay on [/size][/font][/color][color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]completing the re-build though,1st day back at work and the [/size][/font][/color] [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]diary is full already.If I can get a weekend off I'll do some work on it.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#878787][font=inherit][size=4]Cheers KB[/size][/font][/color]

Aha Another one for tomorrow then My mistake you did ask about the Zygote. I just got carried away with the SGC. Still not sure what model it is ? How would I tell ?

Lee With the cheapest nastiest strap I could find (think it came in a lucky bag) No neck dive. It sat there braw,very well balanced and very comfortable. Mornats No an easy thing to compare. The SGC is set up and sends her thanks for reminding me to care for her needs So easy to get playing sweet. It's really difficult to compare the two, after years of playing anything that was available the SGC was the first I bought and it must be twenty years or so I've had her. Kinda like your first love it's hard to be objective. Despite being slightly thicker in profile the Evo has a good easy neck to play,it's light and as I've said balances well. The two single coils are a nice touch and give the bass a loud vibrant tone. It's a good bass no doubt about that. The SGC well you know just how good they are.After that wee bit care this morning it's been great,with all this gear I've had this year picking up the bass I know best and just playing was a breath of fresh air,no fiddling with pots to find sounds. Howie Sorry Man. I'll get on to the Curbow tomorrow.