Annoying Twit

The most recent one to sell on ebay sold for £190. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westbury-Track-4-Bass-1980s-vintage-classic-/331411914221?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4d29b07ded

The guitarron is already sold, so there isn't really much need to know more about it. But clearly there are interesting things being sold. On the German forum someone mentioned a bass which was seemingly a prototype. I think I mentioned it further up this thread. I think that the 'custom line' instruments tend to be more recent. E.g. there's a 'Custom Line' of acoustic basses which I think are newer than the ones we've been buying here. They have Fishman electronics, and what looks like a MOP inlay around the sound hole instead of a sticker. So, that ukulele being a prototype sounds plausible.

The prices they get on ebay seem quite high. It makes it a mystery as to why they are selling instruments as 'Deko' for lower prices when there's not much wrong with them. Maybe it's a loss leader thing to get publicity. It's certainly got a number of people talking about Thomann and Harley Benton on this thread. I wouldn't mind one of these as a Deko item: [url="http://www.ebay.de/itm/Harley-Benton-Kahuna-CLU-50T-Custom-Line-/400840107772?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item5d53eea6fc"]http://www.ebay.de/i...=item5d53eea6fc[/url] Funny that this model doesn't seem to be available from their website. Oooh A guitarron for £89 + p&p. [url="http://www.ebay.de/itm/Lucida-Guitarron-Mariachi-/400824119228?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item5d52faafbc"]http://www.ebay.de/i...=item5d52faafbc[/url] Compared to £168 + p&p new price. I wonder what was wrong with it.

[quote name='Moos3h' timestamp='1420913727' post='2655012'] My jazz has shipped! Woot! Why do I get the feeling I'll be the first person to get an absolute dog though? [/quote] Congratulations on the shipping, and I hope your bass doesn't spend too long in Cologne. If it's a dog, which I think is unlikely, then you can always return it for a refund.

It's written in Java. Every ten seconds it downloads the contents of Thomann's page listing Decoration Guitars and Basses. It then looks into the webpage source using the methods of java's standard String class and finds the brand names and model numbers of the basses listed. It puts these into a text pane of the program's GUI. If any of the instruments are new, then it uses Mac OSX's built in speech synthesiser to speak the brand/model number of the newly listed instruments. The speech synthesiser is important, as I don't have to watch the program. If anything turns up when I'm near the computer, I'll hear the instruments being read out which tells me that there's something new.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1420836040' post='2654167'] Just how big are the acoustics? (Say in terms of how wide the lower bout is). Is the unplugged volume reasonable? I don't expect one to be nearly as loud as a double bass, but some ABGs are more useful than others, and big is good in that respect. I had fun jamming with a cheap ABG I borrowed from a friend last year, so I know I could get some use out of one... [/quote] My acoustic bass doesn't seem that big, or that loud, to me. I have the four string, and perhaps the five string is bigger. But, mine seems to be pretty much a regular acoustic bass size. E.g. comparable to a Tanglewood fretless bass I played.

A whole lot of Harley Benton deko instruments have just gone up within the last 30 seconds.... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/decorative_guitars_and_basses.html"]http://www.thomann.d...and_basses.html[/url] Some highlights: Jazz bass, 4 string solid body fretless, PJ. (following links are not in that order) [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_pj_4_htr_deluxe_series_deko.htm?sid=01cb064e7bf55ca58868cccd92302448"]http://www.thomann.d...868cccd92302448[/url] [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_450fl_bk_progressive_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...essive_deko.htm[/url] [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_20_sb_standard_seri_deko.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...d_seri_deko.htm[/url] EDIT: PJ is already sold out! Must be less than a minute after it went up. There was a Les Paul-a-like and a 7 string guitar. They both went within a minute too. My program only lists the instruments which are currently up there. I wonder if I'm missing instruments which appear, then disappear again. I'm going to modify it so that instruments that were up but have disappeared can also be seen.

Happy NBD UD. It sounds as if you will be yet another happy Deko bass owner.

I've seen similar things described as jazz basses, even if there is variation. However, just because I've seen them described that way, that doesn't make it true The "BC" in the title stands for "Bass Collection". I can't remember which model, but one of the Japanese Bass Collection models I THINK had two Jazz style pickups.

My deco bass is absolutely fine. I've read of many others both here and on the German forum that were fine. If not, then you have your cancellation and return rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. So, you can't lose.

Thanks! I spent over an hour writing my computer program to watch Thomann's decoration only instruments. It's very pleasing to hear that it has already been of benefit to someone.

Was my posting instrumental in you getting one? Or were you watching/looking independently?

I've got technology on my side. But it seems even then I'd have to sit around with a Thomann shopping basket open and ready to pounce to have any chance. I had sort of decided that I would go for a Deko R458 if one came up. It disappeared so quickly that even if I had pounced it would probably have been gone. The Deko 1975 bass(es?) have all sold out now. At least they stayed available for an hour or so.

The R458 8 string guitar deko has sold already!!!!! Looks like someone else is tracking these instruments in real time EDIT: A few minutes later, the stratocaster guitar has already sold. The 1975 Vintage Jazz bass is still there.

I said that I would buy one of these if they came up 'Deko', but I just can't today. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_r_458_bk_progressiv_se_deko.htm There are a whole lot of other things that have gone up within the last minute (Kodiakblair knows why I'm being literal about 'the last minute' ). E.g. http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_75_na_vintage_serie_deko.htm

Here's a Cardinal Series bass. Left handed, but strung right handed. Hard case, reasonable postage, low starting price. It'll be interesting to see how high this goes. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-II-Bass-Left-handed-but-strung-right-handed-One-owner-Includes-case-/231446876573?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item35e34f119d"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item35e34f119d[/url] EDIT: Seems that some people are bidding on this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-GRANT-Fretless-bass-guitar-1960s-70s-Made-in-Japan-hard-case-/400837830018?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item5d53cbe582

I wonder if this will inspire Rickenbacker to have a bit of a rethink. I think the Thunderbird 2015 bass has the same bridge. Not too clear as the Thunderbird bass bridge is black and harder to make out.

The basses look nice. However the advertising material are in need of some serious proofreading. "This new basE..." "Most other basses at the body wood is made with North American Alder." "Swarp Ash body".

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1420711584' post='2652329'] And according to the tracker, it hasn't moved another inch since. [/quote] My experience was that the tracking says that the instruments tend to hang around in Cologne for a while.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1420581809' post='2651028'] Got a 4 string fretted and a soprano sax - well pleased so far...I'll post a bit more detail when I get a moment [/quote] I've seen the brass instruments, but I have no idea what the ins and outs of buying one is. The flute for £35 or thereabouts looked very cheap. Not that I'm going to buy one.

Nice, IMHO. Not that I'm going to be buying one, but does anyone have one of these? http://www.dv247.com/guitars/jandd-yc-150j-4-string-bass-guitar-white--210971

Decoration only banjo, anyone? http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_bj_65pro_6_string_banj_deko.htm

I think you're being rather generous with your praise. It's just plain wood stuck together at the moment. The intonation is way off. If I tune the g string to pitch (really difficult with non-geared tuners) then fret the first fret, it's way sharp. I checked the nut height according to a website, and according to that the nut height is correct. The action is way high however. But, surely that wouldn't cause the excessive sharpness at the first fret ???? I'm not even thinking about finishing it at the moment until (if?) I can make it playable.

I predict that you'll really like it.

I remember doing a definite double take when I saw that photo the first time Good to see the forum functioning in a collaborative manner concerning UglyDog getting his deko bass. (I presume a jazzer). I've just been playing my deko. The more I play it, the more I think it's a pretty nice bass.