Eldon Tyrell

These look great but £3299 is quite a bit beyond my bass budget, I am afraid 😞 However, good news is that, according to Peach Guitars, the price "was" £3799 (not sure when as they just listed them today), so maybe they really are a bargain 😉 https://www.peachguitars.com/music-man-retro-stingray-bass-70s-stingray-h-black.htm https://www.peachguitars.com/music-man-retro-stingray-bass-70s-stingray-h-white.htm

I recently (June) sold a Stingray Timmy C to a buyer in the US. Well, the local depot here in the UK wanted to know if I had a CITES license. I could convince them that there was no need for one. I also had to send them the commercial invoices again as they somehow had managed to lose them. I only found out about the "missing" commercial invoices after checking the tracking info online where it said that they were waiting for the forms and that they had contacted the seller (i.e., me). Well, they obviously did not contact me and I had to chase them up. Then the US counterparts asked me to fill in a toxic substance control act declaration (TSCA, I guess because of the fretboard glue!), a manufacturer's affidavit (actually this should have been filled in by EBMM but I put in the info myself and I also attached the original invoice from EBMM. Interestingly, after some googling I found out that a manufacturers affidavit is normally used for shipments over $10,000.00. Well, the Timmy C is a great bass but not not THAT expensive ; -), and a foreign shipper declaration. The buyer was also asked to fill in an import declaration and a TSCA form (importer single entry). Looks like these checks came into place as the bass returned to the US where is was made and because the value was above $2500. All in all a lot of hassle, costing me time and energy. So, in short, my advice to you - if someone from the US wants to buy one of your basses that was made in the US and that is worth more than $2500, then kindly decline it (unless you don't mind filling in several forms and spending lots of time emailing custom officials and people working in depots ; -). Cost was £234.99 (fully insured, using parcel2go as a broker).

Bargain!

Very funny, but he clearly said that his name was Mark Somebody!

It's a fake. Look at the logo. It misses the trademark Rs (after "Ball" (top), "Man" (top) and "Ray" (bottom). Then look at the bridge. It is definitely not a US Stingray bridge. Avoid!

Check out from 06:56. According to Sheldon, everything is different - the pickups, the body, and the headstock. Everything. He hopes that they will be a hit.

Thanks and yes, I was lucky that the retailer still had pre-Covid and pre-inflation prices listed on his website. Never seemed to have adjusted them, so esp. for the EBMM it was a big save (their prices have gone through the roof). I am now eyeing a Spector bass in another EU shop. Same situation. The price is still the old one from 2019 and I could save quite a bit but don't have the funds, well, yet 😉

Ok, buying a second hand bass from a private seller is obviously different. However, my post would still work for buying a second hand bass from a EU retailer. It wasn't clear from the title and posts.

Here you go: https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/spector-bass-euro-4-classic-solid-white-gloss/

I think it is important to point out that the "cost of guitar" is "price listed in local currency MINUS VAT in that EU member state". So, depending on from where in the EU you buy from, you could actually save some VAT (of course you still have shipping costs, duty and handling fees). I ordered twice from a small shop in Belgium (their VAT is 21%) and got the two basses (one Fender and an EBMM) cheaper than what they cost here. The whole process was pretty straightforward too. I think the real issue comes with returns when you want to get your VAT back (unless the retailer manages it all for you, like Thomann, I guess). Have not tried that one yet myself. See below for a map for EU VAT and order from a county that has a significantly higher VAT (e.g., Hungary, Sweden, Denmark or Greece) than the UK.

Spinal Tap on TV tonight? Yeah, tonight, I'm gonna rock you Tonight, oh yeah 😁

They also did a limited edition DarkRay in a cool white sparkle finish with black hardware and an ebony fingerboard. I used to own one.

note sure, probably best for jazz-blues or blues-jazz 😉

I agree. The purple one looks killer. The EMG/DG combo sounds really good too. I had the same combo in my Ras Layer signature bass. Really liked it (I only sold the bass as I did not like the chunky neck). However, I am not sure about the name - HP (High Performance). Is it really performing higher than the previous Aguilar and Fishman Fluence preamp/preamp combos? Further, they could have just called them Ethos II and Dimension II (like they did for the Pulse) as the name HP reminds me of a tech company and these two guys 😉

You can get a Performer in metallic green https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Perf4MGrn--spector-performer-4-bass-guitar-metallic-green

a few more:

Speaking of Spectors, BassBros has currently some very nice Spectors for sale 😁 https://bassbros.co.uk/?s=spector&post_type=product

Fully agree, my white Spector Mike Starr with the Haz 9V is also the only bass (not only Spector) that is safe from me selling it. What a killer bass 😍

Cool looking and sounding bass (Neck-thru body, ebony fingerboard, DiMarzio Double Split P pickups) and it is RED 🤩 Very tempted to get one now!

in action:

These are also ok, but a bit too tall for my taste: https://www.armstrongmusic.co.uk//hardware-parts-c1/knobs-c39/gibson-replacement-knobs-c137/armstrong-music-vintage-50s-tall-speed-knob-set-of-2-usa-fit-and-cts-pots-p23432/s27528

I am also looking for two original knobs for my BB1200. The closest I've found are these. Not exactly the same but quite close (and not too expensive): https://www.armstrongmusic.co.uk//hardware-parts-c1/knobs-c39/gibson-replacement-knobs-c137/armstrong-music-speed-knob-set-of-2-black-usa-fit-and-cts-pots-p1454/s2073

No pain, no gain 😉 Took inspiration from the legendary Peter Steel(e)