vincbt

I’ve been on the other side of a similar transaction a couple of times (not through FB but not through a trusted website such as BC) and I have always offered a Skype / Zoom call to show the instrument on video, or if needed to plug it in with iRig and play it into the call to test the sound. Other than that, a Paypal transaction (NOT friends and family) should help, if you end up offering to pay the PayPal commission and the seller refuses you know you should run away. Good luck

that’s true, I’ve been able to buy and move on quite a few things over the year without ever losing much money in the process

My life was different before I hit the For Sale section of this forum a few years back...

It is rosewood, I think the difference is really in the way the pickup are voiced

Helps a bit in passive mode. In active it always sounds a bit hi-fi. I will experiment with strings and EQ to see if I can dial it down a bit

Fair point - I do need to do a bit of research on the pickups that would go well in the VS4 and probably call it a day with regards to buying more stuff

The voice of reason It is absolutely true, but easier said than done. I think we just have access to too much gear with the forum and all the other websites we can just browse through..

I've gone at least one year without buying or selling any instruments, which is an achievement in itself, but since the beginning of the year I feel I've been again thinking that I should change my gear and suddenly my playing with improve (or something like that) A few years ago I bought a 71P on this forum. It's been serving me very well, but I keep wondering, with prices going up, if we're now at a point where I should just move it on. Thinking that I should also have a less valuable instrument to drag around rehearsal and live venues, I then bought a Sandberg VS4 (again here) about a year ago. Very comfortable neck, perhaps a touch too trebly for my taste. What else would one want from a P! Well... enter 2024, suddenly I'm thinking I should really sell both and get a 60s specs P, and of course there happens to be a custom shop in Sherwood green on sale When I test the water with my wife she just tells me it looks just like what I have already, and probably she's right. Some part of me thinks if I do start buying and selling again I'll end up regretting both losing the vintage instrument and the very comfortable Sandberg neck, while on the other hand I have this little voice in my head saying it's a great idea and I could just have one P instead of 2. What I definitely don't want is end up with 3 I know I'm not alone out there, so is there a way out of the circle of GAS?? How do you guys stop tinkering and just focus on improving your playing (and not your gear)?

There is a shop here near Paris that specialises in importing Fenders from Japan. From time to time they have a JV but more often than not (including now) they have a Hama Okamoto in stock. I’ve been thinking of paying a visit for some time but now I feel if I do it I’d walk out with one of these! Really nice example you got and in great condition!

This just came up for sale here in France. I’m no expert but the price looks extortionate, even for a 60s stacked knobs J https://www.zikinf.com/annonces/annonce-2191881

+1 for refinishing it. You may be indifferent or not to the flag (personally I wouldn't want to have it on any of my basses), but just seeing how it derailed the conversation here entirely away from the merit of the instrument would make me want to get rid of it, it's just too divisive. On a more mundane note, did they close the pickguard holes when they refinished the bass? It could be an interesting feature if you wanted to keep it naked once refin.

Agree it's a bit of a pain... The BT1 and BT7 have the same shaft, but looking at the diagram I realised the BT7 has a ferrule with 18mm diameter while the BT1 has a 17.5mm one, enough to make a difference on my Sandberg. BassDirect does say the BT7 is meant to fit so it may be an issue with the newer models only. I'm based in Europe unfortunately so dealing with Thomann, I could try to ask them

Sorry for hijacking the thread but I’d need some advice on this topic. I’m looking to fit a Hipshot Xtender on my Sandberg Caifornia (with new style tuners). Initially I bought a BT7 but it didn’t fit, the hole in the headstock was a tad too small and I didn’t want to mess with it, so it went back. Now I bought a BT1 but also a HE6. Neither of them retrofits the bass but both would work if I drill some holes for the screws. I am inclined to think the HE6 is a better fit as it only needs one hole and this would be covered if I decided to put back the original tuner. The BT1 needs 4 holes and there is no way they’d all be covered by the original tuner. Has anybody made this swap before? Any reason why the HE6 won’t work or would create issues I haven’t thought of? Thanks in advance, I include a few photos to give a better idea. HE6 HE6 BT1 BT1