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Happy Jack

By Happy Jack,
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tauzero Grand Master

tauzero

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[quote name='Soloshchenko' post='1194555' date='Apr 10 2011, 01:23 PM'][url="http://manchester.gumtree.com/manchester/12/76110912.html"]http://manchester.gumtree.com/manchester/12/76110912.html[/url]

He's bloody hammered that in 5 weeks to get the belt buckle mark![/quote]
"Slight buckle rash"? That's like describing an amputation as a minor flesh wound.

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ash Grand Master

ash

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[quote name='daz' post='1186703' date='Apr 3 2011, 01:25 PM']The John Birch bass, on ebay (seen below. Go to ebay link for detailed pics) thats a beauty.



If i can derail this thread for one post (if thats ok with the Mods ?) and put this info re:[b] John Birch[/b] in this post. In case anyone does not know of whom we speak. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(luthier)"] Here is John Birch's Wiki page [/url]its an interesting read.

A left handed John Birch Ric copy circa 1975

The info on this left hooker is a page long. so anyone wishing to read up on this bass can go [url="http://www.zimbio.com/Guitars/articles/4xeoFH-FzKn/1975+John+Birch+Left+Handed+Rickenbacker+Bass"]here.

[/url]
John Birch famous [b]Super Yob II [/b]made for Dave Hill of slade


(Below) A John Birch EB3 styled bass made in about 1976 for Jim Lea of Slade. This was made because the original
Gibson EB3 that Jim Lea was using was stolen from John Birch's workshop. ([url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showuser=9089"]Big_Stu [/url] knows much more about this John Birch stuff than i do. He knows the members of Slade and I belive he knew John Birch )




(EB3 style photos By John Diggins (Jaydee))

And lastly a pic and a few paragraphs on another John Birch Ric copy [url="http://kevmoore.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/first-bass-no2-beg-steal-or-borrow-but-never-sell-your-basses/"]here.[/url]
More John birch Slade guitars [url="http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/slade/2011/pages/gear.htm"]here.[/url][/quote]


I bought the John Birch above from Ebay and contacted John Carling at John Birch guitars - a very nice chap by the way - the seller - a very helpful gent - had owned it for 33 years and the finish is original, John told me that the knobs are original too, I removed the stickers and they are similar to Ric knobs with a silver cap. The bass has a serial number under the back plate. It weighs around 8.5lbs and plays like a dream straight out of the box. I agree with Jon that the build quality is sublime and playability to my tastes is superior to any Rick or Faker I've ever played (I've had quite a few of both). So yes I'm very pleased with it!

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='ash' post='1200097' date='Apr 14 2011, 11:19 PM']I bought the John Birch above from Ebay[/quote]
Excellent, always good when something exceptional goes to a BC member!.

Please take loads of lovely hi-res pics then post them in Bass Porn (dig out the Rampant Rickenbuggery thread, why not?) - including whatever's under that curious back scratchplate! :)

J.

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noirpunk Explorer

noirpunk

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[quote name='ash' post='1200097' date='Apr 14 2011, 11:19 PM']I bought the John Birch above from Ebay and contacted John Carling at John Birch guitars - a very nice chap by the way - the seller - a very helpful gent - had owned it for 33 years and the finish is original, John told me that the knobs are original too, I removed the stickers and they are similar to Ric knobs with a silver cap. The bass has a serial number under the back plate. It weighs around 8.5lbs and plays like a dream straight out of the box. I agree with Jon that the build quality is sublime and playability to my tastes is superior to any Rick or Faker I've ever played (I've had quite a few of both). So yes I'm very pleased with it![/quote]

Congratulations Ash and welcome to the John Birch owners club! John Carling is a very nice guy, when I get home I'll upload a picture of myself (with my bass) and JC. Maybe we should start a John Birch owners thread or something?

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Big_Stu Proficient

Big_Stu

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[quote name='noirpunk' post='1200513' date='Apr 15 2011, 12:00 PM']Congratulations Ash and welcome to the John Birch owners club! John Carling is a very nice guy, when I get home I'll upload a picture of myself (with my bass) and JC. Maybe we should start a John Birch owners thread or something?[/quote]

Excellent! I did see JB Ric that but didn't realise there was so much John Birch love on this forum. Both Johns are or were really nice guys, since getting my bass I've spoken to three others who worked for John Birch (it's where JayDee started out) & they all had brilliant stories to tell, which I recounted back to JayDee & it brought back happy memories.

One story is that one day two JB workers had a row in the workshop, it led to a scrap during which John Birch walked in with some potential clients for a lookaround. They saw the two guys rolling around the floor, fists flying, & walked out, never to be seen by John Birch again. The "potential clients" were The Police.
Another was from when the JB workshop (in Rubery, Birmingham) was a delapidated ex-shoe shop. There were half a dozen guitars hanging, drying over a bath in what was still an old knackered bathroom above the workshop. Someone flushed the toilet next to it & the ceiling fell in destroying a few thousand poundsworth of guitars.

Yes, I met John Birch a few times. I'd always been amazed at Jimmy Lea's sound (very high output pickups with an overdrive set to full, he'd let me have a go on his basses at a couple of gigs) & once they split I just had to have a bass like it. Though in his age (John was 79/80 when he worked on it) he made some small mistakes. The first time I went to see him he showed me his "den". This was pre-Sky; so he had 4 TV sets, all switched on which he watched at the same time. Each one had a video tuned to it, with the remotes ready so that if he saw something he liked he could tape it straight away.
Sadly, two days after John phoned me to say that my bass was nearly ready, he was found dead in his kitchen, so it is the last guitar that JB ever worked on.
The bass was featured in Guitarist magazine. A few weeks later I received a copy of it, with a note from Jimmy saying "Best Of Luck with the bass". :)
H has let me play his Superyob MkII too, it's a fantastic piece of work, he says it's vastly superior to the original which is now owned by Marco Peroni.

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Big_Stu Proficient

Big_Stu

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[quote name='daz' post='1186703' date='Apr 3 2011, 01:25 PM'](Below) A John Birch EB3 styled bass made in about 1976 for Jim Lea of Slade. This was made because the original
Gibson EB3 that Jim Lea was using was stolen from John Birch's workshop.
[/quote]
Cheers Daz! The stolen bass was this one, which had originally been the cherry EB3 that he'd had for years. Refinned, huge scratchplate, new bridge, the mudbucker was removed & a JB Superflux is in the middle (which had been there since the late 60's). This must be a unique bass, which I would dearly love to find in a pawn-shop.

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noirpunk Explorer

noirpunk

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1210161' date='Apr 24 2011, 05:35 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Joy-Division-Peter-Hook-signed-bass-guitar-/110678895382?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item19c4f9eb16"]Hondo.[/url] This one is really pushing the boundaries of overpricing, like, into real Rick territory.[/quote]



HA! I've got my Hondo signed too, by Lemmy. Wonder how much mines worth then? :)

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ash Grand Master

ash

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1225708' date='May 9 2011, 11:44 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/John-Birch-Bass-1970s-UK-Custom-Bass-Guitar-/140546925411?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item20b93fe363"]Think we've seen this one recently.[/url][/quote]
Yep they keep pulling it and I haven't even mentioned the 'R' word or even shown a full picture - this time I was told the very small picture of the bass which incidently showed no 'cresting waves' or other product identifiable names or shapes or associated artists [i]infringed copyright[/i].... hmmm...

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Mr. Foxen Veteran

Mr. Foxen

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[quote name='ash' post='1226763' date='May 10 2011, 09:39 PM']Yep they keep pulling it and I haven't even mentioned the 'R' word or even shown a full picture - this time I was told the very small picture of the bass which incidently showed no 'cresting waves' or other product identifiable names or shapes or associated artists [i]infringed copyright[/i].... hmmm...[/quote]

If they took it down with a pic that basically showed some wood and a bridge, just spam them with spurious reports of everything else made of wood. Take more time for them to get to your listing.

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Mr. Foxen Veteran

Mr. Foxen

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[quote name='Johnston' post='1227121' date='May 11 2011, 08:48 AM']f*** me thats mental. Especially as Rickys IP doesn't reach our shores.

Someone should do a UK copyright on the shapes and get get ebay to pull every genuine ricky on Ebay for breach of IP laws :) :)[/quote]

Report all the Ricks for being fake Retrovibes.

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ash Grand Master

ash

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1229501' date='May 12 2011, 11:52 PM'][url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-KAY-BASS-GUITAR-/120723865862?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c1bb40106"]Kay[/url][/quote]

[b]I relisted again and it just got pulled - this is what they said -[/b]


Thank you for your recent listing on eBay.



Unfortunately, the following item(s) breached one or more of our policies and had to be removed from the site.

140548626245 - John Birch Bass Guitar Vintage UK Made 1970s


Any associated fees have been credited to your account and any bidders on this item have been notified.


Why did we remove your listing?

- Past violations of policy
- No photos of the item


For a safe shopping experience on eBay, and to make buyers feel confident about their purchases, we will at times remove certain listings from the site.

[b]Keep in mind there was no mention of a certain US company and there were no pictures and also I am a private seller....further to this I got the following...[/b]

We regret to inform you that, because of a recent policy breach, your account has been restricted from selling for a period of seven (7) days. During this time you won't be able to list new items, and you're not allowed to register a new account.

Please be assured that your account is not suspended, the restriction will be lifted automatically once the seven day period is over.

While your account is restricted you won't be able to sell on eBay, however you may continue to buy items, leave Feedback, access emails in My Messages and do most other administrative tasks.

Please be aware that repeated breaches of this or another policy may result in a range of actions, including the suspension of your eBay membership. This restriction doesn't relieve you of your obligation to pay any fees that you may owe to eBay.

If you have any further questions, please review the notice that was previously sent to you about this restriction.

Thank you for your cooperation in this important matter.


Regards,

eBay Trust & Safety







[b]....if you've got this far you can imagine I have contacted them with a somewhat caustic reply. [/b] :)

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Mr. Foxen Veteran

Mr. Foxen

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[quote name='Johnston' post='1231246' date='May 14 2011, 06:59 PM']If they come back with the Ricky excuse you should point out that Rics IP doesn't extend outside the US .[/quote]

The IP thing applies worldwide, but the law that makes it doesn't, wherever something is, it breaches the IP of RIC on US soil, meaning it can't go across the border, so possibly if you are offering worldwide shipping, they have something, and you need to put a 'will not ship to (which is an option).

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ash Grand Master

ash

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[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1231254' date='May 14 2011, 07:11 PM']The IP thing applies worldwide, but the law that makes it doesn't, wherever something is, it breaches the IP of RIC on US soil, meaning it can't go across the border, so possibly if you are offering worldwide shipping, they have something, and you need to put a 'will not ship to (which is an option).[/quote]

Yes I actually stated 'pickup only' and made no references to any incriminating name! I was selling this as a custom John Birch, I even cut down pics incase of problems in my original listings, its a ridiculous scenario really since there are numerous other brands overtly copying and making reference to the coverted brand.

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Mr. Foxen Veteran

Mr. Foxen

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[quote name='Johnston' post='1231286' date='May 14 2011, 07:35 PM']If they tried to take it to court though it wouldn't stand as the law doesn't reach here so they have no right to have it pulled.[/quote]

They have every right to because it is their website, just like mods can edit people's posts here. They probably couldn't keep your listing fee though.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1231286' date='May 14 2011, 07:35 PM']I would love to register the shape and then send them a cease and desist for a laugh. Then sell the UK copyright to them for an extortionate amount of money :) :) I wonder how close they watch proposed copyrights to put in against them.[/quote]

Our copyright law doesn't work like that, you get copyright for an original work automatically, so we don't get that sort of sillyness.

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karlfer Veteran

karlfer

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The most annoying thing is the fiscal hypocrisy of FEEBay.
They are quite happy for the Retrovibe, Bass Collection's California and the occasional (alleged) "Tokai" Rockinbetter. If it's a business customer.
I actually think it is about time the scrotes were reported to Trading Standards or the Office of Fair Trading over this issue. Lets face it, we have plenty of evidence of their hypocrisy.
It should be all or none.
Karl.

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ash Grand Master

ash

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[quote name='karlfer' post='1231322' date='May 14 2011, 08:01 PM']The most annoying thing is the fiscal hypocrisy of FEEBay.
They are quite happy for the Retrovibe, Bass Collection's California and the occasional (alleged) "Tokai" Rockinbetter. If it's a business customer.
I actually think it is about time the scrotes were reported to Trading Standards or the Office of Fair Trading over this issue. Lets face it, we have plenty of evidence of their hypocrisy.
It should be all or none.
Karl.[/quote]

[b]Totally agree - I got this answer to my stern email from dear old Ebay who have basically whimped out and put the blame on R corps ......[/b]

My name is Megan and I?m happy to resolve your query about the removal
of John Birch Bass Guitar listing (item no. 140548626245).

I understand it can be a matter of concern to have a listing removed
from the site. I've checked your account and your listing was removed on
the basis of past breach of the policy.

Please note that your similar listing was previously removed because RO,
Rickenbacker International Corporation sent us a signed legal statement
that your item was infringing their trademark/copyright. eBay can?t give
you permission to relist them, that?s why it had to be removed from the
site.

You'll find their contact details in the email notification we sent you
when we removed the listing. If you're able to resolve the issue with
the rights owner, and they grant you permission to relist this item,
we'll reinstate your listing and remove the breach from the account.

Moreover, the restrictions are automatically placed on member's account
on the basis of severity and repetition of the breaches. Unfortunately,
we can't lift the selling restriction from your account. Your
restriction will be lifted at the end of the restriction period after
you've taken the eBay tutorial.

I hope I've been able to explain things clearly. Thank you for your
cooperation.

Kind regards,

Megan Vickers
eBay Trust & Safety

[b]Hmmm....it totally failed to address any of the concerns i raised of course...I doubt there's any point in writing to Mr Hall and his pedants....I'm interested to find out what the tutorial will be about anyone done one, any suggestions? [/b] :)

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