Prepare for Battle!

As you will have noticed I don't update this very often. The thing is that fixing up guitars is expensive and as I've not yet taken on any serious paid work for other people I don't have the money to just go out and buy stuff to put in my current projects.

Something that's not expensive though is making battle jackets, and I thought I might as well start posting about mine. I've resisted for many years, but I figure that at 33 years of age I can be as much of a cliché as I like because damn it I'm doing it knowing it's a cliché.

Hondo II Rickenfaker

Regular readers will be aware that I'm quite keen on the aesthetics of Rickenbacker 4000 series basses, but less keen on Rickenbacker as a company, so I compromise by being into so-called Rickenfakers.

Yesterday I bought a Hondo II Rickenfaker (not sure what the actual model name is) that needs quite a bit of TLC; at the very least a new switch, replacement machineheads, and a lot of cleaning.


 It looks awesome. And is far closer in apperance to a 'proper' Rick than my Retrovibe RV-4.

There are more pics over on Flickr.

Now it's lunchtime, and I'll start the cleanup this afternoon.

For Sale - Jackson KVX10 with Hardcase

I have been trying to sell this for bloody ages. I'm more into more classic/retro styles these days, so don't really play it much. This is the very guitar the scammer I blogged about claimed they were interested in.




I'm after £250 or thereabouts for it. I will consider dropping the price if the request is reasonable and you're willing to haggle. Demanding I knock £100 off and then refusing to budge will just make me judge you.

It's on eBay, but to be honest I'd rather deal direct. Email me if interested (that is not my real email account, because of aforementioned scammers).

Quickie - Harley Benton HBB200 (?)

Said to a work colleague I'd check out and fix her daughter's bass which I think is a Harley Benton HBB200 (active small body P & J)... odd beastie in that it seems to have passive controls and active pickups (there's a battery in the control compartment, but the pots and stuff are just regular pots and stuff and there's no PCB. If anyone can shed some light on this I'd be grateful).

Anyhoo, the problem was simply that the bass 'had stopped working one day', which sounded like would be either a bad solder joint or a bad pot. Got the bass home (and lost several doom points for carrying a hardcase covered in Spongebob Squarepants and Kerrang! stickers from Cardiff to Swindon) and plugged it in, no signal... twiddled the knobs and suddenly there was noise. Still not sure at this stage what the controls actually are so off comes the back and into the cavity. Pretty basic set up with two volume and two tone pots, along with the aforesaid battery... and at this point I realise the problem. The battery is mounted to a metal clip which is screwed to the side of the shielded cavity, and the tone pot for the P pickup has come slightly loose and turned so one of the contacts touches the battery clip presumably (happy to be corrected if wrong) meaning when the tone is on full the signal is being shorted to ground.

Tightened the nut on the pot, and moved the battery clip so if the pot comes loose again the only thing it can come into contact with is the insulated connector.

Job done.

Fixing Eric the Destroyer

Took my Peavey Road Master Vintage Tube Series over to Mr. Foxen's to get a service.

First of his blog entries about it is here.

ION I'll post the final part of Fun With Scammers tomorrow.

Fun With Scammers - Part Five (already!)

Impatient scammer is impatient.

What is going on there? Have made the payment into your account and have not hear back concerning the transfer details .Kindly get back to me asap.

Thanks.

So here's my response (as per a suggestion by Mr. Foxen)

Hi Miriam,

Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you, but as you can understand I am a very busy man and cannot always deal with things immediately if they happen during the day.

I'm afraid I must ask you for a payment of an extra £20 to cover the shipping, as PayPal fees removed from the amount you have sent me will leave me out of pocket when I transfer the money to the shipping agent. Once I have received this amount I will go ahead with the money transfer to the shipping agent.

Love and kisses,
Howard Philips Lovecraft
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

ADDENDUM:
Scammer got back to me. Has 'sent' the £20. Foxen reckons policy is to blindly agree to stuff so as not to scare off the marks.

Have sent the additional £20  now,Kindly make the transfer asap and get back to me .

My response. Just generally seeing if I can freak them out a bit now.

 I will do. Just waiting for

dry skulls in a dusty valley

the money to clear into my account and as soon as it

with all the tops sawn off

has I'll do the transfer.

Regards,
Urlock Gaur

Fun With Scammers - Part Four

So... a flurry of activity from my scammer.

First a screen cap of an email from 'PayPal'.



Further down the page is the shipping address, which is in Surrey. I won't share the address as it is a real place and therefore is somebody's actual house.

Next up was an email from the courier:

International Shipping Company.
Overseas Shipping of your personal effects, furniture and household goods.
Weekly shipping to over 5000 destinations. Daily collection from anywhere in the World.

Quality International Overseas Moving Services from 1st Move International Removals Company. As full members of BIFA we pride ourselves in bringing safe, secure, cost saving services to our customers.

We specialize in looking after you belongings by securely
packing them with our unique export packing system, offering
full marine insurance which is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance.
We also use our buying power to get the best shipping rates
available for your move.

We have daily collections from most of the UK and weekly sailings toover 5000 different destinations worldwide.

Our experienced members of staff are here to make your international move as quick, smooth and hassle free as possible. They will be on hand to answer any questions or queries that you
may have about your move.

Dear Horatio Nelson,


We have successfully calculated the pick up cost according to the delivery address given to us by your purchaser and your own pick up address. The total pick up cost is £300.00 GBP However, we have been asked to expect the pick up cost from you through Western Union Money Transfer. You will send the pick up cost to our agent who will come for the pick up. Below is the details you will need to send the money:


Adeniji Olalekan
80 Bourke Street
Sunny Side
Pretoria
0002
South África.

You will need to send the money through Western Union Money Transfer, you can easily do that by going to any nearest Western Union office, You will need to send the following information as soon as you have sent the money:


Sender's name and full address

Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)

You will use the following security question and answer while you are sending the money:

Security Question: What is it for?

Answer: Pick Up



We will be looking forward to read from you so as to know when we should expect the money and to arrange for the pick up date and time.




Still not convinced, get back to us through our Customer Care Email Desk @ (GoodsDelivery@tx.am) For customers feedback.....................

Get your Free personalised removals quote by completing the quote request form here



Check out the ShrinkFast Packing system here - it protects your cargo whilst in transit!


Free moving boxes and packing supplies for 1st Move international movers

See what our customers think of us

How to contact our team, email, phone fax and postal address are here


1st Move International Removals Home Page Online Forms Moving Tips

No screen cap because it really is text only. This copy 'n' paste cannot truly show how amateurish this is, the justification is all wonky and there are no logos or graphics anywhere, none of the links actually contain URLs, and a quick look on Google only mentions '1st Move International' in connection with scams. The most jarring thing though is why a guitar being shipped to Surrey would need a £300 shipping fee sent to South Africa.

And finally from 'Miriam':

I have made the payment now, im sure you must have received the payment notification message from PayPal regarding the payment. The pick up company wanted £300 for the pick up and delivery, so i have included it in the payment i made. I have also informed the pick up company, im sure they will contact you regarding the details you will used to send the money. Please make sure you send the money to them on time and arrange pick up time and date.

Thanks and hope to hear back from you asap.

I am currently considering my next move.