Now at 6 Höfners

[ilan]

This is the vinyl I want now. There's one for sale for EUR 1,400 ($1,700). So I'll wait.

[Pilgrim]

Somewhere there is a 1960's bathroom with no floor covering....

[Dave W]

Are you sure that's vinyl? It looks more like double-knit polyester left over from a leisure suit. 

[ilan]

Are you sure that's vinyl? It looks more like double-knit polyester left over from a leisure suit. 

I wish I could find sheets of brocade vinyl like this, to mod plain red Hofners.
 

[ilan]

So I just won this red vinyl Klira Triumphator - my offer for EUR 340 was accepted:

Finally took delivery of the Klira today. What was described as "an amazingly well-preserved bass" features a serious back-bow in the neck. Totally unplayable.

[Dave W]

Sorry to hear it.

I noticed the warranty disclaimers in the seller's listing, but it is described as Used, which includes "but is fully operational and functions as intended" in the definition.

[ilan]

Sorry to hear it.

I noticed the warranty disclaimers in the seller's listing, but it is described as Used, which includes "but is fully operational and functions as intended" in the definition.

He refuses to take it back. I'll try to deal with the back-bow by heat treatment.

[Pilgrim]

He refuses to take it back. I'll try to deal with the back-bow by heat treatment.

Patient heat treatment can do a lot. I hope it works!

[ilan]

Patient heat treatment can do a lot. I hope it works!

Thanks. Any tips?

[Pilgrim]

There are a few good threads about heat treating necks on TB.  There is also a vendor somewhere who specializes in heat treatment and I recall that being discussed as part of the TB threads.  Might search the Luthier forum and the Hardware, Setup and Repair forum.

[Dave W]

He refuses to take it back. I'll try to deal with the back-bow by heat treatment.

You're not going to file a dispute with eBay? It's not as described, period. eBay should back you up, and if you paid by paypal or credit card, that's additional backup.

[amptech]

He refuses to take it back. I'll try to deal with the back-bow by heat treatment.

Ebay is buyers market. Trust me, as a seller on ebay I know they will refund you if you file a case. Item not as described is return or refund, should be easy enough.

[ilan]

Hope you're right about this. I've opened a dispute at PayPal.

[slinkp]

I remember some stories from friends here in the eighties in The Netherlands. One guy sold his '60s Höfner bass to buy an active 5 string. I guess we all thought carbon fibre and headless was the future. I guess it wasn't only Höfner but also certain guitars getting just not fiting ij with the neon coloured eighties.

I read an interview once with a guy with a big Rickenbacker bass collection in the UK. In the eighties he spend all his student grants on Rickenbacker basses. People almost gave them away and bought modern stuff.

Only one notable exception occurs to me - and even Tina pretty much dropped her Hofner mid-decade as far as I know:

[ilan]

Just got an email from paypal - "You've received a full refund offer from eBay".

The return address, though, where am I supposed to send the bass to?