Stung By Brexit [Archive]

WiredIncorrectly

10-02-21, 09:57

Of all people to be stung by a Brexit issue it had to be me. Placed an order for some music production stuff and it's been stuck in: Herne-Boernig, Germany. The reason:

The package is delayed due to a Brexit related disruption. We are adjusting delivery plans as quickly as possible.

Anybody else had delivery issues from outside of the UK coming in?

MyNameIsTerry

10-02-21, 11:26

I sometimes buy Elephant Parade ornaments for my mum and if there aren't any good ones on EBay I go to the source in Denmark. I gave it a miss at Xmas just in case with no Brexit deal even in sight days before. Otherwise it used to take about a week to 10 days from Denmark.

Other than that my occasional international orders are US and China. US can be here in a week so you've got to wonder about the Brexit issue, even more so when you consider how getting things from places like Italy before could take ages.

Are you going to get hammered on duty & VAT, James?

BikerMatt

10-02-21, 13:52

https://youtu.be/Atku5LWhjog

I'd like to know how this tw*t managed to slip out the back door!!!!!

WiredIncorrectly

10-02-21, 14:32

Are you going to get hammered on duty & VAT, James?

Thankfully no.

The place I ordered from has made me angry tbh. It's a UK store, they said they had stock. Then I found out the stock is in their German place. Had I have known that I wouldn't have ordered from there.

Sounds like drop shipping to me.

WiredIncorrectly

10-02-21, 14:34

https://youtu.be/Atku5LWhjog

I'd like to know how this tw*t managed to slip out the back door!!!!!

Now that is cool!

ankietyjoe

10-02-21, 14:36

WiredIncorrectly

10-02-21, 14:41

DV247 are terrible. Always have been, even under new ownership.

Yeah this sucks. I won't be using them again.

MyNameIsTerry

11-02-21, 01:35

Thankfully no.

The place I ordered from has made me angry tbh. It's a UK store, they said they had stock. Then I found out the stock is in their German place. Had I have known that I wouldn't have ordered from there.

Sounds like drop shipping to me.

Yeah, that always annoys me. It's why on Amazon I read some of the reviews for signs it's really coming from China and won't turn up when they say.

Nature of the world that you can often make it, store it, ship it, etc from the other side of the planet for less, and sometimes quicker, than in another part of the UK. But we should at least be aware and decide to purchase.

Glad you at least haven't been hit by taxes like some are.

Lencoboy

11-02-21, 09:51

WiredIncorrectly

11-02-21, 10:24

What I find most ironic is the talk of some UK-based supermarket chains pulling out of mainland Europe, whereas pre-Brexit there were fears of the opposite, stores like Aldi, Lidl, etc possibly pulling out of the UK, which I guess could still happen in due course.

UK food suppliers should stop selling meat and fish to overseas customers and start selling it here. A lot of our own produced food is exported out for high sales, and imported elsewhere for less.

Lencoboy

11-02-21, 10:39

Yeah, that always annoys me. It's why on Amazon I read some of the reviews for signs it's really coming from China and won't turn up when they say.

Nature of the world that you can often make it, store it, ship it, etc from the other side of the planet for less, and sometimes quicker, than in another part of the UK. But we should at least be aware and decide to purchase.

Glad you at least haven't been hit by taxes like some are.

I guess that's one notable manifestation of our 'want here, want now' society, also where we not only want 'instant grat', but also nearly everything as cheaply as possible, then complain of poor quality products and say 'They don't make 'em like they used to'!

I think many people struggle to grasp the age-old concept of 'you get what you pay for'.

WiredIncorrectly

11-02-21, 11:02

I guess that's one notable manifestation of our 'want here, want now' society, also where we not only want 'instant grat', but also nearly everything as cheaply as possible, then complain of poor quality products and say 'They don't make 'em like they used to'!

I think many people struggle to grasp the age-old concept of 'you get what you pay for'.

Yes! Completely agree. My partner just had some Amazon deliveries and it's cheap tat. They're going back. I do try to warn her that the cheap items are not as good as they seem. Does she listen? Nope ha ha.

Lencoboy

11-02-21, 13:03

Yes! Completely agree. My partner just had some Amazon deliveries and it's cheap tat. They're going back. I do try to warn her that the cheap items are not as good as they seem. Does she listen? Nope ha ha.

I reckon we're also increasingly a 'know-it-all' society where a lot of us don't really live in the real world and have too high expectations of nearly everyone and everything.

Also a lot of the 'cheap tat' items are basically 'brand in name only' (BINO) products where the logo of a historical and usually once-reputable brand name is 'badged' onto the items, which in most instances are produced in some nameless Far Eastern factory on the cheap and bear no relationship to the original firms in question.

For example, about 5 years ago I purchased a DVD player (also intended for playing audio CDs on) from B&M that was badged as Akai, who were once a reputable Japanese manufacturer of audio-visual equipment, and it was far removed from the genuine 'quality' products Akai actually manufactured themselves during their 70s and 80s heyday, and of course the rear sticker bore the words 'Made in China', which kind of gave good clues to the fact that it was a cheap and nasty BINO product with a historical name badge on the front.

Hence why I no longer refer to brand names as 'makes' anymore!

Pamplemousse

11-02-21, 13:07

Also a lot of the 'cheap tat' items are basically 'brand in name only' (BINO) products where the logo of a historical and usually once-reputable brand name is 'badged' onto the items, which in most instances are produced in some nameless Far Eastern factory on the cheap and bear no relationship to the original firms in question.

Been going on for years: I give you, to name but two, Grundig and Bush.

WiredIncorrectly

11-02-21, 13:09

Akai still exist in the music production arena, and their products went downhill. They originally made samplers and drum machines and they were good. They still are. But all their new stuff is tat. Cheap plastic. The devices now require a computer which is counter productive as you generally buy a sampler or drum machine to get away from a computer. They have made a new drum machine that doesn't require a PC, but it's nothing like the originals.

Todays products are not meant to last 20 years. Which stinks. I know somebody with an original Hotpoint fridge from years back. 50's I think. It's huge, built like a tank and still works! He inherited it, and didn't know it's value until recently but it's in use today :)

WiredIncorrectly

11-02-21, 13:11

Been going on for years: I give you, to name but two, Grundig and Bush.

Don't forget Alba.

Remember Tandy stores? I miss them.

Lencoboy

11-02-21, 14:29

Don't forget Alba.

Remember Tandy stores? I miss them.

Yes, a real blast from the past!

Kind of like earlier Maplin's who as you know (like many old name stores) had become a pale shadow of their former selves by the mid-2010s, then eventually going bust for good in March 2018.

Going back to Tandy (who co-traded as Radio Shack in the USA), I significantly remember their battery-powered electronics kits (from their in-house 'Science Fair' brand), especially the original '50 In One' set that was first introduced around 1980 that I had for Christmas in 1982 (when I was 5 1/2).

I bet such a set fully intact with all original parts and components present (and in full working order) will be a mega collector's item today and worth a fair bit on Ebay, etc.

Pamplemousse

11-02-21, 15:11

Going back to Tandy (who co-traded as Radio Shack in the USA), I significantly remember their battery-powered electronics kits (from their in-house 'Science Fair' brand), especially the original '50 In One' set that was first introduced around 1980 that I had for Christmas in 1982 (when I was 5 1/2).

I bet such a set fully intact with all original parts and components present (and in full working order) will be a mega collector's item today and worth a fair bit on Ebay, etc.

You ought to see how much the Philips Electronic Engineer kits (e.g. EE1050, 1051, 1052) sell for on eBay...

Lencoboy

11-02-21, 15:40

You ought to see how much the Philips Electronic Engineer kits (e.g. EE1050, 1051, 1052) sell for on eBay...

Amazin' innit how many things that were considered old hat and mostly useless even 10 years ago are now once again highly prized and sought after!

Especially vinyl record players and now even analogue audio tape recording gear of all varieties (cassettes, RTR, 8-track cartridges, you name them), plus the mediums themselves (vinyl records and tapes) of course.

Pamplemousse

11-02-21, 21:50

Amazin' innit how many things that were considered old hat and mostly useless even 10 years ago are now once again highly prized and sought after!

Especially vinyl record players and now even analogue audio tape recording gear of all varieties (cassettes, RTR, 8-track cartridges, you name them), plus the mediums themselves (vinyl records and tapes) of course.

I remember a time when things like Dansettes were given to me to pull to bits and play with.

Now a restored original one of these portable record players can fetch £400+ and more to the point, I wouldn't let any of my records near them... Dansettes especially are truly horrid things but they ride the nostalgia wave.

MyNameIsTerry

11-02-21, 22:37

I guess that's one notable manifestation of our 'want here, want now' society, also where we not only want 'instant grat', but also nearly everything as cheaply as possible, then complain of poor quality products and say 'They don't make 'em like they used to'!

I think many people struggle to grasp the age-old concept of 'you get what you pay for'.

Global business. Being from The Potteries we saw it all go. My brother and his GF were in the pottery industry. It was well paid if you were skilled. Then came the redundancies and people had to retrain. Years later some staff around their fifties were dispersed into various companies to retrain them as part of a council scheme when one of the few remaining small pottery firms went. Some came to where I worked.

WiredIncorrectly

12-02-21, 09:48

Global business. Being from The Potteries we saw it all go. My brother and his GF were in the pottery industry. It was well paid if you were skilled. Then came the redundancies and people had to retrain. Years later some staff around their fifties were dispersed into various companies to retrain them as part of a council scheme when one of the few remaining small pottery firms went. Some came to where I worked.

My last apartment was on the old potteries grounds. Lovely area too.

Lencoboy

12-02-21, 13:08

I remember a time when things like Dansettes were given to me to pull to bits and play with.

Now a restored original one of these portable record players can fetch £400+ and more to the point, I wouldn't let any of my records near them... Dansettes especially are truly horrid things but they ride the nostalgia wave.

I've never liked those record changer things with the tall centre spindle/ over-arm combo. It would be an interesting project to attempt to convert one to a normal singular-playing deck by not only replacing the tall spindle with a standard short one, but also removing the over-arm and its shaft plus modding its associated mechanism to enable the deck to function in full auto mode as a singular playing unit.

Though with most older decks from that era, it's possible to adjust the tracking force so the stylus doesn't 'eat' one's record collection.

Pamplemousse

12-02-21, 16:26

I've never liked those record changer things with the tall centre spindle/ over-arm combo. It would be an interesting project to attempt to convert one to a normal singular-playing deck by not only replacing the tall spindle with a standard short one, but also removing the over-arm and its shaft plus modding its associated mechanism to enable the deck to function in full auto mode as a singular playing unit.

Though with most older decks from that era, it's possible to adjust the tracking force so the stylus doesn't 'eat' one's record collection.

If you look at detailed pictures of a Garrard AT6 and the Mk. I Garrard SP25, you can see that's exactly how the SP25 was created.

I have a penchant for these things and have examples dating back to the early 1930s which look as though they are designed to destroy your records, but I'll just leave you with two YT videos of rather special machines in action. One dates from the late 20s, the other from the mid-60s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKa6NlW8AVU

I nearly bought one of those a few years ago.

Pamplemousse

12-02-21, 16:28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbiesrBby1M

(I have one of these, pending restoration)

Lencoboy

12-02-21, 17:09

If you look at detailed pictures of a Garrard AT6 and the Mk. I Garrard SP25, you can see that's exactly how the SP25 was created.

I have a penchant for these things and have examples dating back to the early 1930s which look as though they are designed to destroy your records, but I'll just leave you with two YT videos of rather special machines in action. One dates from the late 20s, the other from the mid-60s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKa6NlW8AVU

I nearly bought one of those a few years ago.

Garrard turntables of pretty much all varieties are generally much sought after nowadays, and I think their legendary 301 transcription unit (used extensively by the BBC and other many other prolific broadcasting organisations back in the day) has recently re-entered production as it is often considered the finest turntable in the world amongst the audiophile fraternity.

I now wish I'd have made my username 'Garrardboy' instead of 'Lencoboy'!

Pamplemousse

12-02-21, 18:42

Garrard turntables of pretty much all varieties are generally much sought after nowadays, and I think their legendary 301 transcription unit (used extensively by the BBC and other many other prolific broadcasting organisations back in the day) has recently re-entered production as it is often considered the finest turntable in the world amongst the audiophile fraternity.

I now wish I'd have made my username 'Garrardboy' instead of 'Lencoboy'!

I had a 301 and they're nothing special, really. They were dumped by the BBC in favour of modified Technics SP10s.

To be honest, the best idler drive turntables (IMO) are the Goldring-Lenco GL75 and the Thorens TD124. The G-L turntable in particular is very useful to me for doing transcription work on very early discs, where 78rpm wasn't the actual speed - 60rpm more likely as the speed of the G-L is continuously variable.

Garrard record changers are horrendously and unnecessarily complicated (the Lab A and Lab 80 being a case in point); by far and away the best 1950s changers were made by Collaro. BSR machines are cheap and cheerful.