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Very nice 1981 SPECIAL for sale on Ebay in Europe, Switzerland


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Careful if you want to import this one into the EC, especially Germany. Customs are on their heels and like to check vintage guitars for brazilian

boards. It might end up impounded in customs with the buyer having to prove it is not a brazilian board... :unsure:

Todde

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Not sure if that's correct for old guitars.

I've brought a few into the U.K. which should have the same import regulations as any E.U. country with no problems and I'm pretty sure one of them had a Brazilian board.

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Switzerland is not in the EC. If you want to import a pre 1992 built guitar with a Brazilian board into the EC you need the CITES export documents from the exporting country and the CITES import documents from the importing country. Otherwise no go. Guitars built after 1992 are totally and completely illegal in the EC, period, absolutely no exceptions.

If you own a guitar built before 1992 that has been in the EC already before the ban in 1992, the German authorities will give you the benefit of doubt that this is true, because no owner will be able to prove it anyway. BUT you will need to prove that the guitar was built before 1992 (serial numbers are a good way to do so). You can then have the guitar CITES certified by the authorities so that you are allowed to present it in public and sell it. But ONLY within the EC.

That is for Germany, but it should be the same for all EC countries.

Been there, done that and talked to the leading German experts at No. 1 Guitars in Hamburg and the nice lady at the governing German authority.

I had a CITES certified Special with a Brazilian Board. The certificate made the guitar so much more valuable ... :P !

Cheers, Todde

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Just ask the seller if he can drive across the border and ship it from there. Or drive over yourself and pick it up.

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And there is a big difference (in price much more than on quality I gess, especially on wood, pu, etc...) between the Sunburst and the Special... I think this has to do with rarity and feeling more than reason...

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A very nice Special sold for €1300 in Holland just recently (Max Guitars). Are the early Specials not about the same as the Sunbursts regarding wood, build, hardware ? I think it's just the binding on the body that is missing. I have a feeling that there are more Specials around in Europe than Sunbursts. Early Sunbursts are really rare. I had to pay the price for a low serial number ... :o

I don't really believe that there is a big difference in sound, albeit every guitar sounds a little bit different, even if the model/make/year are the same.

Cheers, Todde

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Not much of a difference between the two guitars, really.

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Folks,

the Sunburst arrived in one piece ! Tadaaah ! Drum roll, cheers etc. etc . ...

She sounds rich, bright and full and plays well with kind of a "light C" neck. A very fast neck, indeed ! A little less bottom end on the dry sound played without an amp. The board looks Brazilian to me. It has a nice reddish dark grain on it. No cracks, no repairs that I can see, neck is straight and true. Very well played but well kept, although it has the usual dings and signs of wear, but not abused. Frets really worn, but levelled and crowned. Will have to be refretted for my taste. I still have to check if the truss rod turns properly.

Electronics totally screwed ! I gues whoever did it had no clue. I did not open up the cavity yet, but took the ugly brass knobs off. Both volume pots apparantly changed. One is a push/push for coil split. The brass knob obviously did not fit on the still original tone knob and was jammed on with force, which caused the shaft to totaly distort. How stupid can you be ... ?

I did not play through an amp yet. I tried, but there was a lot of buzz from the pickups. There is something completely wrong with the wiring. I think the bridge and/or pickups are not properly grounded.

I have very good replacement pots here (I use bourns on these types of guitars) and also some nice Hovland guitar caps. I'll have a look at it and re-wire it to original specs this evening or tomorrow morning. (I build turret board hand wired effects and rack wahs, so I know what i'm doing... and I have speed knobs that actually are designed for the shafts and fit properly ...)

Pickups are supposed to be Rio Grande. They are not staying. Either Amber or Dommenget PAFs. Nothing overwound, just standard. I'll have the chosen winder decide, when he sees and plays the guitar. They know about their stuff better than me ... :-)

Summary:

A great guitar with stunning looks, not to heavy and good sounding. Has issues and needs some attention. But nothing I was not aware of before I pulled the trigger (except the lousy wiring, for which the seller will take a heavy complaint).

This will be a great rocker after some loving care ! :-)

I'll keep you posted with pics asap.

Cheers, Todde

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Congrats on the "NEW" Sunburst :) I agree with Rich I would contact the seller regarding the wiring issue being that it was not disclosed in the listing for the guitar and ask for some $$$ back...........thats fair...............sounds like its something your capable of doing yourself but none the less it needs fixing to make the guitar playable so I'd sure ask for a partial refund.

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I had the expert at No.1 Guitars check it. They are gov't appointed experts when it comes to Brazilian rosewood.

Forgive me if the phrase gov't appointed experts carries little weight, but I live in the U.S. :)

I'm curious if the certification stated the wood was in fact brazilian, and if so what tests were done to confirm. Otherwise, did it simply state that if the fretboard was brazilian rosewood, that it was old growth and legal for sale?

I ask because I own (and have owned) quite a few vintage Hamer's and have never thought any of the fretboard's might have been more than run of the mill rosewood. To be honest, I own one guitar that has brazilian and I don't get the attraction. That said, as it effects value, it would be good to know. We've also had lots of members here shipping them back and forth across the Atlantic with no incidents that I'm aware of.

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Hi,

I was looking for a case for the guitar and took it to No.1 in Hamburg. The guy there - Thomas Weilbier - is a world renown expert of vintage guitars and one of the leading dealers. When he saw the guitar he asked me which year it was and we and checked the serial. I was told it is Brazilian. Who am I to dispute this ? Especially if I can have it certified and legalized. I'm a player and not a wood expert. I walked out with a case and a CITES certificate !

In 2010/2011 (can't remember exactly which year), there was a huge crash in Germany with regard to Brazilian rosewood that led to many guitars being actually confiscated and destroyed by the government. The crash and subsequent hype surfaced, when apparently Gibson was raided in the USA and when asked where they buy there "illegal" Brazilian rosewood they told the officials "Nagel" in Hamburg Germany ! So, German officials were contacted and the whole thing blew up here in Germany. Nagel (a large local wood and timber dealer) was dealing with illegally cut Brazilian rosewood - big time.

That's when everybody went crazy and the customs started checking guitars for Brazilian rosewood. Anyway, I think the hype is over. But I wouldn't take the risk. Poeple have had complete guitar collections confiscated and destroyed by the government in Germany. That is a fact.

Since then No.1 have been closely working with the government in establishing if guitars are built with Brazilian rosewood or not and will act as an agent for certifying such guitars built with the wood.

The CITES certificate stated that the fretboard was Brazilian rosewood and that the guitar was built in 1981, which was long before the ban in 1992. The particulars of the guitar were listed (body shape, manufacturer, serial no., and which parts of the guitar were Brazilan) on the certificate and it was directly linked to the guitar via the serial number.

In the end ... if it looks like a bulldog it probably is a bulldog. But you can only be 100% certain if you do a DNA test ... or whatever professional testing is required.

Cheers, Todde

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