Dealing with Ishibashi Webshop to USA

[Devnor]

I've been testing the waters for some J-Custom action. Ishibashi quoted a good price on the JC I've been considering but if I did order the guitar, how much, who & when would I pay the customs duties? They are shipping EMS which is a fairly vague entity.

Any insight from USA customers would be greatly appreciated!

[Passion_and_Warfare]

I am considering Ishibashi myself, I have heard that Ishibashi can save you money and they have a fairly good reputation.

[Ayrton]

I have never ordered from them myself, but I have read several great reviews from the guys on the Fender page.

[GAZ]

Although we have to pay around 22.5% tax and duty in the UK on imports from Japan it still works out pretty reasonable. I understand the tax and duty is payable to the courier on delivery, some people have gotten away without paying anything I know but that's the exception rather than the rule. The main query I have is that once they give you a quote and you wish to buy from them how do you give your credit card details ? Do they send you a special link or something ?? Also can you specify a guitar pictured on their web site or do they just send you whatever's next on the pile of that model/colour ?

[Devnor]

They send you the "next on the pile" guitar.

They gave me a secured server link for some of my CC info. The expiration date is sent via email (kinda scary).

I've been unable to determine total fees due on delivery.

[Passion_and_Warfare]

"next on the pile"? I don't like the sound of that.

[Dee]

I think they will send you pics of the actual guitar you are wanting to buy if you request them.

[Phishphood42]

Originally Posted by Passion_and_Warfare

"next on the pile"? I don't like the sound of that.

I'm not sure what that means. You pick out the actual guitar you want on the webshot and they send it to you, I don't really know what he's talking about.

[Vinco]

I dealt with Ishibashi in January to get my 8470.

Everything went well. It was delivered 5 days after I placed the order. That is short for sure.

My only regret is that I was not actually able to choose the guitar. I was told that J Custom's were sold as soon as they arrived in their shop and I had to decide without seeing it.

The aesthetic of the guitar is a surprise. You can like this situation or just...not want to take any risk.

Now, honestly, if I had lived in the US, I would have ordered from Rich. On his site, you can choose the maple top you dream of. But, as I live in France, I would have had to add France import duties to the taxes already payed by Rich.

So it was a much better deal to order directly from Japan. For you Devnor, US resident, it will probably make a less important difference in price.

SUMMARY:
it's cheaper to buy from Japan but it's almost impossible to see the guitar before it arrives.

That being said , I never saw a J Custom I disliked : )

[buddroyce]

I've dealth with Ishibashi before but only for used items. I've heard horror stories about how they sell new guitars to foreigners. "Next on the pile" would be a good way to describe it, but you know what.. that's exactly how a lot of US mail order places also work.

With that being said, that's why I prefer to fly over to buy stuff then have it shipped.

[Devnor]

"Next on the pile" doesnt really bother me.

My only concern is how much $$$ EMS will want when they deliver the package.

[Phishphood42]

Originally Posted by Vinco

I dealt with Ishibashi in January to get my 8470.

Everything went well. It was delivered 5 days after I placed the order. That is short for sure.

My only regret is that I was not actually able to choose the guitar. I was told that J Custom's were sold as soon as they arrived in their shop and I had to decide without seeing it.

The aesthetic of the guitar is a surprise. You can like this situation or just...not want to take any risk.

Now, honestly, if I had lived in the US, I would have ordered from Rich. On his site, you can choose the maple top you dream of. But, as I live in France, I would have had to add France import duties to the taxes already payed by Rich.

So it was a much better deal to order directly from Japan. For you Devnor, US resident, it will probably make a less important difference in price.

SUMMARY:
it's cheaper to buy from Japan but it's almost impossible to see the guitar before it arrives.

That being said , I never saw a J Custom I disliked : )

How is it "almost impossible"? You simply search the "all shops" thing in the bar, and you get a bunch of pictures of the ACTUAL guitars. It sounds like you are contacting them about the guitar before you look around the web page, which is definitely not the way to do it.

[Devnor]

Originally Posted by Phishphood42

How is it "almost impossible"? You simply search the "all shops" thing in the bar, and you get a bunch of pictures of the ACTUAL guitars. It sounds like you are contacting them about the guitar before you look around the web page, which is definitely not the way to do it.

Not all of their inventory is present on these pages. Model RG8427F does not appear yet they have these in both colors. While I'd like to have a sick 3D quilt top my main concern is getting a truely useable 7 string with trem. My EBMM JP7 is very nice but I cannot gig with it (tremolo-tuning issues).

[Phishphood42]

Originally Posted by Devnor

Not all of their inventory is present on these pages. Model RG8427F does not appear yet they have these in both colors. While I'd like to have a sick 3D quilt top my main concern is getting a truely useable 7 string with trem. My EBMM JP7 is very nice but I cannot gig with it (tremolo-tuning issues).

What are you talking about, I counted 19 RG8470's in the all shops section

http://1484.bz/c/search.cgi?mode=fin...20custom&part=

Oh, my bad. You said 8427. I guess you're out of luck there. However, in addition to the pics I found in the shop pages, they sent me pictures of my guitar the day before shipment to make sure things were okay, without my requesting them.

[Rich]

Now try looking for the 8427 he's talking about