Anybody ever buy from GuitarsJapan.com?

[pickslide]

They said that I can request a japanese made guitar like an Edwards 335 and they will go hunting for a used one and will let me know once they have it. They require a 50% deposit once they find the guitar, then they buy it and before shipping it require the other 50%.

Anybody use them before? They quoted me around $900 for an Edwards 335 plus abut $100 shipping to Canada.

Thanks

[gkoelling]

I don't like the sound of that at all. There are other Edwards dealers on the net.

Recently someone mentioned katanaguitars.com. They sell the sunburst 335 at just $890.00 and they aren't looking for 50% down. Either they have it, or they don't.

Good luck in your search.

[sleepingtiger]

I've purchased here http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/ & got great service from Noriko! You find, then pay,then get about 5 days later. Email responses are a bit slower,but not bad at all.

Tony

[voodoochile]

to feed on the thread....I gotta ask- I have been willing to plunk down the credit card a few times on an Edwards but am always scared off by the sites. I have nothing against the Japanese of course, I just cannot understand a single solitary symbol on their website. how did you find anything out?

any help or perhaps an English language site would be great...

[jhc]

I bought from "Guitar Japan" with my credit card

http://www.guitarjapan.com/edwards/index.html

not "Guitars Japan", with no hitch except for the $75 customs fee which more than a few folks seem to get hit with. Although Ishibashi has always gotten high marks here, I preferred an English language website that had pics and was easy to navigate. The 50% deposit seems way out of the norm, I'd avoid that site.

[ghost]

i think the guitarsjapan site is for people looking for used "japan golden era" ('75-'85?) guitars?

I agree the pricing would not make sense otherwise...:huh

[go7]

I`ve used Katana guitars [mijisixstrings on ebay]. All great transactions. Good Luck!

[whitehall]

I've been buying from Ishibashi for years. Always a pleasure. If you want to hunt used Japan guitars , get a Rinkya account and bid them yourself on Yahoo Japan. Rinkya's service is top notch. There are more than a few people on Ebay who make a living buying guitars from YJP and reselling them on Ebay.

[sleepingtiger]

Ishi HAS a link on their website for English. If you know make & model, simply email em for info.

Tony

[rickboot]

I've been buying from Ishibashi for years. Always a pleasure. If you want to hunt used Japan guitars , get a Rinkya account and bid them yourself on Yahoo Japan. Rinkya's service is top notch. There are more than a few people on Ebay who make a living buying guitars from YJP and reselling them on Ebay.

I never knew about Rinkya until now. Thanks for the tip.

[got tone]

to feed on the thread....I gotta ask- I have been willing to plunk down the credit card a few times on an Edwards but am always scared off by the sites. I have nothing against the Japanese of course, I just cannot understand a single solitary symbol on their website. how did you find anything out?

any help or perhaps an English language site would be great...

google this,
ishibashi english

all the info you need is there. They do all business by emails. Just use the website to look around, and find what you're going to tell them what you are ordering. Expect to wait at least a day or two for your first reply. They only have a couple of people who do the email (english) part of their business.




rinkya. Think they're based in Arizona? They have someone in Japan that actually buys the guitar off of Yahoo Japan for you. That person(s) ships it to Arizona ( I think ) and then ships it to you. Expect to get hit with some "rinkya" fees. Think it's at least 10% ? Not sure. Do your homework if you decide to "rinkya" (Edwards is under "ESP" when you're searching. Some nice deals on Navigators, occasionally!)

good luck!

[Speed_Racer71]

I bought from "Guitar Japan" with my credit card

http://www.guitarjapan.com/edwards/index.html

not "Guitars Japan", with no hitch except for the $75 customs fee which more than a few folks seem to get hit with. Although Ishibashi has always gotten high marks here, I preferred an English language website that had pics and was easy to navigate. The 50% deposit seems way out of the norm, I'd avoid that site.


finally someone has bought from them. ive had their site bookmarked for a while now since ive been wanting a Edwards strat.

[whitehall]

Once you become a customer of Ishibashi you have a great relationship. I've been buying guitars from Noriko over the phone for years. Ishabashi had to curtail some activities because too many emails from kids who ask too many questions and then don't buy anything.
Rinkya is a very large privately held company ( I predict they will be the next google if they ever feel the need to go public.) Elaine and staff are in Ariz. and the rest of the company is in Japan. Believe it or not, their service is even better than Ishabashi's. But Rinkya is no place for the poor or the stupid. No one will answer your questions on specific auctions for the most part. So you had better know exactly what you are looking at on the auctions. Fees ? yeah it's expensive, that's what keeps a lot of the morons out. Shipping from Japan to the USA is always EMS and runs $110-150. depending on the weight and exchange rate. Rinkya fees in total run about $75.00 per guitar. So as a rough guide you can add about $200 bucks to every guitar. I've been on Rinkya for about 3 years and never had a problem. Before that I used MOJ, but found Azuma to be too unreliable, but a really nice guy.

[buckwild]

a while back I bought from them when Andrew Mechling was running it. He provided great service but the prices are a bit high.

[buchla300]

I must admit that the Ornetts GM5SC looks tasty on the guitarjapan site..

[gkoelling]

to feed on the thread....I gotta ask- I have been willing to plunk down the credit card a few times on an Edwards but am always scared off by the sites. I have nothing against the Japanese of course, I just cannot understand a single solitary symbol on their website. how did you find anything out?

any help or perhaps an English language site would be great...

I haven't bought anything from Japan but others here have used Katana and haven't had a problem.

The site is all English and the prices are very fair.

[dragonkid126]

I have bought from guitarsjapan.com, but I did not request for them to find something. I bought a Bacchus les paul they had on their homepage