The one that got away.....

[tfarny]

So I'm just coming back from Japan haven't been back for a few years, and among the things I didn't try were: a dessert crepe vending machine, horse fat served as sashimi (this is the south, what can I say) and sea urchin roe on a bun. Also, I didn't buy a very nice new candy apple red MIJ strat, vintage bridge, gotohs, and nice fretwork, for $400. I'm already kicking myself. It was a cool one.

Not at all impressed with Burnys and Grecos - they just look exactly like Chinese epiphones. Also the stores were a pain, the sales-sama has to take down the guitar, wipe it down, ask you which amp, plug it in, tune it up, then stand over your shoulder (politely) the whole time while you're the only one in the store touching gear. When you finish, he wipes it all down with a rag for about 5 min. It's nice and quiet, you can hear yourself, that's cool though.
At least that's where I was, very far from Tokyo and the "guitar heaven" area. Kagoshima, for those of you who know.
Have any recent "ones that got away?

 

[Dan025]

Also the stores were a pain, the sales-sama has to take down the guitar, wipe it down, ask you which amp, plug it in, tune it up, then stand over your shoulder (politely) the whole time while you're the only one in the store touching gear. When you finish, he wipes it all down with a rag for about 5 min. It's nice and quiet, you can hear yourself, that's cool though.
At least that's where I was, very far from Tokyo and the "guitar heaven" area. Kagoshima, for those of you who know.
Have any recent "ones that got away?

ha they do do that. i was in northern japan for almost 2 years. i must say though that in most of the stores i went to the people were motivated to help and very welcoming of foreiners even if we didn't speak there language.

as far as ones that got away. i always loved the axis EVH, i'm not a huge van halen fan but that guitar is beautiful. in japan they had an axis EX and was visually identical to the evh but was a fraction the price it was MIJ and not considered a signature model. as i understand it the only difference was that the lamtop was a thin vaneer laminated to 1/8th of strait grained maple and sometimes they had one piece vaneers not bookmatched. the hardware was all the same and the pickups were presumably the same the neck contour was the same. i decided to wait till i had money to burn instead of doing a payment plan which the store did offer. when i looked at the new ernie ball booklet a few months later the EX model was missing. the clerk tryed to find an old price sticker to find an order number and called the store owner to try and help but it appears that they may have discontinued that model, oh well.

 

[Dan025]

thanks for the info but i am no longer there and the exchange rate was favorable at the time. maybe again in the future.

 

[Nando Vallart]

WOW, can't be true that part of the sellers

 

[texicus]

It's not an exotic guitar, but...

A 1998 korina Epiphone Explorer.  Normally they were about $800-$1000 at the time in the small guitar shops around here.  The shop owner took it as a trade-in on a new Telecaster because the previous guy didn't like the sound of it...but I dang well did.  He only wanted $500 and said he'd throw in a hardshell case for $50.  It's no million dollar machine, but man do I kick myself that I didn't pick it up.  I was cheap back then...dangit.

 

[kboman]

I saw a 1965 Fender Mustang in pretty good condition in a music store back in 2001/2002 for the ridiculous sum of 3000kr (I think a new Epi LP went for around 5000), I really should have tried to get that one.