buying a fender tele in SG

[heshanj]

hi guys (if this is in the wrong forum, plz move )
im very keen on buying a fender telecaster standard - i currently am in singapore, and i thought i'd check up the prices here. in the US, the non american standard tele is USD689 at the fender site, and under USD600 street price. i checked at swee lee here, the quoted SGD1300. are guitars that much more expensive here?

because strangely, they quoted SGD1100 for the Highway One tele, which is more expensive in the US. have they made a mistake, is there any other recommended store that sell fender guitars that i can contact?

im kinda new here, and not familiar, so lookin for help! just to clarify, im looking at this guitar
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0145102306
the non american standard telecaster

thanks a lot for ur time

 

[fendarchy]

Hey I am from California and I have been in SG a few months... I know what you are going through with these prices. check it out.. Swee lee is a great store but a really bad reference for prices. they do a lot of going by the "list" price rather than the msrp. on top of that they charge gst which is a little absurd. Go down the street to Davis. the place is the bomb with prices and there are about 7 guitar shops down there in the basement that are equally kick ass. ( check out connection, you can get any guitar part you would ever need and they have loads of vintage and rare fenders, its pretty much the holy grail) Anyway, Davis has the best prices in SG. and I highly recommend you check out the japan fenders. they are one of the few places that carry them in sg bc japan fenders are non-exports which means if you find them its almost rare. plus you cannot get them new in the states so take home a keepsake. Bro, I was just in there and they have a killer japan telecaster... i just bought a japan 72 stratocaster from there... Everyone says this but it is so true, the quality of the japan fenders are, dare I say, damn close to american standards and light years more comfortable. they come with texas specials! not tex mex, legit texas specials. in america, they put those in the $2000 srv strat! This one i just bought is better than any new american strat I've picked up at guitar center. Go check out that tele, its right in the front window calling your name.. btw, 689 is 1000 SGD, the jap tele at davis is 1100 flat.

 

[heshanj]

thanks a lot for the helpful reply! will definitely check out davis! im actually not able to purchase it right now, still doing some pricing research to figure out how much more i need to save haha.. but anyway, i'll probably head down n check out the japanese tele ur referring to. i was wondering bout japanese teles but couldnt find any info easily. so theyre made in japan for just the japanese market? the one i linked is the mexican one, right? will definitely check out davis asap cheers

 

[csds92]

you could email brendon from bgwguitars as well, he sells them cheaper than sweelee.

 

[jbarks]

you could email brendon from bgwguitars as well, he sells them cheaper than sweelee.

+1. Very competitive prices

 

[heshanj]

you could email brendon from bgwguitars as well, he sells them cheaper than sweelee.

thanks - i just mailed them too.. mailed davis also will wait for a reply or call them up this morning.. thanks for the replies!

 

[junkiemanxl]

Hey I am from California and I have been in SG a few months... I know what you are going through with these prices. check it out.. Swee lee is a great store but a really bad reference for prices. they do a lot of going by the "list" price rather than the msrp. on top of that they charge gst which is a little absurd. Go down the street to Davis. the place is the bomb with prices and there are about 7 guitar shops down there in the basement that are equally kick ass. ( check out connection, you can get any guitar part you would ever need and they have loads of vintage and rare fenders, its pretty much the holy grail) Anyway, Davis has the best prices in SG. and I highly recommend you check out the japan fenders. they are one of the few places that carry them in sg bc japan fenders are non-exports which means if you find them its almost rare. plus you cannot get them new in the states so take home a keepsake. Bro, I was just in there and they have a killer japan telecaster... i just bought a japan 72 stratocaster from there... Everyone says this but it is so true, the quality of the japan fenders are, dare I say, damn close to american standards and light years more comfortable. they come with texas specials! not tex mex, legit texas specials. in america, they put those in the $2000 srv strat! This one i just bought is better than any new american strat I've picked up at guitar center. Go check out that tele, its right in the front window calling your name.. btw, 689 is 1000 SGD, the jap tele at davis is 1100 flat.

They put texas specials in the premium made CIJ fenders. Your probably have an alder bodied piece since it houses the texas specials but these pups are not the same as what you will find in the AM made SRV's or custom shop models. Those pups in the SRV's are custom shop texas specials.

really 2 very different pickups even though using the same name.

But if have bought the cij 72 strat from davis and if they told you that the pups were texas specials, I suggest you check it out cause the last time i went in to enquire about a CIJ, the store staff gave me all the wrong specs. Good thing was i did my homework before going down or i would have bought the wrong guitar. The guitar i was looking at was a CIJ 72 with basswood body and DMZ pups but the store stuff insisted that it was a CIJ 72 with alder body with us vintage pups. After checking the hang tag and did some research, that piece was definitely a "CIJ 72 with basswood body and DMZ pups".

It might just be a silly mistake the store guys made with no harm intended. but always best to do some homework first before purchasing. But it is true that davis has some of the better prices in town.

Swee lee has got some good stuff but their prices are rather steep.

 

[heshanj]

you could email brendon from bgwguitars as well, he sells them cheaper than sweelee.

thanks for the tip again got a much better and more realistic quote for the telecaster standard (mexican) i was looking for.. cheers

 

[Jumpin'Jellybean]

Uh huh. Swee Lee have always been quite... expensive.
But people keep on going back.
Another shop would be Guitar Connection. They have vintage secondhands.

 

[loldude333]

Why do people keep back to Swee Lee because of their IMHO crappy service and underhanded methods to get money off unsuspecting people? Because they have almost monopoly power. Everyone knows that they are the major importer of many many top brands, hence their more of a 1-stop shop. I've never gone back to Swee Lee after the 2006 year-end sale because i got tired of all their nonsense. I think Mike@Standard Value can bring in MIA Fenders too, now THAT'S an example of great service and competitive pricing.

 

[Jumpin'Jellybean]

Not just them. TYMC can bring in Fender Japan stuff, and they've got better service and a more competitive price. I'd recommend TYMC definitely too. Btw, TS mentioned that he wanted a non american standard tele.