Buying directly from the states

[gargamelesp]

Hi, as you all should know by now the stuff bought from the states ( in most cases ) are cheaper than those in singapore, due to various reasons.

Has anyone of you bought guitar gear directly from the states before? I would like to know where you got it from, how was the service, etc. Basically a review of the shop.

So far all ive gotten were picks from www.elderly.com. I bought 24 at one shot and the cost per pick was about SGD 0.9. They were dunlop picks but i couldnt find the particular gauge and size here. Service was pretty good, took a week from shipping to arrive.

If you guys could be so good as to share your online experiences, im sure it would benifit many people. Thanks!

 

[Nefianz]

i haven't ship guitars b4.. but from wad i noe as a collector.. shipping usually kills the deal.. the shipping cost alone could b the same or more than the guitar itself..

kinda troublesome if something goes wrong oso.. tt's y getting locally is nt a bad thing.. u can check the goods n stuff.. juz my 2¢

 

[gargamelesp]

yea tts why i think that buying guitars online are mainly out of the question cause shipping is about USD 300 alone.

Im talking about smaller items maybe like pedals, strings..etc. Some things are just not available locally And if they are, at killer prices

 

[Nefianz]

better still u can get 1 or 2 ppl to get items from them too.. than u can share shipping cost.. tt way it'll b cheaper.. tink music123 is not bad.. a small country like sg miss out on alot of things..

 

[mikemann]

This tread has being addressed earlier, but here goes on my take.

Shipping cost will decrease if there is more items to ship at one time. But remember that the major online shops DO NOT ship major brands out of USA due to distribution rights issue. So you can forget about the Gibsons, Fenders....etc.

There are some sidetrack online stores who do ship major brand internationally. Can check it out.

But factor in you cannot try the goods, cannot even see the real thing, and can only put the trust that they pack in a good one, not a reject quality one and the shipping also got risk of damage. Remember you can only claim for an exchange, but the shipping back and forth you have to bear if you want to exhange a defective product. Not worth it man, not for the non gambling person.

Yes you save maybe $50 for a low end model, $100-200 for a mid end model, but the disadvantage is really against you. Go to the retailer and you can see and try first, no problem to reject it if you not satisfied.

I think its only reccomended for items not available here.

 

[Lifehouse]

One big US company that ships guitar worldwide would be willcutt guitars. Their PRS and Gibsons stocks are amazing.

 

[LimpPisskit]

Why would you buy guitar you cannot hear first? Do you know how it play?

You can fix guitar sound but can you fix if neck not comnfortable to play?

 

[gargamelesp]

so no one has ordered stuff like pedals picks etc from overseas?

 

[cherns]

I have shipped in a bass from the US via FedEx before. It came in a week - no problems at all Took it out, tuned it up and started playing straight away!

FYI, the bass was packed in a gig bag which was placed in a cardboard box stuffed with newspapers.

 

[p00n]

how much was the shipping cost for your bass? did you get it off a major site like music123 or musiciansfriend? do you think they'll ship a brand like schecter to sg?

 

[skycorn]

haha u can get ur schecter shipped to sg..taht im sure..u can get it from music123.com and u can calculate ur shipping too....lemme guess..thinking of a c1 classic? haha man its a BEAUTIFUL guitar...rocks big time...am still deeply in love with mine..tho the gold stuff may not be that smart a choice coz they tarnish quite fast...nonetheless this guitar is a beauty..

 

[p00n]

oh haha ya the C-1 classic.. not really worth getting something like the omen 6 with the same shipping charge.. oh how much did you get it for with the shipping and all? wouldnt the neck like warp or something with the change in temperature and humidity etc? you got your's from music123?

 

[skycorn]

haha i din know of music123 then..haha so i got a relative to bring it back..amazingly my neck din warp u know...i was expecting to get a setup from a luthier....i guess its attributed to the nech thru body construction...i dun think its as particular as accoustic guitars....where u gotta do the acclimatisation and stuff..

 

[potion]

Hi, you can sign up with with vpostUSA at http://www.vpost.com.sg
They'll give you a US postal address (so you can take advantage of the "free shipping") and send it to you in SG for a cheaper fee. I haven't tried yet though. check out the website FAQs if you need to know more. then maybe you can share your experience with us...