Greco EG-900 at 81,000 Yen. Reasonable price?

[BrazenPicker]

http://www.kurosawagakki.com/items/detail/101784.html

Price including shipping to Singapore as quoted by Kurosawa Gakki is 91,000 Yen. I've only started to look at Grecos recently so i'm not too familiar with the price range. Is this a reasonable price? Quality wise, are the EG900s usually "great" or merely "good"? I figure if price-wise this was in 1979 the equivalent of, say, a Tokai LS-160 today, with 31 years of aging of the wood.... should be pretty nice. Correct?

Thanks!

As an aside, I work as an expat in Singapore but I'm originally from Europe and intend to move back in a couple of years. Import taxes are just 7% here. I figure worst case I can always buy a bunch of these, then when I move back to Europe easily offload them without taking a loss, or more likely make a small profit. So the risk is small. But the main thing for me is I want to get a couple of great, great guitars. It's too much hassle for me to actively trade them.

 

[Koubayashi]

Try to get at least ten percent off.
Still not a rip off at the current price IF the seller is trust worthy.

There is a huge advantage buying from at store and that is (if they are honest): no surprises and return rights (in most cases).

This is most likely a good guitar BUT some people have trouble with maple neck and they can be a bit heave. The DP103s are great pickups, far better than DryZ in my taste.

 

[BrazenPicker]

Thanks! I like your contributions to this forum, by the way. While I've had mostly positive experiences with Japanese guitars, I've also had one POS. A bit of cynicism is refreshing.

By the way, would this be a lawsuit guitar? I only want it if it's a lawsuit one.

 

[BrazenPicker]

By the way, the pickups have been replaced along with some other parts:

EG-900 made in 1979:
These parts are changed/replaced...
Dimarzio pickups
Grover tuners
New Knobs

Frets are supposed to be in good condition. It's listed on Digimart as being in "A" condition.

I wouldn't be too worried about the pickup swap because I have 2 sets of Skatterbranes lying around that would be about as good as anything available today.

I was thinking about going to Tokyo in a couple of weeks and I could pay for it now and then take it home myself. My only worry is I'll fall in love with 2-3 other guitars there and I won't be able to carry all of them. Anyone here has ever used EMS post themselves in Japan? Any hope if you don't speak Japanese?

 

[wulfman]

I just sent a guitar by EMS today for the first time. The form is in English and Japanese and you can pick it up at any post office and send from there. Usually the bigger post offices can manage to explain the form in English.

Send me a PM if you have any questions, I live right in the middle of Tokyo and may be able to help you out a bit if I have some free time when you are here.

Cheers,

Wulfman

 

[BrazenPicker]

Thanks a lot for that. So it seems doable (dealing with the post office there). I think up to 2 guitars I could drag home myself (and hope to avoid the VAT upon my arrival), once it gets to 3 I would definitely need some kind of shipping.

Lucky you that you're in Tokyo. I'd be in the guitar shops every weekend.

 

[Udonitron]

The whole "lawsuit guitar" thing is really blown out of proportion. That ideal was brought about via Gibson and Ibanez, not any other brand FYI Or were you being cynical lol?

 

[BrazenPicker]

Yep, just kidding. Some of the breathless descriptions on Ebay (or the ones by "guitargai" of days past) are just funny.

 

[Udonitron]

LOL OK good! Nothing is worse on the forums than a member bringing up the lawsuit crap haha. Even the word vintage is wearing thin in my books. I do not think I have ever used the word vintage for any of my guitars nor have I classified them as such. When I think Vintage, WWII and prior comes to mind.

 

[Koubayashi]

Thanks a lot for that. So it seems doable (dealing with the post office there). I think up to 2 guitars I could drag home myself (and hope to avoid the VAT upon my arrival), once it gets to 3 I would definitely need some kind of shipping.

Lucky you that you're in Tokyo. I'd be in the guitar shops every weekend.

Don't worry, the guitar shops in Tokyo is anything but cheap!

The high end Grecos are usually as expensive as here in Europe (after shipping and VAT).

 

[wulfman]

Don't worry, the guitar shops in Tokyo is anything but cheap!

I find Kurosawa in Ochanomizu tries to charge way too much for the old Japanese guitars. Why? I can only guess it has to do with a number of foreign buyers with limited time, and lots of money coming through.
There are lots of deals here, but you have to be in the shops a lot to find them, so the time=money equation means you don't get much of a deal in the end. Ishibashi and Shimokura are two places that have reasonable prices.

 

[BrazenPicker]

Thanks Wulfman, will definitely check out those two places. I was in Tokyo in March but unfortunately had just one day to myself and went to Ochanomizu only. I was a bit disappointed then, but I think that had more to do with my stellar expectations having read all the online reports. OK, not to exaggerate, it was a lot of fun. Something that struck me was that there weren't that many second hand guitars for sale. I suppose the profit margin is much better for the new ones. For sheer volume, Digimart and Yahoo auctions are much better, and while sometimes it's a ***** to pay all the extra fees, I'm glad we have them.

Anyway, I'll take Koub's advice and try to see if the price is negotiable. If I can knock 10% off I'll take it. Otherwise i'll wait till I get there and take my chances it may be sold by then.

 

[Koubayashi]

Don't worry, the guitar shops in Tokyo is anything but cheap!

I find Kurosawa in Ochanomizu tries to charge way too much for the old Japanese guitars. Why? I can only guess it has to do with a number of foreign buyers with limited time, and lots of money coming through.
There are lots of deals here, but you have to be in the shops a lot to find them, so the time=money equation means you don't get much of a deal in the end. Ishibashi and Shimokura are two places that have reasonable prices.

Still very expensive in Tokyo.

The price in shops in Tokyo is pretty much the same as the shops here in Europe.