S/H guitar shopping in Tokyo

gusman2x

I’m going to the land of the rising sun with work. Will have some time to myself, and one of the things I’d like to do is pick up a s/h mij squier strat or an rg550. 

What shops can anyone recommend for lower end/cheaper second hand guitars, but with good stock holdings?

goldtop

Look at the Ishibashi website now: https://www.ishibashi.co.jp/eng/ - they have quite a few stores within Tokyo and in other cities. The more remote ones are more likely to have interesting stuff. Take your passport to do the export thing and avoid the Japanese sales tax.

Get yourself to Ochanimizu station, find the bridge and then turn South and you'll be in the street with the biggest concentration of guitar shops. Literally dozens of them.

Plus, check the 'Hard Off' shops. They're a bit like Cash Converters, so hit or miss, really. See here: https://www.hardoff.co.jp/en/

(PS: I'm going in a month, so don't hoover up all of the good stuff!)

Grocer_Jack

Yep Ochanimizu is mind-blowing. Be prepared to spend the whole day there!

stickyfiddle

Wiz for these two. Definitely the best area. I’ll also be there in a month’s time  

goldtop

This time we'll be heading West, so I'll be mooching around the guitar shops in Osaka/Kobe. Hoping that they are not as well-visited by Western guitar hunters as the Tokyo stores.

Limehouse_Blues

Even though the stock is mostly not at the cheaper end of the spectrum, check out Nico Nico guitars. I enjoyed my visit there and bought a lovely LP.

King85

This finish is stunning imo

https://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/e/select.php?cd=14-316657212

gusman2x

Thanks all,

Had a look at the Ishibashi site, and couldn't find any squiers. Maybe they don't list them, or maybe I'll need to rake around smaller shops. I can't really justify a guitar at the moment, but this trip is coinciding nicely with my recent burning desire to own a strat again. Ideally I'd like to pick up a made in japan silver series in red with a rosewood board. Not that I'm picky lol.

Planning on bringing it home in bits in my suitcase.

goldtop

Don't worry - you will find a lot of JDM strat-alikes there.

Some from brands that you have never heard of (just beware of new ones that are advertised as "Assembled in Japan" but are almost certainly made in China and just bolted together in Japan). But also, you will see some from brands you know, but didn't know they made Strat copies.

As always, play a few and let your hands/ears decide.

robinbowes

I'm going back in October - will be there in w/c 15/10. I had a good mooch around last time I was there, but didn't find anything that jumped out as a bargain.

Hoping for more luck this time

R.