hulika

Author Topic: Gear Hunting Around the World:A collection of places where to go for gear!  (Read 31712 times)

Offline gandydancer123

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I agree on any Ishibashi store.

For those who happen to be in Taipei, I recommend ATB music:
http://www.atbmusic.com/
http://www.atb2.com/



Actually, prices in Shanghai ishibashi are a bit expensive..but the best thing is they have really nice stocks..so window shopping is a joy..my patronage fizzled out when I bought a warwick guitar stand double the price sa small local stores...

they had a huge shop before..but they shrinked just recently.. they have one pre owned fender pawnshop '51 that Im waiting for them to put on sale. (if that ever happens)




« Last Edit: August 29, 2013, 02:16:39 PM by gandydancer123 »
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Offline gandydancer123

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JinLing Lu: Shanghai's One-Stop Music Shop
By Dennis Ming Nichols
in Music, movies and performance
JinLing Lu. Music street. This is the street where you go if you want to buy musical instruments or music-related gear. Being that I am an extremely-amateur musician, this is one of the first places in Shanghai that made me feel at home. My first visit there lit up my face and emptied my wallet. I went back recently to recount that first bank-account draining day and also to pick up some other supplies.

On the list was a microphone stand, guitar picks, a pop screen, acoustic guitar strings, soft cymbal mallets, and an instrument cable. Here's how it went down.

I start at the corner of JinLing and Xizang (Tibet) road and start walking east. Right now, the music shops are few, but they get more concentrated the closer you walk to the Bund. My first stop is this little shop that sells pianos, percussion and wind instruments where I find some soft mallets for 120RMB. Normally, I'd shop around a bit more before spending that much, but these were pretty high quality and I had too much to do that day. I talk them down to 100RMB and I'm out the door. soft cymbal mallets

I wander into a random guitar shop just for fun. It smells new and I never got the name of the place. I test out this popular ZOOM bass multi-effects pedal for about 10 minutes. I'd love to buy it, but ShanghaiExpat only pays me in vouchers to Bricco Pizza, so I reluctantly put it away. Microphone stands were a bit expensive there, but I did find some decent cables for 20RMB each. I lose these all the time, so price tops quality. instrument cable

Next stop is my favorite store, The Guitar and Bass Pro Shop. Two years ago I bought my used ARIA bass there for 2500RMB. Just for giggles I bang on the Djembes (gotta get me one of those!) and strum an acoustic guitar for a while. To my embarrassment, I was interrupting a guitar lesson between one of the shopkeeps and a kid. My bad! I stroll over to the strings counter and get some decent strings for 40RMB. The store owner throws in some pics for free! acoustic guitar strings, guitar picks



Next place is Blue Hand, a more corporate-looking store with lots of keyboards, electronic drums and recording equipment. I still need to pick up a mic stand and a pop screen, but the cheapest ones I can find are 100RMB and 200RMB respectively. After haggling with the price for a few minutes, I decided it's best to get these items on TaoBao (and I did for 60RMB and 99RMB, respectively).

Before I leave JinLing, I have to stop at a few shops that sell traditional Chinese instruments. One shop in particular had some beautiful Erhus with python-skin bodies from 350RMB and up. Unfortunately, I have no judge of quality and I produced a few sickening faces while proving I had no idea to play it. As always, I messed around with a guzheng and various percussion instruments. I actually might come back to get some Chinese-opera drums if they ever decide to accept vouchers from Bricco Pizza!
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Offline ajgg235

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Nanginginig kamay ko while taking these photos!!!   :drool:

Sang GC yan sir? Wow. Pero the ones that I went to halos ganyan rin (SFO not yung main there, tsaka Vegas).. Di ko lang nga masyado na-appreciate ang custom shop stuff there since masyado akong na "drool" sa stuff. lol. amps were awesome there.
A Les Paul is Like potato chips, you can't just have one.

Online fishsago

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buhayin ko lang po to. saang branch po ng swee lee ang pinaka malaki? salamat po :D

Online ryechua

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buhayin ko lang po to. saang branch po ng swee lee ang pinaka malaki? salamat po :D

sims drive showroom?
doh!!!


Offline freemansj

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Sang GC yan sir? Wow. Pero the ones that I went to halos ganyan rin (SFO not yung main there, tsaka Vegas).. Di ko lang nga masyado na-appreciate ang custom shop stuff there since masyado akong na "drool" sa stuff. lol. amps were awesome there.

Austin, TX at Nashville, TN.  :-)

Offline ajgg235

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Austin, TX at Nashville, TN.  :-)
Question sir, nung nagpurchase ka ba sa Guitar Center nakahingi ka ba ng discount? Haha.

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A Les Paul is Like potato chips, you can't just have one.

Offline d_one

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Saang branch ng PC park hindi nauubusan ng tokai strats?  >:D

Offline ajgg235

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Bukod sa Guitar Center ano pa magandang guitar stores sa US? :-)

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A Les Paul is Like potato chips, you can't just have one.

Offline rrmode1

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I've been to Tom Lee a couple of times. Solid yung prices nila! Sobrang affordable. Great news is with the visa-less entry to Japan coming, sobrang dali na maka-access sa quality guitar stores abroad

Offline ajgg235

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That address sa may Guitar Center Hollywood I think i saw a sam ash, mesa boogie,

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A Les Paul is Like potato chips, you can't just have one.

Offline dariusbabylon

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I'll post some of my findings here - I've just been to Japan - tokyo / kansai area and went to several ishibashis. But couldn't really find anything new, interesting and cheap. Did end up buying a used vox delaylab for the equivalent of P2,5k

I had a pleasant surprise last year in Seoul. Insadong area. A placed called Music Mall. It's literally one good-sized mall full of musical instruments. I came in with an eye for keyboards, so I posted this last year in the Keyboards forum :
http://talk.philmusic.com/index.php?topic=289464.0


« Last Edit: April 28, 2014, 02:06:21 PM by dariusbabylon »

Offline gandydancer123

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I'll post some of my findings here - I've just been to Japan - tokyo / kansai area and went to several ishibashis. But couldn't really find anything new, interesting and cheap. Did end up buying a used vox delaylab for the equivalent of P2,5k

I had a pleasant surprise last year in Seoul. Insadong area. A placed called Music Mall. It's literally one good-sized mall full of musical instruments. I came in with an eye for keyboards, so I posted this last year in the Keyboards forum :
http://talk.philmusic.com/index.php?topic=289464.0




great share!
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Offline dariusbabylon

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one of my favorite places - Beale street in Memphis. Gibson has a retail outlet, next to the FedEx Center (home of the Memphis Grizzlies)
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Locations/RetailCenters/Memphis/
Beale St is also a great place to hang out - BB King has a bar, and he plays every weekend

Offline dariusbabylon

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Ochanomizu - I stumbled on this after walking a few blocks from the Akihabara section. Lots of shops, lots of guitars and effects, but I couldn't really convince myself to get anything as I could just go cheap and go 2nd hand. However, one store had a good collection of Danelectros - which I haven't found anywhere else in the world (though quite expensive). It was only when I reviewed the photo did I discover a "cheap" Hodad (the one with the double lipstick pickup) - approx. 9k pesos. But it's a biatch to carry-on


and in any case, I was more interested in this

Offline ajgg235

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Ochanomizu - I stumbled on this after walking a few blocks from the Akihabara section. Lots of shops, lots of guitars and effects, but I couldn't really convince myself to get anything as I could just go cheap and go 2nd hand. However, one store had a good collection of Danelectros - which I haven't found anywhere else in the world (though quite expensive). It was only when I reviewed the photo did I discover a "cheap" Hodad (the one with the double lipstick pickup) - approx. 9k pesos. But it's a biatch to carry-on


and in any case, I was more interested in this

Did any of these stores sell tokai's :-) and are the prices good? Hehe

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A Les Paul is Like potato chips, you can't just have one.

Offline dariusbabylon

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Did any of these stores sell tokai's :-) and are the prices good? Hehe

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i didnt notice any tokais. i did see an esp custom shop in one of the stores. 2nd hand grecos were plentiful but expensive. Lots of budget brands like kgarage, photogenic

Offline gandydancer123

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Darius, youre the guy who played in narcissus, shanghai early 2000 right?
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Offline bryanarzaga

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ill probably go to japan next and check out the japanese brands or one's i cant find locally here, but i've been to a couple of nice stores locally,

guitar center is the walmart of stores here, well essentially you try it there and buy from MF, AMS , Zzounds or Music123/Sameday music etc

http://davesguitar.com/ - Suhrs, Andersons and Collings

http://www.distinctiveguitar.com/ - suhrs, knaggs, lsl, boutique strats one prs's

http://www.creamcitymusic.com/ - fenders, probably one of the stores that carry the greg koch model, greg is usually around interstate music sometimes teaching

Marc's guitars - Suhr, Nik huber (probably out of biz),

there's alot of small stores that sells used stuff gibsons, deans , i encourage some to visit pawnshops here as you can get some nice stuff for under 1500

but if you cant find gustavssons here go to IL (43min drive) and your best bet is Maken Music and shops in the IL area

Offline dariusbabylon

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Darius, youre the guy who played in narcissus, shanghai early 2000 right?
haha nope, i've never played music for a living!

Offline gandydancer123

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haha nope, i've never played music for a living!
haha thanks, I get confused with the nicks..just rememebered talking to one guy here..anyway..thanksf for the shares
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Offline dariusbabylon

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ill probably go to japan next and check out the japanese brands or one's i cant find locally here, but i've been to a couple of nice stores locally,

guitar center is the walmart of stores here, well essentially you try it there and buy from MF, AMS , Zzounds or Music123/Sameday music etc

http://davesguitar.com/ - Suhrs, Andersons and Collings

http://www.distinctiveguitar.com/ - suhrs, knaggs, lsl, boutique strats one prs's

http://www.creamcitymusic.com/ - fenders, probably one of the stores that carry the greg koch model, greg is usually around interstate music sometimes teaching

Marc's guitars - Suhr, Nik huber (probably out of biz),

there's alot of small stores that sells used stuff gibsons, deans , i encourage some to visit pawnshops here as you can get some nice stuff for under 1500

but if you cant find gustavssons here go to IL (43min drive) and your best bet is Maken Music and shops in the IL area

Thanks for these. I've had so-so experience with Guitar Center, though there's a good one near St Louis, MO
In NYC, Manny's Music and Sam Ash are neighbors just a few streets off Times Square. I got a Steinberger from Sam Ash last March.

Upstate NY, there's Alto Music, with several branches. Similar to Guitar Center.

Personally, I found the Seoul Music Mall to be the best, for my needs. You can find a nice mix of brand new and used; and the vendors are quite knowledgeable. I got a MIDI organ module and a drum module, and they were kind enough to adjust the power supplies to my voltage needs. Oh and I bought a kazoo as well.

Offline bryanarzaga

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Thanks for these. I've had so-so experience with Guitar Center, though there's a good one near St Louis, MO
In NYC, Manny's Music and Sam Ash are neighbors just a few streets off Times Square. I got a Steinberger from Sam Ash last March.

Upstate NY, there's Alto Music, with several branches. Similar to Guitar Center.

Personally, I found the Seoul Music Mall to be the best, for my needs. You can find a nice mix of brand new and used; and the vendors are quite knowledgeable. I got a MIDI organ module and a drum module, and they were kind enough to adjust the power supplies to my voltage needs. Oh and I bought a kazoo as well.

guitar center is just for the usual brands, so is sam-ash, my cousin lives next door to one in winnetka/fairchild area..

distinctive guitar to me has been a great experience having tried these pieces from
Roger Giffin Guitars
Michael Tuttle Guitars
Knaggs Guitars
Rocketfire Guitars
John Greven Guitars
Melancon Guitars
Scott Walker Guitars   
Fibenare Guitars
K-Line Guitars
its a nice to have actually tried those to get an idea what you're paying for.

I'd like to add J.Hale Guitars - eastman guitars or get your own custom eastman thru him


Offline dariusbabylon

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found a good blog on the Insadong Seoul Music Mall
http://blog.korea.net/?p=7261

Even the building design is interesting


Offline lolwat

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I went to some music stores near my language school in Shinjuku, somewhere in Tokyo. It was a pretty fun trip.  :-)

NOTE: If you want bigger pictures, right click and choose "Open Image in New Tab."














This one's pretty interesting. As far as I know, this particular pedal is supposed to be super rare.


I was supposed to buy a used Dunlop 535Q in the wah pile at the bottom right at around P 3, 400 converted, but it was busted. Too bad.


There's an Ishibashi Music near the area too, so I went there as well.















Now for some amps:











« Last Edit: May 08, 2014, 06:49:10 PM by lolwat »