Ochanomizu, Tokyo - My Personal "Pilgrimage" (WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES)

[accento24]

Eh... nakita mo ba ang mukhang ng mga babae sa Jap porn?  mukhang ang only redeeming quality nila ay pilitan sila humihiyaw. 

hehehehe!!! 

[Ben Tsing Co]

dalawa lang ang kalalabasan nyan.. either uuwi kang brokenhearted or bankrupt. lol

+1 

[Kusanagi]

Nice thread!

[gnarly]

darn!look at those pretty les pauls!

[vorg147]

ung mga pedals para ka lang nasa ace hardware 

[neicon27]

nice thing about buying in Ochanomizu is if you have your passport just present it to them and your purchase will be tax free.

I bought an Ibanez  there about 5 years back.. I was able to haggle for 3 additional strings, 5 picks. Plus they fixed the intonation and the action to my preference before I left the shop.

definitely worth going back to.

side trip na lang yung schools sa paligid  na may naggagandahang japanese babes 

[neicon27]

aside from Ochanomizu, other places in japan where I found clusters of music stores were in Shibuya, Akihabara, and Shinjuku.  Still I would say Ochanomizu is the best among them.

[vorg147]

nice thing about buying in Ochanomizu is if you have your passport just present it to them and your purchase will be tax free.

I bought an Ibanez  there about 5 years back.. I was able to haggle for 3 additional strings, 5 picks. Plus they fixed the intonation and the action to my preference before I left the shop.

definitely worth going back to.

side trip na lang yung schools sa paligid  na may naggagandahang japanese babes 

japanese babes + gears = 


AHAHAHAHAH!

[Fret_warrior]

Wag kayong mag alala , may Raon naman tayo, may Sta Mesa, at kung gusto nyo ng secondhand , punta kayo sa Pier sa manila.

Btw. Nice Thread!

[kawayan_strat]

Ok, just clarifying.  I was just pointing out that it is practice in japan to display the used products along with the new products BECAUSE the stores only accept used products that are close to unblemished condition.

I know Alex, my ex wife lives in Japan, she use to send me pictures before when we were still an item.hehehe

[Bart]

Pero di po ba pag sa porn sila yung laging may hiyaw?! 

Hiyaw ba yun o meow? Parang mga naglalampong na pusa o gobble gobble ng turkey sa pandining ko ang mga AV actresses nila eh.

[accento24]

Hiyaw ba yun o meow? Parang mga naglalampong na pusa o gobble gobble ng turkey sa pandining ko ang mga AV actresses nila eh.

hehehe! meow muna sir tapos hiyaw na sa gitna at dulo, hehehe!!!

[kym005]

Pag Japan talaga topic kung saan saan napupunta usapan. hahaha

[22frets]

Planning to Visit this place soon. 

I've visited hong kong last 3 months ago. Nagpunta ako sa shop ng Tom Lee music malapit sa Chungking Mansions and Parsons music store.... sa dami ng display nila ng electrics and acoustic guitars nalula na ako. pano pa kaya dito sa Japan? sa nakita ko dun. mas mura ang mga branded amps and guitars nila compared sa pricing dito sa pilipinas.. example na lang yung Marshall Dsl40c which is priced at 4500 - 5000 hkd. samantalang dito sa pinas is 50kphp ang brand new. malaki talaga ang difference ng price....

I am planning to buy a Les Paul when I get there in Japan. is there anyone here has an idea kung kelan ang sale sa ochanomizu? parang himig handog sale dito sa pilipinas or yung parang month long sale nila? thanks.

[bakit?]

Handanda danda! Ang laki talaga ng problema ng mga musician na nakatira sa 3rd world countries.... pakenengshayt!

malamang di nila pinag aawayan ang gear dyan. laruan lang tingin nila dyan.haha

[firemodel55]

So after around 17 years of dreaming about going to the land of the Rising Sun, we were finally able to scrape up enough dough to make the trip 

I first heard about Ochanomizu in the jemsite.com forums, and boy, did it get me excited as frack then  It's a station within Tokyo where a lot of musicians hang out, primarily because there are tons of music stores in the area.

Pretty much everything music- and especially guitar-related can be bought here: rare picks, all sorts of parts complete and in stock, awesome high-end models from companies such as Suhr and Anderson, vintage instruments dating as far back as the 1950's, esoteric boutique and out-of-production effect pedals, etc. I'd literally run out of breath talking about this in person 

One really amazing realization I had when testing out some equipment was this: pretty much every store attendant knows how to set up the guitars (and perhaps even other kinds of instruments as well) for optimum playability. I'd imagine each and every one of the instruments on display are constantly maintained, and for good reason: given sir Perf de Castro's experience with our local music stores and their poorly setup floor models, how would one expect to sell any units? Of course the Japanese are more well-off than we are, but this is something I believe our local retailers should at least consider.

Anyways, enough talk. Here are the pics to prove sh*t actually went down!:

Electrics:








okay this isn't a guitar, but it's a cool out-of-production Mesa, so I took a picture anyway:


to be continued...

I think before we prescribe a solution let us first identify THE significant problem: THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH PINOY/LOCAL GUITARISTS WITH ENOUGH MONEY TO SPEND ON GUITARS AND MUSICAL EQUIPMENT THAT WILL JUSTIFY TOP NOTCH SERVICE

[bakit?]

I think before we prescribe a solution let us first identify THE significant problem: THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH PINOY/LOCAL GUITARISTS WITH ENOUGH MONEY TO SPEND ON GUITARS AND MUSICAL EQUIPMENT THAT WILL JUSTIFY TOP NOTCH SERVICE

because we are in a third world country perhaps?

or we could put it this way:

mas madami kasi mahihirap na gitaristang pinoy kesa mayayaman. there I just simplified it. Haha.

[Ralph_Petrucci]

Oi jolo, update mo na tong thread na to! for 2014!

[lolwat]

FM55 chimes in with a pretty good point as always - there's no reason to set up any of the guitars if nobody would even consider buying anything. A good solution, although time-consuming, is having a competent guitar tech in-house to set up a guitar which has just been purchased by a customer and then have the customer come back to claim it afterwards - in fact, this is how I got my first electric, and also how I met my long-time friend and suki at the Alabang Lazer Music branch.

Ralph_Petrucci: medyo nagsawa din ako sa gear sa Ochanomizu eventually haha, ngayon puro Akihabara ako, naghahalughog ng electronics shops para humanap ng parts for my DIY pedal hobby I might make a separate thread for that.

[firemodel55]

because we are in a third world country perhaps?

or we could put it this way:

mas madami kasi mahihirap na gitaristang pinoy kesa mayayaman. there I just simplified it. Haha.

Wrong simplification.

I don't want to even say because we are in a third world country its because.... the majority of Pinoys -- our countrymen -- do not want to pay for local musical talent whether in terms of CD sales, gigs, merchandise or events KAYA mas maraming mahirap ng gitaristang Pinoy kaysa mayaman.

Kaya huwag na sisihin ang mga mayaman o may pera dahil kaunti lang kami para suportahan ang lahat ng musikero sa Pinas.  Ang sisihin niyo ay mga bakyang musikero at entertainer na gustong gusto ng masa.

[gandydancer123]

Ang sisihin niyo ay mga bakyang musikero at entertainer na gustong gusto ng masa.

true

[Ralph_Petrucci]

Ang sisihin niyo ay mga bakyang musikero at entertainer na gustong gusto ng masa.

Truth in this statement. whew.

[bakit?]

Wrong simplification.

I don't want to even say because we are in a third world country its because.... the majority of Pinoys -- our countrymen -- do not want to pay for local musical talent whether in terms of CD sales, gigs, merchandise or events KAYA mas maraming mahirap ng gitaristang Pinoy kaysa mayaman.

Kaya huwag na sisihin ang mga mayaman o may pera dahil kaunti lang kami para suportahan ang lahat ng musikero sa Pinas.  Ang sisihin niyo ay mga bakyang musikero at entertainer na gustong gusto ng masa.

Wrong. Its not that they do not want. Its that they cannot pay for it.

Majority ba sinasabi mo? Think. If majority of us have the same money as you, you might be in for a competition.

We still get it Alex, and its not against you at all, YOU simply have the means that most of us doesnt have.

I think thats clear enough. Cant, Want, Wouldnt, Couldnt.

Access. Means.

BTw bakit naman natin sisihin ang bakyang musikero? I dont get it. May mga musikerong magaganda ang gamit pero bakya ang tugtugan. Just saying. This is not a your gear against mine, skills vs gears debate. Its just what it is.

You cant simply put down a huge cross section of the guitar playing demographic by that comment.

[gandydancer123]

Wrong. Its not that they do not want. Its that they cannot pay for it.

Majority ba sinasabi mo? Think. If majority of us have the same money as you, you might be in for a competition.

We still get it Alex, and its not against you at all, YOU simply have the means that most of us doesnt have.

I think thats clear enough. Cant, Want, Wouldnt, Couldnt.

Access. Means.

BTw bakit naman natin sisihin ang bakyang musikero? I dont get it. May mga musikerong magaganda ang gamit pero bakya ang tugtugan. Just saying. This is not a your gear against mine, skills vs gears debate. Its just what it is.

You cant simply put down a huge cross section of the guitar playing demographic by that comment.

parang yung bilibid boys...haha

[Ralph_Petrucci]

Wrong. Its not that they do not want. Its that they cannot pay for it.

di rin paps. maraming mga nagpapaevent na marmaing budget but are not willing to pay for talent kasi they think "a lot of people will do it for free, why will I pay for someone who wants to play for a fee".

in these cases, which is most of the time, its a DO NOT WANT.

wag na tayong lumayo pa, marami nang avenues for cheap legit music (spotify, deezer) pero andami paring tumatangkilik sa torrent or audio rip via youtube. bakit? kasi ayaw nga nilang magbayad.

pero teka, sobrang layo na natin sa TOPIC na JAPAN Pilgramage ni paps lolwat. wag na nating paliguyin ang argumentong ito. parehas kayong may point ni fm55. mejo di lang siguro maganda yung dating ng point ni fm55 sayo.