G&L S-500

[rayden44]

Well it's happening albeit very slowly One G&L USA Ash body S-500 in natural finish w maple fretboard. Extra wide C shape neck. 75 days approx to deliver ouch... but feels like a custom order for me heh and gives me some more time to afford it Just in the process of putting the deposit through with PGS, then I get to wait

Maybe I need to learn how to play to justify

[lesblues]

Ooo. Sounds very tasty. Hell of a long wait though!

[rayden44]

yeah, but it's not urgent and I got to pick stuff lol. well it's half paid for now, so I'm a bit poorer

[pwfirst]

Joy in 75 day, Oh Sweet expectation. You Lucky dog.

[rayden44]

I don't think the body for my Dearmond was made in the USA, so technically will be my first USA guitar too. Not overly expensive either, a USA Fender would run me much more money bought locally as would trying to buy this locally. Hardest bit is choosing a neck shape, but I think I've gone the right way Tho I did wonder about the V shapes - I didn't see one here to try.

Just hope the $US dollar doesn't suddenly make a comeback when I have to pay for the rest

[lesblues]

just out of curiosity, will you have much to more pay when you add import tax to the cost? I considered buying my Tokai from Japan but once I added in the import duty, transport costs and the VAT added to those costs as well as to the purchase price, all of a sudden it was no longer a bargain.

[pwfirst]

My claptan strat has a soft v neck and I have grown to really like it. But you can't go wrong your choice.
Don't worry about the US dollar, it is going to suck for quite some times.

[rayden44]

PGS is doing free shipping for me..... I don't know why, I asked Alex to double check, and yes it is free... but that would have been a pretty big cost factor. Since there are no guitar manufacturers here, there usually is no duty (nobody to protect).

Every store here (aside from the small independents) imports their own brands to New Zealand. The Rockshop (Fender, Gibson, Martin) Musicworks (Ibanez, Maton, Schecter) Musicplanet (G&L, Vox... some other I think). Thus none of these stores are competing with each other on price, and the independent stores are basically buying off their competitors.

What this means is to buy a G&L USA Legacy would run me at least $2000 NZ. Proguitarshop's base price is $1050 US or $1250 NZ at the moment, nearly twice the price. On the S-500 I'm saving just over $1000 NZ so I'd have to pay some SERIOUS duty to lose out on the deal.

Plus I wouldn't have got to pick finish, body wood, neck shape etc I would have just had to take whatever was on the shelf. Also we get no hardcases included here, which is pretty much standard practice in the US to include. Even if by some weird cosmic event I end up losing out a little, this is gonna be MY guitar lol

[lesblues]

That sounds like a deal to me! Must admit I didn't think import duty was to protect specific manufacturers of goods, more to do with broader economic protectionism. Certainly I can't think of any guitar makers over here who are a threat to (or need protection from) Fender or Gibson.

I also know that some companies who sell their goods in say America, Canada and the UK will not allow their dealers in one country to sell to another country, irrespective of import tax/restrictions.

I know this because I tried to buy a Husqvarna chain saw from the states or Canada as even with delivery and import tax it was way cheaper than buying one here. Funnily enough when I contacted "Her Majesties Customs and Revenues" to find out about the import tax, they advised me if possible to buy from Canada because at that time the UK and the USA were engaged in a Trade War, so less tax to pay on a Canadian import.

It's all politics!

[rayden44]

Eh you may well be right Les, it's more my take on things than any hard evidence course they inspected my tube amplifier parts when they arrived hehe prolly looked like an antique bomb But they came through with no import duty on them. Possibly due to being bits and not a completed thing, but a friend of mine said he had to pay for electronic parts he ordered so no idea really heh. They might grumble about the wood, but it is a finished product so hopefully not too much grumbling. Our agriculture people are pretty strict about such things.

And yes I ran into the 'we don't sell overseas direct" thing when I talked to PGS before about that fender FSR tele. $550 for an ash tele sounded like a bit of me but Fender won't let them sell to me cos they want to protect their local dealer here (who eventually did get them in, but want to sell it for $1300 NZ instead of about $750). It's the crappy thing about us having such a small market. Only about 4.5 million people here.

BTW we have FINALLY gotten the superchamp XD amplifier here, and it's $700 bucks .... Gah! Next time I fly to USA my luggage is going to come back in a guitar case wrapped around a guitar

[lesblues]

www.customs.govt.nz/features/charges/feetypes/Pages/default.aspx

Looks like the import tax rate is 0%. Which is cool, but you might have to pay an import entry transaction fee NZ$38.07 and possibly Goods and services tax which is calculated on 15% of the customs value of the item. You can let me know once it arrives.

Exciting isn't it.

Your countries custom and excise web site is as easy to use as ours. That's not very easy at all

[rayden44]

Go government websites huh? Yeah I did suspect GST, but even with that I'm still well ahead on cost... it will be fun tho! cept the waiting... but it'll be worth it! It's quite strange how our Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) can be really picky about some things, and yet when me and the missus moved from the states we got food, a shotgun, bullets, all sorts of crap through. We told the movers not to pack it, but they did anyway, and we were just like 'holy crap' when it arrived.

My PC just bit the dust too so some more expenditure coming! lol

[lesblues]

I read a blog recently where an American concert pianist fell in love with a grand piano in France. Bought it and had it shipped back to America. The American authorities impounded it and told her she had two choices either ship the piano back to France or have the ivory removed as it was a prohibited good. For the conservation of elephants. It didn't matter that the elephant that this ivory had come from had been killed long before the legislation was brought in.

Needless to say, returning the piano to France was financially prohibitive. She had to arrange for the keys to be removed and sent back to France.

There was a happy ending though. Apparently the French people, when it was made public, created such an uproar (not at all like the French ) the American authorities backed down and the keys and the piano were reunited!

Just hope the neck of your guitar is not made from Brazillian mahogany or some other protected wood!!

[rayden44]

ha reminiscent of the Gibson story huh?? I pretty sure there's no problem with Ash and Maple. Course I'll probably have to get used to a heavier guitar again heh I've been spoilt with my thinline tele

[Happy Jack]

Jul 11, 2011 18:19:57 GMT -5 rayden44 said:

ha reminiscent of the Gibson story huh?? I pretty sure there's no problem with Ash and Maple. Course I'll probably have to get used to a heavier guitar again heh I've been spoilt with my thinline tele

If the S-500 is anything like my G&L Legacy the hardware will weigh more than your Thinline ;D ;D

They are built like tanks - you are gonna love it