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Fender Japan is gone :(

#462
TolerancEJ said:
Sorry to read the subject of this thread. Often Fender Japan is the more innovative division of Fender.

This could become a new opportunity for all involved. This now represents an entire factory-worth of highly trained builders ready for hire by another company.
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The factories aren't going away, they just won't be making Fenders on their own any more. Fender USA could still outsource some manufacturing to them, but these factories are already making other instuments and have been all along. It was never owned or run directly by Fender, and over the years, the Fugijen and Dyna Gakki factories (among others) have made instruments for Ibanez, Yamaha, Gibson, Gretsch, FGN, Tokai, etc...
 
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#464
Sammuell92 said:
Oh no, cheap high quality instruments are dying.
First is Korean Warwick Pro Series
Now is Japanese Fender
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I heard they are resurrecting the Korean Warwick again.

As for the J Fender, I heard Fender is asking the music shops to not sell Fender copies, (from cheap ass Chinese knock offs to Lulls and Sads. and everything inbetween) Long story short, you want to sell a knock off, then you aren't going to sell Fenders.

I thought this was illegal. Didn't they try to pull this thing in the States and the court rejected it?
 
#465
Whippet said:
I heard they are resurrecting the Korean Warwick again.

It will never be the same, the Korean Pro Series once had the same specs as the German instruments. the only differences is the price and they are made by Koreans. Now the German Pro Series have nickel silver frets and some sort of metal bridge, which I think is a direct down grade of the instrument. Pro Series has gone and gone forever
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#466
GG7 said:
Thanks guys! Glad you approve of the deal! :D

...Meanwhile... I wonder if R&B's Ishibashi Jazz Bass is going to arrive today? Sure sounded like it was going to be today based on his last tracking report. ??
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Nice JB66!!

Thanks for asking. My JB62 is now in my zip code at least. USPS, as predicted, waited until 10 minutes after the last family member left the house and then attempted to deliver. :spit: Tag, I'm it!
 
#467
R&B said:
Nice JB66!!

Thanks for asking. My JB62 is now in my zip code at least. USPS, as predicted, waited until 10 minutes after the last family member left the house and then attempted to deliver. :spit: Tag, I'm it!
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Oh Man! :( That is so typical!

Did they leave you a slip to go pick it up from the Post Office?

Living in the rural location we do, I keep a PO Box over at our rural post office and just use that address to have USPS shipments sent. That way the bass ends up at our post office and when I see on the tracking info that it has been delivered, I just head down to the PO and pick it up.

That normally works great, but I just got a frantic email from the seller of the JB66 saying that they tried shipping the bass to my PO Box and the "store" he was using to ship it wouldn't provide a tracking number unless he had an actual street address for the recipient? It appeared that the guy was messaging me from the actual shipping location, so I quickly sent him my street address to use. Must be some kind of policy with the third party he appears to be using to send the thing out. ?? I always use my PO Box for USPS and I always get a tracking number for the package.

Oh well... Now I will probably find the same slip of paper in our street box at 5PM when its too late to pick up the bass! lol! But at least I know the bass is close to getting shipped out to me! :D

Hopefully you will finally have yours in your hands by this time tomorrow? I sure hope so!
 
#468
MarkoYYZ said:
The factories aren't going away, they just won't be making Fenders on their own any more. Fender USA could still outsource some manufacturing to them, but these factories are already making other instuments and have been all along. It was never owned or run directly by Fender, and over the years, the Fugijen and Dyna Gakki factories (among others) have made instruments for Ibanez, Yamaha, Gibson, Gretsch, FGN, Tokai, etc...
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True, but I would say the that talented group of designers at Fender Japan responsible for all those cool "exclusive and innovative" Fender Japan models are probably out of a job now. :( I know those factories are on contract with a lot of makers, but I am sure the loss of the Fender contracts still hurts.

It will be a very interesting next 18-24 months seeing if anything "Japan Fender-like" gets introduced by Fender USA.
 
#469
Not only did USPS leave a pink slip for my bass...they left two! And each of them says I owe $49.95. One says postage due. The other says Customs. Not sure which is accurate. But really, WTH? Musical instruments from Japan are supposed to be duty free. And shipping was supposed to be prepaid!

Anybody else get surcharged on a delivery from Ishibashi?
 
#470
R&B said:
Not only did USPS leave a pink slip for my bass...they left two! And each of them says I owe $49.95. One says postage due. The other says Customs. Not sure which is accurate. But really, WTH? Musical instruments from Japan are supposed to be duty free. And shipping was supposed to be prepaid!

Anybody else get surcharged on a delivery from Ishibashi?
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I bought my MIJ off eBay from Tokyowax for $589 plus $115 shipping. $704 total!

Came in two days, but three weeks later I received a bill from DHL for $28 for taxes. I paid it immediately.

I thought the $115 covered everything but it didn't. No biggie as the bass is well worth it.
 
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#471
The $115 would have covered the shipping, but there will generally be a fee to process it through customs, even if there are no duties. It's possible your state requires you to pay a tax on the value though, even if it's not a customs duty.

$28 is a pretty low number (and likely just a processing fee), but two charges from USPS for $49.95 each sounds a little off. I would contact them for a clarification and make sure it's not an accidental double charge, as it's very unlikely that two different charges end up being exactly the same... and the postage part could/should have been prepaid.
 
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#472
I just did the math on what my JB62 "All-Black" cost me for shipping. Mine also came to $115 and change, but no further fees. It makes me think that, like Marko said, it's a state-thingie.

According to FronT's figures, it's about a 4% fee. @R&B, how much was your total cost? Does it come to a similar up-charge?
 
#473
Still no credit card charge. Very odd. I emailed Ishibashi about that. They said they had put it through and that I should see it soon. Not yet though. So the total cost remains to be seen. I do think there will be only one up-charge of $49.95. Either way, there's no sending it back. (Not that I'd want to.) Picking up late tomorrow with luck. Bankers' hours at the USPS!

Best of luck to any who are still trying to complete a purchase on their own piece of history. It takes persistence for sure.
 
#474
MarkoYYZ said:
The $115 would have covered the shipping, but there will generally be a fee to process it through customs, even if there are no duties. It's possible your state requires you to pay a tax on the value though, even if it's not a customs duty.

$28 is a pretty low number (and likely just a processing fee), but two charges from USPS for $49.95 each sounds a little off. I would contact them for a clarification and make sure it's not an accidental double charge, as it's very unlikely that two different charges end up being exactly the same... and the postage part could/should have been prepaid.
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Malak the Mad said:
I just did the math on what my JB62 "All-Black" cost me for shipping. Mine also came to $115 and change, but no further fees. It makes me think that, like Marko said, it's a state-thingie.

According to FronT's figures, it's about a 4% fee. @R&B, how much was your total cost? Does it come to a similar up-charge?
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Yes. More than likely a state thing. I live in Illinois, the most corrupt state in the union, not to mention I'm also in the Chicagoland area.

Tokyowax was nice enough to value the bass at $250 with a 8% tax.
 
#475
FronTowardEnemy said:
Yes. More than likely a state thing. I live in Illinois, the most corrupt state in the union, not to mention I'm also in the Chicagoland area.

Tokyowax was nice enough to value the bass at $250 with a 8% tax.
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I dunno…New Jersey may have something to not-say-out-loud about that! :***:

On the Tokyowax thing; I thought Japan's taxes weren't applicable to foreign buyers. For example, on Ishibashi's used site, there were two prices…one for residents (full amount with the equivalent of sales tax/VAT) and one lower price for non-residents.
 
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#476
R&B said:
Nice JB66!!

Thanks for asking. My JB62 is now in my zip code at least. USPS, as predicted, waited until 10 minutes after the last family member left the house and then attempted to deliver. :spit: Tag, I'm it!
Click to expand...

My bass was stuck in customs for 9 days and then the USPS took 2 more getting it to me from there. I can empathize.
The good news for me was that, even though the box arrived looking like a forklift had gone through it, the bass was in immaculate condition inside. It took me about 5 minutes to unpack it fully.
 
#477
Malak the Mad said:
I dunno…New Jersey may have something to not-say-out-loud about that! :***:

On the Tokyowax thing; I thought Japan's taxes weren't applicable to foreign buyers. For example, on Ishibashi's used site, there were two prices…one for residents (full amount with the equivalent of sales tax/VAT) and one lower price for non-residents.
Click to expand...

The tax wasn't from buying on eBay from Tokyowax. It was a customs duty invoice. I am looking at it right now.
 
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