LeftyBassist.com

OK, Sorry for the redundancy. I think I posted this a while back on TB and here as well, does anyone know where I could find a Tbird bass, any color, doesn't even need to be an Epi or Gibby, I saw some Tokais on the bay a few times but was broke, now I want one real bad. I'd say 800 bucks is my limit, any help would be greatly appreciated. I remember southpaw having a few copies at one time as well. Thanx in advance for your help to everyone on here.

Are you in the US?

This UK ebay seller carries them regularly and has 3 different lefty Tokai T-Birds in stock now and ships to the US. He's got it in black, sunburst, and white). The total price, including a gig bag and shipping to the US, averages out to about $485.00:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tokai-TB48-Thunde ... 240%3A1318

Damn man, that's a great deal. These always go for around $800 (at least the few I've seen) here in the US

PJ, you are the king. Wow, NJ ain't big enough for two lefties combing the state for stuff. lol Thanx a million, now my only problem is choosing a color, lol Have you dealt with this guy is he credible? Thanx again.

Has anyone ever had something shipped from overseas, how does the whole customs thing work? Any info would be great. Thanx

Hey Ed, I had my Jaguar shipped from Okinawa and I didn't have to do anything customs related. Never had anything come from England though. Email the seller and see what they say too (and let us know ). Good luck

I've ordered stuff from the UK before (my Aria Pro SB900), and never had to pay any duties, etc. or had any other issues. It takes about 10-14 days via USPS (since they collect goods from European shippers first, and track it from there). I've also communicated with this seller a couple of times. He's always gotten right back to me, and the last time I contacted him to confirm that total cost he told me that I had overestimated, since the UK VAT percentage had just been reduced.

You'll note that none of these current T-Birds do not have the T-Bird logo on the pickguard. Previously they did, and I inquired about it. He told me that this particular batch doesn't have them, but that future batches would reinstate the logo. So I'm holding out for the next batch, or until someone like you comes along and buys one first so I can get a full review.

Ha Ha, PJ good thinking. I may pull the trigger within a few days, however now you brought up a good point with the tbird logo. I actually went and tested an Epi at the GC in Totowa, since I needed strings any way, played it upside down of course, neck felt fine it was pretty smooth, played suprisingly well for a GC floor model, I played thru a mark bass amp, it sounded really nice. However after close examination and comparing the epi to the tokai, I beleive the bridge is different, which I don't think is a big deal.

As for MAtt R's question, the guy in the UK emailed me and said I'd have to pay UPS the local taxes, I assume NJ sales tax? Like I mentioned above, I'll be pulling the trigger soon and once it gets hear, I'll worry about the taxes if any.

That's nonsense. I've never had to pay state sales tax for an out of state/out of country internet order, and I'm not about to either, though the government would sure like us all to do so. They've tried to introduce this new policy after local merchants were claiming that they were losing money to internet sales, but it's not strictly enforced. Besides, where's the incentive to shop online if pricing isn't going to be any different than walking into a physical store? Like it or not, internet sales and merchants are the way of the future, and it's not my problem if local stores can't match pricing because their overhead is too high or they refuse to jump onboard and sell online.

Alright, I'll get off my platform now.

Be mindful of brokerage fees with UPS, which can be pretty substantial. Calculate your shipping cost through UPS via ground and express; a large part of brokerage fees are waived on express shipments. On the last bass I shipped across the border I calculated both shipping methods with and without brokerage. It ended up being $11 more to go express shipping, which was well worth it to save the near week in transit.

check out these guys! http://www.rakuten.co.jp/taniguchi-gakki/
I just bought a lefty Tokai firebird copy
even though they don't see to have any listed on the site, shoot them an email

Yeah, Taniguchi-gakki's got great lefty stuff. But I didn't think they shipped out of the country. Or maybe they just don't ship to the US?

Back in the 80/90's, I always considered Tokai to be "B" quality. Has that changed? I was gonna pick up a MiM Jazz '62, I liked my old JPN Jazz '62 that got stolen about ten years ago.

they ship to canada! can't hurt to ask