LeftyBassist.com

Just a quick update for posterity's sake: the check is cleared and the bass will be shipped tomorrow. Looking through my correspondence with Ken, I notice that I never explicitly told him I was from the US until I gave him my shipping address just today. I figure that he probably implicitly understood I wasn't in Japan from my western name and use of the english language in my email (he immediately told me in his first response that he took the jag off his page because the conversion from yen to dollars made it too expensive). Still, I'm a bit worried that this will come as new information for him and it could nix the free shipping he promised or at the very least put him in an uncomfortable situation where he feels like he's been taken advantage of. It seems like his site is dedicated mostly to selling japanese instruments to western buyers, so hopefully I'm in the clear.

What do you guys think? For those of you who have bought from Ken, did you have to pay shipping?

P.S. I still can't believe in all of our correspondence I failed to mention I was located in the US even once. I'm an idiot!

I wouldn't worry, I believe the shipping charges (approximately 16000 yen) are always included in Guitar Shogun's prices. I've had contact with Ken too in the past about a MIJ JB75-US and explicitely asked how much shipping costs to Europe were, and he replied they were included.

Good to hear. I sent him an email apologizing for not mentioning it and asked if it was a problem, and he replied that it was no problem at all. Potential crisis averted! Now I just hope the bass arrives before I leave for Texas on the 23rd to visit the folks. From other members on this forum who have bought from ken it sounds like the shipping is pretty fast, so I'm not worried.

I want to thank all of you guys for your extremely helpful advice throughout this process. It's been 8 years since I've bought a bass, and I've never bought one online (from overseas no less), so I relied pretty heavily on what you all recommended. I especially want to thank pjmuck and agent00soul. It was their reviews and testimonials (and pjmuck's beautiful photos) that ultimately led me to make the purchase. Thanks guys!

That's what the forum is for. Let us know how it works out!

Good luck, or as they say it in Japanese, "Gambatte ne"!

go ahead and bring her with you to texas so i can get a chance to play her

Hey pjmuck, about how much time was it from the time that you placed your order with ken until you received your bass? I know in the thread for the jag you said it came in 4 days, but I'm assuming you meant that it was shipped in 4 days. It just seems to be taking a long time. I placed the order on the 5th and the payment went through on the 8th, and the bass still hasn't been shipped. I'm going out of town on the 23rd, less than a week from now, and when I placed the order I was pretty confident I would have the bass before then. Now even if it's shipped tomorrow I don't think it will get here in time.

I really don't want to have to wait till I come back from Texas to have the bass and I particularly don't want to have to go pick it up somewhere. When I leave for Texas I want to know that it has been safely delivered and is sitting in my apartment waiting for my return. I don't mean to whine, I'm just getting a bit frustrated especially since I just forked $1,500 over to this guy sight-unseen with only his word and his reputation to comfort me.

I sent him payment on July 23rd, 2008 and had the bass in my hands by July 28th (5 days later). Since he doesn't readily stock instruments, he may be trying top track one down for you. Why don't you e-mail him and ask for an update and explanation?

It took that long just for the paypal payment to clear. This situation is a bit different since he had to order the bass from Fender Japan. He made sure they had one in stock in the color I wanted before letting me submit payment. I just got word back from him that he is still waiting to receive the bass from them, so it looks like the timing has been mostly out of his hands. I pretty much just have to accept that the bass isn't going to be here in time, which is a bummer but there's no point complaining about it.

When I ordered mine it was the exact same situation. All in all it was 2 weeks from the time I submitted payment to the time the bass was at my door, but I didn't mind. The guy is great to deal with though.

Well, I leave for Houston tomorrow and as far as I know the bass still hasn't even been shipped yet. Looks like I won't have to worry about it arriving while I'm gone after all.

UPDATE: Just got word back from Ken. The bass was apparently sent to the wrong address by the distributor. He will be getting it today or tomorrow and then sending it out.

That's good news, at least you know the status of your order now.

Cool - I figured it was something like that. That guy doesn't mess around with his customers. You just got some bad luck that hopefully is now over.

AWESOME: Ken from guitar shogun CALLED me a few hours ago to personally double-check the shipping address and to tell me he was shipping the bass. Awesome! I was drunk at the time and unfortunately I think I told him it was good to hear his voice. yikes! His english is very good!

That's great news!

Drunk or not, I think you really meant to say that after all you've been through

Absolutely. Knowing that my bass has finally been shipped, and having the tracking number to know exactly where it is, has been a huge relief. It should arrive shortly after I get back from Texas.

It's here! I will be posting pics in the photo gallery section post haste!