Official Luthiers Forum!

I know most Gotoh hardware are made in Japan.

Would it be any cheaper for me if I ordered the hardware directly from Japan to avoid double shipping (Japan to US, then to Taiwan)?

Does any supplier actually sell Gotoh hardware in Japan?

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I'm sure someone sells it there. Unless it is a brand that meant for the U.S market only. Might be sold under different name there.

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Another day, another dollar.

The Japanese distributor is Hosco, but the minimum order is quite large. They prefer to deal in factory quantities. For small orders, probably better to go to one of the usual large retailers. However, those large retailers only cover a small part of the Gotoh range.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I guess the whole factory direct started by Dell hasn't exactly caught on in Asia?

I notice most factories in Asia only deals with distributors or have very large minimum orders. It really makes it hard to get stuff that are made in Taiwan but yet aren't sold here for whatever reason (like the Parrot vise for example)

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I'd be calling that a business opportunity for you, Tai. Like this mob, you start in a garage...

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I think one of the biggest reason many of the Taiwanese products are not sold here is because there are no market for it, or the market is too small. Despite the 23 million people a vast majority of the people is too busy cramming for exams or working to indulge in a hobby other than online gaming (which is big here). There is a fine woodworking tool dealer (www.das-tool.com.tw) but the selection is still poop compared to Lee Valley or Rockler.

If it was a good business opportunity at least 20 other Taiwanese (with lots of money to play with) would have caught on. The one thing they're really good at is entrepreneurship.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Similar sized home market as Australia, only less of a geographic challenge. But these days, the whole world is your market. Just have to choose stuff that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to ship. "Taiwan Direct". There's your business name for free! (Probably gone already...)

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Might actually work if Taiwan is actually my home (it's not) because being able to get things factory direct often depends on networking... googling will only reveal crap company website without any comprehensive catalog. Also stuff do cost an arm and a leg to ship unless it's large quantities, and companies like that are dime a dozen (they're called "trading companies"). For me service is where it's at.

Unless you're talking about small novelties like hello kitty cell phone accessories, in that case people who sells that are dime a dozen either. High quality tradesman/craftsman/artisan is what is missing in Taiwan.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Ahh, then you're on the right track already.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Especially when this level of "craftsmanship" is rather common in Taiwan



But many people go for them because of their lower initial price and it's harder to convince someone to spend more on a much better service.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

When you're dealing with a factory, they make your product after you order it. It's not like a store where they have inventory laying around.

There is setup time & they have to run a minimum to recover the setup time - unless you want to pay $300 a set for 10 sets.

That's why they have large minimum order quantities.

Kevin Looker

ps
the $300 a set is strictly hypothetical, I'm just trying to convey the concept

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Sure. But Gotoh is the factory and Hosco is their distributor. I don't think Gotoh deals direct with anyone but Hosco and Hosco holds the stock.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I surf their website, it seems they have other agents other then Hosco.
Maybe some of does ship in smaller quantities overseas?
But most of the website are in Japanese though and you probably need to communicate with them in Japanese.

@ the bottom right hand corner
http://www.g-gotoh.com/international/

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

I have special ordered tuners from Gotoh via Shane at High Mountain. I'm not sure how he does it but I am sure he is not buying more than 1 of the sets I'm getting. So, it can be done although you might have to be a dealer.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I am friend with Corey Batson and if I remember right, when he ordered 510s from Gotoh directly, the order minimum was $5,000. I have an email out to him to see if my memory serves me right.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
http://elevatelutherie.com
&
http://ensorguitars.com

Chris...I heard that the minimum order from Hosco was $1000US....I would like to know if your info is right or mine is....Looking forward to the answer as $1000 US is now $1000 AU

Cheers

John

Just heard back from Cory Batson. He said the last time he ordered that there was a 50 set (300 piece) minimum from Hosco if you are doing customized gear caps. He claims that they didn't have a minimum order of the in stock sets. You can also mix and match sets- i.e. some chrome, some gold, etc.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
http://elevatelutherie.com
&
http://ensorguitars.com

I can assure you the minimum order is much more than $5K...

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com