The Damage Has Been Done

I think I could easily do a blog solely on shop names in Japan.

Upon seeing this I instantly thought of the title of this post.

Why? I bought another guitar. UH OH!

On the internet I stumbled upon a secondhand Ibanez JEM 77VBK in Machida for 126,000 yen, and it was classed as "A".

Interesting.

Today's Japan's National day so therefore it's a holiday, so I get not one, but two days off in a row. Seemed like a good day to go there. Machida is thirty minutes on the Odakyu line rapid express from Shinjuku.

I've only been to Machida once WAY back in my training week (not so far from two years now). I remember how I bought a bento from the next door combini and how it brought back memories of how I was so un-co with chopsticks.

From memory, back then I didn't spend anytime looking around the area. On this side of the station it's fairly ordinary, but on the other side there are lots of shops and a certain atmosphere I find lacking in places such as Tachikawa. It feels kind of like Kawasaki to me.

There are not only a few guitar shops, but also a Hard Off AND a Treasure Factory. All the more reason to come here I guess!

My plan of attack was to go to the Millimeters Music shop that had the Jem and then go to Treasure Factory.

I knew I had to go out the north exit to get there, but somehow I managed to walk west for a while until I thought that I must be going the wrong way. Checking my GPS I realized my blunder, and started walking in the right direction.

BUT then I veered onto a secondary road that was taking me east! This wasn't too bad as I found one of the shops called Tahara, that I was planning on checking out as well.

Looking around here I didn't find much to my liking. I felt like I was being watching constantly by the floor staff here - a little creepy actually.

Once I left there I kept walking down the street thinking the Jem shop wasn't far away from what I remembered on my Google maps check. I walked and walked. I was about to turn around, when I finally checked my GPS that let me know I was unintentionally on my way to Treasure Factory! Nice.

It was a pretty good one. I prefer the TFs to the Offs. I just feel there's always something in Treasure Factories that I might need someday.

They had a Mickey & Donald and a Pinball Game and Watches, a LOT of hentai dolls including KISS ones (LOL), and I also found a gold and black version of my Citizen watch for about 10,000 yen. It wasn't in as good condition and I paid at least half of that.

I didn't buy anything here, but at least I know where it is in the future.

Heading back in reverse with better bearings I noticed this old sign above a house. One really cool aspect of Japanese photography is called Haikyo ("decayed ruins") in which these guys take pictures in old abandoned amusement parks and houses etc.

This is my version of it (mouseover the picture or click here). You can check out theirs here, and here.

I got to Millimeters Music to finally play the Jem. I saw it last night on the web and I was happy to see it still in the shop. Looking at it in the guitar stand it looked new.

On closer inspection I noticed some slight tarnishing on the bridge and scratchplate screws, and looking really closely I could see some very light picking scuffs on the mirror scratchplate.

These are the kinds of things that would appear if I had it for a few months anyway. Apart from those little niggles it looked great, no dings anywhere.

He plugged it into an old Fender amp for me to test it.

Clean it sounded really nice, but I didn't like the overdrive channel on this amp. It sounded muffled and muddy. I asked if I could hear it in another amp (an old Mesa Boogie) and it didn't sound much better. Finally we put it through a newer hi-gain Triple Rectifier Mesa, and that amp had the right tone for this guitar.

Out of all the black Jems I've tried this one sounds pretty good. I tried to push that price down as far as I could. After a nervous laugh and an "ehhh", he agreed to 110,000 yen cash. I got him to throw in a guitar cable as well.

I don't like getting money out of an ATM on a holiday because of their after hours fees (bastards!), but it gave me the chance to walk around Machida to really think before I plonked down my yen.

I went to the Hard Off to look around and "think" some more. There are actually two Book Offs in Machida. If you're at the one close to Tokyu Hands, it's the wrong one. If you want to see it on a map, look here.

It's actually an excellent one with many different levels of gear. The unsigned (well in English unsigned), Hard Off part is on the 3rd floor.

There was a lot of things worth buying here (although no, I didn't). I was eyeing a nice Roland wah pedal for 9,400 yen, but doing the currency conversion to Australian dollars, I think I could buy it back home cheaper.

I found the Ishibashi and Kurosawa Gakki music chains close to JR Machida station. I asked both if they could install the Fernandes sustainer in my (soon to be) new Jem.

Kurosawa quoted about 50,000 yen, and Ishibashi said 32,000 yen including installation. Millimeter quoted me 70,000 yen! I'm still deciding whether to do it, but I'd really like to have one. I can already think of cool ways to use it in some of my songs.

Next mission was finding a UFJ bank to get some money. The main one was closed and I didn't want to use a third party ATM for (possibly) fees on top of already "after hours" charges. I got the money and made my way back with only 10 minutes to spare before they closed.

I had one last look before I closed the deal. I don't feel as guilty as I thought I'd feel. I weighed the pros and cons thus:

JEM 77BRMR mirror finish from America:

Guitar cost (including insured shipping) : US $2100 which translates at today's rate to AU $3216 Customs (5%) and GST fees (10%) brings that to a total of: $3699.30 Australian dollars!

If I want to add a sustainer the extra drilling might not be too good through that mirror finish either.

My JEM 77VBK: 110,000 yen to AU dollars: $1863.31.

I think shipping would likely be minimal if I take it with me when I fly to Australia. Adding a sustainer would be less tricky and I'm not too worried to have holes drilled through this finish. The price difference here is HUGE, just to have a full face mirror on the front. Paying in yen makes me feel like I'm spending less.

JEM 7VWK: 189,000 yen to AU dollars: $3199.25

It's brand new and sounds great, but that gold on white hardware just isn't me. And, I can't use the scratchplate as a mirror. The price difference becomes much greater on conversion. I'd be more reluctant to do pickup surgery on a new instrument.

Out of the ball park:

JS2PRM: 630,000 yen (AU $10,653) JEM20th: 609,000 yen (AU $10,295.45)
As much as I'd LOVE to have either (or both) of these guitars, my conscience would not be able to take this excessive spenditure.

Looking at the figures, I think I made the right decision?


Getting back to Shinjuku, I was totally exhausted both mentally and physically. So what did we do? We ate at Bombay again for some delicious Indian curry. I've finally got pictures of it.

Sorry for such a LONG post. It's been a busy day. Tomorrow I'll have my (relaxing) holiday from today's holiday.