Challenge to all non USA members- tell us about guitars made in your country

[Ian Anderson]

Originally Posted by Taylorplayer

What do we know about importing any of those? Would there be high fees / tarriffs to do so?

Although it's slightly higher to ship across the boarder, there are no tarrifs (NAFTA) moving goods between the USA, Canada and Mexico.

[ParleyDee]

Originally Posted by reags

Funny that, Guitar Factory @ parra are absolute obnoxious know-all snobs. I remember several occasions, one was when I had a 'convo' with one of the guitar sellers there and they laughed @ me because I got a great price for a second hand 614ce from America & they joked that it must be damaged. I think the issue there is that their staff is all under 30yrs old & most likely in metal bands by the way they dress and 'communicate', while Gladesville are older and wiser players with better customer relations. I'd definitely recommend Parra Music as Marcus, Hillsong's guitarist, works there and is a real humble yet knowledgable & caring seller.

I've only been to GF Parramatta once kicking tyres, and I was assisted by a young'un who seemed pleasant enough, but I can well believe what you say. That shop is obviously so different to the small-business, owner-runs-the-place, promote-Made-In-Australia atmosphere of GF Gladesville that I thought it was worth pointing out the two are not connected. The GF Gladesville folks are all over 35 except for the owner's son, and are interested in the folk and bluegrass market as well us just selling guitars. There are plenty of mandolins, banjos (new and classic vintage), dulcimers, Hawaiian guitars etc as well so they are really are more acoustic music specialists than lots of other guitar shops.

[stratokatsu]

I notice nobody has admitted to Estebans coming from their country...

[solarbean]

I'm from the US, but I'll add a small canadian shop - http://www.johndavidscott.com/ . I have a deep-bodied maple OM that they made and it is a very nice piece.

[d18d28]

This makes me curious about the guitars coming from Central and South America... I ran into a band in Costa Rica with some great sounding nylon string guitars. The language barrier prevented me from 'talking shop', but are there any forumites from that area?

[Emil]

Well in Sweden we have the Hagström guitar company (i guess i would be Hagstrom for you guys) and they have produced a couple of nice classic looking guitars like the super swede and the viking.
Elivis p, Zappa, ABBA etc played them several times on stage.
I wouldn´t say that they are MY weapon of choice but some people like them quite a bit.
The production was down for several years but during the early 2000 it started again.

[Daddyo]

Being a Canadian from just outside of Vancouver, I own a Larrivee L03R and my daughter has an Art and Lutherie Wild Cherry. One advantage Canada has over other countries is the incredible supply of maple, cedar, and Sitka spruce as well as walnut and cherry. Close proximity to the US market aslo helps.

[Grassy]

Originally Posted by reags

Funny that, Guitar Factory @ parra are absolute obnoxious know-all snobs.

I bought my Gibson LP from GF Parra last year and they seemed ok to me,but when it came to my Maton Carlisle I picked up a couple of weeks ago I went to http://www.musicworkshopsydney.com ,who are at West Ryde and these guys let me play as many of the acoustics as I wanted for as long as I wanted even though I told them I was just looking at first,they ended up giving me almost $xxx off the price too.

I also tried out the usual Taylor's,Martins etc but I would have had to spend over $3000 to get a guitar that could match the sound of the Maton,Taylor and Martin make nice guitars but for bang for your buck Aussies are better off sticking to Matons.

For instance Jacksons Rare Guitars in Sydney have two Martin "Australian series" limited editions that both have solid blackwood back and sides like my Maton,but I paid $xxxx for my Maton and these Martins are $xxxx and $xxxxx AUD respectively....

So they must sound great?

Of course they do but comparing them to the Maton theres no way in hell they are worth double or five times more,check them out:

http://www.jacksonsrareguitars.com/d....html?id=21116

http://www.jacksonsrareguitars.com/d....html?id=21117

[fendushi]

So they must sound great?

Of course they do but comparing them to the Maton theres no way in hell they are worth double or five times more,check them out:

http://www.jacksonsrareguitars.com/d....html?id=21116

http://www.jacksonsrareguitars.com/d....html?id=21117

"For the first time in their 172 year history, Martin have chosen premium solid Tasmanian Blackwood for the back and sides of one of their magnificent instruments."

They are rare collectors' items, hence the crippling price (actually, considering their collectabillity, they are not too badly priced). You can get a custom made Maton or Cole Clark with the same meterials for much much less.

I wouldn't mind the cheaper one myself. In fact, I'm seriously considering it at the moment...

The other one is out of the question.... I already bought my hot rod!

[dandy505]

Originally Posted by Ian Anderson

Although it's slightly higher to ship across the boarder, there are no tarrifs (NAFTA) moving goods between the USA, Canada and Mexico.

I have always wondered about this when looking at guitars on Ebay so I did some digging...

Although I have not experienced it first hand, I believe there is a tariff on guitars entering Canada from the US -a customs tariff of 6%. Add this to the GST 7% + PST 8% (for Ontario) taxes that you will also have to pay . So if you buy a guitar on eBay and have it sent to a Canadian address it will cost you 21% more than what you paid the seller.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/eservices/bis/bis40-e.html

For the specific tariff charge on guitars go here http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/p..._tariff-e.html and select the pdf link called "Most recent 2006 Customs Tariff" or click here http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/p...06/01-99-e.pdf Heads up the file is 8MB. (See page 1599, section 9202.90.90)

I would love to be proven wrong b/c I have eyed guitars on eBay (or classifieds here) but always had that dark cloud hanging.

[ronmac]

Originally Posted by Ian Anderson

Beardsell Guitars
John Briggs
Dickert Guitars
Dingwall Guitars
F Bass
Freddy's Frets
Freiheit Guitars
Fretworks
Furan Guitars
Fury Guitars
Fritz Mueller Classical Guitars
Golden Triangle Luthiers Group
Phil Honsinger
Lado Guitars
Mario Proulx Lutherie
Liscombe Kenneth
Orenda Guitars
Rizsanyi Guitars
Sawchyn Guitars
Simon & Patrick (Godin)
Sergé Guitars
Timtone Guitars
T.D. Hibbs Guitars
Yanuziello Stringed Instruments
Zachary

**Calton Cases

The above from a Canadian Luthier directory. One of the giants in the business that has been missed so far is....Grit Laskin. Mr. Inlay (not to mention his tone is from another planet!) While not active building, David Wren from the same Larrivee heritage as Laskin and Manzer, thankfully he runs the 12th Fret, one the finest music stores around. Lastly, arguably the finest all around travel case... Calton

And:

Thomsley

Karol

Alberico

Threet

Heiden

Greenfield OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!

Harrison

Rompre

Joseph Pennell (Newfoundland)

Josh House (Ontario)

[Crossroads]

one more thing to consider, is how it is shipped UPS & FEDEX will usually add on a brokerage and handling charge to any shipement crossing our borders.....

[Harmonist34]

Here's some Nicaraguan eye candy for you. All are classical guitars from Sergio Zepeda, an experienced luthier in Masaya, Nicaragua. The first classical (1st 3 pics) is one I'm sending to a buyer in the U.S., don't know where the other ones are bound. The next 2 I've ordered will be steel strings. I like the sound of his classicals and am really interested in hearing how the steel strings turn out.

[Onemanband]

Following a visit to their workshop in Devon, and playing samples of their fine instruments, I have to say that Brook guitars are some of the finest I have ever come across. They have a nine month waiting list for their commissions and if I could afford one, I would be on that list. Check out the website below..........well worth a visit.
http://www.brookguitars.com/index2.html
Also check out this link for another wonderful UK luthier..........
http://www.fyldeguitars.com/

[Jack kilderry]

The winter months produce copious amounts of guitars. Thankyou!