Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Good morning all (GMT),
I'll be spending a month in Japan next year and I am sneakily hoping to discover a mapleglo 4003S or a V63 on my travels.

Does anyone have any recommendations for interesting guitar shops to visit over there?

Alan,

here is a website that list instruments and where most of the dealers are.

http://www.j-guitar.com/sp/sea/bas.html

Type in Rickenbacker and a list of basses will appear.

Hope this helps..

What happens if you click on the pick you like and say "There'sno place like home, there's no place like home."?

I think that chances of finding one there are good to excellent.

Price, however, is another matter...

I'm not stereotyping but I just copy/pasted this from a Japanese website...

Cray dot.Brazillian rose wood Finger board and L serial.neck date 65 jan.7.all original

Didn't Graham clean out Japan's Rickenbacker inventory a while back?

Where in Japan are you going to be? If it's Tokyo, then there are guitar stores galore. I was just in Ochanomizu a few months ago - there's a BUNCH of guitar stores there. I think I only saw a couple of Ric basses, but you never know. And Ochanomizu isn't the only place where there are guitar stores, but there is a huge concentration in a very small area.

I saw a few stores in Harajuku and Shibuya in Tokyo. I saw a lot more in Kyoto though. No Ricks in the chain stores, but I did see a few used Ricks in the little shops.

Both Rock Inn and Ishibashi have a number of stores throughout Tokyo and the rest of Japan, and are major stockists of Rickenbacker products. Other stockists of note are Yamano and WITH.

Ochanomizu- essentially the 48th street of Tokyo- certainly has the highest concentration of guitar stores, especially those with vintage guitars but Shibuya has the big, multifloor flagship stores for the major chains.

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I will be in Tokyo first for a week and then the south before heading to the Hokkaido region for some sub-zero fun.

My first port of call would be Rockinn. They had a really good selection when I was there in March. I can't think of another store that would have a lightshow, mandolins, an acoustic, a 4001CS plus a whole bunch of new stuff.................





Then "With" ...a little hard to find, but worth the trip..........



Another nice store was Nico Nico...............





You'll probably stumble across a few more on your way round as I did, but I can't remember what they were called?


Ochanomizu is worth a visit. If you take the train, come out of the station, head straight across the crossing and then turn left.....you can't miss them! Here's just a few of them........

Happy hunting

"Ochanomizu- essentially the 48th street of Tokyo"
JH

Not to change the subject too much, but I miss the "old" 48th st in NYC...

Don't forget to look on the side streets in Ochanomizu, off the main drag- some of the most interesting shops are lurking in the shadows there. Some of these are unmarked "outlet" stores of the big chains, where they have goods that haven't sold well or have damage.

Did any of you happen to speak with Jimmy during the confluence? He'd be the guy to stay in contact with as he knows more about the shops in Japan than anyone, given that he is head of the largest musical instrument distribution business in all of Asia. All of those guitars in Graham's first three photos are his, for instance.

Graham - did you happen across any Sea Greens in Japan?

I don't recall seeing any. A couple of Blue Boys I think?