where can I buy guitars

[chanangrak]

Hi folks, we (the boss and me) are coming back to Thailand in a few weeks to our (her) house in Khon Kaen where she is from.I have looked for guitars there but nothing worthwhile.I have been to the shops in Bangkok in Siam(enormous shop, forget name) where there were 3 guitar shops in the complex..Does anyone know of guitar stores in Bangkok that have a range of good acoustic guitars??.......also has anyone had problems with guitars because of the high heat?humidity?..........I had big problems when I took a Taylor mini gs with me for a month in thailand and the top swelled up .....So there must be some musicians ,guitar guy expats who can educate me .....thanks for any help or knowledge in this area......cheers...damien...Sydney/Khonkaen..................

......may your guitar gently weep.......

[mcambl61]

check out ct music website, they are in BKK, and deliver anywhere.

as far as the humidity issue, all I have ever had to do was adjust the truss rod a little and check the neck bow. if you plan on not running the aircon, then it will have to adjust to the humidity. more important are swings in temp/humid.

 

http://www.ctmusicshop.com/

 

I use a luthier if i need anything like fret work done but so far nothing has needed it.

 

good luck..

 

If you are in the market for an electric, I have dozens and am willing to sell some. I obviously am addicted to guitars.

[chanangrak]

thanks for your quick response Mcambl61....but that site is for new guitars that they would import by order...the prices are standard retail...Reverb.com is much better...good new and second hand prices....what I'm looking for are shops that I can go into and play the guitar....you have guitars for sale?.....im a blues guy so what do you have to sell ...tele,strat ??...I don't like heavy guitars....if you live in Bangkok maybe I could visit and check some out......thanks

[sitanonchai]

Peterson Sukhumvit 26, got some awesome blueridge guitars.

Try the blueridge BR-140 and BR140A.

 

http://peterson.co.th/acoustic-guitar-blueridge-guitar-martin-guitar

[mcambl61]

4 hours ago, chanangrak said:

thanks for your quick response Mcambl61....but that site is for new guitars that they would import by order...the prices are standard retail...Reverb.com is much better...good new and second hand prices....what I'm looking for are shops that I can go into and play the guitar....you have guitars for sale?.....im a blues guy so what do you have to sell ...tele,strat ??...I don't like heavy guitars....if you live in Bangkok maybe I could visit and check some out......thanks

Many of those are instock, not import by order.

Reverb is great, but then you have shipping and customs, believe me I know.

it does not end up much cheaper on most occasions. I believe CT music has a complete shop that you can check anything they sell out, so does a place called strings shop in bkk

 

I live near Pattaya, and yes I have strats teles Les pauls Sg, a few gretsch, etc not all of them are top brand names and most have been upgraded or modified. even bought the parts and made of few of my own. love the blues and classic rock

 

good luck, and you can never have too many guitars, it is impossible...but I think I am close

[tutsiwarrior]

if I keep my cheap Yamaha acoustic dreadnought in it's case (Hiskox - UK Liteflight std) when I'm not playing it will the humidity get at it (in a non AC environment)?

 

also if I wanted to have the action adjusted (nut filed down, etc) where would I take it in BKK for that purpose? (I got blisters on me fingers!) there are videos on youtube that instruct but I ain't got any tools or a place to work...

 

off topic but probably of interest to others...

 

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[Katia]

I don't think I had a problem with guitar or violin in Thailand... I think the harp came out okay as well.

 

My problem with humidity was mold.  Even when running the AC (but not a ton; I don't like to be cold so I usually kept it around 78 but would sometimes turn it down to 75 to try to mitigate the humidity.  I would have bought some dehumidifiers if I'd been planning on living there a long time). I imagine this could be worse if you kept the case closed.  I had a lot of mold problems in my apartment, and yes, I did find a light dusting on the instruments.

[PhilippBKK]

https://www.stringsshop.com/ Sukhumvit Soi 24

 

http://www.musicconcept.co.th/contact/

 

http://www.hongsengmusic.com/ ,Ibanez dealer

 

 

Rock on.....

 

[Emster23]

22 hours ago, mcambl61 said:

Many of those are instock, not import by order.

Reverb is great, but then you have shipping and customs, believe me I know.

it does not end up much cheaper on most occasions. I believe CT music has a complete shop that you can check anything they sell out, so does a place called strings shop in bkk

 

I live near Pattaya, and yes I have strats teles Les pauls Sg, a few gretsch, etc not all of them are top brand names and most have been upgraded or modified. even bought the parts and made of few of my own. love the blues and classic rock

 

good luck, and you can never have too many guitars, it is impossible...but I think I am close

Agree with all of Mcambl61 says. I've been to CTS music shop 3-4 times. Bought a couple of amps and a guitar (I have too many too... all about space... and the strings rot off quickly). Prices are pretty darn close to US retail, which is a big incentive for cheapskate me. I have about even split acoustic & electrics. One is a Tacoma jumbo... when I moved here with it years ago the top did swell up, so much I had to put a few slots in bridge (!). Settled back down after year or so... No problems with hollow or semi hollow electrics (other than keeping eye out for mold & gold plating: forget about it, gone in no time). I live in Jomtien and the combination of heat, humidity and salt air is murder on just about anything metal. You should be okay in KK, at least regards to salt air.

I suggest bringing a decent amount of spare string sets with you. I use Elixirs on my favorites and std on guitars I like to rotate use of (std last me 3-4 weeks in Jomtien. I think I have string toxic finger sweat however....). Strings can be spendy here and easy to bring with you. Also suggest staying away from Ernie Ball, in my experience. Even tho in "enviro sealed pack" when I opened had very nasty sections of corrosion on G-B-E strings... WTH? I should make a youtube video... lots of things I should do...

I imagine you should be very wary if playing out. Busking can get you a 20k fine, if play open mic somewhere make sure bar owner has "protection". Seriously.

You coming from Sydney? Don't know airline regs for Australia, but I do carry a copy of FAA final decision regarding guitar carry ons (allowed, if space) in case airline personnel are having a bad hair day

[lamyai3]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:21 PM, chanangrak said:

I have been to the shops in Bangkok in Siam(enormous shop, forget name) where there were 3 guitar shops in the complex..Does anyone know of guitar stores in Bangkok that have a range of good acoustic guitars??.......also has anyone had problems with guitars because of the high heat?humidity?..........I had big problems when I took a Taylor mini gs with me for a month in thailand and the top swelled up 

I also had the Taylor GS mini here and experienced a certain amount of top swell and bridge lift due to the humidity, but I didn't notice it affected the tone adversely. I took it to the UK after a couple of years where it settled back down, however I have a couple of other Taylors here including an all solid GC which haven't had any humidity issues. The GS mini has x-bracing and just a thin tone bar, which allows for it's big sound but doesn't make it very robust in the local climate. Many people locally have fixed this with neck resets and getting the bridge reglued, others choose to live with it. Another workaround is to replace the recommended medium guage strings with lights, reducing the tension on the top a little - the difference in volume is negligible and the guitar is more playable. Humidity problems will also depend on how you store it, whether the house you're living in in Khon Kaen has the air running most of the time etc.

 

The mall you're referring to is probably Siam Paragon (though Centralworld nearby also has similar stores). Guitar brands tend to be represented by particular stores here, so you won't find a complete range under one roof. In Music Collection (several branches in town, including Paragon) you get a decent range of Taylors, Martins, Crafter and some lesser brands. Capital music across from them has Takamine and Ovation. Music Concept in Centralworld has Gibson, Guild and Fender. There's a couple of smaller stores that have Larrivée, Huss and Dalton etc. There's cheaper Asian brands around too in the guitar stores in Chinatown and other places, Cort and Yamaha are always popular and can be good bang for your buck, and an all laminate guitar isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's built right, Yamaha have made some great ones over the years. If you know what you want, it's often easy to find guitars from right across the spectrum on the second hand market, such as the classifieds in acousticthai.net

Edited November 12, 2018 by lamyai3

[mcambl61]

On 11/11/2018 at 9:44 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

if I keep my cheap Yamaha acoustic dreadnought in it's case (Hiskox - UK Liteflight std) when I'm not playing it will the humidity get at it (in a non AC environment)?

 

also if I wanted to have the action adjusted (nut filed down, etc) where would I take it in BKK for that purpose? (I got blisters on me fingers!) there are videos on youtube that instruct but I ain't got any tools or a place to work...

 

off topic but probably of interest to others...

 

 

I don't know who provides that service in BKK, but there has to be a few. I have a very good one here in Pattaya. perhaps a google search or talk to a local that plays?

[fusion58]

On 11/11/2018 at 9:44 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

also if I wanted to have the action adjusted (nut filed down, etc) where would I take it in BKK for that purpose? (I got blisters on me fingers!) there are videos on youtube that instruct but I ain't got any tools or a place to work...

 

https://www.facebook.com/aliceia.guitars