Hello All,

 

Does anyone know where I can purchase an authentic new Gibson Les Paul in Chiang Mai?  Specifically, I'm after the 2019 Honeyburst Standard.

 

I recall visiting a guitar store in the Airport Central a couple of years ago, not the friendliest staff but many guitars to choose from.  Will appreciate any thoughts.  Thanks in advance.

 

 

Not sure but looks like this place will be your best first stop.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Arts---Entertainment/MIW-Chiangmai-Musical-Instruments-Workshop--304748919550718/

 

 

It would possibly be cheaper to fly out of Thailand, to USA or even Singapore or Japan, buy one there and bring it back as your personal instrument.

Wow, fast and informative replies, many thanks to you all.

 

 

I would buy it in Bangkok.

I agree with about the staff in the Central Mall guitar shop. I've gone there many times for strings and the attitude and service was really poor. I go elsewhere now.

 

I also agree with the comment above about checking prices (online) in other countries, as well as Bangkok. It's probably unlikely that any store in CM would carry the model you said and if they did it would priced well north of 100,000 Bt. The Les Paul Standard 2019 Cherry Sunburst model was priced at 3500 $US at a store I checked in the US. The markup in Thailand (as it is for all types of consumer electronics) would be very large. 

 

Good luck. That is an exquisite guitar. I hope you find one. I wish I could afford it!

Try Kai Dee ( mostly second hand ) or Lazada.

 

This on sale now for 82,000 baht on Kai Dee right now. This link :

 

https://www.kaidee.com/product-346692655

 

As far as I remember, the duty on electric guitars (and amps) is 10% so it shouldn't be too expensive to import one, although the CITES restrictions on rosewood might complicate matters as the 2019 standard has a rosewood fingerboard. I wouldn't buy one from a physical store in Chiang Mai because the only one I know of that is likely to stock them has prices about 15%+ higher than stores in Bangkok.

 

I've found https://www.facebook.com/Mmusicthaii/ to be the easiest to deal with of those in Bangkok that I've tried, and competitive on prices. Unfortunately, all of the music stores in Thailand seem to be incapable of keeping their websites up to date as far as what they do and don't have in stock is concerned so you need to contact them to find out what they have available.

 

If you go the secondhand route, there are some trustworthy sellers on Kai Dee but I'd avoid Lazada for any purchases where authenticity might be an issue.

 

https://www.guitarthai.com/classified/classified.asp is another good site for secondhand deals. Although, if you want the 2019 model, I'm guessing you won't be looking at secondhand deals!