NGD Edwards NT7

[gnoll]

This Edwards drama is hilarious.

A few things:

1) You can get Edwards new in Europe, just not in a lot of places/stores.

2) Edwards are, on average, significantly cheaper than E-II. Maybe 60% of the price. But the models vary within the brands.

3) If you like Edwards guitars, maybe it doesn't matter so much how, where, by who it was made, how much it cost compared to another guitar, or how cool sso think they are.

4) To op: Congrats on the guitar!!

 

[inok]

Okay, I see that Edwards is a theme that stirs up quite a debate in each thread it pops up)) To all said above, the guitar is built and finished perfectly, QC is top tier and I couldn’t point out even a single thing that I am not satisfied with in terms of production or final build quality. Does it really matter where the guitar is made if it’s stupidly good and cheap at the same time? For me not. However…… I’ve got “Designed and Built by ESP” on the back of the neck to pleasure my inner elitist
Cheers

 

[inok]

Thanks for the info. So if it is used, you don't have to pay extra import duties on top of the 21% of price+shipping for vat? I am looking at a few guitars in Japan also but I'm kind of worried about trying it again. I've bought an Esp from ishibashi to the US without paying an extra penny. After moving to Poland I bought an old Greco FV600 off ebay for half the price of the Esp. However, when it got here I had to pay basically double the price because of vat and import fees.

Yeah, as far as Im concerned you don’t pay import duties if its used. I was really worried at the beginning as well, but after researching quite a bit and making a rough estimate I was prepared for virtually anything. Yeah and buying expensive guitars from Japan makes no sense (unless you want something specifically JDM) since it will reach unbearable prices upon clearing customs. At this point would be cheaper to pick it up in EU. I got mine for 500 eur, shipping 140, VAT 129. Anyways, for your specific case I would recommend reaching out to customs if they don’t have info on their website already. As for the proxy I can not recommend Blackship enough. Almost too good to be true. Prices are low, they can pay with cash on delivery, pack your guitar properly and prepare all the needed documents for it. Have a good evening.

 

[vark]

Hasnt the edwards built in china thing already been disproved as a myth?

Edwards are made, cut, and painted in China, and then assembled in Japan.


They do it because manufacturing in China cuts production time and costs significantly. Also, there is really no distribution markup on Edwards stuff since it is just assembled in Japan and then sent to stores/dealers within Japan. ESP as a company handles everything themselves, which knocks out the need for third-party distributors who jack up prices substantially. Thus, ESP can ask a lower selling price for Edwards stuff and still have a fair profit margin as a company.

If you think Edwards are the same tier as an ESP Standard series, then you need to spend quite a few more years actually playing to gain experience and learn how to assess the quality of instruments.

The reason why Edwards are not sold brand new in the USA or EU is because Edwards is a brand developed by ESP exclusively for the Japanese domestic market, while overseas markets get stuck with the LTD import line. (And sticking foreign markets with LTDs really lines ESP’s pockets nicely because the profit margins on LTDs are much, much larger compared to the profit margins on Edwards instruments.)

There are many, many Japanese guitar brands/companies that operate in this manner where their sole target demographic is their native Japanese domestic market with zero intent to sell/export outside of it. It has to do with Japan’s socio-economic business ethos, but also Japan is one of few countries in the world where guitar manufacturing is actually a profitable business venture, even for smaller shops/brands.

Edwards by ESP is just one example of a brand solely meant for the Japanese domestic market, but there have been multiple threads in the past here on this forum where we have discussed numerous other brands that stay solely within the confines of Japan.

 

[inok]

Hasnt the edwards built in china thing already been disproved as a myth?

From what I know there is no official evidence form ESP and all the info that is out there is put out by people who are not directly involved in the company. There was an old forum post and a lot of other theories but the most popular one states that guitars are prepared in China and then assembled in Japan. I, personally, do not stand up for any of those since I don’t have that much info. I might be wrong, if so, please correct me.

 

[Nightside]

Hasnt the edwards built in china thing already been disproved as a myth?

There was a guy claiming the same thing about E2/standard series. That they were built in China and then setup in Japan.