![Image](http://kirkby.com.au/images/TL52-80TX.jpg)
I had been looking to bid on a Japanese Telecaster on E-Bay a couple of days ago and was just watching the auction get out of hand, the guitar went for US$629 in the end which was about US$150 more than the same guitar costs new. While I was doing my research I came across a used area of one of the big Japanese shops with the above guitar in it, I had to do an English translation of the web page but they provide a link for this. I have ended up paying US$500 for the guitar including shipping and insurance to Australia, it is a TL52-80TX which is a '52 re-issue with Texas special pickups. I know some people don't like the Texas specials but pickups can be changed. The guitar itself is immaculate apart from two small scratches which I believe because of the finish can be easily repaired. The current street price for a new one of this model is US$654 including shipping so I am happy. The website for anyone who is interested is
http://www.ishibashi-music.com/fenderjp/index.htm for new Japanese Fender guitars and
http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/ for the used equipment (let the icons settle then pick the top left U-Box, click on For Overseas Customers and go to the translation page, you can then search the inventory using keywords). The people are easy to deal with via e-mail and they are able to supply plenty of pictures of the instruments if you are interested. Payment can be credit card or bank wire and the transaction was smooth and easy with delivery within a week.
Nigel