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EA-ers, I'm heading to NY in a few weeks, and I'm keen to take advantage of your pussified currency and purchase a couple of guitar pedals. However, I am worried that putting these in my suitcase will result in one of two things; my bag being destroyed in a controlled explosion because they think I'm trying to get a bomb onto the plane, or me being forced to pay duty/tax/whatever. Is it worth it?

UK posters, have any of you done this, and is it advisable (and am I just being overly-dramatic)?

US folk, do you have any advice on this?

I have nothing to really to add to this other than I was considering doing the same thing. I think a couple of my friends have gotten away with buying guitars and not declaring them.

despite the dollar being weak at the mo, when you factor in shipping and tax you're paying about £400 more for a new electrical (by my calculations), which you could probably spend on a holiday and bring it back your damn self. Not that I have the money for either, but should I start whoring myself at night for pennies in order to afford such a guitar, it'd be good to know if I could get away with not paying tax.

you shouldn't have a problem putting the effects you buy over in the US in your luggage.

if you're worried about getting done for Customs charges, just pack them without their retail boxes (i.e just the pedals on their own). That way if your luggage does get searched you can just say that you took them on holiday with you.

Alternatively, post them from the states to your home address and fill out that Customs form so that they're a Gift with a minimal $ value. You'll most likely get away with import duty that way.

I used both the above methods when bringing electrical goods back to the UK when i lived in SE Asia.

Guitars on the other hand, will be much more tricky to get through Customs with

Piece of piss - just bring it back in your hand luggage (pedals), you're allowed a certain amount of personal shopping from the States and customs don't really care about stuff like that. It might be worth leaving the box behind and just taking the pedal and maybe a lead if you want to be safe, then you can say you took it out with you to jam with friends in the States.

Ditto for a guitar - kind of.

You can go to extraordinary lengths but basically just say (if you get asked) that it's your guitar and you loaned it to a friend in the US and they gave you it back when you were visiting.
You can put band stickers on the case, maybe write your home address in the UK on the case with a stencil, maybe even take a picture of you and a mate jamming in a house in America with it etc etc.

I brought a Telecaster back from Australia by just spraying my UK address on the case - easy.

If they do ask you to see the guitar and it appears you're not getting away with it, just say "what can I do to make this right?" and if they ask you to pay duty, just reluctantly do it. It isn't actually that much. Though the customs people know their shit. I got billed for another Tele I got shipped from Chicago and the description that the Customs people gave read like a vintage guitar shop appraisal...

Cheers fellas!

honeyisfunny wrote:Piece of piss - just bring it back in your hand luggage (pedals), you're allowed a certain amount of personal shopping from the States and customs don't really care about stuff like that. It might be worth leaving the box behind and just taking the pedal and maybe a lead if you want to be safe, then you can say you took it out with you to jam with friends in the States.

Ditto for a guitar - kind of.

You can go to extraordinary lengths but basically just say (if you get asked) that it's your guitar and you loaned it to a friend in the US and they gave you it back when you were visiting.
You can put band stickers on the case, maybe write your home address in the UK on the case with a stencil, maybe even take a picture of you and a mate jamming in a house in America with it etc etc.

I brought a Telecaster back from Australia by just spraying my UK address on the case - easy.

If they do ask you to see the guitar and it appears you're not getting away with it, just say "what can I do to make this right?" and if they ask you to pay duty, just reluctantly do it. It isn't actually that much. Though the customs people know their shit. I got billed for another Tele I got shipped from Chicago and the description that the Customs people gave read like a vintage guitar shop appraisal...

Thanks for that!

Now, to get the money somehow...

Given the rampant paranoia about at the moment, I'd suggest putting pedals in your hand luggage, so you can explain them to security. You'll get them inspected one way or another. There's something about blocky metal objects, small circuit boards, and 9-volt batteries that says 'bomb' on x-ray.

When I toured in the US a few years ago, we put all the band pedals and leads in one bag. On the x-ray machine, it actually looked like a bomb. One operator nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw it, someone had their hand on a gun, but luckily we managed to be "we're British, we're sorry" enough to not get strip-searched.

In the present climate, I'd be on hand to explain things, and warn security "you might wanna look in that one" as you go through the machine.

I have hand carried a few guitars back from the US, when asked I said they were here from my last visit, I left them here to be repaired. As they have always been vintage guitars they look beaten up. Works every time.

There's something about blocky metal objects, small circuit boards, and 9-volt batteries that says 'bomb' on x-ray.

Yeah. Just be glad you're not carrying around a Big Muff pedal in one of those wooden boxes with the cryptic Russian on it.

Anyone got any ideas how you could do this with a brand new shiny guitar? I mean, how big a 'gift' are you allowed to receive?