click here for more shots of Five-G in Tokyo, Japan.via Loren
Five-G site in Googlish
Update for those traveling to Tokyo: it's right next to Harajuku station.
Regarding the gear: "Those were taken just about two weeks ago. And I didn't even get any pics of the Jupiter 4 and 6's, the multiple MemoryMoogs, Liberations, and more, that they've got their tiny space crammed with. It's a cool shop, they let me walk around and try a bunch of stuff out, take photos, and everything, without buying a dang thing. It is terribly expensive, and some gear is priced strangely ($1000 for a Yamaha CS-1X ???)."
Update via David: 5G price guide
omg omg omg
ReplyDeletewhere is this treasure trove?
please tell me it's in tokyo, i'm in tokyo next week :-)
It's in Tokyo. :) I updated the post with a link.
ReplyDeletethanks matrix
ReplyDeleteso yeah i'm in tokyo from monday, i won this crazy competition to follow four journos around checking out loads of crazy mobile tech and culture stuff, i have to blog/facebook my trip
it's here
http://www.3snapshots.com/
if i spot any interesting synth stuff i'll be sure to pass it on
i might snap up a dsi mopho whilst i'm out there if the prices are good, probably aren't tho given shipped from US
jim
Interesting. If you capture any good synths let me know and I'll put up a post.
ReplyDeleteI remember stumbling upon that store a few years back wandering around Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteits in Harajuku area, pretty famous store
ReplyDelete+I don't know if thats still running but I spend my budget on "vintage stuff" at sofmap music store Akihabara. They had a lot varying stuff from Sh-101, SCI stuff, Roland System 100 etc. Five G is definetly expensive, japanese ebay seller may be an alternative even
ReplyDeleteAnother fun fact is that it's run by Fukusan, the Japanese importer of Doepfer, Elektron, Future Retro and a load of other smallish synth makers. One reason prices are horrendous (or at least the justification I've heard) is that they handle the warranty and Japanese documentation.
ReplyDeleteWhich doesn't alter the fact that a Future Retro Revolution from them cost the equivalent of about USD1400 even at normal exchange rates, vs. USD800 or so + USD50 shipping ordered direct from the manufacturer.
To their credit, they do seem to do pretty extensive maintenance on every vintage synth they sell.
This place was a bit of a joke. I went there when I went to Tokyo and although they had almost 5 of everything ever made, none of it was for sale. Roland MC4 - Oberheim step sequencer - Roland OP8M - jupiter 8 etc... Not for sale.
ReplyDeletethey did have great geat though and if you can navigate their Japanese website then you could buy something online.
Also the shop is buried in a 5 story building. You have to catch a tiny 4 person elevator to get to it. I think I stood at the doorstep for 20 minutes just trying to figure out where the shop was. That's how most of japan is though... cool places all hidden away.
It is a fun shop to go to to see things in the flesh but I was a little cut that things I'd buy wern't for sale. especially when there were 6 Roland MC4's!