Bass, Amp, and Small PA

[spoily]

Hello, friendly people of Forumosa.

I am studying music here at a school in Taipei, and I am holding a recital where I will sing a few jazz tunes. I have a friend who is playing bass for me, but her bass is really cheap and her bass amp is really small and cheap as well. I also need a small PA to use because the school's isn't very good, either.

Is there anywhere I can rent the items in question for a cheap price, or is there anyone here of Forumosa who can lend them out for about a week?

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,
Blake

[Taiwan Luthiers]

Try asking the big 3 music shops... Tony's music, Galaxy, and one other (don't know which).

Good amps in Taiwan are like 3 times more expensive than the same amp in the US though, the only cheap ones are those Chinese made amps that are too small for performance. I think it has to do with the ridiculous tax that gets added on any amp imports.

[spoily]

I had heard that people would disassemble amps and guitars and ship the parts to Taiwan just because the tax on parts vs. the tax on completed products varies greatly. I will try this! If anyone can lend, I would still appreciate that!

[Taiwan Luthiers]

I had heard that people would disassemble amps and guitars and ship the parts to Taiwan just because the tax on parts vs. the tax on completed products varies greatly. I will try this! If anyone can lend, I would still appreciate that!

Yea, tax on luthier part is minimal, if at all. 7% if I am unlucky, none if I am lucky. Complete guitars, on the other hand is higher. The problem is not all guitars can be disassembled by the user, and if they pay me to reassemble a dovetail guitar it would be higher than any tax they're likely to get. Most people would simply have a friend bring it over, and declare it as personal item. The trouble is when you mail order it...

the issue with amps is that the part itself is expensive, they're big and heavy so shipping is more expensive, and since there doesn't seem to be any way for an individual to simply send it by sea (I am curious to find out how do people mail heavy equipments like machines overseas?) the only way is Fedex or UPS which is expensive (shipping is likely higher than the list price of the amp itself) and the tax is at least 30%.