If carried in the cabin, there will be very less customs if the yguy carrying it can convince the officials its his own guitar.
No customs actually Hi, I bought my Squier Standard series stratocaster in London and carried it in. I carried my guitar, my 707II and my Marshal CAT in the same gig bag. Take off any price tags or stickers which make it look new. The customs guy just asked me what it was, I said guitar, thats all. No questions. I also carried in my DVD player and a philips CD player in my luggage, no questions asked. Anyway, you are allowed to bring in stuff worth USD 500 free of duty, so if you do feel like not taking a chance, keep receipts for the stuff and there will be no duty. In case you overshoot the USD 500, you are liable for duty at a flat 40% of the amount over USD 500. In that case, its better to declare it and pay the duty. You might also chance upon the 99% of customs officials who would turn a blind eye for Rs. 1000, if the goods you are carrying in is way above USD 1000 or something. ........................No, I am not a smuggler by profession !!
@ Sanjiv : Similar Experiences with my gear. But in Bangalore i know the AAI officials thanks to my relative being close to that profession.
