I am no expert on this, but it seems to me that the problem with shipping vs bringing something in on your person (or checked luggage)is that you will most definitely have to pay a customs fee with shipping based on the value of the item. If you are the owner of the guitar and are personally bringing it back from the US, I don't really see a problem with that, especially since money didn't change hands in your acquisition of the instrument.

The shipping company will want a value placed on the item (especially a guitar)and that will definitely translate into customs fees. I learned this ten years ago when I had a bunch of CDs shipped to me when I was living in Edinburgh and because the shipper placed a value on the CDs, I got caught with a 66 quid customs fee. If I had known better I would have had the shipper mark the CDs as promotional samples with no value thus avoiding the customs fees. I am not sure you could get away with that on a guitar.

But I would definitely check on the rules and find out what your options are. You might Google UK Immigration and see if the answer is there somewhere.

Deb Cowan
www.DebraCowan.com