Guitar
For a few years now, Gibson has been waging a legal and PR campaign against counterfeit guitars
being manufactured and sold out of China. An article on the Gibson website in 2007 aroused much interest and commentary, and a followup on the arrest of counterfeiter Li Dan and her mother has similarly spawned a flurry of righteous indignation in the comments on the articles, many of them semi-literate and a few of them even racist. If you can get through the patriotic rhetoric and serial comma abuse, have a look through the comments on both articles. One commenter goes so far as to accuse Gibson of secretly manufacturing 90% of their "USA-made" guitars in China through a Gibson-China backroom agreement.
Gibson offers helpful suggestions on how to discern a real Gibson from a fake and suggests that prospective customers buy only from authorized Gibson dealers. They and others, like George Gruhn, offer that if an online guitar price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
In spite of these efforts, DHGate.com and TradeTang.com continue to operate, selling badly copied Les Pauls with Gibson logos for around $200-$300 USD. Ibanez, Fender and Gretsch guitars are also common targets. Ed Roman reports that Mosrites, especially the Ventures model, have been heavily counterfeited for years. Cheap Chinese labor and computer-assisting manufacturing make the mass counterfeiting of guitars possible, along with the widespread popularity of Ebay and the willingness of many to buy guitars through the mail.
My own experience with counterfeit guitars has taken place not in the Chinglish-laden precincts of fake-guitar cyberspace, but in local vintage guitar boutiques around Toronto. Nash Guitars makes strikingly accurate copies of vintage Fenders, even copying the now-popular 'relic' process of finish wear and hardware rust. The Strats and Teles that I saw at Capsule Music even had Fender decals on the headstocks. While these were not claimed as vintage Fenders in the store, they certainly could be claimed as such to fellow musicians, friends and curious onlookers once the guitar was purchased. About ten years ago I saw beautiful copies of sunburst Les Pauls, complete with inlaid Gibson logo, being manufactured and sold out of the now-defunct Guitar Clinic in Hamilton, Ontario. Again, these were not being sold explicitly as Gibsons (and they were not cheap, selling in the $1500-$2000 range) but the buyer for all appearances was the proud owner of a '59 Les Paul.
What seems to be missing from the discourse around fake guitars is the realization that many buyers KNOW that they are buying a counterfeit. For these buyers, a name brand represents bragging rights and credibility more than build quality or tone. If the prestige of a Gibson can be purchased for a fraction of the price of an authentic Gibson guitar, all the better. Women who buy knockoff Gucci bags on the streets of New York City know that they are knockoffs, but they won't necessarily correct their friends when they ooh and aah. The fact is that owning a prestigious guitar bestows a certain aura on the owner - to other musicians, it can give a guitarist a certain legitimacy. I have certainly experienced peer pressure to own 'cool gear'. So I understand the desire on the part of some buyers to take part in the aura of expensive instruments for a cheaper price, and that is why counterfeiting will never be completely eradicated by 'educating' the buyer.
- Spotting A Fake Les Paul
One of my regular customers recently brought me a 'Les Paul Custom' to set up. It wasn't cheap (going rate) and I saw immediately it was a fake. The hard part was breaking the news to him. So here are a few things to look out for, there...
- Univox 1974 Les Paul Copy In St. Goerge Utah For $250
I saw this guitar for sale about 6 months ago in the same area so I guesss it never sold. The seller says this is a "Mother" but the Univox Mother is a bolt-on neck guitar with trapezoid inlays and this one looks likea set neck with dots on the...
- Vintage Kalamazoo Kg-2 In Charlottesville Md For $250
Very good price on this original Blue SG style KG-2 - although it does have one non-orig pickup. Kalamazoo was the budget student brand of Gibson starting way back in 1934. They shut it down during WWII and then restarted the brand in 1965 when...
- 1972 Gibson Sg-i (sg1) In Tampa Fl For $675
These SG-1's always fly well below-the-radar because they don't have the classic SG look - they almost look like Japanese copies - but of course they aren't. It is a real USA Gibson made in Kalamazoo. The mini-humbucker on...
- 1979 Gibson J-40 In St. Louisarea For $600
Sounds like this one is well used but could be a good price for a 30 year old Gibson Dreadnaught acoustic - he says he he did buy it from one of the most reputable vintage guitar dealers in Nashville, George Gruhn, about 20 years ago. Gibson J-40...
Guitar
Counterfeit guitar buyers: duped or knowing?
being manufactured and sold out of China. An article on the Gibson website in 2007 aroused much interest and commentary, and a followup on the arrest of counterfeiter Li Dan and her mother has similarly spawned a flurry of righteous indignation in the comments on the articles, many of them semi-literate and a few of them even racist. If you can get through the patriotic rhetoric and serial comma abuse, have a look through the comments on both articles. One commenter goes so far as to accuse Gibson of secretly manufacturing 90% of their "USA-made" guitars in China through a Gibson-China backroom agreement.Gibson offers helpful suggestions on how to discern a real Gibson from a fake and suggests that prospective customers buy only from authorized Gibson dealers. They and others, like George Gruhn, offer that if an online guitar price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
In spite of these efforts, DHGate.com and TradeTang.com continue to operate, selling badly copied Les Pauls with Gibson logos for around $200-$300 USD. Ibanez, Fender and Gretsch guitars are also common targets. Ed Roman reports that Mosrites, especially the Ventures model, have been heavily counterfeited for years. Cheap Chinese labor and computer-assisting manufacturing make the mass counterfeiting of guitars possible, along with the widespread popularity of Ebay and the willingness of many to buy guitars through the mail.My own experience with counterfeit guitars has taken place not in the Chinglish-laden precincts of fake-guitar cyberspace, but in local vintage guitar boutiques around Toronto. Nash Guitars makes strikingly accurate copies of vintage Fenders, even copying the now-popular 'relic' process of finish wear and hardware rust. The Strats and Teles that I saw at Capsule Music even had Fender decals on the headstocks. While these were not claimed as vintage Fenders in the store, they certainly could be claimed as such to fellow musicians, friends and curious onlookers once the guitar was purchased. About ten years ago I saw beautiful copies of sunburst Les Pauls, complete with inlaid Gibson logo, being manufactured and sold out of the now-defunct Guitar Clinic in Hamilton, Ontario. Again, these were not being sold explicitly as Gibsons (and they were not cheap, selling in the $1500-$2000 range) but the buyer for all appearances was the proud owner of a '59 Les Paul.
What seems to be missing from the discourse around fake guitars is the realization that many buyers KNOW that they are buying a counterfeit. For these buyers, a name brand represents bragging rights and credibility more than build quality or tone. If the prestige of a Gibson can be purchased for a fraction of the price of an authentic Gibson guitar, all the better. Women who buy knockoff Gucci bags on the streets of New York City know that they are knockoffs, but they won't necessarily correct their friends when they ooh and aah. The fact is that owning a prestigious guitar bestows a certain aura on the owner - to other musicians, it can give a guitarist a certain legitimacy. I have certainly experienced peer pressure to own 'cool gear'. So I understand the desire on the part of some buyers to take part in the aura of expensive instruments for a cheaper price, and that is why counterfeiting will never be completely eradicated by 'educating' the buyer.
- Spotting A Fake Les Paul
One of my regular customers recently brought me a 'Les Paul Custom' to set up. It wasn't cheap (going rate) and I saw immediately it was a fake. The hard part was breaking the news to him. So here are a few things to look out for, there...
- Univox 1974 Les Paul Copy In St. Goerge Utah For $250
I saw this guitar for sale about 6 months ago in the same area so I guesss it never sold. The seller says this is a "Mother" but the Univox Mother is a bolt-on neck guitar with trapezoid inlays and this one looks likea set neck with dots on the...
- Vintage Kalamazoo Kg-2 In Charlottesville Md For $250
Very good price on this original Blue SG style KG-2 - although it does have one non-orig pickup. Kalamazoo was the budget student brand of Gibson starting way back in 1934. They shut it down during WWII and then restarted the brand in 1965 when...
- 1972 Gibson Sg-i (sg1) In Tampa Fl For $675
These SG-1's always fly well below-the-radar because they don't have the classic SG look - they almost look like Japanese copies - but of course they aren't. It is a real USA Gibson made in Kalamazoo. The mini-humbucker on...
- 1979 Gibson J-40 In St. Louisarea For $600
Sounds like this one is well used but could be a good price for a 30 year old Gibson Dreadnaught acoustic - he says he he did buy it from one of the most reputable vintage guitar dealers in Nashville, George Gruhn, about 20 years ago. Gibson J-40...