Chinese guitar knock-offs... opinions?

I have one. It's a Les Paul Jr. I love it!
A good friend gave it to me. Had it plek'd and put Lollars in it.

One of my new faves for sure.
 
I have one. It's a Les Paul Jr. I love it!
A good friend gave it to me. Had it plek'd and put Lollars in it.

One of my new faves for sure.

The Plek'ing probably cost more than the guitar lol. Unless you got some connections and got it done for free.
 
Okay so I know a guy who owns a couple of these he is a really bright guy and has even went as far as to talk to a couple lawyers on the subject as to what is legal or not when it comes to these guitars. Here is what he told me.

First these are not illegal to own. What is not legal is to import these guitars and then sell them or even give them away. That is illegal. You might get your import seized in customs. It seems that Chicago customs has seized several guitars coming in. If that happens you can assume you will get a nasty letter from Gibsons lawyers.

Look here is the thing, if you buy one of these guitars do yourself a favor and get a custom logo. Doing that ensures your guitar won't get seized. Second realize you are buying a guitar that needs a bunch of work. These things come with the worst nut you can imagine and the pots and pick ups are crap. Most of them need a fret dressing and really you need to replace the bridges as well. So just know if you buy one its not illegal as long as you don't sell it. And you will need to invest at least $200 to $300 after you get the guitar just to get it sound and play decent.
 
I think some guitars would be harder to differentiate than others. But I cant say that I havent looked at a certain site and nearly bought a LNG JEM or Swirl Universe..
 
I just had my joke about Chinese people deleted as a duplicate.

Oh the irony...


"The U.S. is now in serious danger of defaulting on our foreign loans, which explains why today, China showed up and broke the Statue of Liberty's kneecaps."

"The Chinese economy has shown signs of slowing down. Experts say that's what happens when your workforce starts to enter its teens."

"In China they say piracy is so rampant that there are at least three fake Apple stores. It's hard to put these people out of the business. If China arrests them for selling fake Apple products, they'll be sent to prison where they will be forced to make real Apple products."
 
in order for your analogy to actually hold up, said cover band would have to try to dupe people into buying tickets to see the real band, only to find out its a covers band at the show.

I've yet to see a cover band advertise they were actually the real band..... this is exacrtly what these counterfeit guitars are doing, so really not the same thing at all as a cover band playing covers.

No. this has nothing to do with duping people. Counterfeit is duping people with fake goods. My analogy is in relation to someone profiting from other peoples work. i.e. guitar knock offs or sale of copied material. or musicians making money playing other artists songs without written consent or royalty agreement.
 
Or modeling companies making money copying amp makers iconic tones & ever so slightly changing the amp names to avoid being sued for using a copyrighted name brand without permission.........

I was holding back from using that analogy but there now, the cats out of the bag. I guess I should also use my Axe FX as a wall hanger and go buy an authentic Marshall ;)
 
So if I went to see New kids on the block and Joey ended up sick so they brought in Lance Bass From nsync, did I get burned???
I mean the ticket was like 250.00. Just sayin'

BTW, this is hypothetical


Are you sure Knuckles??? :shock:?:lol


I repair and build solid bodies and and I know guys who , "chase the name"... cause they cannot afford the real deal?? Dunno but they are Gibson and Fender homos. I've had some guys ask me to blatantly counterfeit a neck/guitar... which was replied with an emphatic, "NO!" and maybe the odd "F@#K OFF" (if my recollection serves me correct). I have my opinions of them and this issue(s) but whatever... I'm obviously in the, "NO" category. Whether these companies are truly trying to replicate as counterfeits or are turning a blind eye to what people do with these guitars. It's a real problem with many naive getting burned over these things.

Bottom line... If they're being made/sold with Gibson or Fender, etc. on the guitar as replicas or as counterfeit... it is "fraudulent" at the very least... which is still against the law... over here anyway and thus should be enforced by our Custom's Agencies when they arrive on our shores.

Fraud/counterfeit... tomato/to-motto... it's all the same to me. The rest is just splitting hairs.
 
I have been offered a Jem7V from a local pawn broker, for a good Jem price, that was quite recognizably fake to me...
And it actually made me angry.

Because they were selling it as a Jem
Because they priced it as a Jem
Because some poor kid will think he is getting a bargain Ibanez .... he doesn't know any better.

I think about the young dude who has saved all his lawn mowing money for a year to try afford his dream guitar...
Only to get a cheap knockoff from a dodgy dealer.
 
WTF you talking abut unethical, illegal, etc?

Chinese guitar builder doing THE SAME job with THE SAME wood as American builder. So why american luthier would take so much more money? 200$ vs 3000$ ? FOR THE SAME GIBSON GUITAR. Say thanks to chinese people, they do huge job for people and making affordable gibsons that looks and play great. And thanks for saving thousands of dollars. Guitar is piece of wood, it cant cost more than 800$ with all branded hardware and original floyd rose. All who pays THOUSANDS of dollars for piece of wood it is just stupid deceived people. GIBSON LOGO CANT COST 2000$!!!!! WAKE UP, it cost nothing.

Yes it is not legal to sell chinese gibson in US, but who cares? In all world it is legal to sell and buying chinese gibsons and enjoing them as people around world do.


And you cant know who play on stage with real gibson or china, many legendary guitarists play EXACTLY 100% chinese gibsons, but with branded pickups.


Chineses are practical people, they dont care about trademarks and logos. If buyer want gibson logo - they will do it.
 
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18 months since the last post and this is your first post on this forum. Something smells fishy. :)

...THE SAME job with THE SAME wood as American builder... FOR THE SAME GIBSON GUITAR.

...All who pays THOUSANDS of dollars for piece of wood it is just stupid deceived people...
picture-026.jpg


...Yes it is not legal to sell chinese gibson in US, but who cares?...

...Chineses are practical people, they dont care about trademarks and logos.
So what you're trying to say is that people should not obey the law? Ah... now I understand why everything is so cheap when it's made in China.
 
WTF you talking abut unethical, illegal, etc?

Chinese guitar builder doing THE SAME job with THE SAME wood as American builder. So why american luthier would take so much more money? 200$ vs 3000$ ? FOR THE SAME GIBSON GUITAR. Say thanks to chinese people, they do huge job for people and making affordable gibsons that looks and play great. And thanks for saving thousands of dollars. Guitar is piece of wood, it cant cost more than 800$ with all branded hardware and original floyd rose. All who pays THOUSANDS of dollars for piece of wood it is just stupid deceived people. GIBSON LOGO CANT COST 2000$!!!!! WAKE UP, it cost nothing.

Yes it is not legal to sell chinese gibson in US, but who cares? In all world it is legal to sell and buying chinese gibsons and enjoing them as people around world do.


And you cant know who play on stage with real gibson or china, many legendary guitarists play EXACTLY 100% chinese gibsons, but with branded pickups.


Chineses are practical people, they dont care about trademarks and logos. If buyer want gibson logo - they will do it.

Mods, take note. (possible R.R. sighting... and it certainly does't mean, "Rick Rolled") ;)
 
Juste to echange together, I just bought 2 Harleu Benton TE90QM & CST24HB, thomann trademark: for 177e and 222E each... Really nice finish and very decent woods to make them a good basis for updates.

I changed all the electronics with CTS pots, Orange drop caps as I did with all my mid-rangey guitars, along with Tonerider Hot 90 in the TE90 and Railhammer hypervintage&Alnico Grande in CST24HB.
My guitar tech makes my me adjustments on intonation and fretboard.
The result ?
2 great guitars, unbelievable for the prices, a better sustain than my others guitars of more than 1000E, very nice tones with the PUs, etc. So I'm delighting with their playability and tones for the prices and as an amateur, can be more pleased. My guitar tech was very impressed by the overall quality and results for the price... need to mention he reminds me that people with 2K $ guitars bring them to him for the same intonation adjustments and some fretboard finishing for buzz...
 
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