Chibson Time!

p90fool

guitargeek62 said:

There's easily more than one factory, and it really isn't hard to find them. The problem is that counterfeiting doesn't fall under the same protection laws in China, so no action can be taken against them there.

I'm sure there is, and I've seen quite a few variations on the forgery theme, but it does strike me as odd that identical errors feature again and again, almost as if there's a "master fake" somewhere in a Chinese safe which they constantly refer to thinking it's the real thing.

Obviously it's pretty difficult to chase these things in communist China, and perhaps that's a good thing, as it would probably lead to more accurate fakes long term. Things like binding nibs have started to appear and they've now switched over to two-screw truss rod covers, but most Chibsons are still reassuringly shite-looking, thankfully.

chrisj1602

They even do knock off cars...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/range-rover-rip-off-sells-just-4683397

Sassafras

They're working from counterfeit blueprints. That's why they can't it right.

Chalky

The Chinese are more than capable of accessing the very accurate plans and making an exact copy. So they are making the minor differences for a reason - anbody know why?

lustycourtier

They almost always look more like Duojets than LP body shapes....

hobbio

Chalky said:

The Chinese are more than capable of accessing the very accurate plans and making an exact copy. So they are making the minor differences for a reason - anbody know why?

Cost, probably. I bet they sell everything they make as it is, so why would they change it? Even reprogramming CNC machines costs money, as does retooling. That's likely to be the same reason there's differences in the hardware.

I bet there are some places making fakes that are so good that they've not been spotted yet though.

Hydra19

Surprised they didn't get the body right, I though these Chinese Gibsons were cut in the same factory as the chinese epiphones using their CNC machines....in a way Gibson started it all by moving some of their production to China and giving them to tools and know how, on how to make Les Paul guitars.

I had one, was interested, I modded everything on it to the best specs and it was just ok, I gigged it a few times and no one knew the difference but sold it as I did know the difference. 

Phil_aka_Pip

Hydra19 said:

sold it as I did know the difference. 

to someone else who didn't?

hobbio

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Hydra19 said:

sold it as I did know the difference. 

to someone else who didn't?

I very nearly asked the same question myself but gave @Hydra19 the benefit of the doubt.

guitargeek62

I'd never sell mine; it was an exercise in curiosity, driven by the lack of a similar model existing from a "reputable" manufacturer at anything close to reasonable prices (at the time, the cheapest Trini Lopez type on the market were used Gibsons at ~£2k). Thankfully, I got lucky and ended up with a guitar that I truly enjoy playing & owning, regardless of it's shady origins.

I don't see any benefit at all of buying a LP copy when there are already so many variations out there at Chibson prices.

Phil_aka_Pip

hobbio said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Hydra19 said:

sold it as I did know the difference. 

to someone else who didn't?

I very nearly asked the same question myself but gave @Hydra19 the benefit of the doubt.

he he I didn't mean to call his integrity into question - I hope the indicates this

Hydra19

I sold it honestly via gumtree, for about the same as I bought it for as I left all the upgraded parts in there. I told him I used it as I was in a GNR cover band as Slash. The guy who was buying asked me to bring it to the station, so I did in its case. He checked it out, said he was happy with it and then LEGGED IT! He flew off saying he was in a hurry, 2 days later I find the same guitar on Gumtree, even using one of my own post pics. In his ad he said it was made for him by a luthier as he was in a GNR cover band! I am not joking, but he was asking double the price and it never sold.

There aren't too many out there that can't tell the difference hopefully, plus I wanted to get rid of it as selling Chinese fakes is illegal and I just wanted to try it, got plenty of MIJ lawsuit guitars to play.
 That was my one and only experience with Chinese Gibsons. BTW, it was the Appetite for Desctruction model with slash's logo on the headstock, when I posted a pic of the guitar on Facebook everyone thought I had just bought a Custom Shop guitar for 5000 pounds!!!! Funny as it only cost 220

Chalky

About 5 years ago I bought 4 Chibsons out of curiosity - all the hype about how good they were sounded like nonsense. To give the experiment a higher chance of success I bought each from a separate supplier and different sites (Dhgate, etc). I chose diverse and unusual ones that I had never played so I wouldn't be swayed by a direct one-to-one comparison - Les Paul Corvette, Johnny A Custom, ES295, and a 339 which in those days was unusual.

Having owned more than a dozen Gibsons I felt confident I could tell the difference. No need for worries. None of them was anything like the quality of a real Gibson. I still have them now and have changed pickups, wiring, nuts, taken Bigsby off, etc. But they are still Epiphones at best. And three of them live in the loft. My advice to anyone considering a Chibson is to ignore talk of ethics, and be advised they just aint very good and by the time you've spent time and money on them to be better guitars then apart from the fake logo they will still be not-very-good guitars.

Hydra19

I agree with the poster above, also for the cost of a Chibson + upgrades you can get a Japanese Burny from the 80's that should be much closer to Gibson in quality. I have been interested in their acoustic models too, like the Martin D-45 copy as I think the acoustics would give away the quality of the wood much quicker.

Bringing a chinese Martin D-45 to the beach as a beater guitar would be pretty cool, if it sounded decent. 

underdog

@Chalky I'd love to see a pic of the corvette les Paul if you have one to hand.

Chalky

The ES295 is the only one not in the loft, mainly because my wife bought me some BKP Bluenote 90s for it. And in this weather I don't jump in the loft unless I have to.

The Corvette is comical. The centre should emulate the chromed vents behind the Vette's front wheel arch. The Chibson version has white plastic with black painted vent shapes on it. And instead of chrome, the surround is made out of strips of dark tortoiseshell pickguard material! Nothing like chrome! But the Corvette inlay on the fretboard looks good

Chalky

@underdog - Found this on Pinterest - mine is the same, black painted vents and dark tortoiseshell edging around the white centre instead of chrome strip...

underdog

Chalky;516675" said:

@underdog - Found this on Pinterest - mine is the same, black painted vents and dark tortoiseshell edging around the white centre instead of chrome strip...

Cool, I think I'm going to have to price one of those as a wall hanger at work if you can still get them.

Chalky

I think you can put so much work int9 improving a Chibson that you start to think its sounding great. Then you AB it with your real LP and realise "No - I've just about made it an Epi" )