Chinese fake Les Pauls

gearaddict · November 2013

I happened across this last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrDFtriqU4Q

Rather than being filled with righteous indignation about the immorality of fakery it just made me want to buy one. Just to see what they are like, kind of thing. The idea of having a cheapo but apparently authentic LP to chuck around at gigs is quite an attractive proposition too.

But, yes, I know it's bad and I'm an evil man for even thinking about it.

That said, I wonder where he gets them? Y'know, without getting his credit card details sold to the Russian mafia.

dafuzz · November 2013

I know what you mean - I'd like a fake double neck just to hang on the wall and pose about with. Actually I'd like a real one but the bank of missus would never approve it

Grumpyrocker · November 2013

Buy a real one and a fake one. Bin the fake. Show the Mrs the ebay receipt and keep the real one.

Panama_Jack666 · November 2013

gearaddict said:

I happened across this last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrDFtriqU4Q

Rather than being filled with righteous indignation about the immorality of fakery it just made me want to buy one. Just to see what they are like, kind of thing. The idea of having a cheapo but apparently authentic LP to chuck around at gigs is quite an attractive proposition too.

But, yes, I know it's bad and I'm an evil man for even thinking about it.

That said, I wonder where he gets them? Y'know, without getting his credit card details sold to the Russian mafia.

Pixxy is a great You Tuber. He says he no longer gets them and the store/website where he got them from no longer operates.

I've played a fair number of fakes in my time and some of them can be quite convincing. More often than not though, they're nowhere near the standard of an actual Gibson. It's a very good example of you pay for what you get!

Not sure if it's against forum rules or not (?) but I can put you in contact with someone who buys them and builds them up to standard.

I've never owned a fake and I won't ever own one. I much prefer the real thing!

ESBlonde · November 2013

No sound here at work, took just 40 seconds of poor quality video to know for sure it was a fake.

When people show these and then list what might be wrong it just gives ammunition to the fakers so I'm outa here.

gearaddict · November 2013

I wouldn't have known it was a fake, even with sound!

bazxkr · November 2013

Pisses me off that the Chinese wanna be taken seriously as a world economic contributor but they will do nothing about counterfit goods 99% of which come out of China. When the roles have completely reversed & we are the third world nation working for peanuts (won't be long now !) & making counterfit Chinese goods they will be up in arms. One thing to make copies but to blatantly clone & use trademarks that is illegal anywhere else in the world & the Chinese government do nothing. Disgraceful if you wanna be taken seriously as a trading nation. But the West frightened to do anything cos China has most of the natural ore resources we want at the moment & the most cash to spend. Just call it corrupt world politics.. answers all

Cheers

Baz

Panama_Jack666 · November 2013

Starting to look like a Chibson hate thread! Fair enough really. It's unfortunate that there are fakes out there and China are the ones producing them but I s'pose if it wasn't them doing it, it'd be someone else! There will always be a market for things that 'look the part'.

viz · November 2013

dafuzz said:

I know what you mean - I'd like a fake double neck just to hang on the wall and pose about with. Actually I'd like a real one but the bank of missus would never approve it

Yep that's what I did and I'm very happy with it.

viz · November 2013

Grumpyrocker said:

Buy a real one and a fake one. Bin the fake. Show the Mrs the ebay receipt and keep the real one.

3 wisdoms and counting. You Sir are a genius.

Wolftone · November 2013

bazxkr said:

When the roles have completely reversed & we are the third world nation working for peanuts (won't be long now !) & making counterfit Chinese goods they will be up in arms.

Britian is a nation of innovators and always has been. China on the other hand has built much of it's industry on copying and imitation. Even their new vertical takeoff 'F-35' clone is a copy of the American plane.

http://defensetech.org/2012/11/01/china-flies-newest-stealth-fighter/

Have the Chinese got it right in 'not reinventing the wheel'?

ThePrettyDamned · November 2013

Gibson already have their line of Chinese fakes. They're called epiphone.

Honestly, a lot of these fakes could well come from the same factories as epiphone. It would explain the quality - most epi guitars are good, and my mates korina Explorer is, quite simply, one of the finest guitars I've ever played, including real Gibson. So if you want a budget Gibson, but don't want to cheat them out of money they get by beating a dead horse with the same old guitars reissued endlessly, you can buy epi.

Actually, that's a bit unfair, it is what guitarists want after all. Some epis have moved on more than Gibson by including a dual output and blend for electric and piezo AND an on board pickup ring tuner that works brilliantly. Not bad, for less than the cost of a boggo Gibson.

bertie · November 2013

trouble is, buy one chinese fake, you want another in a week

GazLion · November 2013

Saw this video ages ago, amazing how much detail goes into some of the copies.

Anyway for those asking, he mentions that he gets these knock-offs from tradetang in one of his vids. It might even be this vid, I just can't be arsed to watch it again.

GazLion · November 2013

Did someone mention double neck??

Looks shite to me lol. Scratch plate look a bit off?

thermionic · November 2013

ThePrettyDamned said:

Gibson already have their line of Chinese fakes. They're called epiphone.

Honestly, a lot of these fakes could well come from the same factories as epiphone.

I've seen exactly the same thing happen in 3 areas now - guitars, high-end racing bicycles and silicon chips. Give the Chinese the means to make products to your designs and they'll produce them for you 6 days a week. On the seventh day, they'll still make them, but to a lower quality and often with inferior materials and for the black market. I've heard of faulty chips that should have never made it out of the fab and "Chinarellos" (fake Pinarellos made with low-quality carbon fibre, often adulterated with fibreglass). These things are pretty easy to find, but there's no guarantee that what you get looks anything like the photo.

I was watching a couple of vids from chinaguitarsceptic last night. It seems to be like a sport for these guys with disposable income - take a gamble with £300, wait to see what turns up and make a video to show off your "catch".

DrBob · November 2013

We have office's in China and when we buy things like lighting truss, speakers, mixing desks, that sort of thing we have to get them to un box it all on the pavement and go through it all to make sure that all of it is real, not just the ones they unbox.
Apparently this is because there's some loophole in Chines law that if you accept the goods on your property without checking them all first if you later find out that they're fake you don't have a leg to stand on....

Fake truss, the potential consequences of that terrify me

OilCityPickups · November 2013

The problem is do you climb in bed with the devil or not? Individual copyright is an anathema in China, as is personal freedom, human rights and political freedom. They produce very acceptable guitars ... of sometimes wildly varying quality ... the same with pickups. Do you close your eyes and just do it ... or try and look for other alternatives.
I don't have much choice but to buy some pickup parts that are originally made in China. For example humbucker bobbins ... but I buy in the main from US wholesalers who 'take the hit' on quality control and do the tricky bit of giving the specs and engaging in the difficult process of communication.
I made the decision to source as few parts as I could from China because of my own feelings about the morality or otherwise of their attitudes and system ... but hells teeth it's hard sometimes. I spent three hours today trying to re-stock with nickel pickup covers ... sometimes I spend as much time sourcing parts as I do making stuff!

ICBM · November 2013

ESBlonde said:
When people show these and then list what might be wrong it just gives ammunition to the fakers so I'm outa here.

I don't agree - I think it's useful to point out the errors so potential innocent buyers are warned off. You're not giving anything away - the fakers already know. It's not rocket science to look at a real Gibson and a fake and play Spot The Difference, and the people that make them aren't stupid… they just don't think it's worth spending the money to make more of the details exact. In fact, forcing them to spend a lot more on getting them really right is probably about the only thing that *might* stop them - pure economics, since they're immune to moral and legal pressure.

bazxkr · November 2013

For me I don't mind the Chinese making a million guitars a week but I object to them blatantly using Gibson, fender logos on their product. They should put their own make on- call it what they like. But their own government turn a blind eye to it so it escalates. I know Musicman complained to the US congress & they just shrugged their shoulders cos they are powerless.

You know what would happen if me and you started marketing our own coca cola..we be in the slammer in no time

Should never have given Hong Kong back haha... these fakes could have been made their & sold as 'made in britain' haha

Cheers

Baz

OilCityPickups · November 2013

Problem is that we have the backdoor Far Eastern makers too ... who wave UK flags and then tell you in the small print they are made in Guangdong. To me that's worse!

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