Federal authorities seize 3,000 fake Gibson guitars in California worth over $18M

[kennywtelejazz]

https://www.aol.com/federal-authorities-seize-3-000-025528203.html

FWIW I'm glad they seized them .

I have had more than one instance where I had pawn shop owners try to convince me that what they had was a real Gibson and worth the money they were asking .

At that point I took them to school and set them straight ....

Kenny

 

Edited November 28 by kennywtelejazz

[DeeringAmps]

Interesting, I thought they were all "fake" since they closed down Kalamazoo...

[craigb]

Reality is fake!

[azslow3]

At least it is  possible to identify "true Gibson guitar".

I remember a translation from German parliament about "German faucets". One was "real" and another "fake". Produced on the same (PRC) factory, from the same materials and with the same label. The question was: how consumers can identify the "fake" 😏 

[Gswitz]

The birds aren't real. 

[Brian Walton]

$6K per guitar I don't think so.

[pwallie]

 

[Shane_B.]

They are probably made at the Epiphone factory there in Chi-nah.

I don't know what to think about it. I can understand why Gibson doesn't want their name on unapproved products. And I get why it's being done. It's a lot easier to sell if it says Gibson. 

It's a given with them that the electronics suck and the finish isn't perfect, but that's what you expect from a $300 guitar.

Only a dirtbag would try to resell it as a real Gibson. And there is the other problem. They should at least stamp them or mark them somehow so there's no doubt they are copies. That would probably take the heat off them a little.

[DeeringAmps]

53 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

Only a dirtbag would try to resell it as a real Gibson

Who do you think was behind this shipment?

[Terry Kelley]

What’s interesting is just how good many of the fakes are. I’ve play several and they are very nice.  The fake branding needs to stop though.

The builders in Asia need to start pushing their own brands and not lean on copying the big three. There is no reason their quality products can’t compete but it will take a long time to get people to see it. But many people are still hung up on the shape. If it’s not the same shape as one of the big three, they don’t want it. Ok, maybe four.

Edited Friday at 04:10 PM by Terry Kelley

[Shane_B.]

1 minute ago, DeeringAmps said:

Who do you think was behind this shipment?

The people making them aren't selling them as real Gibson's. Just lookalike's. You know that going in. Not saying it's ok, but at least they aren't trying to say they are real and asking $5,000 I guess is the point I failed to make. Lol.

[DeeringAmps]

14 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

they aren't trying to say they are real and asking $5,000

You’re sure of that?

 I looked at a Les Paul Jr at a Seattle area guitar show a few years back. Finish issues set off an alarm bell for me! I thought “even Nashville wouldn’t ship this POS”. Seller was a little “miffed” when I questioned authenticity…

t

[Terry Kelley]

But was it fake?

[Shane_B.]

1 hour ago, DeeringAmps said:

You’re sure of that?

 I looked at a Les Paul Jr at a Seattle area guitar show a few years back. Finish issues set off an alarm bell for me! I thought “even Nashville wouldn’t ship this POS”. Seller was a little “miffed” when I questioned authenticity…

t

The people making them are not selling them as Gibson's. All of the ones I've seen pictures of have tape over the name and nowhere do they say Gibson in any of the advertisements. 

It's the people buying them to resell them as Gibsons that are creating a bigger problem.

I'm not condoning the people making the guitars ripping off the Gibson name by any means. But in a lot of ways I think the people reselling them as real ones are worse.

I really think they should just label them Chibson. I mean no disrespect by that at all. The truth is most of them are great guitars and are actually worth more than what they are asking most of the time.

[Jeremy Oakes]

13 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

The people making them are not selling them as Gibson's. All of the ones I've seen pictures of have tape over the name and nowhere do they say Gibson in any of the advertisements. 

It's the people buying them to resell them as Gibsons that are creating a bigger problem.

I'm not condoning the people making the guitars ripping off the Gibson name by any means. But in a lot of ways I think the people reselling them as real ones are worse.

I really think they should just label them Chibson. I mean no disrespect by that at all. The truth is most of them are great guitars and are actually worth more than what they are asking most of the time.

And under the tape .......... Gibson.

A mate of mine bought a LP Gary Moore 1959 Replica, Chibson  off the internet, and to get it through the customs inspection the sellers had simply used a felt pen marker to cover the word Gibson on the headstock. Which was dead easy to remove without damaging the finish.

It plays well and the electrics are noiseless, better that some real Gibs ! YMMV on this though.

J

[kennywtelejazz]

10 hours ago, azslow3 said:

At least it is  possible to identify "true Gibson guitar".

I remember a translation from German parliament about "German faucets". One was "real" and another "fake". Produced on the same (PRC) factory, from the same materials and with the same label. The question was: how consumers can identify the "fake" 😏 

When I started  running across the fakes Chibsons,  I saw a number of tell tale signs that were easy to spot as fake .

A  guitar I will mention as my first encounter with a fake Gibson was in a Pawn Shop . The shop wanted $2000 .00 for it

The said guitar was claimed to be a used special order Les Paul Custom . Right off the bat when I started to look it over I found the guitar was way too light , the hardware was super cheap appearing .The head stock area on a real Les Paul Custom has very nice ornate inlays  . On the guitar I was looking over the guitar had tried to copy the look but all the inlays and head stock writing  were not perfectly symmetrical and they looked  off . It is a common fact that Gibson Les Paul Customs have Ebony fingerboards . The guitar I was holding had a rosewood fingerboard that looked pretty dry to me with block inlays ....The electronic hardware and bridge and switches all seemed second rate for a Gibson and I guess if it was an Epiphone whomever owned the guitar would have swapped all those bits during an up grade ....at $ 2000.00 bucks you shouldn't have to change anything on a guitar until you decide you are good and ready because $2000.00 guitars are a price point in the guitar market where you have already paid a premium price to have a guitar that could last a lifetime and contain a cut above quality wise concerning build quality , hardware , and brand loyalty  ... 

I hope that can help in spotting a fake Gibson ...

Later on I may come back here to discuss some of the nicer Chibson's I have played .....

all the best ,

Kenny

 

Edited Friday at 08:35 PM by kennywtelejazz

[kennywtelejazz]

3 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

The people making them are not selling them as Gibson's. All of the ones I've seen pictures of have tape over the name and nowhere do they say Gibson in any of the advertisements. 

 

There is a Big Difference between looking at pictures and playing one of these fakes in real life ....

I have played some real dogs ...and I played a few nice ones that were in the upper Epiphone quality range .

After a few years of getting bombarded with all the Chibson's that have flooded the market  at least the prices went from a few grand to about $350.00

Now if you happen to be the kind of guy that is playing in a hole in the wall bucket of blood bar / club and you want people to think you are playing a real Gibson because of the status a Gibson guitar holds , by all means leave The Gibson at home and bring  a Chibson .

Kenny

Edited Friday at 08:51 PM by kennywtelejazz

[mettelus]

2 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

The people making them are not selling them as Gibson's. All of the ones I've seen pictures of have tape over the name and nowhere do they say Gibson in any of the advertisements.

This is most often the case by far; it is the middle-man, or end seller that is pawning them off as "real." I did get a chuckle with the $6000/guitar though... everyone wants to overplay what they did... even the nicely made ones are roughly $400, but $1.2M! wouldn't make the headline as catchy. The luthier who PLEK'd my main said the guitars he PLEK'd most were new Gibsons because they "really needed it"... I will always remember that.

The kit I made (roughly $300 with added elbow grease), I was initially going to logo with "Not Gibson" or similar but didn't want Gibson associated with it in any way. Instead dedicated it to Tigger... the only cat that came running to guitar and would sit in front of the amp (he also spent time watching me make it). China has some of the best mahogany preserves in the world, so even kits from that wood are worth it (the wood is most important, everything else can be bought elsewhere). I have had Tigger out and about a few times and it is quite the conversation piece just because everyone wants to get a better look at it.

[hockeyjx]

Do they just destroy them? I hope not. They could mark them somehow and give them to schools for music programs. There has to be a way to make lemonade out of those lemons.

[paulo]

2 hours ago, hockeyjx said:

Do they just destroy them? I hope not. They could mark them somehow and give them to schools for music programs. There has to be a way to make lemonade out of those lemons.

I would imagine that a lot of customs officials kids will be getting a guitar for christmas.