NGD! Here's why your NGD "steal" .... wasn't.

[vintageguitarz]

Proud of that NGD "steal" you got from that private party online or at a local music store, think again, it's very likely that it's a China Fake. China Counterfeiters are Smuggling in Fakes worth a LOT more than Gucci handbags and Channel Perfumes you've head about often. I've seen many of these Fakes like this at Guitar and Instrument Shows that are being sold to unsuspecting players as legitimate. Ebay is another outlet. Some are very hard to spot as the Chinese are getting very good at faking them.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Seizes $158,000 Worth of Counterfeit Guitars

A total of 36 counterfeit Gibson, Fender, Martin, and PRS models were detained at Washington Dulles International Airport, if authentic, would have had a cumulative value of $158,692.

How many of you have gotten Scammed with a China Counterfeit? Better beware from now on.

BTW - notice that nearly ALL the counterfeits are Gibsons, I see only 4 Fenders. How do you tell the garbage coming out of China, from the garbage coming out of Nashville lately??

https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/u...zes-dollar158000-worth-of-counterfeit-guitars

 

[rockstar232007]

The one, great thing about counterfeits is, no matter how "hard" they try, they'll never be 100% accurate. Even a not-so-well-trained-eye will still be able to tell.

And, it's usually the same, small details the fakers manage to get wrong:

Body/Headstock shapes

Hardware (slotted, "Epi-style" bridges)

Electronics ("Epi-style" pickups, and junk pots/wiring)

One thing people need to remember is, their goal isn't to make 100% accurate "replicas". It is to make guitars, that are somewhat "passable", as the real thing, at minimal manufacturing costs.

One of the things, that still gets me though is, that there's still people, that believe, that most of these fakes are being produced out the backdoor of legitimate, Epiphone factories.

 

[The Ballzz]

One real problem is that other than being fake, some of them aren't even actually garbage. Fine craftsmanship knows no national or ethnic boundaries!

For example, a few years back I was looking to buy a Les Paul "kit" to assemble and finish. I contacted (through goggle translater) a back yard guy who was selling unassembled body/neck "kits" and was willing to do some custom items, such as stainless frets, ebony fingerboard and all mahogany body. Price to my door would have been $149! I never pulled the trigger, but have run into several folks who did. They all said the quality was amazing, as was the fit and placement for all original Gibson parts! Just imagine what an unscrupulous assembler/finisher here in America could have done with such an item!

Just Noticin'
Gene

 

[BadPenguin]

Yews, we know, we have been talking about it in another thread.

 

[rockstar232007]

One real problem is that other than being fake, some of them aren't even actually garbage. Fine craftsmanship knows no national or ethnic boundaries!

For example, a few years back I was looking to buy a Les Paul "kit" to assemble and finish. I contacted (through goggle translater) a back yard guy who was selling unassembled body/neck "kits" and was willing to do some custom items, such as stainless frets, ebony fingerboard and all mahogany body. Price to my door would have been $149! I never pulled the trigger, but have run into several folks who did. They all said the quality was amazing, as was the fit and placement for all original Gibson parts! Just imagine what an unscrupulous assembler/finisher here in America could have done with such an item!

Just Noticin'
Gene

Actually, they are all garbage.

I used to do a lot of authentication work, and have had my hands on a LOT of difderent counterfeits. None of which I would even consider "decent", even after the were "tweaked" (setup, new parts, etc).

As far as "kit" guitars go, I agree. There are a lot of good ones.

 

[LtDave32]

All of my guitars are made in right here in my shop in the California Desert.

So I have like -zero- worries of Chi-nee fakery.

 

[01GT Eibach]

I am pretty sure that anyone reading this forum is very aware about being cautious of buying a Chinese-made Gibsons.

 

[E.T.]

BTW - notice that nearly ALL the counterfeits are Gibsons, I see only 4 Fenders. How do you tell the garbage coming out of China, from the garbage coming out of Nashville lately?

I'm on the "grumpy old man" bandwagon here. Though I am currently preparing to eat my words regarding chambering as a Thing I Will Have None Of, the Company definitely reduced their labour costs on wiring with PCBs, on setup with the PLEK machine and apparently on QA in general judging by an admittedly small sample of 2 examples from GC posted in this forum. Maybe if they'd just dropped their $~%#*^& pricepoints to reflect all the money they're saving they a.) wouldn't have had to file for bankruptcy and b.) wouldn't be such an easy target for forgers.

 

[Cjsinla]

It’s hard to buy a fake if you only go to reputable stores and buy new. You take a risk when you buy used and cheap.

 

[zebras]

The shear volume of cheap stuff has skewed people’s perception of what it takes to make something.
There are plenty of homemade guitar builds on youtube that showcase a guitar being built from scratch. If you have any doubts about guitar prices watch a couple of these and ponder what you would need to charge to make money after going through the entire process.
The cheap guitars coming out of china are made by actual slaves. I am not a fan of slavery, and do not want to support it by buying from suppliers using them.
For me it’s worth it to buy a guitar that’s built in the country I live in by a company who’s home is also in that country.
Do I think Gibsons quality control could and should be better given their price point? Absolutely. However I think the prices they charge are fair especially since they for the most part just match inflation.
Novo, a boutique(ish) US guitar manufacturer also based in nashville charges very similar prices to gibson fwiw.

Edit- my reply wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, just my thoughts after reading about cheap chinese knockoffs

 

[northernguitarguy]

the garbage coming out of Nashville lately

What 'garbage'?

 

[Who]

it's very likely that it's a China Fake.

“Very likely” that when an MLP member buys an inexpensive used guitar that it’s a fake?

If that were true, you’d see it in the NGD threads here. But you don’t. The number of NGD threads we have... we’ve probably seen fewer than a dozen where someone was duped, and those people were generally new to the forum.

That is not the definition of “highly likely”.

 

[northernguitarguy]

“Very likely” that when an MLP member buys an inexpensive used guitar that it’s a fake?

If that were true, you’d see it in the NGD threads here. But you don’t. The number of NGD threads we have... we’ve probably seen fewer than a dozen where someone was duped, and those people were generally new to the forum.

That is not the definition of “highly likely”.

I believe that OP gets into the hyperbole juice before posting.

 

[Who]

I believe that OP gets into the hyperbole juice before posting.

His post would be valuable on Craigslist. There are probably a lot more folks getting burned over there.

 

[northernguitarguy]

That is not the definition of “highly likely”.

Thanks, Who! For a second there, I thought OP was so smart and I was so stupid. It's good to know that my deal for my LP Special isn't tainted and that my real LP is a real LP.

 

[CattleDog]

This same exact thread, minus the garbage coming out of Nashville bit, was also on Strat-talk. Surprised I haven’t seen it on the PRS forum yet. 36 fakes come in to the country and suddenly every used guitar is fake, and we’re all suckers.

 

[northernguitarguy]

This same exact thread, minus the garbage coming out of Nashville bit, was also on Strat-talk. Surprised I haven’t seen it on the PRS forum yet. 36 fakes come in to the country and suddenly every used guitar is fake, and we’re all suckers.

Tele forum, too.

 

[LtDave32]

This same exact thread, minus the garbage coming out of Nashville bit, was also on Strat-talk. Surprised I haven’t seen it on the PRS forum yet. 36 fakes come in to the country and suddenly every used guitar is fake, and we’re all suckers.

Exactly.

Believe me, you are not the only one who sees this.

 

[ehb]

All of my guitars are made in right here in my shop in the California Desert.

So I have like -zero- worries of Chi-nee fakery.

Easy way to tell if you are you and not a bunch of infiltrators packed in your house churning out fakes... We'll take up a collection and pay somebody to come running from across the wash sporting a stylish Che hat and t-shirt and jump over the fence into yo yard...

We'll probably know real quick like...

 

[redking]

I think you would have to be a combination of Helen Keller and Mr. Bean to believe a Chibson was a Gibson if you had it in your hands for more than 15 seconds.