Well after all these post and talks about these Chinese Gibsons I was in my friends store while he was doing work and he opens up a Gibson case and says check this out. It was a beautiful Blue flamed LP with a really nice finish. I was checking out the fret work which was perfect and handed it back and said wow that is hot. Then he tells me it is a fake and I could of fell over.lol To be honest I had no clue and am no expert on Gibson guitars but even he had to say they are getting scarily good. He told me he told the kid who brought it in it was a fake and he said he knew as he bought it off one of those sites for $350.

I asked my friend Mike how he knew and he pointed to the Gold pup covers and something about the shape of the headstock, which he said they almost have down pat. He also said the guitar does not sound bad, I was very impressed at the neck and fret work and fret ends which were done perfect and also the finish which was a Blue flamed maple that was done really well.

All I could say is I would never buy a Gibson unless it was from a friend or a store. I have not seen a Fender fake in person but as he pointed out it is a lot easier to make a Fender than a Gibson. I really do not know who is at fault the most for letting this problem get so out of hand but I do not think any of us realize just how bad this problem is or how many fakes are actually out there.

What also boggles my mind is that this guitar looked so good and was cosmetically so well made for $350 and they still have to make a profit. Imagine what the hell they could make with a $500 budget to make a guitar as they may of had $150 if that for a $350 guitar. He put that away and started working on a real Frampton Les Paul which is a $4K guitar which he was drooling over meanwhile I am thinking the Chinese guitar was more eye catching.

All I know is this is a really serious problem that I do not see getting fixed anytime soon unless the government steps in and does something.

I've seen those sites with $350 gibsons before. Some guitars look amazing and even come with a "Gibson USA" hardcase and stickers on the pickups...
These days you have to an expert to spot a fake

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Dean, Epiphone and Fender guitars

Remember that one I got to work on?



I've noticed some more issues over the weeks since. Still its a decent guitar for the money. The electronics weren't the best, they've been changed and I potted the bridge pickup. The main problem I notice with it is the neck. I dunno what wood it is but it's not as stable as it could be. change the pitch of a string causes everything to go out. Adjusting the trussrod can be fun too. It either does nothing or is causes a really excessive movement.
It's right at the moment, but took some work to get there.

In another 5-10 years these things are going to be a major problem. People are going to play them and not be able to justify paying for the real thing. The reason we potted the bridge pickup instead of installing a new one (there's 6 of the things knocking around), is that it sounds so good. If you ever want to hear a good beefy but clear and detailed bridge pickup, thats the one.

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No no and no

Gibson spent all that time and money sueing PRS over their single cut guitar that was never billed to be anything but a single cut PRS....I dont know why companies dont go after the rip off COmpanies billing their product as the real thing.....Only bad thing is law suits cost the customer in the end... I dont know what the fix is other thand be a well informed consumer before you throw down the cash.

Cheers Bill

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(80’s Hair Metal) = A snapshot in time before Grunge ruined Rock & Roll forever!!!!

where are Epiphone guitars made?

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

It's because PRS were/are directly taking Gibsons customers. The singlecut only had a passing resemblance to a LP at best. Gibson would have seen people prepared to pay £2K+ for a PRS as gibson customers lost. They guy who's going to chance his arm on a £300 chinese knockoff isnt going to buy a LP. PRS are much more of a direct threat, cost, country of origin are the same. Quality is miles above.

Besides which you could prosecute the Chinese company making these guitars. It wouldnt change a thing, you may even make things worse. Close one factory down and 3 more will pop up, theres profits behind em now and business savvy. It would be natural for em to use that opportunity to expand.

Bring em on I say. Anything that raises quality and lowers price is a good thing.

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No no and no

Would that be called a Res Paur?

Newer ones China, Korea before that I think.

thanks ripitup555!

straycat113, you have played a Chinese LP before and a Korean LP as well probably.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Gonna make my own called a Fibson. I'm going to be double naughty and use a Fender F.

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No no and no

From Chets Chinese Cookie thread-

An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future

You and Chet thinkin of goin somewhere with this Niki, ......EUREKA moment

True enough. The fact is there is almost no intilectual/patent rights in China. They say tat the rate of piracy in China is 90%.

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AmDlx HSS
62 Hot Rod
Luke w/Piezo
Carvin Belair

According to BSA's latest report, software piracy in China was 79% in 2009 (89% in 2005). So, slowly, things do improve.

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La vie est belle, le monde est pourri, make the most of it!

On my search for my new geet I came across a couple of surprisingly flawless fakes. After seeing a series of fake guitars on a webste called www.alibaba.com I even saw one of the fakes trying to be sold for real on eBay! It was a silverburst with a sick flame top! Once on this site I got onto the alibaba express site and just for kicks started searching all the dream axe's, silverbursts and 69's, Black beauty's and other b-sides, All there, all fake, all mere hundreds of dollars. It gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach! A very careful eye is definately needed when picking up a new lady, but if you're going to drop 3+ thou on one of these things and you don't your homework I got no sympathies! As for the I don't want a Gibson I want a fender because there aren't as many fakes... If there's a will for anything there's most certainly a way, just because G and L has a business license and a "signature sound," well I don't know about you but every once and a while I've been known to eat no name kd and tomato soup!

Yes the ones people look for are the Korean ones that were made at Saein in Korea it was a smaller builder that made some of EPI's Custom's and Custom Plus LP's That is the place where they made the Custom plus that had a set maple neck for just s couple years instead of the usual Mahogany. Gives a special sound I think.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson