Shocking,Shocking,Shocking...Help

[mojomkr]

I dont know where to start. I read the News on the internet daily.

This morning I was reading about a Guitar competition Via The Toronto Sun,

And a Google Ad was running next to the article. "Ad's by Google" I'm not

going to post the Ad link, But I'll post the article link. If you refresh your

browsers the Link will Pop up on the right.

Guitarist's career a smash hit | Joe Warmington | Columnists | News | Toronto Sun

I was so shocked at Google running Counterfeit Ad's Via Legit News Papers,

I had a churning in my gut. The big G guitar company should just friggin

close their doors. Signature Models selling for under 3 Franklins. The new #2

Page that is over a 100 Franklins, Given away for the price for less than a GPS

There was A Pink ribbon Axis with JP's signature on it !!! A Luke and the most

were MM Stingrays. Out of the 100 or so pages of garbage, 3 pages had

M M. The only legit guitar I saw was a JP6 OLP !!!! and I was even suspect

of that !! I understand if this thread needs to be taken down. Please though

something needs to be done. My goodness.....

 

[browndog]

Yup, saw that this morning. Its hard to figure out Google or the Sun’s rationale for running that ad.

TradeTang is SCUM!

 

[Smellybum]

in a bizarre twist i was reading an old post today where this was covered, the F*** and G*** stuff are getting very accurate, the guitars are popular, and the copy market is popular, so the counterfeit market is going to be REALLY popular


- what scared me was the 2008 LE Copies, - I've been trading for 17+ years and can spot a fake G****** or F****** no problem, but the fake EBMM I don't think i'd spot that till i picked it up - worrying times.

It was also interesting to understand why EBMM changed the string packaging to partly avoid the counterfeit strings. - (Minor Hijack - I've kept 3 packets of the old style for nostalgia purposes, nothing smells as good as a pack of new slinky's)

I'm not keen to give these clowns airtime but could you spot if this was fake?

Be careful out there, there's a lot to be said from buying from known dealers and buying new.​

 

[mojomkr]

Communicate your concerns to Google and the Sun. Be polite, reasonable, and use correct spelling and grammar.

You may also want to get an adblocker for your browser so you don't have to see this kind of thing if you don't want to. I had to disable mine to see that ad.

I'm not worried about me or my Grand mother Viewing the GOOGLE Ad.

I'm worried about unscrupulous Buyers and Sellers and 20 years down

the road. American Heritage Sold out by Google. I can understand that

Google is mostly uncensored. But in this case Google is selling Counterfeit

Advertising ! Selling....Unfilterd, Unchecked Ad's. This is crossing the line.

 

[maciek]

The counterfeit 2008LE Luke photos seem to be real photos of the real Luke - other fakes from tradetang are really failed, not to mention things like "MUSISCMAN" sign on the headstock...
Advertising these counterfeits with real photos of real EBMM guitars is really disgusting!

 

[DrKev]

Thanks to Firefox and Adblock plus I don't see those ads at all. But I did start IE to see what's going on...

...and I have to say, I feel a little sick now.

 

[jamminjim]

...right down to the "Made In USA" decal on the headstock.....

Shame on those Chinese shucksters.

 

[mojomkr]

I want to say that the Toronto Sun should also be acountable

for letting Ad's running BLINDLY with related stories.

 

[mojomkr]

I just contacted Rob Gr***stein Editorial Page Editor 416-***-8359

@ the Toronto Sun, He blew me off! Said and I quote "Google is

impossble to contact" "I understand your concern, I have to go now

because i have another phone call" Crazy unbelievable

You can look em up on the Toronto Sun Contact pages website bottom

under contacts.....

 

[mojomkr]

Looks like the Toronto Sun was actually making money when anybody

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Very Sad.....

 

[metalmarty]

I love checking out TT with a co-guitarist buddy of mine for laughs. There are hideous, HIDEOUS contraptions for sale. Most are pictures from the real deal though, sometimes straight from Ebay. Man, I saw items that stupid guys over here bought that looked like they were cut with a jigsaw by someone with a lobotomy. I only ever saw 1 musicman guitar-rip-off (plenty of basses though) and it was meant to be an EVH, MUSICSMAN on the headstock and the real kicker: a JP signature

Google should do something about it, but they would love to get a piece of the Chinese pie, even after all the drama they encountered there lately. The newspaper should address this issue but this smells like a moneymaker for them to me as well. Shame...

 

[Slingy]

I've seen ad networks that hijack your browser and redirect you to malicious downloads. It happened to me on soundclick once. Google needs to keep its nose clean.

 

[TNT]

There's a "simple" solution to this type of crime and behavior, as well as any other. The "people", however, do not want it.

Politicians are too busy being game show hosts, attorneys are to busy making money off the activity crime spurs, and the judges accommodate them all nicely with air conditioned formats.

Therefore, we have to "deal" unnecessarily with this kind of garbage, even the prestigious companies like EBMM!

Hope this isn't too political, but it just really hit's that "wrong" note in me.

 

[straycat113]

This has been going on for quite a while now though this is the first I have seen of EBMM guitars being done. Everyone knows it started with Gibsons a while back. About 18 months ago my friend who owns the guitar store I hang out in asked me to keep an eye out if I ever ran across a Frampton LP on the bay. Well one night I did and when I went into the store the next day I pulled the guitar up for him and it took him about 30 seconds to tell me it was a fake. Now I have never owned a Gibson guitar in my life so it fooled me. I wrote the seller who had over 350 transactions and a perfect ebay rating to tell him his guitar was a fake and that it was on 3 forums being talked about, but I had only put it up on one. He wrote me back telling me how he could not believe how he was taken and pulled the add. The funny thing though was he did not sound like a guy who had just been taken for about 2K and said the guitar looked so good he was just going to hang it on his wall and was more worried what forums he was on. I am to old of a cat to be bit by a kitten, and figured this guy knew what he had from the start.

Then all the stores started popping up on the web at that time period selling counterfeits focusing mainly on Gibsons, Fenders, Gretsch and Rickenbacker guitars. Of those makes the only guitar I owned were Fenders of which I could spot a fake. The biggest kicker out of all this is that Paypal is accepted by every company I have seen selling fakes, which is the biggest outrage since this is outright counterfeiting. Now if there was a company selling US currency do you think that Paypal would be accepted- hell no because they would be closed right down by the Feds and hit with conspiracy charges to counterfeit currency.

Now some 18 months later and with a ton of guitar magazines laying spreads on how to spot a fake the guitars have gotten a lot better and spotting a fake has gotten that much harder. A month ago I came in the store and my friend Mike said you want to see a fake LP and he pulled out a new guitar from the case that some kid brought in who knew what he bought. Most of the obvious things that were shown in magazines have been corrected like 3 screws on the headstock changed to the real 2, and the frets were done really well, my friend told me the wiring on the pup and the paint in the cavity was wrong and that is how he knew and asked the kid if he knew he had a fake, in which he said yes. Mike who owns a 3 generation store and has been working on guitars over 30 years said they just keep getting better at it.

Now I am glad you put this up because I guess they are branching out, as I have not looked at a fakes page in a year and after looking at this one they are all over the place and if you ask me we are flooded with these guitars. I grew up by the Brooklyn Navy Yard where all the Tankers came in from all over the world and if you never saw a cargo container they are huge, so just imagine how many fakes one could hold.

I guess Sterling could answer better than anyone what action are the guitar makers doing to get the Federal Government to intervine as it looks like they are not doing such a good job it so far. I mean I have only read of one pinch of a woman with 180 fakes who's company was up and running again right after her court case. I would have to assume that this is one time the companies have to band together, maybe a as it has to be cutting into profits besides someone buying there first brand name guitar and thinking it is a piece of sh!t and then reselling it..

I think we all belong to another guitar forum or two of which there are hundreds, and it is about time everyone post a thread telling everyone who uses Paypal to call them up and say if they are going to support the sale of counterfeit guitars they are not going to use it anymore as this would really cut into the online business pretty good.

 

[straycat113]

Wow this is really off the charts now as I just spent some time on that site. I had mentioned that about 18 months ago the 4 companies I listed above were the companies that were focused on, now there was not a brand I could not think of that I punched in that there were not fakes for.

Especially scary was on the EBMM 4 and 5 string Bass as well as the Pink Axis this is what was written-This is this years new model, real brand case and serial number can be checked. We use Japan technology our control team is responsible for all guitar inspections.

I also went to other brands and the same thing on certain guitars about the case and serial numbers. Then on the checkout the first method of payment =PAYPAL.

Tomorrow I am going to call Paypal and tell them that if they are going to support counterfeit guitars I will never use them again as well as make a thread on as many forums that I belong to. I would believe everyone should band together and do the same!

 

[andynpeters]

Perhaps the manufacturers need to put some pressure on. I guess we'll all be careful where we buy our guitars in future....those EBay "bargains" could end up very expensive

 

[Big Poppa]

OK Im going to ask the federal Govt for help....OK not. I cannot get political here but they dont care about guitar companies.

I do have wonderdog on it and rest assured if any enter the port customs will cut the headstock off.

 

[e.mate]

I do have wonderdog on it and rest assured if any enter the port customs will cut the headstock off.

...I was already thinking, why does nobody request Wonderdog Services And if any of that sh!t should then still enter the port, I wish for proper youtube documentation of the hedastock smashing process

 

[odur]

It´s here too on goal.com: Football News, Football Scores, Football Transfers, Transfer News, Transfer Rumours, Premier League News, World Cup 2010 News - Goal.com on the frontpage!

 

[Smellybum]

<mental image of wonderdog at airport with snipers and extended team>