• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan
Ernie Ball Music Man Custom Design Experience

product piracy

Hellboy

Hellboy

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Stockholm, Sweden.
Powman

Powman

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Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Hellboy said:
Is that fake? Rather small pics but it does look like a genuine BigAl 4..... Even has the compensated nut....

There are some odd things in the ad itself but that can be from a bad translation.

//J
Click to expand...

Here's why I think it is a fake:

"This guitar is sold without case, but will be securely packaged and shipped in a molded foam container.
We provide high quality case and bag. If you need the hard case , more $60 is necessary."

A real EBMM comes with a hardcase. Why wouldn't these folks just ship it with the original case? Because it never came with a case. This picture is of a real Big Al, but that's not the bass you will be getting.

Look...if its too good to be true, then it is. So of course this is a fake.
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

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Feb 9, 2005
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Coachella & SLO, California
THis is such a terrible situation. It is the 800 lb gorilla that people dont talk about. Counterfitting in China is sapping all of our companies of revenue and also hurting our image as the stuff sucks.

Brian came up with the element shield packaging because it gave the customers a more consistant product but also made it really hard to counterfiet. We have seen a large bunp in sales especially in Asia.
 
S

shakinbacon

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Feb 5, 2008
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Hellboy said:
Is that fake? Rather small pics but it does look like a genuine BigAl 4..... Even has the compensated nut....

There are some odd things in the ad itself but that can be from a bad translation.

//J
Click to expand...

+1
Other than the ridiculously low price, this seems like an actual Big Al to me
 
Laredo

Laredo

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Sneaky...................And Scary!

shakinbacon said:
+1
Other than the ridiculously low price, this seems like an actual Big Al to me
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The Chinese are very good at making counterfeit goods, they have been doing it for years (Jewelry, Handbags, etc.)! :mad: Look at the other Guitars they are selling. I can't imagine buying a new Guitar from a website called "TradeTang", and feeling good about my purchase! :eek: That price is far too low to be a good, or even a great deal! That is well below an authorized dealer's cost...................The only way a bass could be produced that cheaply is due to it being a counterfeit copy! I'm sure the boys at SLO would have a hard time making a bass for that pricing, let alone selling it for that kind of money! If you want a real USA made EBMM, but it from a reputable dealer...............:D

Like the saying goes, "If something is too good to be true, it probably is!" :rolleyes:
 
Laredo

Laredo

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Omg................lol!

Stereo_Monkey said:
Probably you over-read my posting: the Big Al that is pictured is "an actual Big Al". Actually these are pictures of my bass :eek:
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That's even worse......................Not only do they copy guitars, but they are copying photos too! :D
 
steve f

steve f

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Aug 26, 2009
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Just look at all of the negative feedback comments regarding not getting the correct item. Anyone that would buy from this seller is asking for trouble.
 
Hellboy

Hellboy

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Stockholm, Sweden.
Laredo said:
I can't imagine buying a new Guitar from a website called "TradeTang", and feeling good about my purchase! :eek:
Click to expand...

Now what do you think the name ERNIE BALL sound like for someone from Sweden then, eh....? :confused: A musical instrument manufacturer? No, sire. A toy store!! :p Not kidding here. Had a really hard time to take Ernie Ball seriously some 25 years ago. I can honestly say that it took several years before I realized that it was a very serious company that made top of the line products. I had a -76 Stingray back then and I didn´t even get that EB had bought Musicman until years later.... Refused to use strings with a silly name on the package. Didn´t even try them because of that. I know better now..... :)

//J
 
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Bloodfist

Bloodfist

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Charleston SC
These Chinese replicas are way to common. I was doing some AC work at a local pawn shop and saw a replica of a Zakk Wylde Custom Les Paul, creme colored with the back bullseye. They were wanting $1200 for it. I spoke with the manager and informed her it was fake. She told me that she knew it was fake. Someone had bought and sold 3 of these to 3 different pawn shops in Charleston, and they all thought they were real when they bought them off of the guy so basically they lost a lot of money on the sale and were trying to get back what they had lost. She didn't know how much they were exactly worth, so I pulled up the website were you can buy them and showed her. They went for $250 brand new. Needless to say she got sick to her stomach.

The bad thing about these replicas is how close they are to looking like the real deal. If you were standing 5 feet away from one, you would think they are legit. The Zakk Wylde Les Paul was almost dead on, and if it wouldn't have been for the fact that I had played a real one recently, I probably wouldn't had been able to tell it was fake by looking at it. After picking it up, I could immediately tell a difference in the weight. These things are basically made of plywood. The back of the neck was painted the same color, and there was some paint run offs in the bullseye. It said gibson, even had the ZW logo and a serial number on the back of the headstock, and the pickups even looked like real EMG's. here's a pic of the same one Zakk Wylde Gibson Les Paul Custom w/Case NO RESERVE on TradeTang.com
Unfortunately I do know some people that have bought replica guitars like these. They don't actually play guitar, but used them to decorate their bars or houses.
 
mfallmann

mfallmann

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47° 7' 51" North, 14° 18' 31" East
Bloodfist said:
These Chinese replicas are way to common. I was doing some AC work at a local pawn shop and saw a replica of a Zakk Wylde Custom Les Paul, creme colored with the back bullseye. They were wanting $1200 for it. I spoke with the manager and informed her it was fake. She told me that she knew it was fake. Someone had bought and sold 3 of these to 3 different pawn shops in Charleston, and they all thought they were real when they bought them off of the guy so basically they lost a lot of money on the sale and were trying to get back what they had lost. She didn't know how much they were exactly worth, so I pulled up the website were you can buy them and showed her. They went for $250 brand new. Needless to say she got sick to her stomach.
Click to expand...

this is the danger i see when we're talking about such replicas. i mean, every player should know that it's not the real stuff you get for such a price. but i am sure that there are a lot of criminals out there who'd buy such a guitar cheap and then sell it via ebay for a multiple of their costs ... in a german guitar magazine there was a story last year covering a les paul that one of the editors had bought in China. for a "normal" customer, the differences are not visible ... and another drawback for the original manufacturer is that he doesn't only lose money, but also reputation, because these instruments will get into the used market and destroy the manufacturer's reputation.

@big poppa: are there no ways you as a company can stop this? i work for a large danish company that also runs some factories in china, and we suffered severely under product piracy, but managed to have one of these factories shut down ... there must be a way, even if it means having to team up with your competitors ...
 
Sheppardslegion

Sheppardslegion

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Dec 13, 2006
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Bay Robert's, NL
You should send them an email asking why they are using pictures of your instrument on their website. There has to be a law somewhere for this level of abuse.

Pretty lame stuff in my opinion.

Shepp...
 
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