DrKev
Moderator
...with snipers and extended team and a sledge hammer!
- Thread starter mojomkr
- Start date
metalmarty
Well-known member
They are getting better and better. At the dutch gitaarnet forum we have a topic called "the suspicious guitars topic" in which everybody can link adds that they aren't sure of. It's over 500 pages long. It has been running for a couple of years and you can see the brand-experts getting more and more problems to identify the fakes. It's just esthetics mostly, most still play and sound like the driftwood they were made from.
And it's not only the big brands anymore. They are copying Epiphones as well. You pay just under $300 or something. Why in the world would you buy a fake Epi? And how are beginners supposed to tell if it's real or not? It's a disgrace.
The problem lies in the reselling of the things after they are imported. Guy knowingly imports a fake, sells it on to an unsuspecting buyer. And then the **** hits the fan. Dutch customs has raised inspection of chinese packages and you get a major fine if caught and rightly so. The guitarcrowd is split 50/50. One half is opposed, others say "there's no harm if you just buy it for yourself" as if you hold on to a piece of firewood for decades.
It's a question of morals, and there seems to be a lack of that in the fake-guitar-buyers-world and in society in general. Only way to stop it is to collectively stop buying the damn things.
straycat113
Well-known member
Excellent post Metalmarty and I totally agree. The most vocal supporters for these guitars are really young guys teens to early twenties as they believe they can impress by looking like they have the real thing. To be honest the one I saw and heard did not sound that bad and was actually a real nice looking guitar. I would have no problem with them if there was some corporate name on the headstock like in the 70s with the Tokai, Greco and Ibanez Fender and Gibson copy's which at least told you they were not the real thing, but this is outright counterfeiting and a ton of people have been burnt already.
I guess with the Japanese companies it was easier to have them stop through the courts as the relations between our countries, China is a different case. I have no idea why the guitar companies have not gone after Paypal for helping aiding and abed a fraudulent act, since that is there number one way of getting paid. I know something about Federal law lol, and believe me I cannot see it being that hard to make Paypal stop, and if you take away Paypal from them you are going to cripple them on the web which is their major outlet. If things continue the way they are I give them another three years before 85% of players would not be able to tell a real from a fake, especially on the models they had the earliest jump on.
I guess with the Japanese companies it was easier to have them stop through the courts as the relations between our countries, China is a different case. I have no idea why the guitar companies have not gone after Paypal for helping aiding and abed a fraudulent act, since that is there number one way of getting paid. I know something about Federal law lol, and believe me I cannot see it being that hard to make Paypal stop, and if you take away Paypal from them you are going to cripple them on the web which is their major outlet. If things continue the way they are I give them another three years before 85% of players would not be able to tell a real from a fake, especially on the models they had the earliest jump on.
Agree with the PayPal thing. A Cease and Desist to Google and
Toronto Sun and others as well. They are actually making money
on the advertising side even before that crap is sold. Thats one of
the reason I do not like Relics. It serves no purpose other than to
deceive. Some Relics are so over done, It's a joke. When the
Chinese start relicing guitars, It's gonna get worse.
Toronto Sun and others as well. They are actually making money
on the advertising side even before that crap is sold. Thats one of
the reason I do not like Relics. It serves no purpose other than to
deceive. Some Relics are so over done, It's a joke. When the
Chinese start relicing guitars, It's gonna get worse.
