Question Super Slinky Strings Fake?

[Hansman]

Hi, I bought Ernie Ball Super Slinky Strings on eBay.
And now I think they could be fake.

What is your guess?

 

[tbonesullivan]

What makes you think they are fake?

 

[Hansman]

Thanks for your reply.

I've seen a YouTube video about the fakes.
And also that chinese sticker on the back made me curios.

I just bought my first guitar, and wanted some good quality strings.
So i can't really tell by the sound.

 

[Tollywood]

The easy way to identify fake strings is the ball on the end. In the pictures I’ve seen of fakes, the ball is rough and a different metal. Yours look real to me.

 

[tbonesullivan]

From what I can see, the Chinese sticker is the inventory tag from the retailer, who appears to be in China. It mentions "ERNIE BALL INC" probably next to the Chinese word for supplier.

 

[beej]

How do they sound?

 

[Twang Banger]

Really, who fakes guitar strings? I can't imagine strings to be the kind of item that has high enough margin or sales volume to make it worth the effort.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Really, who fakes guitar strings? I can't imagine strings to be the kind of item that has high enough margin or sales volume to make it worth the effort.

You'd be surprised. There are some really cheap makers overseas, and they make strings under contract for other companies. Well someone there then gets the idea "lets just copy the packaging from this other company and sell them ourselves" to make more money.

 

[Danley]

Really, who fakes guitar strings? I can't imagine strings to be the kind of item that has high enough margin or sales volume to make it worth the effort.

Dadarrio has some special code on each package of strings, prompting you to enter a code and learn whether your strings are fake or not - seems pretty unusual but apparently fake strings are not a totally incorrigible idea to some.

(*I honestly must have grabbed the Dadarrios on accident. I don't normally buy Dadarrio, never mind an electric set with a wound G, but there it is on top of my amp .)

 

[Tollywood]

Here is an excellent two part video about identifying fake Ernie Ball strings.

Ernie Ball strings: Fake vs Authentic Part 1 Packaging - YouTube

Ernie Ball strings: Fake vs Authentic Part 2 Content - YouTube

 

[danny-79]

Really, who fakes guitar strings? I can't imagine strings to be the kind of item that has high enough margin or sales volume to make it worth the effort.

I’ve been had in the past with fake strings (acoustic Elixirs in my case) everything was off with them from the packaging to the strings them self.
Apparently there are fake strings of every brand possible. I mail order mine and only use a couple of trusted sellers