i actually bought a fake gibson lol, i really liked it xD It was actually much better quality for what I payed than I would have gotten if I didn't buy it from china. (and bought a legit crap brand imported by a guitar shop)
@G L Nah, I would sell it first and buy 4 or 5 epiphones. Seriously though, I will hold it for a while until I can trade it for something a lot better. My best guitar is a 95 les paul special. I wouldn't trade that one for pretty much anything. It's pretty sad the direction they at Gibson have gone. Maybe it is a 98. I have to check.
@@bigted1953 Sure, but someone posted a dad joke about First Act guitars being cheap, and themself being silly; you responded by saying that if a poor African child played a First Act guitar, they would be better than the person who made the joke if they played a Les Paul. You don't see how randomly commenting that to a stranger unprompted could come across as a little bit very, very bizarre and confusing? It's like if someone posted, "Oh boy, I sure do love fried chicken!" and I responded with, "I bet you could NEVER outrun a chicken, and even teenagers from Mexico can do that! Your comment was bad!" I mean, it's not offensive, or funny, or even sensical; it's just sort of confusing, and a little bit embarrassing to read. It's odd. I think thats the best way to describe it; it's just odd.
I don't see why they have to, as some of the stuff is pretty good. I bought a Grote guitar for $250 and I think it's a fantastic guitar, has a nice finish on it and is I think very good quality. It's not a Les Paul, but it plays and sounds great (After swapping the pickups for Alnico II).
Good video! You can tell he’s really passionate about this. It makes sense when you love guitar gear to be mad when you see someone have a bad experience with it, it would really upset you.
Just last week I went to check out a Suhr Guthrie Govan Signature model from a Cragslist ad. We met at a Taco Bell near his house. So, the first thing I noticed when he walked in was it was in a gigbag. Red flag #1. The first thing I did was to loosen all the strings to feel the machine heads, which felt loose and cheap, Red flag #2. The fit and finish was worse than a $100 Epiphone. Red flag # 3. I then pulled out a screw driver to remove a pickup, he said no. Red flag #4. I asked to remove the neck, he also declined. Red flag #5. I asked how much he paid for it, he said he traded it for a motorcycle, no receipt. Red flag #6. I handed it back and went to the counter to buy a four pack of tacos, which was more valuable than the guitar.
Its always a slap in the face when someone makes a fake of such a niche instrument. I played both real and fake Shawn Lane Vigiers before and it was like driving a Ford Model T vs a Ferrari. Same with those Sterling JP 7 strings when compared to the EBMM JP 7s. (Disclaimer: sterlings are beyond fine entry levels)
Buy an entry level Ibanez, Squier or Yamaha, dependable machines with great QC. You'll spend less and end up with much a nicer axe than you would if buying on Ali etc.
My favorite part is always the vacuum cameo.. "keep your work area clean" Phil, you ever want to tend bar you got a job with me based on that principle alone!! That is so important. Great content as always brother! Thanks for keeping us entertained and informed!
Through years of buying vintage and antique items, and now guitars, for my personal enjoyment, I have learned to never let anyone rush me. I take it as a red flag, then I walk away. There will always be another guitar. A better guitar. Great video, Phil. very informative. Cheers from Alberta.
Western guit builders are pricing themselves out of buisness, I owned Gibson BC Rich, And Fender in the 40 yrs I've played, now its all Squires, and whatever plays nice
@Michael Miller Yeah, but still, the process is almost entirely automated due to advances in CNC machines- the first cars were unobtainable due to being hand crafted and expensive, but when Ford developed the assembly line prices dropped like a rock. Today Gibson shits out guitars faster than a race horse. And figure this- a basic USA made car cost the same as a basic Korean/Japanese car, so why aren't our instruments the same way? LTD/Shecter for me.
@@wyvern4588 Ford didn't invent the assembly line. The first assembly lines were set up to build military rifles in the 1800's once machining allowed gun manufacturers to produce interchangeable parts.
What burns me is when I see these guys selling Chibson Les Pauls at flea markets priced like real ones..and unknowing people get duped. I try to warn people when I can. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Know your gear! And yes I know some China Les Pauls are okay for some people..but they should not be copying logos and brands. It's against the law. It's when they try to sell them as the real thing that gets out of hand. I've seen lots of people spend large amounts of money on fake Gibsons. Be careful.
I agree100% I seen my local guitar center selling a used fake LP for over a $1000 about a year ago, they didn't want to hear it when I told them. I was at another guitar center recently about 40 min from home and the had a fake Burton for $1699, I told them to call Ed and he'd confirm that it was indeed a fake, they actually actually asked me if I could leave the store. Dangerous out here in the guitar buying world.
I buy direct and make sure the paperwork proves it is real and not a fake. At least I do know my Kiesel is real since I bought it from the Kiesel factory. Bought my Suhr from dealer and had the paperwork and serial number.
@@jeffwyatt2256 You should report them to the police, it must be illegal to sell counterfit goods and present them as the real deal in the US, they even raid people selling counterfit goods in China.
I was at a guitar store in San Antonio checking out what I thought was an older Les Paul like 50's relic. And I noticed this little gap be tween the b and s in ths Gibson Insignia. Well it was fake and going for $500. It was made but a local guitar maker, very cool though. I paid $500 for '75 LP, but it was real, thank God.
I had one too. Real POS. The neck would move sideways and the string would fall off the fret board. It makes me LOL when is see people selling them on line. I sold that guitar and purchased a 1973 SG which I still have.
@@stringspicksandfiddlestick6388 Yep. I always advise anyone who wants a good '70s Fender to buy a reissue - cheaper, better made, better sounding. Mine's "worth" about £2k, but you can walk in to any guitar shop, pay £300 and get a 'Strat' that'll be ten times better in every way.
Phil, i just felt the urge to tell you how much respect i have for you and your channel, your sense of fairness and responsibility, and your great choice of content for us guitar-geeks out there... keep doing your thing, please! I am finally "getting to know my gear"... thanks so much.
I respect companies like Harley Benton because while they try to imitate more expensive guitars at least they have the integrity to use their name instead of Gibson Ibanez Etc...And some of them are decent guitaes.. just not quite up to par with the real thing
Harley Benton makes excellent low-end guitars. Like, if you want a beginner/project/beater guitar, they're totally the way to go. But they also don't advertise themselves as being a premium instrument.
@@Kylora2112 not my experience with them at all. I bought a multiscale 6 string that was completely unplayable out of the box. And being shipped in from Germany made it even more of a hassle to return. Maybe I got a dud. But it was a terrible dud.
Thank you for posting this video Phil. Folks do need to be educated. I've seen the knock offs and even played a few and you can tell by poor quality, poor wiring and poor electronics/ pick ups. BTW... You look great Phil. Keep up with the weight loss journey, I'm on one myself.
You'd think most people could tell by the horrid electronics. However I've seen people swear to me a $200 Dean sounded better than a custom shop Les Paul. Many people have dead ears. People don't know what good guitar gear even sounds like around where I live. I've never even seen a tube amp in person or for sale. All solid state and cheap Schecters.
I have bought 2 really well made guitars from Ali. Both under 300, a Chibson and a Chender. I am a working father of 4 so my budget doesn't allow me to spend Gibson's ridiculous prices. So I bought 2 well made guitars, one of which needed zero upgrades, surprisingly.
Putting maple in a guitar ruins tone, especially a maple cap on the body. It's all a co$metic $cam. If they cared about tone it would B an all mahogany instrument =)
I have a “Strat” I got on eBay that came packaged by a 3 year old and when I took it out the logo, serial, Made in, etc. we’re all stickers. I contacted the guy and he gave the run around to the point where I figured, “this is officially my mess around” Guitar. I did my first relic job on it and outside of a horrendous neck (which I’ll replace one day), it’s not the saddest day of my life. But you’re dead on that people have no issue ripping others off if there’s money to be made. I actually almost submitted it for a sharpen my axe, but it’s far from saving at this point, lol.
I used to work for GC in a large city and we had some really good guitar guys who could spot fakes and would turn them away.... However, my local GC where I live now (much smaller store) keeps getting hit with fakes (I even tell them that they are fakes), not only guitars, but high end pedals as well (Klons)!! Of course when I tell them they are fake, they use the excuse that the serial number checked out... Ugh, the serial number will always check out because that's what they used to copy!! Buyer Beware!!!
@@joerobinson6199 I believe we need GC. They keep prices in check for us... I make a point to spend in the local ones to keep them in business, mostly small stuff like strings. Sure they are far from perfect but so is all the other retailers...
Also gotta' love how he fux up the intro with what sounds like 'clicking' digital dropout errors instead of typing or printing noises = what a loon. "Woo I'm so incompetent even my intro sounds busted" HAHA
Gibson and Fender are not high end except in price anymore. One thing no one ever comments on is that in their salad days American guitars were sold by dealers, usually at full list price, fifty per cent markup but for that the dealers were expected to set the guitar up and do whatever was needed. Most dealers would put an hour or two into a guitar when it came in from the factory or distributor. When mailorder and big box stores became the primary vendors that went away.
@@gdawgs101 yeah. he thinks guitars can lose their mojo if you take the neck off. Also, he claimed people who use pedals suck at guitar for some reason
@@2beJT I believe he said pedals hide bad playing. For instance the Edge is labeled as a great guitar player although he uses about three or more delay pedals and power chords.
Yeah, but Eric Johnson can allegedly tell the difference in what battery brands folks use in their Fuzz Faces and what have you. But JB is okay. Always the Pontiac of blues guitarist.
Here's how I look at bolt-on necks: those screws have to bite into fresh wood every time they're re-inserted, so either make a dedicated attempt to put it together and leave it that way, or use better fasteners like nice guitars are supposed to. If all your fittings are metal-on-metal, you could probably dismantle the guitar daily for years and still not have serious wear on the parts. If it's just wood screws straight into the neck, though, then yeah, it gets a bit sloppier, a bit less stable every time. (Of course it can be repaired but that's a whole different issue.)
I sharpened a mex strat from watching your videos. The guitar had scratches and water damage. Replace all the electronics with new loaded pick guard and Trem , Fender tuners and bone nut. I sanded the neck to almost bare and filed the frets. Decided to leave the Mexican decal serial number on it just because I think all I’ve done to it makes it more valuable and I don’t want anyone to think I’m trying to pull anything over on them if I decide to sell it
I recently bought a mint condition Samick Malibu MB1 which looks identical to the PRS Strat clone. I only paid $60 for it and it's actually very good quality except for the edges of the frets. It actually comes stock with Grover tuning pegs and it has a sick metallic blue finish. I'm replacing the pick guard with a black pearl SSH one and filing down the frets.
I own a fake strat, i built it ,painted it, did the electrical, the whole 9 yards, its modded to witts end. Its a fake but its better than the real thing, honestly. I put my own blood, sweat, and tears into it, its 11 years old this year and its my main axe
@@betty4774 This if it has a Fender logo then it is fake. If you put your own branding on it then it isn't violating any copyrights and can't be considered a fake.
I have a pretty badass Frankenstrat also but I don't consider it a fake at all. All hand built and hand picked parts etc... No logo on it. Not passing it off as something it's not.
I saw a chibson ( a really bad one as well) in a pawn shop with a 2500 dollar price tag on it. I alerted the owner of the store, because I thought maybe he bought it from someone and didn't know it was fake, and he may have been out a bunch of money. His answer to me was, he knew it was fake. He was selling it on consignment for someone who would gladly take 800 dollars for it! But he told me he hoped someone who didn't know it was fake would just buy it, or maybe someone would pick it up and accidently damage it and he would be able to demand them pay for the guitar. There are crooks out there! Sad that nowadays the untrained eye can be fooled, even myself I wasn't aware the guitar was fake until I started playing it, and it didn't seem right.
sad, but nothing new. people have been selling knock-off instruments for centuries. just look at all the hype over stradivarius violins. keep your eyes open
I got a low end Ibanez knockoff I modded with a high gain humbucking pick up (I do not need to use the other single coils), put Grover tuners, installed good quality hardware and electric shielding. I had a luthier to put it in its tracks with intonation and truss rod setup and pronto: best guitar any amateur would want.
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Four years ago a young guy in our town was conned into buying what was presented as a1962 olympic white strat. The story was it belonged to a service member who had been killed in Afghanistan and his dad just couldn't bear to look at it anymore and wanted it gone. And the $8,000.00 price was what the dad said he spent on funeral costs for his son. After buying the guitar he took into his guy who immediately realized it was a fake. Long story short the seller disappeared and do did the young guys $8,000.00. Far as i know police said not much they can do.
Jeff Bradford that’s ridiculous. And you Chibson buyers are at fault for bringing them into the country and some of you dare to sell them as the real thing. Not just Chibsons but a lot of brands.
Joe Robins I don’t own any fake guitars. All I said was I found it. I wouldn’t buy anything from AliExpress. When Phil said it was fake that was the most common place I’ve heard to look
I guess it’s sometimes cheaper to buy a fake guitar than it is to source the parts locally. If guitar companies stopped ripping people off they wouldn’t have this problem !! Brands like Schecter deserve to survive as they offer incredible value compared to Gibson and Fender.
I bought a US strat in 2010 standard model new. At a reputable fender dealer. Long story short. I refinished it and low and behold it had a 7 piece body with ply on the front and back. Fender said in an email. We don’t expect our customers to refinish their instruments. You only get a 2 or 3 piece body on high end and custom shop models. Even sunburst ones are made like this so be careful they hide it well. I painted it black and give it to my grandson to learn on it has a good neck and pickups.
I’m a much bigger fan of import brands just starting their own brand. Some of the fakes looked at as 200-300 guitar would be decent just not as a 1000 guitar.
For me, the core of the problem is divided into these three elements : 1) Buying good guitars on the internet without testing them out 2) Paying disconnected prices for "brands" or for "vintage" 3) Lack of extended gear experience of the normal guitarists, relying more on forums for their input, than on IRL experience Those three elements combined are assembling themselves and cross themselves multiple times there. Just follow me here if you want. - Our parents, had a strategy when they searched THEIR good guitar.They took their car, a train, tramped, and got on o a tour, trying to find a good instrument they could afford. This was ar rite of passage from struggling artist to artist, and I know lots of old mens and womens that did exactly that. - But, with the venue of the internet, we started to buy our guitars online, and it killed of many little retailers. Making a possibility for peoples to live near one, and making the ability to gain/share experience, more problematic. - Internet forums started to appear, and some brands started to become hyped to the roof. This contributed to make them more popular an the price raised. - In the decade 2000 to 2010, Vintage and branding, became a thing. Fueled by the hypes in forum, and peoples where more encline to pay more and more for old guitars/amps/boxes... popular brands prices where on the rise too and we saw some crazy shit happen back then. (Like the Pearly gates reissue coming out for 7'900$, all stock bought dry in a few weeks, and then re-sold by speculation artists for 14'900$)... lots of stories like that. - So we came to the situation where we had less educated peoples, ready to throw more money than ever for overhyped things. - This is the point where CHINA comes in. They where always good at making fakes, and are, on this market, since they entered it. But, as already said on forums, this was only a matter of time for their luthiers to become skilled and the processes around high end guitars perfectly understood. - Now, they can take the time and care it needs, to make a solid, well crafted fake, that will, of course, take much less money to make, because it's China we are speaking about, and the salaries and costs are just a fraction of everywhere else on earth. So, they can manage to produce what we are actually paying 3'500 $ on the used market to have, for a fraction of the price, and they make a good amount of cash in the process. It also takes them much less time to sell them this way, than to try to make a brand, and expose themselves to lawsuit and the backslash of the community. So here we are now ! Good fake guitars that the standard fellow can't recognize using the normal methods, but willing to throw in a shitload of money anyway because "Tender Les Ball's + Vintage". ... we had it coming guys. We had it coming. THEY ARE SOLUTIONS FOR THIS PROBLEM : - Try out many guitars. Use every occasion to try out new things, from every price range. Do it for you, not for the internet or the fame of having done it. - Don't buy a guitar you can't try out. If the guitar is too far away, go there flying or renounce - Don't buy overpriced stuff. If, for example, a good Les Paul costs you more than 3'000 dollars on the used market, there is no actual sense to that outside from beeing a collector or brand instrument. Because good Les Pauls will tend to come around those prices, new.
I have a theory that many of these Chinese factories, at least the better ones from which I've seen some actually good quality knock offs, are the factories that have been the offshore places making the Epiphone line, LTD line, some of the Squier line and many of the budget line of the major brands, for years and we've all been duped by the big brands for years. They are now pissed off the cat is out of the bag and Joe Public like me or anyone can purchase direct and not get gouged anymore. Similar in many ways to the old lawsuit era of Ibanez (Mann, Greco), Tokai to name a few. A few years back, based on some info a friend in the business gave me, I bought a low priced SX Strat body guitar. When I got it, I pulled it apart to 'tech' it and make sure everything checked out. The guitar was $180 to my door. The wood was a solid piece of Alder, the Tobacco Burst finish, to this day, is as good or better than any Fender, when I popped the tuners out and took off the SX branded covers, surprise, they were Schallers, the three pots had the Fender 'F' logo on the back, the neck was a decent piece of Maple. I'll bet that factory builds stuff for Fender.The pickups were junky. Replaced them with some GFS Lil' Killer Humbucker Rails, put some 500k pots, and I had an Alvarez Ibanez looking Rosewood 22 (Jumbo) fret neck that I put on it and for about $350, it's a killer guitar. Another friend who had been in the biz for years, manufactured guitars with their own company, knew people who worked at Fender, told him straight up, Fender Custom Shop are simply the best of the assembly line guitars, with 'flawless' bodies, aesthetically nice neck wood pieces, pulled from the assembly line, then given individual attention such as finishes, detailed setups, higher detail attention to frets, whatever other little features and BS they can 'sell' you and the prices are jacked up to $3k or $4k, or more. It's a joke.
MediaJunkie, I think you hit the nail on the head, for the most part. Those Lawsuit-era companies didn’t cease making guitars, they just altered them. Many overseas factories build products for multiple markets in multiple nations. So it’s very possible that the same group of workers who built Squier a few months back are producing Cort products for the next town over this month.
Sneedy Ketler-Baumbach I was going to suggest looking at Cort guitars as a budget friendly way for people to get an excellent guitar. Cort makes guitars for many of the household brands. They also sell their own branded stuff. And they do build fantastic guitars.
It's no secret that the custom shop guitars are cherry picked parts and given more attention to fit and finish. That's the whole point of buying one and everything I've seen or read about them points to that. It's not like they advertise that they have Leo Fender clones had picking trees in some forest, winding pickups by hand, and hand carving bodies.
To add to this, look for stories from sellers that don't add up. For example, I was interested in a Jag-Stang on Reverb. The seller used photos that he stole from various ads on the internet and said that he didn't take photos of the actual guitar because it was in the studio. First off, the stolen pics are a huge red flag and secondly, if you write songs using the guitar, chances are you're going to take it home with after you've spent time in the studio recording. In my opinion, it's not believable. He also did the sense of urgency thing. He told me he had a baby on the way and needed cash asap. He also told me he had another interested buyer which is a line I've heard from people selling cars to just about anything. Do your research and a little detective work if you need to before sending anyone money over the internet. If I hadn't of done reverse image searches of the pics he uploaded, I may have sent a stranger nearly a $1,000 and got ripped off. I did report the ad though and Reverb took it down. 😁
Wilhelm The Conquerer I had Warmoth make me a neck for my homemade Broadcaster. If you do that you will end up with a guitar of a quality that fender doesn't do. If you put the Fender name on it people will know it's not a fender because it is built too good and feels better. Here's a tip. US made Fenders use the same electric as Mexican Fenders. But what you will pay for Fender pickups you can get hand wound pickups that are sweet.
I think they actually pay Fender a licensing fee to use their designs. Honestly though, I'd be willing to pay more for it if I knew it was Warmoth parts, lol.
@@startrekmike first of all, let me just state that my "signature" Strat won't use Fender hardware, or even a Fender logo. That said, I will eventually build my self the most vintage correct '59 Strat possible using an unfinished Warmoth neck and body, but that's just because I'm not willing to pay 1-2 grand extra just for Fenders custom shop to make it for me, not because I'm planning to sell it. All that aside, a counterfeit Fender using Warmoth and genuine Fender parts will cost you about as much as an American Fender anyways
@@wilhelmtheconquerer6214 Well. There is nothing wrong with building your own partscaster using whatever parts you wish but the moment you put a Fender decal on the headstock is the moment you have to be pretty careful about not contributing to a very real counterfeit problem we have in the guitar world. To put it another way. What steps would you take if you did end up needing to sell it in the unforeseen future? Would you remove the decal since your guitar (made with Fender or Fender licensed parts or not) isn't really a Fender product?
Superb video thanks ! I have seen plenty of "Chibsons" & knock off Fenders but no idea they faked "boutique" brands . Makes sense & makes me very wary , potentially shopping for a used Fano or similar ...
Well, I got one and it is stellar. I got it knowing it was fake, there was transparency so I wasn’t ripped off. It’s a Regius 7 replica and it shreds. Threw some Fishman Fluence in it and it is leaps and bounds better than anything I could get for 500-700 dollars. When I paid less than half that.
Who remembers Ed Roman and has seen the video of him choping a Gibson les Paul apart.He said it was the only way to get the neck. I never heard Gibson complain about this as Ed sold these guitars with new bodies to famous people and collector's. On TH-cam their is a video of Billy Gibbon's in his shop.
Ibanez and Yamaha started out building counterfeits. Personally I think we should just leave this alone- if you can't tell the difference between a $100 Chinese LP clone and a real Les Paul maybe Gibson should build better guitars? Or in the case of small boutique brands, you can already tell the difference.. and if you can't, did you really get a shit guitar? Brb ordering one that doesn't have a logo on ebay
Just saw a video on here the other day where a guy took a bolt-on Gibson Invader neck from the 80's and laid it on top a new Les Paul, all the frets lined up perfectly. Then he laid the neck on top of a Chibson and all the frets were behind or ahead of the Gibson neck. The guy pointed out that you would NEVER get the Chibson in tune or intonated, except maybe the one fret you set it to.
I bid on a guitar on Reverb and the guy emailed back he could not respond to my offer on Reverb. I got the impression he wanted to move off site and I got that bad feeling. I said sorry and moved on. May have been legit but why take the chance.
I feel bad for the newbies that may get ripped off buying fakes. That being said, I feel bad for the players who've been around for awhile walking into Guitar Center eyeballing a standard Stratocaster at $800+ that was made in Mexico. Don't hand me the excuse of "Oh, the parts were made in the U.S."; I don't buy that shit! And Gibson's cheap-ass move with that horrid satin finish charging big bucks is nothing less than revolting. People will not pay big bucks for crap and that is why the U.S. big guitar manufacturers are winding up with their dicks in the dirt! People are willing to take a $300 dollar chance, not a $3000 dollar one.
Seriously sometimes the right set up is everything... I got a cheap Jackson, and a luthier but it in pieces just to put it back perfectly and super precise together.. cleaned the pickups (different ones, not the ones the guitar came with) from the inside , even mill out some parts out... He worked over 12 hours on it and it sounds and feels like a complete different guitar, much more sustain, more clarity, better tone in general... You don't really need to buy a expensive guitar :D
I recently bought a fake PRS SE Standard 24 at a national chain music store. The store had a 45 day return policy and when the guitar was returned my wife asked the counter person if they authenticate musical instruments here. The counter person replied yes, an put the fake PRS back in the used area were it was resold days later
ANY guitar where the head does not match the body or the fingerboard should be banned, & the back of the neck should always match the body if the body is painted. The fact guitarists R such foolish retards that they would pay thousands of dollars 4 krap that looks like random spare parts slapped together (most Fenders) speaks volumes about their absurd pothead alcoholic lib-tard nature =))
Only buy guitars from trusted sources. Aliexpress, wish and ebay are not trusted sources. This is why i only buy guitars from a locally owned music shop (not guitar center).
@@erichuff6945 ive built a couple. Well, assembled a couple. They were ok. I'm currently waiting for Ernieball to finish making my dream bass. Ordered through my locally owned shop out course.
Excellent points, Phillip. I'd add that what I find, fairly often, with knockoffs, is not simply poor fit and finish, which is, sadly, more and more common on any big name, high production, factory made product, but, as you say, the details. I get a lot of offshore guitars in the shop, and do my best to bring out the potential, hoping the customer can end up with a great playing guitar that is still well under the price of a famous brand product. While I have had perfectly fine knockoffs, like an American Alder SX tele with 1/4 sawn maple neck, 2 way truss rod, great pickups, excellent fret job, fine tuners, excellent finish, I had to wade through a half a dozen to find this ONE good one. All it really needed was a bone nut and graphtech saddles, which I put on everything I can. But what I often find is the fakes cannot be intonated, accurately. The placement of the bridge, or the scale of the neck, or both, is just off, ever so slightly that it is impossible to ever dial in perfect intonation. Other details I find, fairly regularly, are the tuners may not be lined up; the nut slot may not be cut square; the access hole to the truss rod may not be large enough or may be off center or both, so you'd be looking at quite a bit of work to correct these flaws. Most of these details are not apparent to an excited buyer; they can only be found when it's on the slab, ready for mods and upgrades. American parts will not fit offshore guitars, and I often find expensive, quality parts on cheap guitars, and they do not help because they do not fit. I recently had to undo all of the rather expensive upgrades to a rare, badass, limited edition Indonesian Squier Strat. When I got it back to stock, it was perfectly fine, and still inexpensive for the playing quality. The last area that distinguishes cheap knockoffs from the real deal is the quality of the wood. The top name factory builders and boutique builders select the best grade, correctly cured woods. The cheapo brands don't bother; consequently that (now) great looking neck may warp or twist after a few years. (Got one sitting right here, now). Not such a problem with a bolt on, but end of the line with a set neck. All in all, I agree with you on the main points. I hate fake anything, and have never respected ripoffs. Building a reliable, stable, perfectly fine guitar shouldn't break the bank. You just have to consider what is worth while. By the way, my dear old friend, the late, great Larry Coryell showed up with a Cort guitar, once. I asked if he had fallen on hard times, and he laughed and explained that Cort had been around for a long time, building all grades of guitars for lots of brands, and that ALL of these big factories build guitars for all levels of players, from beginners to pros. His signature Cort is an example of the top quality products they can, and will, make.
I have a $400 guitar with Seymore Duncan's and locking tuners and it plays and sounds better than a Fender or Les Paul. I changed the strings and pots as well and it's sweet. $4000 ??? Nah!!
That's cool. I have a Schecter that I gave 700 for with a gator case. It's got Seymour Duncan's on it and it's amazing for the price. All the so called high end guitars are way overpriced.
The thing with cheap instruments in general (not just guitars) is an utter lack of quality control. You may get a really nice one. More likely, you'll get something reasonable, but with one major flaw you have to fix if you want to use that instrument seriously. But from time to time, you'll get something that is just utterly unplayable and should be harvested for parts. When you pay more, you damn well expect NOT to get one of those (although occasionally you still do).
@@mal2ksc There's really no substitute for playing and/or inspecting a guitar before you buy it. Buying stuff online is definitely convenient, but it's impossible to know if you're getting a good one or a dud unless you actually play the exact guitar you are buying.
I have a Schecter $700 guitar and I have an Ibanez $2000 guitar and I can tell you that it’s night and day difference. The Schecter is still very good for the price. It’s just not as good neck action but close enough to be very playable.
Wutipong Wongsakuldej Thats right. I see some criticism on the posts “ oh they obviously have no eye” Man oh man when did guitar people get to be such know it alls? Theres a hundred reasons someone could be fooled. But there are some people commenting on this subject i guess it wouldn’t ever happen to ‘cause well, they are just smarter than everyone else.
It's hard for me to criticize knock offs when my favorite guitar that I own is a lawsuit Ibanez Les Paul from the 70s. It sounds great and it honestly sounds better than my real gibson from that era. This has me believe that if it's knockoff and it's better quality than an expensive, brand name guitar why wouldn't you want to buy it? I have no problem buying copy guitars if they are better than what they are trying to knock off. That said, unless you can go and play the instrument and see that it's great quality I wouldn't bother taking the risk.
@@anuvette it is an "apples and oranges" situation, Ibanaz products still identified as Ibanaz.Of course, lying and claiming that your product is of the actual brand when it isn't is just fraud.
There is a huge difference between stuff like the lawsuit era Ibanez's and the current counterfeit market problem. Your Ibanez doesn't have "Gibson" on the headstock. it isn't trying to pass itself off as another brand entirely. If you were to sell that guitar to a pawn shop, another person wouldn't buy that guitar later thinking that it is a Gibson. That is the big difference. It isn't intentionally, obviously deceiving anyone. When we are talking about counterfeit guitars, we are talking about companies creating cheap, poorly made copies and actually putting Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc on the headstock illegally. It may not be a trick for the fool who actually buys it in the first place but the moment it ends up in the second-hand market, it makes things worse for everyone. These kinds of guitars (and the fools who initially buy them and then sell them off later) are the reason we need to be so paranoid about authenticity with used guitars. It sucks and customs in all countries should be more aggressive about shipping such counterfeits even if the initial buyer takes a loss (or gets fined for making the situation worse).
For my 17th birthday (23 years ago), my dad bought me a Kramer guitar and amp set so I would leave his guitars alone. I did the setup on it. It's one of the best guitars I've owned. I have heard lots of people shit on Kramer, but this one beats any squire strat at like half the price. Also, EVH played Kramer when he started. Some may be fakes, but mine is not.
A friend of mine worked in China and said that when guitar manufacturers moved from Korea and Japan to China they built factories and trained workers. Then they moved from China to Indonesia etc. they sold the factories lock stock and barrel to investors and businessmen. So you’ve got a factory all set up to build guitars, and workers trained to do it. They pick up some business building guitars and other products. But there’s also companies that built pickups, etc. They buy a expensive guitar, and take it apart and reproduce it. No EPA so paint isn’t a problem. People buy them, and as long as they do, they will keep making them.
I get all the hate on fake guitars when people are getting ripped off but there's a good side too. You can custom order any sort of shape/configuration/fretboard, basically like a custom shop but cheap, they're not the best guitars at first but once you've upgraded them and get it set-up they can be pretty damn good guitars customized to your liking! You will have to find the right shop, there are some really good ones but there are alot of bad ones too though.
I don't know of anyone who would mind that. Not everyone can do the woodworking to build a guitar from scratch but most guitarists know how to set up guitars. As long as they don't go around saying their diy build is a legit 1947 Gibson or an original series LP and they are straight up with the fact they put raw to work no one I know would say anything bad, especially if it sounds decent.
Yes, but that can be done without saying it's someone else's brand. I'm perfectly fine if you build a single-cutaway solidbody, two pickups, 3+3 headstock... but brand it as "Gibson" and say it's worth $4500 and that's where we'll have issues.
Guitars especially electric guitar aren't very expensive to make, you don't need to fidget with acoustics, you can in theory make it out of a shovel and it'd be fine. It isn't like that with many other instruments. So the extra thousands that you pay for a premium guitar, that's mostly brand and some nicer crafting. But I bet if you paid the Chinese more, they'd do just as well. Besides people complain about the neck not being sanded properly or the frets being rough, you can fix that yourself very easily. Do you have any shop you could recommend Rudie?
@@robkphoto5530 Not every shop makes the same guitars so just look on AliExpress and find a shop with the guitar that you want, make sure it has good ratings and lots of orders. Send a message to the shop to see how they communicate and test their knowledge. When you've ordered it ask for pictures before they send it so you can spot things that might be wrong when it's still there. And like you said, lots of little problems that might come with it can be fixed by yourself quite easily. I think you can get great value guitars from there.
@@egmccann that's why I ordered mine without a headstock logo, or put on your own custom logo! People don't realize that it's also People who scam with these guitars, don't blame the manufacturer.
Some people don't know that those are fakes. A lot of time the symptoms are not immediately apparent or require you to literally take the guitar apart.
I always wanted a gibson eb2 d. They don't make them anymore so I bought one from Ali for £240 with no branding and changed the pickups. Amazing guitar. Did the same with a reliced tele but verything went in the bin except the body. Neck was appalling and the machine heads did not tune at all. Ali is a gamble.
Awesome videos and thanks for sharing this with the rest of us. I do have one question. If you sanded off the name and coloring of the neck, then why would you stamp FAKE onto the guitar? If you left the brand name on the guitar, then I would understand you stamping FAKE onto the the guitar, but since the name is missing, or the identifier, then why would you still burn the word fake onto the guitar?
Fun tidbit: I used to work at a music equipment distribution center. I can't verify this actually happened, since I did not handle the guitars and such, but I heard that some people would attempt to return fakes to the stores/RMA them for supposed defects to get brand new/real guitars.
Good thing I didn't get duped; I'm happy with my 100% genuine Givson guitar.
Man you got ripped off, only look for chibsons or benders
It should be great if its named Givsom
same man Im so happy my 100% legit tender is not a fake
i actually bought a fake gibson lol, i really liked it xD It was actually much better quality for what I payed than I would have gotten if I didn't buy it from china. (and bought a legit crap brand imported by a guitar shop)
Play authentic
You won’t find me getting stung like that, I’ll stick with my Fender Les Paul
Omfg ;D
Eric B Jesus, do all jokes go right over your head? Mong!
@Eric B 🤣🤣🤣
@Eric B ahem. r/whooosh
@@slowdriver6868 Shoo, Shoo, go back to reddit you overweight neckbeard.
Mayonnaise IS an instrument
M M i got the patrick reference 😂😂😂
I'm almost positive that Mayones is actually how they pronounce Mayonnaise in Slavic countries as well XD
I would play a guitar like that with relish...
@@anvil777 In Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian etc. it does, it's very very close
Yes, but I think this is Miracle Whip.
I just got a real les paul that I thought was fake due to the low quality. It's real.
You gotta burn REAL into it.
Hahahaha
@G L true, I still love my epi though don't get me wrong
@G L Nah, I would sell it first and buy 4 or 5 epiphones. Seriously though, I will hold it for a while until I can trade it for something a lot better.
My best guitar is a 95 les paul special. I wouldn't trade that one for pretty much anything. It's pretty sad the direction they at Gibson have gone.
Maybe it is a 98. I have to check.
Actually heard this one a few times, so I hate to say it's not just you. Love my Epi SG.
Darn, I just found out my used First Act Guitar is a fake. I knew $2.50 was too good to be true!
You're funny :)
😂
I've actually seen a couple fake First Act guitars. They were all rip-offs of that Volkswagen guitar they did in the 2000's for some reason.
@@bigted1953 What a weird thing to comment. Why are you so upset?
@@bigted1953 Sure, but someone posted a dad joke about First Act guitars being cheap, and themself being silly; you responded by saying that if a poor African child played a First Act guitar, they would be better than the person who made the joke if they played a Les Paul. You don't see how randomly commenting that to a stranger unprompted could come across as a little bit very, very bizarre and confusing? It's like if someone posted, "Oh boy, I sure do love fried chicken!" and I responded with, "I bet you could NEVER outrun a chicken, and even teenagers from Mexico can do that! Your comment was bad!" I mean, it's not offensive, or funny, or even sensical; it's just sort of confusing, and a little bit embarrassing to read. It's odd. I think thats the best way to describe it; it's just odd.
Now the Chinese will start branding their fakes with a "fake" logo to copy your KYG guitars.....
😂😂😂🤣🤣
And then they'll be brought into the shop and branded FAKE FAKE...
At least they would be honest?
this is my Phillip McKnight Signature Edition Counterfeit Gibson Les Paul... i got a GREAT deal on it, dude...
I don't see why they have to, as some of the stuff is pretty good. I bought a Grote guitar for $250 and I think it's a fantastic guitar, has a nice finish on it and is I think very good quality. It's not a Les Paul, but it plays and sounds great (After swapping the pickups for Alnico II).
If you think about it, FAKE would be an awesome name for a premium guitar company!
The E is silent.
Why not they already make music books.
"Fake" guitars would be bought by wanna-be blues guitarists, resulting in "Fake Blues"....
@@goodun6081 this has officially become a running gag!😁
I approve this idea, and would play Fake Guitars.
I got Steve Vai to sign my fake Jem. He did it with a smile too.
Haha
Did you know it was fake at the time?
He probably fake signed it...
I hope this is true, because that’s actually pretty funny lol
@ThePaul Steezo Actually it was a fake Vai~ It's Steal Five.
One way to tell if your Gibson Les Paul is real is if the G String won't stay in tune. :-)
mine does
It's true they don't.
@Jimmy Durex we are all wankers, especially the ones of us that are married.
不死川喜子 i got some news for you buddy
Put Big Bends Nut Sauce in the nut slot.
"The only free cheese is in the trap."
Yeah, I got trapped by quality.
Good video! You can tell he’s really passionate about this. It makes sense when you love guitar gear to be mad when you see someone have a bad experience with it, it would really upset you.
This mayonnaise guitar doesn't pass mustard.
Lol
So it's not mayonnaise it's Miracle Whip
@G. V. Quinn "Pass" and "cut" can both be used interchangeably in that phrase. However, it's "muster," not mustard. But that'd ruin the joke
These fake guitars are not something you would relish. The quality will never ketchup to a real guitar.
@@markcheetah4960 its a condiment joke dude!😉
Just last week I went to check out a Suhr Guthrie Govan Signature model from a Cragslist ad. We met at a Taco Bell near his house. So, the first thing I noticed when he walked in was it was in a gigbag. Red flag #1. The first thing I did was to loosen all the strings to feel the machine heads, which felt loose and cheap, Red flag #2. The fit and finish was worse than a $100 Epiphone. Red flag # 3. I then pulled out a screw driver to remove a pickup, he said no. Red flag #4. I asked to remove the neck, he also declined. Red flag #5. I asked how much he paid for it, he said he traded it for a motorcycle, no receipt. Red flag #6. I handed it back and went to the counter to buy a four pack of tacos, which was more valuable than the guitar.
Its always a slap in the face when someone makes a fake of such a niche instrument. I played both real and fake Shawn Lane Vigiers before and it was like driving a Ford Model T vs a Ferrari. Same with those Sterling JP 7 strings when compared to the EBMM JP 7s. (Disclaimer: sterlings are beyond fine entry levels)
You attempted to make a craigslist transaction inside the taco bell? What?
Was his selling price on par with what they go for used?
Sorry but you ended up buying fake tacos, I'm Mexican and I know a lot of tacos and those are fake 😳
@@iranhernandez6659 You should do a youtube channel about spotting fake tacos. I'd watch the hell out of that.
There’s nothing “beautiful” about the top. It looks like Kansas Pisswood.
Like gangrenous jungle rot. Not a fan.
It may be the camera.
Hey, Pisswood has some excellent tonal qualities.
Yeah looks like it's covered in green mold with guitars u get what u pay for it looks extremely cheap
I guess that depends on if you like the color green. I don't love that top but I certainly like it.
Beautiful top? - Okay, that's a matter of taste. To me it looks like a piece of rotten, moldy cheddar...
Buy an entry level Ibanez, Squier or Yamaha, dependable machines with great QC. You'll spend less and end up with much a nicer axe than you would if buying on Ali etc.
This. Exactly.
Today's Squire are amazing, good fret job, nice woods, beautiful series to choose 🤘Indonesian made are the best (for me) 👊
Pacifica 👏🏽👏🏽
@Richard Hodgson i love my Pacifica. I have an IBANEZ prestige and i can tell you that Pacifica is a serious vfm guitar
You could also save up and look for a good used guitar in great condition
My favorite part is always the vacuum cameo.. "keep your work area clean"
Phil, you ever want to tend bar you got a job with me based on that principle alone!! That is so important.
Great content as always brother! Thanks for keeping us entertained and informed!
Through years of buying vintage and antique items, and now guitars, for my personal enjoyment, I have learned to never let anyone rush me. I take it as a red flag, then I walk away. There will always be another guitar. A better guitar. Great video, Phil. very informative. Cheers from Alberta.
"Learn to recognize quality..." Best advice ever.
Western guit builders are pricing themselves out of buisness, I owned Gibson BC Rich, And Fender in the 40 yrs I've played, now its all Squires, and whatever plays nice
@Michael Miller Yeah, but still, the process is almost entirely automated due to advances in CNC machines- the first cars were unobtainable due to being hand crafted and expensive, but when Ford developed the assembly line prices dropped like a rock. Today Gibson shits out guitars faster than a race horse.
And figure this- a basic USA made car cost the same as a basic Korean/Japanese car, so why aren't our instruments the same way?
LTD/Shecter for me.
@Michael Miller why would i do that when i can buy a used USA strat for less than 800?
Agreed. Own all of those except gibson. Just waiting on tha right one
@@wyvern4588 Ford didn't invent the assembly line. The first assembly lines were set up to build military rifles in the 1800's once machining allowed gun manufacturers to produce interchangeable parts.
@@johnjriggsarchery2457 Interesting, I'm sure Ford was the first to build cars in that fashion though.
What burns me is when I see these guys selling Chibson Les Pauls at flea markets priced like real ones..and unknowing people get duped. I try to warn people when I can. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Know your gear! And yes I know some China Les Pauls are okay for some people..but they should not be copying logos and brands. It's against the law. It's when they try to sell them as the real thing that gets out of hand. I've seen lots of people spend large amounts of money on fake Gibsons. Be careful.
I agree100% I seen my local guitar center selling a used fake LP for over a $1000 about a year ago, they didn't want to hear it when I told them. I was at another guitar center recently about 40 min from home and the had a fake Burton for $1699, I told them to call Ed and he'd confirm that it was indeed a fake, they actually actually asked me if I could leave the store. Dangerous out here in the guitar buying world.
I buy direct and make sure the paperwork proves it is real and not a fake. At least I do know my Kiesel is real since I bought it from the Kiesel factory. Bought my Suhr from dealer and had the paperwork and serial number.
Mythoillogical What a stupid fuckin comment!
@@jeffwyatt2256 You should report them to the police, it must be illegal to sell counterfit goods and present them as the real deal in the US, they even raid people selling counterfit goods in China.
The problem with Gibson in particular is that the real ones are so poorly made, how are you supposed to tell them from the fakes?
I say, buying fakes is fine so long as you dont try to resell it as a genuine
Exactly. NO one that has a clue is (a) going to be fooled by one or (b) think they're getting a Les Paul for $175.
I was at a guitar store in San Antonio checking out what I thought was an older Les Paul like 50's relic. And I noticed this little gap be tween the b and s in ths Gibson Insignia. Well it was fake and going for $500. It was made but a local guitar maker, very cool though. I paid $500 for '75 LP, but it was real, thank God.
Eddie Perez wish I could have seen it. Sounds interesting
NO
I've got a 1979 Fender Stratocaster that pretends to be a guitar.
What is it really? Boat anchor?
I had one too. Real POS. The neck would move sideways and the string would fall off the fret board. It makes me LOL when is see people selling them on line. I sold that guitar and purchased a 1973 SG which I still have.
@@stringspicksandfiddlestick6388 Yep. I always advise anyone who wants a good '70s Fender to buy a reissue - cheaper, better made, better sounding.
Mine's "worth" about £2k, but you can walk in to any guitar shop, pay £300 and get a 'Strat' that'll be ten times better in every way.
@@somebodyelseuk My Moto:"Just because it's old don't mean it's good."
I had a 1975- heavy as concrete. My friend had a $100 no-name strat that absolutely blew it away!
Beware when sanding paint on these fake guitars because it may contain lead, thanks for the vid!
Ahmad Ghassan lead’s fake too. No worries mate
And new strains of Beastman AIDS
Phil, i just felt the urge to tell you how much respect i have for you and your channel, your sense of fairness and responsibility, and your great choice of content for us guitar-geeks out there... keep doing your thing, please! I am finally "getting to know my gear"... thanks so much.
I respect companies like Harley Benton because while they try to imitate more expensive guitars at least they have the integrity to use their name instead of Gibson Ibanez Etc...And some of them are decent guitaes.. just not quite up to par with the real thing
Harley Benton makes excellent low-end guitars. Like, if you want a beginner/project/beater guitar, they're totally the way to go. But they also don't advertise themselves as being a premium instrument.
@@Kylora2112 not my experience with them at all. I bought a multiscale 6 string that was completely unplayable out of the box. And being shipped in from Germany made it even more of a hassle to return. Maybe I got a dud. But it was a terrible dud.
@@ds97853 how dare people talk about imitation guitars on a video about imitation guitars
@@ds97853 anyone that likes anything you dont like is obviously a shill duh
@@ds97853 thats a very strange response coming from someone that unfairly deemed someone else a shill
How do we know this is really you in the video?
There's no "FAKE" anywhere on his dome.
his appendages are functional when 3:06 he gets to work 😂
Thank you for posting this video Phil. Folks do need to be educated. I've seen the knock offs and even played a few and you can tell by poor quality, poor wiring and poor electronics/ pick ups.
BTW... You look great Phil. Keep up with the weight loss journey, I'm on one myself.
You'd think most people could tell by the horrid electronics. However I've seen people swear to me a $200 Dean sounded better than a custom shop Les Paul.
Many people have dead ears. People don't know what good guitar gear even sounds like around where I live. I've never even seen a tube amp in person or for sale. All solid state and cheap Schecters.
I have bought 2 really well made guitars from Ali. Both under 300, a Chibson and a Chender. I am a working father of 4 so my budget doesn't allow me to spend Gibson's ridiculous prices. So I bought 2 well made guitars, one of which needed zero upgrades, surprisingly.
Have you ever heard of layaway and financing?
After watching this video, I am now currently building a series of guitars called "Mustard'!!
Putting maple in a guitar ruins tone, especially a maple cap on the body. It's all a co$metic $cam. If they cared about tone it would B an all mahogany instrument =)
I have a “Strat” I got on eBay that came packaged by a 3 year old and when I took it out the logo, serial, Made in, etc. we’re all stickers. I contacted the guy and he gave the run around to the point where I figured, “this is officially my mess around” Guitar. I did my first relic job on it and outside of a horrendous neck (which I’ll replace one day), it’s not the saddest day of my life. But you’re dead on that people have no issue ripping others off if there’s money to be made. I actually almost submitted it for a sharpen my axe, but it’s far from saving at this point, lol.
Damn!!! Doesn't eBay have any sort of recourse for you, besides just beingg able to give the guy a bad review?
you should have contacted Ebay and got your money back from that ass wipe
That may be a fake Mayones, but it is technically a real guitar. 😉
haha
True
tswc42 a genuine POS guitar! A good tech can often make a crap guitar play well so long as the neck doesn’t twist and bend like a pretzel.
tswc42 good job man what a revelation
Right. The title of this video is misleading.
I used to work for GC in a large city and we had some really good guitar guys who could spot fakes and would turn them away.... However, my local GC where I live now (much smaller store) keeps getting hit with fakes (I even tell them that they are fakes), not only guitars, but high end pedals as well (Klons)!! Of course when I tell them they are fake, they use the excuse that the serial number checked out... Ugh, the serial number will always check out because that's what they used to copy!! Buyer Beware!!!
@TJFriddell - So some GC stores are selling knockoff or "fake" high end guitars and gear ?
@@jasoncardona1799 fake that they aren't aware of.. i noticed it and they just brushed it off.. oh well...
@GretschDog ....LMFAOOOOO!
TJ Friddell yea not going to be buying from them. What a scam.
@@joerobinson6199 I believe we need GC. They keep prices in check for us... I make a point to spend in the local ones to keep them in business, mostly small stuff like strings. Sure they are far from perfect but so is all the other retailers...
FOR SOMEONE WHO WORKS WITH AUDIO IV GOTTA SAY THE LEVELS IN THIS VIDEO ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE !
Stuart White STILL BETTER THAN SHOUTING ALL THE TIME!
Also gotta' love how he fux up the intro with what sounds like 'clicking' digital dropout errors instead of typing or printing noises = what a loon. "Woo I'm so incompetent even my intro sounds busted" HAHA
So, Now I know what to name my boutique guitar company... FAKE.
I have your marketing slogan - "Fake it til ya make it". Cut me in for a percentage ha ha.
FAKE for the discerning consumer.
“High end guitars have quality detail work”? I’ve seen quite a bit of crappy fretwork on Gibsons over the past 20 years...
Gibson and Fender are not high end except in price anymore.
One thing no one ever comments on is that in their salad days American guitars were sold by dealers, usually at full list price, fifty per cent markup but for that the dealers were expected to set the guitar up and do whatever was needed. Most dealers would put an hour or two into a guitar when it came in from the factory or distributor. When mailorder and big box stores became the primary vendors that went away.
They did say high end guitars, so really, using Gibson isn't fair.
Jackson custom shop has been quite atrocious the last year or two also. They must have one guy in there that dgaf
Totally I see crappy fret work on expensive guitars all the time
Oh man Joe Bonamassa is gonna be mad that you got everyone popping their neck pockets!
After checking my neck pocket, I'm going to plug into my 19-pedal pedalboard and do a bunch of divebombs.
@@gdawgs101 yeah. he thinks guitars can lose their mojo if you take the neck off.
Also, he claimed people who use pedals suck at guitar for some reason
@@2beJT I believe he said pedals hide bad playing. For instance the Edge is labeled as a great guitar player although he uses about three or more delay pedals and power chords.
Yeah, but Eric Johnson can allegedly tell the difference in what battery brands folks use in their Fuzz Faces and what have you.
But JB is okay. Always the Pontiac of blues guitarist.
Here's how I look at bolt-on necks: those screws have to bite into fresh wood every time they're re-inserted, so either make a dedicated attempt to put it together and leave it that way, or use better fasteners like nice guitars are supposed to. If all your fittings are metal-on-metal, you could probably dismantle the guitar daily for years and still not have serious wear on the parts. If it's just wood screws straight into the neck, though, then yeah, it gets a bit sloppier, a bit less stable every time. (Of course it can be repaired but that's a whole different issue.)
Dang, I don't know. That burned in fake makes the instrument look pretty ugly. Maybe it would make more sense to do it on a non visible place
@A D I've actually seen guitars branded fake in the neck pocket. I think in place of the serial # would make sense
I sharpened a mex strat from watching your videos. The guitar had scratches and water damage. Replace all the electronics with new loaded pick guard and Trem , Fender tuners and bone nut. I sanded the neck to almost bare and filed the frets. Decided to leave the Mexican decal serial number on it just because I think all I’ve done to it makes it more valuable and I don’t want anyone to think I’m trying to pull anything over on them if I decide to sell it
I recently bought a mint condition Samick Malibu MB1 which looks identical to the PRS Strat clone. I only paid $60 for it and it's actually very good quality except for the edges of the frets. It actually comes stock with Grover tuning pegs and it has a sick metallic blue finish. I'm replacing the pick guard with a black pearl SSH one and filing down the frets.
You have a good heart, that’s why I continue to tune in. Love ya, Bro!
I own a fake strat, i built it ,painted it, did the electrical, the whole 9 yards, its modded to witts end.
Its a fake but its better than the real thing, honestly.
I put my own blood, sweat, and tears into it, its 11 years old this year and its my main axe
it's only fake if you put the fender logo on it and tell everybody is a modded fender, otherwise, is just a badass partcaster!
Doesn’t sound fake to me brother! Sounds like you built your own custom guitar. To me that’s bad ass! Probably better than an official Strat! Lol
@@betty4774 This if it has a Fender logo then it is fake. If you put your own branding on it then it isn't violating any copyrights and can't be considered a fake.
I have a pretty badass Frankenstrat also but I don't consider it a fake at all. All hand built and hand picked parts etc... No logo on it. Not passing it off as something it's not.
It is if it has the same body shape and neck shape just saying if everyone is gonna bitch about it then you gotta go all in .
I saw a chibson ( a really bad one as well) in a pawn shop with a 2500 dollar price tag on it. I alerted the owner of the store, because I thought maybe he bought it from someone and didn't know it was fake, and he may have been out a bunch of money. His answer to me was, he knew it was fake. He was selling it on consignment for someone who would gladly take 800 dollars for it! But he told me he hoped someone who didn't know it was fake would just buy it, or maybe someone would pick it up and accidently damage it and he would be able to demand them pay for the guitar. There are crooks out there! Sad that nowadays the untrained eye can be fooled, even myself I wasn't aware the guitar was fake until I started playing it, and it didn't seem right.
sad, but nothing new. people have been selling knock-off instruments for centuries. just look at all the hype over stradivarius violins. keep your eyes open
People who knowingly sell counterfeit goods should be reported to ICE - Counterfeit Goods section.
why didn't you call Gibson? it's against the law , co assign or what ever he calls it, it's still breaking the law.
@@teemoleague907 didn't know it was.
I got a low end Ibanez knockoff I modded with a high gain humbucking pick up (I do not need to use the other single coils), put Grover tuners, installed good quality hardware and electric shielding. I had a luthier to put it in its tracks with intonation and truss rod setup and pronto: best guitar any amateur would want.
Four years ago a young guy in our town was conned into buying what was presented as a1962 olympic white strat. The story was it belonged to a service member who had been killed in Afghanistan and his dad just couldn't bear to look at it anymore and wanted it gone. And the $8,000.00 price was what the dad said he spent on funeral costs for his son. After buying the guitar he took into his guy who immediately realized it was a fake. Long story short the seller disappeared and do did the young guys $8,000.00. Far as i know police said not much they can do.
I found this exact guitar on AliExpress for $430
Ouch, I'd rather have my $89 SX guitar...
Jeff Bradford that’s ridiculous. And you Chibson buyers are at fault for bringing them into the country and some of you dare to sell them as the real thing. Not just Chibsons but a lot of brands.
Joe Robins I don’t own any fake guitars. All I said was I found it. I wouldn’t buy anything from AliExpress. When Phil said it was fake that was the most common place I’ve heard to look
so must be about a 3500-5000 guitar judging by that price.
I guess it’s sometimes cheaper to buy a fake guitar than it is to source the parts locally. If guitar companies stopped ripping people off they wouldn’t have this problem !! Brands like Schecter deserve to survive as they offer incredible value compared to Gibson and Fender.
Counterfeit guitar would probably be a more accurate description. "Fake Guitar"? It may be a knockoff, but it's still a guitar.
Yeah... My air guitar... but that's just a knockoff Explorer
I bought an air guitar that turned out to be farts - not real air at all. What a rip off!
Is that the one that Joe Cocker once owned?
@A. Fox 😂
I bought a US strat in 2010 standard model new. At a reputable fender dealer. Long story short. I refinished it and low and behold it had a 7 piece body with ply on the front and back. Fender said in an email. We don’t expect our customers to refinish their instruments. You only get a 2 or 3 piece body on high end and custom shop models. Even sunburst ones are made like this so be careful they hide it well. I painted it black and give it to my grandson to learn on it has a good neck and pickups.
Removing the logo is such a nerd thing to do lmao
Its actually the best decision he made considering leaving it on has the potential to cause legal trouble
Thanks for addressing this really serious issue ... always good info in your content !
3:06 put a warning before showing such murder
That’s a legit jumpscare
Aaahhhhh.
I’m a much bigger fan of import brands just starting their own brand. Some of the fakes looked at as 200-300 guitar would be decent just not as a 1000 guitar.
For me, the core of the problem is divided into these three elements :
1) Buying good guitars on the internet without testing them out
2) Paying disconnected prices for "brands" or for "vintage"
3) Lack of extended gear experience of the normal guitarists, relying more on forums for their input, than on IRL experience
Those three elements combined are assembling themselves and cross themselves multiple times there. Just follow me here if you want.
- Our parents, had a strategy when they searched THEIR good guitar.They took their car, a train, tramped, and got on o a tour, trying to find a good instrument they could afford. This was ar rite of passage from struggling artist to artist, and I know lots of old mens and womens that did exactly that.
- But, with the venue of the internet, we started to buy our guitars online, and it killed of many little retailers. Making a possibility for peoples to live near one, and making the ability to gain/share experience, more problematic.
- Internet forums started to appear, and some brands started to become hyped to the roof. This contributed to make them more popular an the price raised.
- In the decade 2000 to 2010, Vintage and branding, became a thing. Fueled by the hypes in forum, and peoples where more encline to pay more and more for old guitars/amps/boxes... popular brands prices where on the rise too and we saw some crazy shit happen back then. (Like the Pearly gates reissue coming out for 7'900$, all stock bought dry in a few weeks, and then re-sold by speculation artists for 14'900$)... lots of stories like that.
- So we came to the situation where we had less educated peoples, ready to throw more money than ever for overhyped things.
- This is the point where CHINA comes in. They where always good at making fakes, and are, on this market, since they entered it. But, as already said on forums, this was only a matter of time for their luthiers to become skilled and the processes around high end guitars perfectly understood.
- Now, they can take the time and care it needs, to make a solid, well crafted fake, that will, of course, take much less money to make, because it's China we are speaking about, and the salaries and costs are just a fraction of everywhere else on earth. So, they can manage to produce what we are actually paying 3'500 $ on the used market to have, for a fraction of the price, and they make a good amount of cash in the process. It also takes them much less time to sell them this way, than to try to make a brand, and expose themselves to lawsuit and the backslash of the community.
So here we are now ! Good fake guitars that the standard fellow can't recognize using the normal methods, but willing to throw in a shitload of money anyway because "Tender Les Ball's + Vintage". ... we had it coming guys. We had it coming.
THEY ARE SOLUTIONS FOR THIS PROBLEM :
- Try out many guitars. Use every occasion to try out new things, from every price range. Do it for you, not for the internet or the fame of having done it.
- Don't buy a guitar you can't try out. If the guitar is too far away, go there flying or renounce
- Don't buy overpriced stuff. If, for example, a good Les Paul costs you more than 3'000 dollars on the used market, there is no actual sense to that outside from beeing a collector or brand instrument. Because good Les Pauls will tend to come around those prices, new.
I got a feeling my hello kitty guitar might be a fake. The neck broke and two strings popped off it. I thought Walmart had to sell name brands.
Great video. I like to look at used gear on Facebook marketplace, but I am still nervous about not knowing enough and getting scammed with a fake.
Yes, quite a few fakes on FB yard sale. No such thing as a Gibson replica.
This is the first video I've ever seen about fakes. Great info, Phil. Thanks.
I have a theory that many of these Chinese factories, at least the better ones from which I've seen some actually good quality knock offs, are the factories that have been the offshore places making the Epiphone line, LTD line, some of the Squier line and many of the budget line of the major brands, for years and we've all been duped by the big brands for years. They are now pissed off the cat is out of the bag and Joe Public like me or anyone can purchase direct and not get gouged anymore.
Similar in many ways to the old lawsuit era of Ibanez (Mann, Greco), Tokai to name a few.
A few years back, based on some info a friend in the business gave me, I bought a low priced SX Strat body guitar. When I got it, I pulled it apart to 'tech' it and make sure everything checked out. The guitar was $180 to my door. The wood was a solid piece of Alder, the Tobacco Burst finish, to this day, is as good or better than any Fender, when I popped the tuners out and took off the SX branded covers, surprise, they were Schallers, the three pots had the Fender 'F' logo on the back, the neck was a decent piece of Maple. I'll bet that factory builds stuff for Fender.The pickups were junky. Replaced them with some GFS Lil' Killer Humbucker Rails, put some 500k pots, and I had an Alvarez Ibanez looking Rosewood 22 (Jumbo) fret neck that I put on it and for about $350, it's a killer guitar.
Another friend who had been in the biz for years, manufactured guitars with their own company, knew people who worked at Fender, told him straight up, Fender Custom Shop are simply the best of the assembly line guitars, with 'flawless' bodies, aesthetically nice neck wood pieces, pulled from the assembly line, then given individual attention such as finishes, detailed setups, higher detail attention to frets, whatever other little features and BS they can 'sell' you and the prices are jacked up to $3k or $4k, or more. It's a joke.
MediaJunkie guitarfetish's Xaviere guitars are nice, right out of the box. I have three and love them. They come stock with the GFS pickups, already.
MediaJunkie, I think you hit the nail on the head, for the most part. Those Lawsuit-era companies didn’t cease making guitars, they just altered them. Many overseas factories build products for multiple markets in multiple nations. So it’s very possible that the same group of workers who built Squier a few months back are producing Cort products for the next town over this month.
Sneedy Ketler-Baumbach I was going to suggest looking at Cort guitars as a budget friendly way for people to get an excellent guitar. Cort makes guitars for many of the household brands. They also sell their own branded stuff. And they do build fantastic guitars.
100% Correct on the Fender part, PRS is the same way.
It's no secret that the custom shop guitars are cherry picked parts and given more attention to fit and finish. That's the whole point of buying one and everything I've seen or read about them points to that. It's not like they advertise that they have Leo Fender clones had picking trees in some forest, winding pickups by hand, and hand carving bodies.
To add to this, look for stories from sellers that don't add up. For example, I was interested in a Jag-Stang on Reverb. The seller used photos that he stole from various ads on the internet and said that he didn't take photos of the actual guitar because it was in the studio. First off, the stolen pics are a huge red flag and secondly, if you write songs using the guitar, chances are you're going to take it home with after you've spent time in the studio recording. In my opinion, it's not believable. He also did the sense of urgency thing. He told me he had a baby on the way and needed cash asap. He also told me he had another interested buyer which is a line I've heard from people selling cars to just about anything. Do your research and a little detective work if you need to before sending anyone money over the internet. If I hadn't of done reverse image searches of the pics he uploaded, I may have sent a stranger nearly a $1,000 and got ripped off. I did report the ad though and Reverb took it down. 😁
"Hey man, this is genuine, the serial numbers on the body and neck match, maaaannn! Yes, the serial number is F A K E!"
I’m planning on getting a strat from warmoth and slapping fenders logo and hardware on it. Just to have my own signature “fender Stratocaster”!
Wilhelm The Conquerer I had Warmoth make me a neck for my homemade Broadcaster. If you do that you will end up with a guitar of a quality that fender doesn't do. If you put the Fender name on it people will know it's not a fender because it is built too good and feels better. Here's a tip. US made Fenders use the same electric as Mexican Fenders. But what you will pay for Fender pickups you can get hand wound pickups that are sweet.
I think they actually pay Fender a licensing fee to use their designs. Honestly though, I'd be willing to pay more for it if I knew it was Warmoth parts, lol.
Just be aware that if you do end up getting rid of the guitar, someone might sell it to someone else as if it were the genuine article.
@@startrekmike first of all, let me just state that my "signature" Strat won't use Fender hardware, or even a Fender logo.
That said, I will eventually build my self the most vintage correct '59 Strat possible using an unfinished Warmoth neck and body, but that's just because I'm not willing to pay 1-2 grand extra just for Fenders custom shop to make it for me, not because I'm planning to sell it.
All that aside, a counterfeit Fender using Warmoth and genuine Fender parts will cost you about as much as an American Fender anyways
@@wilhelmtheconquerer6214 Well. There is nothing wrong with building your own partscaster using whatever parts you wish but the moment you put a Fender decal on the headstock is the moment you have to be pretty careful about not contributing to a very real counterfeit problem we have in the guitar world.
To put it another way. What steps would you take if you did end up needing to sell it in the unforeseen future? Would you remove the decal since your guitar (made with Fender or Fender licensed parts or not) isn't really a Fender product?
Superb video thanks ! I have seen plenty of "Chibsons" & knock off Fenders but no idea they faked "boutique" brands . Makes sense & makes me very wary , potentially shopping for a used Fano or similar ...
Also the big companies are over priced. Got a old 60s Japanese Teisco that feels and sounds amazing ya don't need expensive to sound great
Well, I got one and it is stellar. I got it knowing it was fake, there was transparency so I wasn’t ripped off. It’s a Regius 7 replica and it shreds. Threw some Fishman Fluence in it and it is leaps and bounds better than anything I could get for 500-700 dollars. When I paid less than half that.
Who remembers Ed Roman and has seen the video of him choping a Gibson les Paul apart.He said it was the only way to get the neck. I never heard Gibson complain about this as Ed sold these guitars with new bodies to famous people and collector's. On TH-cam their is a video of Billy Gibbon's in his shop.
Ibanez and Yamaha started out building counterfeits. Personally I think we should just leave this alone- if you can't tell the difference between a $100 Chinese LP clone and a real Les Paul maybe Gibson should build better guitars? Or in the case of small boutique brands, you can already tell the difference.. and if you can't, did you really get a shit guitar? Brb ordering one that doesn't have a logo on ebay
This is absolutely not true. Building a "knock off" is something that is close. Counterfeit tries to sell AS THE BRAND.
They may not have a market if companies like Gibson didn't charge 3K for a Les Paul bass..
Stop whinging. Don't buy a gibson if you don't want to. Nobody cares.
I just bought a 2017, fender Stratocaster, American professional HSS, 20 bucks. It's real!!!!
Just saw a video on here the other day where a guy took a bolt-on Gibson Invader neck from the 80's and laid it on top a new Les Paul, all the frets lined up perfectly. Then he laid the neck on top of a Chibson and all the frets were behind or ahead of the Gibson neck. The guy pointed out that you would NEVER get the Chibson in tune or intonated, except maybe the one fret you set it to.
I bid on a guitar on Reverb and the guy emailed back he could not respond to my offer on Reverb. I got the impression he wanted to move off site and I got that bad feeling. I said sorry and moved on. May have been legit but why take the chance.
I didn’t know Mayonnaise even made guitars.
I feel bad for the newbies that may get ripped off buying fakes. That being said, I feel bad for the players who've been around for awhile walking into Guitar Center eyeballing a standard Stratocaster at $800+ that was made in Mexico. Don't hand me the excuse of "Oh, the parts were made in the U.S."; I don't buy that shit! And Gibson's cheap-ass move with that horrid satin finish charging big bucks is nothing less than revolting. People will not pay big bucks for crap and that is why the U.S. big guitar manufacturers are winding up with their dicks in the dirt! People are willing to take a $300 dollar chance, not a $3000 dollar one.
Great video. It's sad seeing how many fakes are all over the internet for sale.
Nice work and you actually made it look better.. Even branded fake the guy must have left as a happy customer.
I got my 80 les paul custom back in 87 for $350 with chainsaw case!..yes its real..still have it!
That was a time to buy.
Hell no you can't brand my guitar. I gotta try and get my money back.
Finally know how to pronounce that brand! Cheers mate!
I would like to see a video like this on american "champagne" and "whisky"
Fake alcohol is such a scummy practice, the same with the marijuana and cigar market.
Seriously sometimes the right set up is everything... I got a cheap Jackson, and a luthier but it in pieces just to put it back perfectly and super precise together.. cleaned the pickups (different ones, not the ones the guitar came with) from the inside , even mill out some parts out... He worked over 12 hours on it and it sounds and feels like a complete different guitar, much more sustain, more clarity, better tone in general... You don't really need to buy a expensive guitar :D
I recently bought a fake PRS SE Standard 24 at a national chain music store. The store had a 45 day return policy and when the guitar was returned my wife asked the counter person if they authenticate musical instruments here. The counter person replied yes, an put the fake PRS back in the used area were it was resold days later
I think, now this is me personally, I would have stained the headstock to match the mahogany body. Make it balanced.
... as all things should be.
ANY guitar where the head does not match the body or the fingerboard should be banned, & the back of the neck should always match the body if the body is painted. The fact guitarists R such foolish retards that they would pay thousands of dollars 4 krap that looks like random spare parts slapped together (most Fenders) speaks volumes about their absurd pothead alcoholic lib-tard nature =))
Only buy guitars from trusted sources. Aliexpress, wish and ebay are not trusted sources. This is why i only buy guitars from a locally owned music shop (not guitar center).
Guitars, Cars, and other man stuff of your more into playability and less into labels then build the perfect guitar.
@@erichuff6945 ive built a couple. Well, assembled a couple. They were ok. I'm currently waiting for Ernieball to finish making my dream bass. Ordered through my locally owned shop out course.
Well, the guitars from aliexpress and wish are obviously fake, they even say it.
Thank you captain obvious.
Someone is gonna catch one of these guys that will deal with them harshly.
Excellent points, Phillip. I'd add that what I find, fairly often, with knockoffs, is not simply poor fit and finish, which is, sadly, more and more common on any big name, high production, factory made product, but, as you say, the details. I get a lot of offshore guitars in the shop, and do my best to bring out the potential, hoping the customer can end up with a great playing guitar that is still well under the price of a famous brand product. While I have had perfectly fine knockoffs, like an American Alder SX tele with 1/4 sawn maple neck, 2 way truss rod, great pickups, excellent fret job, fine tuners, excellent finish, I had to wade through a half a dozen to find this ONE good one. All it really needed was a bone nut and graphtech saddles, which I put on everything I can. But what I often find is the fakes cannot be intonated, accurately. The placement of the bridge, or the scale of the neck, or both, is just off, ever so slightly that it is impossible to ever dial in perfect intonation. Other details I find, fairly regularly, are the tuners may not be lined up; the nut slot may not be cut square; the access hole to the truss rod may not be large enough or may be off center or both, so you'd be looking at quite a bit of work to correct these flaws. Most of these details are not apparent to an excited buyer; they can only be found when it's on the slab, ready for mods and upgrades. American parts will not fit offshore guitars, and I often find expensive, quality parts on cheap guitars, and they do not help because they do not fit. I recently had to undo all of the rather expensive upgrades to a rare, badass, limited edition Indonesian Squier Strat. When I got it back to stock, it was perfectly fine, and still inexpensive for the playing quality. The last area that distinguishes cheap knockoffs from the real deal is the quality of the wood. The top name factory builders and boutique builders select the best grade, correctly cured woods. The cheapo brands don't bother; consequently that (now) great looking neck may warp or twist after a few years. (Got one sitting right here, now). Not such a problem with a bolt on, but end of the line with a set neck. All in all, I agree with you on the main points. I hate fake anything, and have never respected ripoffs. Building a reliable, stable, perfectly fine guitar shouldn't break the bank. You just have to consider what is worth while. By the way, my dear old friend, the late, great Larry Coryell showed up with a Cort guitar, once. I asked if he had fallen on hard times, and he laughed and explained that Cort had been around for a long time, building all grades of guitars for lots of brands, and that ALL of these big factories build guitars for all levels of players, from beginners to pros. His signature Cort is an example of the top quality products they can, and will, make.
Saw a 1965 gibson 335 in a store. they wanted 1000.00 it and i almost bought it until i called a pro to ck it out. turns out it was made in India.
Wow that is a fake one!?
Edit: OH, if you play one it should instantly be noticeable.
I have a $400 guitar with Seymore Duncan's and locking tuners and it plays and sounds better than a Fender or Les Paul. I changed the strings and pots as well and it's sweet. $4000 ??? Nah!!
Same...It's all in the setup and wiring..
That's cool. I have a Schecter that I gave 700 for with a gator case. It's got Seymour Duncan's on it and it's amazing for the price. All the so called high end guitars are way overpriced.
The thing with cheap instruments in general (not just guitars) is an utter lack of quality control. You may get a really nice one. More likely, you'll get something reasonable, but with one major flaw you have to fix if you want to use that instrument seriously. But from time to time, you'll get something that is just utterly unplayable and should be harvested for parts. When you pay more, you damn well expect NOT to get one of those (although occasionally you still do).
@@mal2ksc There's really no substitute for playing and/or inspecting a guitar before you buy it. Buying stuff online is definitely convenient, but it's impossible to know if you're getting a good one or a dud unless you actually play the exact guitar you are buying.
I have a Schecter $700 guitar and I have an Ibanez $2000 guitar and I can tell you that it’s night and day difference. The Schecter is still very good for the price. It’s just not as good neck action but close enough to be very playable.
Did this customer know they had a fake?
they sure do now...
It’s such a bad fake, I can’t imagine they didn’t know.
Some first time buyers, especially moms who buys one for their kids, would have no idea these guitars are fake.
It's likely. Mayones is a niche manufacturer, so you have to seek out someone that actually makes copies of their stuff.
Wutipong Wongsakuldej Thats right. I see some criticism on the posts “ oh they obviously have no eye” Man oh man when did guitar people get to be such know it alls? Theres a hundred reasons someone could be fooled. But there are some people commenting on this subject i guess it wouldn’t ever happen to ‘cause well, they are just smarter than everyone else.
Thanks Phillip, as always great job
Sure fire way to eliminate the possibility of getting a fake: don't buy used guitars. Buy only from the major retailers. Works every time.
"Routering" lol
"Furuls"
@@North_9 Sodder
It's hard for me to criticize knock offs when my favorite guitar that I own is a lawsuit Ibanez Les Paul from the 70s. It sounds great and it honestly sounds better than my real gibson from that era. This has me believe that if it's knockoff and it's better quality than an expensive, brand name guitar why wouldn't you want to buy it? I have no problem buying copy guitars if they are better than what they are trying to knock off. That said, unless you can go and play the instrument and see that it's great quality I wouldn't bother taking the risk.
If a knockoff is actually good, its not even a knockoff anymore. Its just a good guitar!!
The thing is that the knockoff was attempted to be disguised as the real product
@@anuvette it is an "apples and oranges" situation, Ibanaz products still identified as Ibanaz.Of course, lying and claiming that your product is of the actual brand when it isn't is just fraud.
There is a huge difference between stuff like the lawsuit era Ibanez's and the current counterfeit market problem. Your Ibanez doesn't have "Gibson" on the headstock. it isn't trying to pass itself off as another brand entirely. If you were to sell that guitar to a pawn shop, another person wouldn't buy that guitar later thinking that it is a Gibson. That is the big difference. It isn't intentionally, obviously deceiving anyone.
When we are talking about counterfeit guitars, we are talking about companies creating cheap, poorly made copies and actually putting Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, etc on the headstock illegally. It may not be a trick for the fool who actually buys it in the first place but the moment it ends up in the second-hand market, it makes things worse for everyone. These kinds of guitars (and the fools who initially buy them and then sell them off later) are the reason we need to be so paranoid about authenticity with used guitars. It sucks and customs in all countries should be more aggressive about shipping such counterfeits even if the initial buyer takes a loss (or gets fined for making the situation worse).
Just noticed Fake Kramer Necks on Ebay. Yeah NOS never been Bolted ? Right !
For my 17th birthday (23 years ago), my dad bought me a Kramer guitar and amp set so I would leave his guitars alone. I did the setup on it. It's one of the best guitars I've owned. I have heard lots of people shit on Kramer, but this one beats any squire strat at like half the price. Also, EVH played Kramer when he started. Some may be fakes, but mine is not.
A friend of mine worked in China and said that when guitar manufacturers moved from Korea and Japan to China they built factories and trained workers. Then they moved from China to Indonesia etc. they sold the factories lock stock and barrel to investors and businessmen. So you’ve got a factory all set up to build guitars, and workers trained to do it. They pick up some business building guitars and other products. But there’s also companies that built pickups, etc. They buy a expensive guitar, and take it apart and reproduce it. No EPA so paint isn’t a problem. People buy them, and as long as they do, they will keep making them.
I get all the hate on fake guitars when people are getting ripped off but there's a good side too. You can custom order any sort of shape/configuration/fretboard, basically like a custom shop but cheap, they're not the best guitars at first but once you've upgraded them and get it set-up they can be pretty damn good guitars customized to your liking! You will have to find the right shop, there are some really good ones but there are alot of bad ones too though.
I don't know of anyone who would mind that. Not everyone can do the woodworking to build a guitar from scratch but most guitarists know how to set up guitars. As long as they don't go around saying their diy build is a legit 1947 Gibson or an original series LP and they are straight up with the fact they put raw to work no one I know would say anything bad, especially if it sounds decent.
Yes, but that can be done without saying it's someone else's brand. I'm perfectly fine if you build a single-cutaway solidbody, two pickups, 3+3 headstock... but brand it as "Gibson" and say it's worth $4500 and that's where we'll have issues.
Guitars especially electric guitar aren't very expensive to make, you don't need to fidget with acoustics, you can in theory make it out of a shovel and it'd be fine. It isn't like that with many other instruments. So the extra thousands that you pay for a premium guitar, that's mostly brand and some nicer crafting. But I bet if you paid the Chinese more, they'd do just as well. Besides people complain about the neck not being sanded properly or the frets being rough, you can fix that yourself very easily.
Do you have any shop you could recommend Rudie?
@@robkphoto5530 Not every shop makes the same guitars so just look on AliExpress and find a shop with the guitar that you want, make sure it has good ratings and lots of orders. Send a message to the shop to see how they communicate and test their knowledge. When you've ordered it ask for pictures before they send it so you can spot things that might be wrong when it's still there.
And like you said, lots of little problems that might come with it can be fixed by yourself quite easily. I think you can get great value guitars from there.
@@egmccann that's why I ordered mine without a headstock logo, or put on your own custom logo! People don't realize that it's also People who scam with these guitars, don't blame the manufacturer.
When you can buy an Epiphone or a PRS SE for a good low price I don't know why people are buying Fake Chinese guitars.
nicholascremato exactly it makes no sense. They want the Gibson logo on the headstock I guess.
Some people don't know that those are fakes. A lot of time the symptoms are not immediately apparent or require you to literally take the guitar apart.
I always wanted a gibson eb2 d. They don't make them anymore so I bought one from Ali for £240 with no branding and changed the pickups. Amazing guitar. Did the same with a reliced tele but verything went in the bin except the body. Neck was appalling and the machine heads did not tune at all. Ali is a gamble.
Awesome videos and thanks for sharing this with the rest of us. I do have one question. If you sanded off the name and coloring of the neck, then why would you stamp FAKE onto the guitar? If you left the brand name on the guitar, then I would understand you stamping FAKE onto the the guitar, but since the name is missing, or the identifier, then why would you still burn the word fake onto the guitar?
Fun tidbit:
I used to work at a music equipment distribution center. I can't verify this actually happened, since I did not handle the guitars and such, but I heard that some people would attempt to return fakes to the stores/RMA them for supposed defects to get brand new/real guitars.