# Fake Gibsons - Buyer Beware



## bscott (Mar 3, 2008)

Got this off of the Gibson website.

Brian

Consumers Beware: Chinese Wholesale Sites Selling Counterfeit Gibsons and Epiphones
Ellen Mallernee | 11.11.2009
Where can you get an authentic Gibson Les Paul Supreme for $297? Or an ES-335 Dot Reissue for $346?

Nowhere that we know of, though you can find plenty of counterfeit Gibsons and Epiphones online at those alluringly low prices. Chinese wholesale product sites like TradeTang.com, DHGate.com and MadeInChina.com are chock full of cheap, fake Gibson and Epiphone guitars boldly advertised at “Super Low Prices.” 

Unfortunately people like MosriteCharlie, who posted about his experience on Scams.com, are being hustled into purchasing these fake guitars, believing that their hard-earned money is being poured into an investment quality guitar. That is, until they receive the guitar and realize that something is terribly wrong. 

MosriteCharlie’s recent post on Scams.com reads, in part, “Back in July of this year, I purchased two electric guitars that I was led to believe were American made guitars. To make a long story short, I was scammed big time … That is not what I actually received. I received counterfeit fakes.”

However dismaying, the fake guitar epidemic isn’t new to Gibson, which has invested considerable efforts to remove counterfeits from sites like these or to shut them down entirely. 

Gibson’s Manager of Brand Protection Ric Olsen says, “We work diligently to protect the investments of our consumers by taking action against those who sell counterfeit and infringing guitars.” 

Gibson wants to warn consumers not to buy from TradeTang or sites like it, as they’re failing to remove sellers who peddle counterfeit guitars. 

If you want a legitimate and quality new or used piece, you’re best off purchasing through an authorized Gibson or Epiphone dealer.

“Wholesale product sales sites like TradeTang are clearinghouses for fake guitars,” says Olsen. “Some of these sites have policies that allow for quick removal of sellers with counterfeits or infringing pieces, but sometimes it takes a long time for a site to respond and sometimes they never respond at all.”

TradeTang, for one, has been virtually unresponsive to Gibson’s legal demands to remove sellers of infringing and counterfeit pieces. The Web site hasn’t taken down any fake guitars or their sellers from its site. Though counterfeit guitars are still rampant on its site, DHGate has responded to Gibson’s demands by making some effort to better police its site. 

Meanwhile, TradeTang continues to blatantly market fake guitars, sending out email blasts featuring these instruments and paying for Google Ads to lure musicians to its site. 

“TradeTang works as many popular e-commerce and auction sites do except that they have inferior reporting mechanisms in place to take down these illegal sales,” explains Olsen. “TradeTang has a link on each page for reporting infringing or fake product, but it’s useless because they don’t take any action.” 

To report incidents, consumers should file a report at http://www.ic3.gov/.

For questions about a guitar’s authenticity, contact the Gibson Customer Service team at [email protected] or 1-800-4GIBSON. 

For more on counterfeit guitars and Gibson’s ongoing battle against the trend, visit these links:

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyl...web-sites-722/

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyl...erfeitGibsons/

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyl...itar-bust-708/


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

It's a hideous problem for sure. But I have to be very honest when I say that anyone that pays $300 for what is advertised as a genuine Gibson deserves what comes in the mail. Now I assume that there may be people out there, first time buyers etc that dont know any better. But shame on any guitar buff that falls for it.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

THere is a TON of those copies on Kijii and GL...some avertised directly as REAL gibsons..and some come out and say that it,s a SUPERB CLONE with a 600$ to 1000$ tag price when they sell online for 300$ shipped here. 

I contacted a guy who was selling what appeared to be a nice black beauty, but i knew it was a fake with the picts. He told me after a few emails that he KNEW it was a fake, but gut paid almost 3000$ for it not knowing it was a fake, and having wanted a Black Beauty for a long time. Only after going to a luthier to get the action set properly did the luthier inform him it was a Chinesse copy.

His reason for asking such a High price?...." i want to see if i can unload it to make my $$$ back"..i told him...so, you're basicaly trying to scew someone because YOU got screwed!...i ended the discussion there.

we got to be REALY carefull. Chiness are getting better and better at making clones. THey know what's different and they keep improving their copy process.


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## Overt1 (Aug 31, 2009)

300 bucks for a superb clone is a good deal. look at it as a copy that doesn't admit being a copy.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

Let me guess... you sell fake guitars. LOL

Superb clones? Care to back that up? What makes them superb?


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Maxer said:


> Let me guess... you sell fake guitars. LOL
> 
> Superb clones? Care to back that up? What makes them superb?


i've tried a few...and i got to admit, some played damn well actually. A friend bought one...installed burstbuckers!..and god damn, appart from a few small finish details....it became his no1 axe actually.

i'm not suggesting going mad and buying those by the truck load..but for 300$...the good ones play better then a lot of 6oo to 800$ guitar's i have tried.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

But there are a ton of different manufacturers pumping these suckers out, right? The quality must be veering all over the map.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Maxer said:


> But there are a ton of different manufacturers pumping these suckers out, right? The quality must be veering all over the map.


I don't know if there are that many places that make these!...maybe one or 2 places..but i doubt there's to many cause the one i saw on youtube a while back..was ONE BIG place...a LOT of people employed, C&C machines and all.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

al3d said:


> I don't know if there are that many places that make these!...maybe one or 2 places..but i doubt there's to many cause the one i saw on youtube a while back..was ONE BIG place...a LOT of people employed, C&C machines and all.


I'd bet that, since China itself is way big, with a population so huge it's hard to imagine, there's probably several big-ass factories stamping these things out. An economy their size can easily afford the absorption of tons of C& machines. The labour is cheap and plentiful, too.


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## kyle (Oct 18, 2008)

umm....ya










Not mine, but would go nicely with my Rodex watch.


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## Overt1 (Aug 31, 2009)

what does that even say...

suprome lol. nice try

regardless, if that's the only blemish and only problem that sets fakes aparts from reals, i would honestly save myself the 2700 dollars and get a chibson. 

and holy shit look at the amount of wraps of string on those tuning pegs.


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