Counterfeit Guitars

[mozz]

https://loudounnow.com/2021/02/08/count ... D=ref_fark

[Sinster]

The only f'd thing about this. There is a possibility somebody saved their money to purchase one of these not knowing they are counterfeit. Now they are out of the money and the guitar.

[Chocol8]

No one who is buying a Gibson, Martin, Fender or PRS from China thinks they are getting the real thing.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I wonder how many customs officers have extensive Chinese guitar collections ?

[uwmcscott]

No one who is buying a Gibson, Martin, Fender or PRS from China thinks they are getting the real thing.

Probably right. Having said that, some of them bank on the fact that the people they turn around and flip them to will think they are getting the real thing. At the the end of the day it's buyer beware of course, but i'm a proponent of confiscating counterfeit gear at customs whether it be guitars or sunglasses or what have you.

[toomanycats]

This is a sensationalist, attention grabbing image meant to:

1) give "joe public" the impression that this government agency is actually doing something tangible,
2) Justify more funding for themselves.

In the context of the billions of dollars (probably trillions) of intellectual copyright theft that is continuously occurring . . . in technology, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, military defense . . . the confiscation of a few dozen knock-offs of high end guitars, imported by middle men trying to make a few bucks, is inconsequential and a joke.

Why don't they do something useful, like arrest some deans of these universities that allow spies in their research programs? Or some executives of fortune 500 companies that employ CCP members?

Don't get the impression that I'm unsympathetic to the guy who gets screwed by buying a counterfeit Gibson, because I do empathize with his plight. But it just seems to me like there are much bigger issues that deserve attention, while the government is going after these "little guys" and small time players.

[Partscaster]

Thank goodness, didnt see any SX in that pile. Phew....!

[bc rich]

I hope the cbp officers do not suffer any backlash , they might not have got the the message that there is a new sheriff in town and china is now best friends again , and the ccp can do no wrong if there is a buck to be made .
It maybe tokenism but congratulations Dulles Customs for this small victory . The west coast ports are backed up with container ships so Customs must have an impossible task.

[thepezident]

@toomanycats The man with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun.

[Sinster]

No one who is buying a Gibson, Martin, Fender or PRS from China thinks they are getting the real thing.

I begged to differ. We have the luxury of knowing what is counterfeit because of forums like this. Not everyone who purchases guitar belong to forums.

If little Suesy or Johnny cruising the YouTubes and decides to they want to play the guitar like the people they see on YouTube. They go and bother their parents about getting a guitar. They might say I want a Gibson Les Paul. Parents knowing 0.0 about guitars because they never even thought about guitar before. Or Little Suesy or Johnny who saved up their birthday, Christmas money and allowance to buy guitar. They tell their parents (again don't shit about guitars), that they found the guitar they want and it cost this much. Parents not knowing about counterfeits purchases the guitar that Little Suesy and Johnny found.

[mickey]

The nicest thing about counterfeit guitars is that something over 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of them are
right handed.

[toomanycats]

The nicest thing about counterfeit guitars is that something over 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of them are
right handed.

Wow, I actually never thought about that. Making a counterfeit lefty guitar probably makes about as much sense as brewing a craft non-alcoholic IPA.

Oh wait . . . people actually brew that stuff?

My bad.

[aullucci]

I'm not sure how much investigation there was into this and how much of it fell into their laps. 36 high end guitars show up on the same day, in different shipments, from China? I don't think Sherlock was required to crack this one. That said, I'm glad they're confiscating counterfeit crap that falls into their laps. And, like @toomanycats , I hope they're focused on other things.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I begged to differ. We have the luxury of knowing what is counterfeit because of forums like this. Not everyone who purchases guitar belong to forums.

If little Suesy or Johnny cruising the YouTubes and decides to they want to play the guitar like the people they see on YouTube. They go and bother their parents about getting a guitar. They might say I want a Gibson Les Paul. Parents knowing 0.0 about guitars because they never even thought about guitar before. Or Little Suesy or Johnny who saved up their birthday, Christmas money and allowance to buy guitar. They tell their parents (again don't shit about guitars), that they found the guitar they want and it cost this much. Parents not knowing about counterfeits purchases the guitar that Little Suesy and Johnny found.

That seems like quite a stretch. You might be able to find a case of that somewhere, but I would bet good money pretty much all the counterfeits coming into the country are bought by people who know exactly what they are. Most people don't buy from sketchy sellers unless they want in on the action enough to take a chance.

[Sinster]

I begged to differ. We have the luxury of knowing what is counterfeit because of forums like this. Not everyone who purchases guitar belong to forums.

If little Suesy or Johnny cruising the YouTubes and decides to they want to play the guitar like the people they see on YouTube. They go and bother their parents about getting a guitar. They might say I want a Gibson Les Paul. Parents knowing 0.0 about guitars because they never even thought about guitar before. Or Little Suesy or Johnny who saved up their birthday, Christmas money and allowance to buy guitar. They tell their parents (again don't shit about guitars), that they found the guitar they want and it cost this much. Parents not knowing about counterfeits purchases the guitar that Little Suesy and Johnny found.

That seems like quite a stretch. You might be able to find a case of that somewhere, but I would bet good money pretty much all the counterfeits coming into the country are bought by people who know exactly what they are. Most people don't buy from sketchy sellers unless they want in on the action enough to take a chance.

I guess you guys don't deal with the GP.. That's isn't that much of a stretch. I'm not saying that people don't know they are purchasing a counterfeit, but some people don't know. If there wasn't the internet a lot less more people wouldn't know that there are a mass amount of counterfeits out in the wild.

[mozz]

But some of those people buying them are in the business of reselling them. Same for fancy purses, sneakers, etc. I don't think all 36 were the same day shipment.

Wonder how many fake Seymour Duncan's are put into guitars and traded in or sold. I can bet it brings the value up way more than the cost. " Hey, it's got aftermarket pickups, I paid $300 for those"

[Sinster]

But some of those people buying them are in the business of reselling them. Same for fancy purses, sneakers, etc. I don't think all 36 were the same day shipment.

Wonder how many fake Seymour Duncan's are put into guitars and traded in or sold. I can bet it brings the value up way more than the cost. " Hey, it's got aftermarket pickups, I paid $300 for those"

Heading to the southern states to all those flea markets.

[aullucci]

I think you're both right. There are some people who know that these guitars are counterfeit and can be sold to unwitting consumers. But I'm sure those people exist on both sides of the ocean - there are vendors in China who are duping consumers on sites like Aliexpress, etc. But there are also people in America who are buying them specifically to fraudulently resell. Everyone is in on the scam except people who can't distinguish real Gibsons from dupes... I mean, if you buy 5 $300 fake Gibsons, you only need one sucker to make all your money back.

[toomanycats]

Wonder how many fake Seymour Duncan's are put into guitars and traded in or sold.

Yup, one time I bought a used guitar and thought I scored a vintage set of Seymour Duncan "MJs." It turned out that they were actually fakes initialed by "Mai Jiǎng."

I kid, I kid.

[Chocol8]

I guess you guys don't deal with the GP.. That's isn't that much of a stretch. I'm not saying that people don't know they are purchasing a counterfeit, but some people don't know. If there wasn't the internet a lot less more people wouldn't know that there are a mass amount of counterfeits out in the wild.

You are making assumptions that have little to do with reality. People who unknowingly buy counterfeit guitars are buying them used locally from the jerks the confiscated guitars were being sent to.

If you Google Gibson Les Paul, Fender anything, Martin, PRS etc. you will not see counterfeit Chinese guitars anywhere near the top of the list. You have to know enough to go looking for them, and by that time you will know you are looking for a fake and know enough about pricing to recognize that a $199 guitar from China is NOT a real Gibson.

No one, and I mean absolutely no one, is accidentally buying counterfeit guitars and importing them from China. The buyers are all either getting it to have a fake, or buying to flip and rip someone off.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I guess you guys don't deal with the GP.. That's isn't that much of a stretch. I'm not saying that people don't know they are purchasing a counterfeit, but some people don't know. If there wasn't the internet a lot less more people wouldn't know that there are a mass amount of counterfeits out in the wild.

You are making assumptions that have little to do with reality. People who unknowingly buy counterfeit guitars are buying them used locally from the jerks the confiscated guitars were being sent to.

If you Google Gibson Les Paul, Fender anything, Martin, PRS etc. you will not see counterfeit Chinese guitars anywhere near the top of the list. You have to know enough to go looking for them, and by that time you will know you are looking for a fake and know enough about pricing to recognize that a $199 guitar from China is NOT a real Gibson.

No one, and I mean absolutely no one, is accidentally buying counterfeit guitars and importing them from China. The buyers are all either getting it to have a fake, or buying to flip and rip someone off.

and to add...if you think you are getting a $2500 LP for $250 bucks on Craigslist...you almost deserve being ripped off for your utter greed and stupidity

[uwmcscott]

and to add...if you think you are getting a $2500 LP for $250 bucks on Craigslist...you almost deserve being ripped off for your utter greed and stupidity

A ploy I've seen is advertising a Guitar as a "b-stock" or some other reason to list it at a price far below the street price and accepting offers to make it look like a screaming deal. For example, maybe a Les Paul standard for $1800 and then accept $1500? If you only have $300 in it that's still a very tidy profit. There have been quite a few of them "busted" over on MLP.com over time.

[fatjack]

I'd have thought the guitars shipped by boat through the west coast rather than by air to the east coast. And why is a guitar meant for Aus coming through American customs? Anti counterfeit here I mean sure copy body shape is ok to me but not the brand name or not a name meant to deceive. I also suspect this is a small amount of the number coming into the USA.