Counterfeit Guitars seized

SG John said:
Shure microphones are another popular item counterfeited by the Chinese. Guitar Center was selling them, and did not know. When buying in bulk, if not dealing directly with the factory, you use a distributor, and hope their word is good. I can see why Rickenbacker is as demanding with Customs as they are. Friends of mine in Germany have Chinese copies of the Rick 4004LK Lemmy bass. They are beautiful, but only useful as wall art. You can get them on any of the import sites for dirt cheap, but they'll never make it to your house if you buy one. One of those sites offered a "John Cipollina Tribute SG." The photos on their website were Javamagic's photos he posted on ETSG. He and several people including myself emailed the seller pointing out their deceit. Java had a lawyer send a cease and desist letter.

They are only being made to deceive the public. Don't care if they are better or worse, that's not the issue. Even if the original purchaser knows it's fake, what about each subsequent resale? When does it become a "Custom Shop" guitar, and no longer a fake? At some point, someone will lose some money, and be left holding nothing of true value.

When I first started building my own guitars as a hobby, I learned a lot from some builders at a few other sites. Some of those guys were making copies of '58 - '60 Bursts that could fool an expert. Everything from old growth lumber to the correct aniline dyes in the lacquer. One did. It was sold to someone as a "replica." After trading hands a couple of times it made it to someone who was a bit unscrupulous, and sold it as an original. It fooled the buyer and someone who checked it out. Both were long time players in the Burst game, who thought they were getting an uncirculated guitar. The buyer shelled out about $150K for a $2500 guitar. I don't think that any of you would want to be that buyer, regardless of the product being purchased.

As much as I try to make accurate replicas of guitars I can never afford, I do add little touches to make them mine. And, put my own name on them. A counterfeit is a counterfeit, and the counterfeiter should take a huge financial loss for doing so.
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As always, you make very valid points.

When I built my black Les Paul Custom - with parts purchased from B. Hefner in Whittier, California - I built it because I wanted a Gibson Tuxedo Custom, but couldn't afford one, and I wanted to learn how to bind, set necks, etc. I never gave it another thought beyond that rationale. I purchased a Gibson headstock veneer, with the smaller Epiphone-style split diamond and used a rosewood fretboard, both of which are dead giveaways that it's not real. Naturally, I never plan to get rid of it and the fakes are worth nothing anyways. I also ended up with a Chibson Slash AFD that came from @eSGEe. Both of these guitars are so obviously not genuine Gibson's that it's almost comical.

I use these two guitars in my studio and they are great guitars. A lot of people ask to use them on their recordings and both spend a lot of time out on loan to other bands for photo shoots and videos. I've never considered selling either one of them.

I've built guitars under my own name, designed and trademarked my own headstock shape, and created both a brand name and logo. The response to these guitars was so overtly and overwhelmingly negative that i sold them all off and swore to never venture into that realm ever again. One of the few positives that came out of that venture was building a custom Tele-style for Marty Stuart. I am impressed with your work and how well it was received. Bless you and may you enjoy even more prosperity.

I don't buy off Craigslist and I don't buy from private parties either. Typically, I buy from Sweetwater, Zzounds or Musician's Fiend. I recently bought a new Shure SM-58 from Sweetwater. For parts, I buy from Stewie-Mac or Philadelphia Luthier Tools. My Schecter C1FR came from Pitbull Audio in National City, California.

My new Warmoth neck - that I am putting on the 1982 MIJ Fender Strat body that I got from you - is not going to have any branding or decals on it...not even my own name. I don't want to spoil the beauty of that wood.

I did put a Fender decal on the current neck only for the filming of the video, in which that neck will be burned, but certainly not to try and sell it to anyone.
 
RVA said:
I have almost purchased a revolver many times, but semi-autos are so reliable now, I have trouble justifying it...other than the fact that they are cool as heck!
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I’ve had this since the 80s. A Sig P226. 14 rounds in the clip and one in the chamber. I have 4 clips. Home defense 101. A 12 gauge rounds out the close in issues.

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RVA said:
Nope. Very difficult to get a carry in NY. I can't even take advantage of the extra capacity. 10 round mags only. If I could carry, the Hellcat would be my choice most days. I also have a S&W M&P2.0, which would be a close second
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Hah, I was a criminal out here for a few years when they outlawed high capacity magazines over 10 rounds. That got over turned I think just last year.
 
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