Members Beyer160 Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 I've heard that rumour multiple times. There comes a time when you start thinking that it is true. There's a guy on the Agile forum whose SX archtop came with Epiphone pickups, so in that case it's not a rumor. I tried looking up the post over there, but their site is buggy as hell and keeps crashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Do you realise, that despite your lack of moral qualms, that you are trying to commit a crime? It is illegal to sell counterfeit goods, even if you say they are counterfeit. Not sure about the US, but in the UK the penalty for a first offence is a fine, thereafter jail. I doubt it. Can you provide evidence where someone tried to sell one of these in the UK and got fined? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 There's a guy on the Agile forum whose SX archtop came with Epiphone pickups, so in that case it's not a rumor. I tried looking up the post over there, but their site is buggy as @#!*% and keeps crashing. They likely make the pickups for Gibson and they end up getting in the guitar because they have them on the shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 I doubt it. Can you provide evidence where someone tried to sell one of these in the UK and got fined? There is no doubt that it is illegal. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Yourconsumerrightswhenbuyinggoodsandservices/DG_194549 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IBDBB Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 I had a friend who lived in Quingdao and he bought a couple "Gibsons" from the Quingdao Epi plant. Lunchtime and after hours specials. Happens a lot in the toy world as well.. Not sure if they still do make them or if another factory is doing it now, as this was a couple years ago. But, there is at least a few factories doing this in the Beijing area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 It might be an Epiphone "stolen" from the Epiphone factory in China but since it has a Gibson logoand a Made in the USA stamp it's a counterfeit and fake. The guitar used an Epi LP as their blueprint and pictures of an actual Gibson to guide them. That is why the headstock is bigger than a Gibson LP and the Custom Shop sticker (with misspellings) was actually imprinted onto the pickguard because from picture they couldn't tell that it was a sticker that could peel off. China is the counterfeiting capital of the world, so all of these Amercian companies who want their business and to use their labor force also are having contend with these issues i.e. people using the Gibson/Epiphone plant late at night to make fakes and then they are sold on auction sites (other than Ebay). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Think of it this way- you're being upfront about the origin of the guitar and the fact it's a fake, but who's to say that whoever you sell it to will be? I could buy your guitar for $400, then turn around and try to sell it as a Gibson for $1250 ("I wouldn't be selling my baby, but I owe the mob some money and need quick cash"). That's why it's illegal to sell these things, even if you're honest about it. That is a very good point. But if I sell a collectable 17th Century sword to a fellow collector (all legit) and then he uses it to hurt someone in the act of a crime, where does my responsibility end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Sometimes when we deliberately go down the wrong path, we have to live with the results- be glad your lesson is nothing worse than wasting money on a guitar you can't sell. I didn't waste my money on this guitar, I actually wanted it at the time. It was only on the chopping block because I loved some of my other guitars more. If I had 2 extra rooms in the home I would not have sold my guitars. Space issue, not a need issue. I'm happy with it as a great conversation started and now it also plays fairly well. Sound is now at Gibson level, playability at Epiphone level (my opinion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Krank'N Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 I had bought a chinese fake of a Gibson custom shop model. It cost 1/10th of the real thing. I replaced the electronics and tuners and it fooled everyone I showed it too. I was conflicted about selling it so I ended up giving it away as a gift. The current owner just plays it and has no ambitions to sell it for profit. What I did learn from the situation was that the chinese could make very decent guitars IF they would design their own stuff and forget the fakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frankthomson Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 so the best idea would be to burn it.................. dood, unfortunately for u, this is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. ^^^^^^^^ like Judge Judy says...she says...*u cant come in here w/ dirty hands* You cannot expect justice within injustice. and fwiw, u overpaid. that thing was worth $200 MAX when u bought it. xoxoxo:love: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Only because you've heard it on line a hundred times. Well, not EVERYONE online lies...so if one person is telling the truth then there is a measure of truth to the rumour. It is certainly not difficult to believe that guitars are being snuck out of the factory and sold...someone did it at Fender's warehouse with a bunch of them. They kept going to the same pawn shop so the pawn shop owners got suspicious - you can't fix stupid. For that to be going on in China is nothing...google China's ghost cities and you'll find something shocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 They likely make the pickups for Gibson and they end up getting in the guitar because they have them on the shelf. I doubt it. Can you provide evidence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ralph onion Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Splitting hairs here. I knowingly bought a LP gold top copy and loved it. A kick ass guitar. Didnt lose any sleep over it. It was adveritsed as a China fake. Sold it on ebay a few years later denoting it was a fake. I had absolutely no problem with buying or selling it. They are out there and always will be. I just dont care about that {censored}. There is such a flood of merchandise from China in this country there is no use bitching about it or trying to establish moral standards of what you will or will not buy. I just bought some flints, Ronson, for my beloved Zippo and they are made in Austria. Am I to throw them away and spend hours trying to find USA flints? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Fiasco Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 But no one has commented that this Fake may have been made in Gibson's own chinese manufacturing plant! Didn't you say the shape was wrong though. If it was made in a epiphone factory, wouldn't the shape be correct to epiphone standards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 I just bought some flints, Ronson, for my beloved Zippo and they are made in Austria. Am I to throw them away and spend hours trying to find USA flints? What ethical reason would you have against Austrian manufacturing? Are they communist? Do the people working in the flint manufacturing facility have rights or choice to work there or not? The above questions' ridiculousness content is directly proportional to the ridiculousness content of the original statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 and fwiw, u overpaid. that thing was worth $200 MAX when u bought it. xoxoxo:love: 1. If I overpaid I can at least afford it...the 770.00 I've sunk into the guitar did not break me 2. I'm glad we're anonymous here on the forum 3. No one serves any real jail time here in California, they've run out of room 4. Owning my Fake Les Paul with the Gibson Headstock and Serial Number on the back which also says Made In The USA makes me feel like a rebel. an outlaw. like I'm some kind of Fake Jesse James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Splitting hairs here. I knowingly bought a LP gold top copy and loved it. A kick ass guitar. Didnt lose any sleep over it. It was adveritsed as a China fake. Sold it on ebay a few years later denoting it was a fake. I had absolutely no problem with buying or selling it. They are out there and always will be. I just dont care about that {censored}. There is such a flood of merchandise from China in this country there is no use bitching about it or trying to establish moral standards of what you will or will not buy. I just bought some flints, Ronson, for my beloved Zippo and they are made in Austria. Am I to throw them away and spend hours trying to find USA flints? You Da Man Ralph Onion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 4. Owing my Fake Les Paul with the Gibson Headstock and Serial Number on the back which also says Made In The USA makes me feel like a rebel. an outlaw. like I'm some kind Fake Jesse James Aw, I think you know what you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 ?.. Are they communist?.... Are you McCarthyist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Didn't you say the shape was wrong though. If it was made in a epiphone factory, wouldn't the shape be correct to epiphone standards? My speculative guess was they were working from photos. It is not an elongated headstock like Epi and they did their best to make it look like a Gibby headstock. I really don't know what is going over there except that a lot of weird {censored} is happening and money is the grease to get people to turn their heads. Kind of like Ebay in the early days where there was no policing and it was like an outlaw state. Now Ebay sucks and they have rules and regulations like a real company. Some of that outlaw stuff is now going on at Craigslist. CL is so much easier but you have to be careful too. But it's a one way sale with cash and no one the wiser. Both Amazon and Paypal are now requiring your social security number and will send the IRS a 1099. Ahhh the good old days of the internet. Pretty soon they'll start charging tax too (for out of state purchases.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 It is illegal to sell counterfeit goods, even if you say they are counterfeit. Not sure about the US, but in the UK the penalty for a first offence is a fine, thereafter jail. its not illegal in the US to sell your personal property provided there is no intent to mislead the buyer. it doesnt matter what logo is on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members epi56ebony Posted April 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Aw, I think you know what you are. A chicken{censored} who's glad we're anonymous here on the forum! I'm the guy that stands behind the bigger guy and says "take it back or he'll kick your ass!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chqtarzan Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 Are you McCarthyist? Awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frankthomson Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 its not illegal in the US to sell your personal property provided there is no intent to mislead the buyer. it doesnt matter what logo is on it. call Gibson and ask THEM 1.800.444.2766 and i also 2nd the post above that if it was Epi, it WOULD have gibbo specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 its not illegal in the US to sell your personal property provided there is no intent to mislead the buyer. it doesnt matter what logo is on it. I think you are wrong on that. I am not a lawyer, but as far as I can tell by googling for a couple of minutes, knowingly trafficing counterfeit goods is illegal in the US according to US Code title 18 section 2320. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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