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Help with possible guitar purchase


69Nova

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Hey guys I'm looking at buying this guitar.

 

http://staugustine.craigslist.org/msg/1180835787.html

 

I'm pretty sure it's a fake but does anyone know of any companies making knock off gibsons like this. I have settled on probably going to play it tomorrow and if it plays decent I'll probably buy it. The seller said it looks brand new. I'm just wondering what a good fair price would be. I was thinking about offering him 200 and not going above 250 if I do like it.

 

What do you guys think?

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I think it would be really stupid.

 

 

It would be,

 

all of the comparisons you see on you tube between fakes and the real thing are a few minutes long, they leave out the fret work, durability, whether the truss rod works properly, the neck profile, the quality of the pots and switches, the finish is not nitro and the list goes on.

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I guess I'd rather spend my cash on something made by the company whose name is on the headstock. (Or in the angle of classical guitars, inside the body.) If it were a cheap guitar with a company name on it (Like Jazfakers here), it'd be something that I might care about....

 

I wish I knew enough and saw my screen well enough to see the signs of fakery, though.

 

m

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I wouldn't buy it out of principle...you are just creating more of an incentive for those who make fakes to pump out more crap. In addition, you are taking money from a good American company that still, for the most part, makes their guitars in the U.S.

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I wouldn't buy it out of principle...you are just creating more of an incentive for those who make fakes to pump out more crap.

+1

You're just supporting criminal activity.

 

Plus' date=' if you look at my 1700+ posts, I'm a pretty nice guy...

 

But if you come to the Gibson (owned and run) forum talking about buying an [b']illegal[/b], counterfeit Gibson, that's just about the stupidest thing I've seen in a long time.

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It's clearly not a Gibson and as it has "Gibson" on the headstock it's something which can get some people into trouble with the Law.

 

You are the only one who can decide whether (or not) you are one of them.

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Well guy I decided against it. I was gonna offer him 200 but he said his price was firm so I didnt even bother.

 

I'm just trying to figure out what I'm gonna do when I start playing at a few local places. I really want a hollowbody guitar to play out with. But I have pretty much decided against taking one of my nice gibsons.

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There's always someone willing to sell a good hollow body or semi hollow for a reasonable price.

I have a local dealer who's been sitting on a Yamaha semi hollow now for almost two years. It's real nice and he wants $750.

It's a SA503 TVL with three P-90s. Coolass guitar. Comes with a Bigsby also.

$750.00.

Imagine that.

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Well guy I decided against it. I was gonna offer him 200 but he said his price was firm so I didnt even bother.

 

I'm just trying to figure out what I'm gonna do when I start playing at a few local places. I really want a hollowbody guitar to play out with. But I have pretty much decided against taking one of my nice gibsons.

 

How about a nice Epiphone (new or used)?? Plenty of inexpensive hollow bodies out there -

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I wouldn't buy it out of principle...

 

[-o< +10000 I wish everyone thought and acted the same way.

 

you are just creating more of an incentive for those who make fakes to pump out more crap. In addition' date=' you are taking money from a good American company that still' date=' for the most part, makes their guitars in the U.S. [/quote']

 

 

 

And he is knowingly partaking on a felony (buyng selling counterfeit stuff).

 

 

 

To the thread starter: better buy an epi wildkat from an authorized dealer (yes, they fake those too!:-({|= ), an epi will be a better guitar, with a real brandname in there, with a real warranty and a nice upgradable guitar.

 

If you dont fall for honesty and all the above mentioned, warranty alone is a good reason NOT to buy a counterfeit.

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But if you come to the Gibson (owned and run) forum talking about buying an illegal' date=' [b']counterfeit Gibson[/b], that's just about the stupidest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

You are right... I never thought this would happen HERE of all places... people asking for help on buying fakes...

[-o<

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Well guy I decided against it. I was gonna offer him 200 but he said his price was firm so I didnt even bother.

 

I'm just trying to figure out what I'm gonna do when I start playing at a few local places. I really want a hollowbody guitar to play out with. But I have pretty much decided against taking one of my nice gibsons.

 

You might check into the Ibanez Artcore series. Never played one myself but they seem to get favorable reviews and are priced nicely.

 

http://www.ibanez.com/HollowBodyGuitars/Series-artcoreCustom

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I wouldn't buy it out of principle...you are just creating more of an incentive for those who make fakes to pump out more crap. In addition' date=' you are taking money from a good American company that still, for the most part, makes their guitars in the U.S. [/quote'] [-o< Couldn't have said it better myself. Posts like this are why I Like Bluemoon
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I had a Epi dot. The neck was a little off up so I sold it(and yes the buyer was told about the issue). I have played the ibanez version(my old man got one) and wasn't really a fan. If I can find a nice used Epi I would seriously consider that. But what other companies crank out a decent 335 style guitar?

 

Thanks guys.

 

And lay off the bashing about buying a fake gibson.

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I think everybody in the world makes 335 - style boxes and the honest ones put some legitimate name on the headstock. Sometimes that's a maker's name and sometime it's a wholesaler name for guitars made on contract. I think that's functionally what today's Washburns are, for example. (In the olden days, at least, Washburn was a US manufacturer.)

 

In the olden days several US firms made guitars sold under trademarks of Sears, Montgomery Ward and heaven knows how many others. Harmony was one such brand, but very similar or identical boxes made in the same factory may have had a dozen different name tags on the headstock. Now the same thing appears to be the case with instruments made in the far east.

 

It may also be of note that in the 1970s the then-owners of Gibson had at least one trademark infringement "win" against the company producing Ibanez-labeled guitars not apparently for mislabeling the headstock which I don't believe was done, but for apparently otherwise identical copies of instruments.

 

I agree entirely that knowingly buying a "Gibson" label on a guitar not made or distributed by Gibson as such is part of lawbreaking, morally if not under statute.

 

Also... yeah, to keep the price tag down, I'd recommend an Epi in one of the thinbody variations. If absolutely nothing else, you should have some decent customer service. I think the well-known Washburns are sometimes flakey on various quality issues and some other branded instruments, regardless of quality, may not have components that drew you to a Gibson in the first place.

 

m

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