Counterfeit Gibsons

[steveintampa]

What a haul! I have to wonder if the quality of the instruments is good enough to pass off as genuine.

3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars valued at $18 million seized in California - UPI.com

Thousands of fake Gibson electric guitars were seized this week in California that could have sold for millions of dollars, according to officials.

www.upi.com

 

[Guildedagain]

Oh the unwitting suckers, drawn like moths to the flame.

Bow down to the bloated icon, and chant, Gibson, Gibson.

"Only a Gibson is good enough"

Only a Chibson is poop enough?

I was invited to "look see" at a fake LP Standard a famous local pawnshop got screwed on, karmic I suppose. I couldn't help but smile for the dude who walked out with the money. Counter help at these places is dismal, everyone's an expert but no one knows anything.

 

[Guildedagain]

But what a name for a band!

3000 Fake Gibsons

 

[RBSinTo]

Oh the unwitting suckers, drawn like moths to the flame.

Bow down to the bloated icon, and chant, Gibson, Gibson.

"Only a Gibson is good enough"

Only a Chibson is poop enough?

I was invited to "look see" at a fake LP Standard a famous local pawnshop got screwed on, karmic I suppose. I couldn't help but smile for the dude who walked out with the money. Counter help at these places is dismal, everyone's an expert but no one knows anything.

Guildedagain,
Let's keep our eye on the ball shall we?
".....the dude who walked out with the money." committed a crime, and the fact that you have a hard-on for Gibson, doesn't negate or justify that.
RBSinTo

 

[walrus]

I was invited to "look see" at a fake LP Standard a famous local pawnshop got screwed on, karmic I suppose. I couldn't help but smile for the dude who walked out with the money. Counter help at these places is dismal, everyone's an expert but no one knows anything.

LOL! So true, and not just about guitars!

 

[HeyMikey]

Well it’s a start, but you have to wonder how many thousands if not millions of fakes make it in? Not just in bulk haul like this which gets media attention, but all of the ones sold individually which are overlooked.

 

[Brad Little]

Guildedagain,
Let's keep our eye on the ball shall we?
".....the dude who walked out with the money." committed a crime, and the fact that you have a hard-on for Gibson, doesn't negate or justify that.
RBSinTo

Dude could have been duped himself and not known it was a fake. Or maybe not.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Oh the unwitting suckers, drawn like moths to the flame.

Bow down to the bloated icon, and chant, Gibson, Gibson.

"Only a Gibson is good enough"

Only a Chibson is poop enough?

I was invited to "look see" at a fake LP Standard a famous local pawnshop got screwed on, karmic I suppose. I couldn't help but smile for the dude who walked out with the money. Counter help at these places is dismal, everyone's an expert but no one knows anything.

Sure, some brands that exist by past reputation and aren't nearly what they used to be are still prone to mass counterfeits, like Ray Ban shades.....but Gibson definitely isn't one of them. Having owned a couple of both, I'll easily take a 2020's model over a 1970's. Their game as of recent has absolutely been upped IMHO.

Last time I walked through Central Park, nobody tried to sell me a fake Timex.

 

[adorshki]

LOL! So true, and not just about guitars!

"It's a (hic) li'l known fack that most experts are just former perts!"

 

[Guildedagain]

Guildedagain,
Let's keep our eye on the ball shall we?
".....the dude who walked out with the money." committed a crime, and the fact that you have a hard-on for Gibson, doesn't negate or justify that.
RBSinTo

Well you're absolutely right, except there's no way to prove the seller hadn't been ripped off himself, and sold it in good faith never knowing it was a fake.

I mean if it was good enough to get past a pawn shop counter for a hefty loan, how could you fault the average rube?

 

[Guildedagain]

Last time I walked through Central Park, nobody tried to sell me a fake Timex.

Do you really have to fake a Timex?

What's the difference between a Rolex and a Timex?

With a Timex, you can actually tell time, instead of gawking at your watch hardly ever knowing what time it is.

If you have a Rolex, you need a Timex to actually know what time it is.

There's probably infinitely more people shafted on fake watches than guitars, while others happily wear fakes, to complement their fake Gucci bags and fake Prada shoes, honorable mention for Louis Vuitton.

 

[RBSinTo]

Do you really have to fake a Timex?

What's the difference between a Rolex and a Timex?

With a Timex, you can actually tell time, instead of gawking at your watch hardly ever knowing what time it is.

If you have a Rolex, you need a Timex to actually know what time it is.

There's probably infinitely more people shafted on fake watches than guitars, while others happily wear fakes.

Guildedagain,
Do you come up with this narishkeit yourself, or do you have help?
I have a Rolex, purchased in Switzerland many years ago at a very reputable store, (so I know it is genuine), as well as a couple of Timex watches.
From personal experience, I can tell you that I've never had to check a Timex to confirm the time I read on the Rolex.
Not once.
Not ever.
RBSinTo

 

[zulu]

Counter help at these places is dismal, everyone's an expert but no one knows anything.

Hey, I resemble that remark.
Actually, I can see a good fake guitar getting through. We have great tools to verify gold and diamonds. Modern handbags have chips we can scan otherwise we have an authenticator. We catch fake watches regularly. Not hard. But guitars are difficult. Not much chance of a fake Guild getting past me but we don't have an expert on every brand. That being said the long timers at the pawn shop have handled more guitars than all of us combined, probably.

 

[Guildedagain]

Do you come up with this

I've been around the watch world a couple times, just passing the wisdom on down.

If you had a Timex, then you would acually know what time it is, I mean precisely, to the second, over a year's time, like a Timex.

The topic of my 1975 Rolex Sub came up during polite conversation while courting wife 20 years ago. One of her friends asked me "how much it cost" and I can't quite remember, a very modest sum by today's standards, like maybe $3k.

What I do remember was her reply; "Wow, you must really want to know what time it is*"... Honestly, that's not the reason why you wear Rolex.

Of course, when a Rolex is no longer keeping time, you take it in for clean/lube/adjust, roughly the price of a downpayment on a used Porsche.


* Translated into "manspeak" it sounds like "Wow, you are incredibly selfish and spoiled, I hope you spend more than that on her ring".

 

[adorshki]

There's probably infinitely more people shafted on fake watches than guitars,

There's nothing as humiliating as a mugger throwing your fake Rolex back in your face.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Gas up the excavator, Gibson...

 

[RBSinTo]

I've been around the watch world a couple times, just passing the wisdom on down.

If you had a Timex, then you would acually know what time it is, I mean precisely, to the second, over a year's time, like a Timex.

The topic of my 1975 Rolex Sub came up during polite conversation while courting wife 20 years ago. One of her friends asked me "how much it cost" and I can't quite remember, a very modest sum by today's standards, like maybe $3k.

What I do remember was her reply; "Wow, you must really want to know what time it is*"... Honestly, that's not the reason why you wear Rolex.

Of course, when a Rolex is no longer keeping time, you take it in for clean/lube/adjust, roughly the price of a downpayment on a used Porsche.


* Translated into "manspeak" it sounds like "Wow, you are incredibly selfish and spoiled, I hope you spend more than that on her ring".

Guildedagain,
That an electronic watch is more accurate than one with a mechanical movement has been a fact of life for many years.
My Rolex has always run fast (about 1 minute/per month), but for my purposes, that degree of accuracy has always been good enough.
As for the C.L.A. cost, to be fair, it willl undoubtedly be as expensive for any boutique mechanical watch as for the Rolex.
RBSinTo

 

[Minnesota Flats]

As crappy a concept as the Firebird X may have been, I still cringe every time I watch that video.

Maybe it's the sound of them being ground into the gravel: it just runs counter to my life-long love of guitars in general...

 

[RBSinTo]

As crappy a concept as the Firebird X may have been, I still cringe every time I watch that video.

Maybe it's the sound of them being ground into the gravel: it just runs counter to my life-long love of guitars in general...

I don't know the reason for destroying them, but if they were playable, couldn't they have been offered at a discount to music schools or donated to disadvantged persons? Terrible, sinful waste.
RBSinTo

 

[Guildedagain]

Terrible, sinful waste.

In a nutshell. This is humanity.

The thought that trees get cut, metal mined and smelted, all to be destroyed like that. Textbook example of both lack of sustainability, as well the disregard for anything but profit.