"mgg" wrote in message
...



That's a shame, but I suppose it's to be expected. Everything from money
to slinkys is counterfeited these days. How do these fake play??



I've never tried a Chinese Les Paul Standard copy, but I've heard that at
least some of them are very good.
My problem (shared by many) is that some are passed off as being "real" ....
meaning authentic Gibsons .... at a price that is 20-30 times their actual
cost. They even stamp "Made in USA" on the back
of the headstock for gripes sake. Not all Chinese companies do this ...
some are legitimate and licensed to build guitars for major manufacturers,
but those are clearly identified as being manufactured in China. Fender has
some of their cheap "Squire" models built in China. Ibanez also has some
of their guitars manufactured in China and they are noted for being of
exceptionally high quality at a reasonable price.

A solid body electric guitar isn't exactly rocket science to build and can
be easily reverse-engineered.
Acoustics are an entirely different matter and requires a degree of
knowledge and luthier craftsmanship to build a good one. Same with archtop
electrics.

I bought a Chinese made copy of a Martin D-28 just to see what the quality
was. It's certainly playable, and good for a beginner looking for a halfway
decent, inexpensive guitar to learn on, but is a far cry from a "real"
Martin. It has a spruce top, laminate rosewood back and sides, is equipped
with a truss rod and copies of Grover tuners.

It cost me $200. It probably cost the importer $100. A real Martin D-28,
made in Pennsylvania retails for $2,300 at Musician's Friend (Guitar
Center).

Samick (based in Korea) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of
musical instruments, including guitars. For a minimum order of 1000
guitars, they will reverse engineer a custom built acoustic (you send them a
guitar) and will manufacture and sell it back to you at about 10 cents on
the dollar compared to your cost to build it here at typical labor costs.
Materials for a quality acoustic guitar (wood, hardware and finish) is less
than 20 percent of the overall cost, unless really exotic tonewoods (like
Brazilian Rosewood) is used. The remainder of the cost is labor.

This is what US builders are faced with in terms of competition. Granted,
the resale value of these imports (if they are known to be imports) is less.

My last comment ... Guitar companies like Martin, Taylor, PRS, Fender and
others have been forced to introduce lower end models manufactured overseas
in order to compete. Even Taylor now has their lower end models, up to and
including the 300 series ... made outside of the USA. The 300 series is
now manufactured in Mexico.

Then again, Grand Banks boats have been built in Singapore for years.

Eisboch