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The "Grover" tuning keys on these chibsons are also counterfeit. They look like Grovers but they are made poorly and don't work well just like most other Chinese tuners.

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http://www.cushmanguitars.com/.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

The problem is horrifying. I work for the CA Prison system as a Nurse Instructor, and I receive reports from Customs and Border Protection statewide as informational bulletins. They used to find containers full of smuggled goods. Nowadays, smuggled goods are hidden with legitimate goods. The problem extends to Marlboro cigarettes, designer clothes, Apple products, and of course, guitars, and every conceivable object - all counterfeit. It is so bad now, that every container from China they inspect (they don't inspect them all) has some percentage of counterfeit goods. This includes counterfeit items separate from fake labels and logos that are applied inside sweat shops here on US soil. The numbers are not small. They find 1000s of instruments and 10s of 1000s of other items. They found over $1M of fake Marlboro cigarettes in June, as an example.

The scope of the problem was realized after 911 with the scanning of containers for explosives. What they found was not explosives. Nowadays, 95% of all "high risk" containers (meaning the shippers were busted before) are scanned prior to leaving the port of origin, and again in Long Beach and LA ports upon arrival. Port of Oakland does less as fewer ships from China arrive there directly. The machinery is very sensitive, but unless they actually open the containers and inspect for hidden counterfeit jeans among the legitimate ones, the machines can't tell the difference.

All such counterfeits are confiscated. So for those who want good counterfeits for cheap, talk to Customs; you may be able to work something out...

It's very real stuff like this that makes it very hard to defend Chinese manufacturers. There is no doubt in my mind that they will do anything for profits. Reference melamine in pet food and lead in baby toys. And if some stuff is confiscated, it's part of the overhead of doing business... Yeah folks, this making an honest living thing is for the birds. If I could start over, I'd get a Masters degree in Evil Greedy CEO. That's where the real money is. That and smuggling...

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If thee meddle with dragon kin, thou will become crunchy and good with ketchup.

Grovers have not been made in the US since the 1980's. Whether it's Taiwan, Korea, or China, they are still Asian.

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John

The genuine grovers are of good quality unlike these counterfeit grovers which barely work at all! The counterfeit keys are equal to the lowest grade tuners out there. Which is the point I was making.

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http://www.cushmanguitars.com/.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Ha

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Had to look twice, Dan.
THAT IS FUNNY!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Looks like that wrench f*ctory speaks Eric Cartman.......

Had a couple fakes cross my bench in the last couple months... A completely faux Ibanez Steve Vai Jem 777, and a fake Fender Billy Corgan model. Both clients paid big bucks for them, only for me to give them the awful truth. The only bright spots in the stories were that I was able to make each guitar quite playable, even if they didn't sound like expensive models.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

"Bought a fake Les Paul a couple weeks ago. A REALLY GOOD ONE"
"The only bright spots in the stories were that I was able to make each guitar quite playable, even if they didn't sound like expensive models"

I wonder if they will be "sold on" to some other unsuspecting fool.

As Chinese products improve in quality it will become harder to justify the high price of an occidental equivalent. The HF knock offs of the Jorgensen F body clamps used to be total junk, but now are on a par, and are much cheaper. They don't try to pass themselves off as something they are not, even if they do "brand" them with American sounding names. A lot of HF stuff is sub-par, but then as "American" companies have moved production overseas I think quality has also slipped.

I made a Tele-style guitar for a friend of mine who performs several times a week. He said it is as good or better than Fender Custom Shop guitars he's played. And I don't have that many guitars under my belt. Maybe he was just being nice but sometimes I think that even a moderately skilled luthier can match some of the best quality factory guitars in sound and playability.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

The thing with these is the fraud of trying to pass them off as the genuine article - not the quality of the thing in hand....

Several guys on YouTube have shown the process of buying one... And it turns out that they will inlay and stamp literally anything on it that you want... So for example - I could just as easily design my own "TruckJohn Amalgamated Industries Guitars, Beer, N Tater Chips" headstock logo and sticker - and they will do that for the same price... Ed Roman did that with his own line of guitars coming out of Chinese factories....

But.... Those don't sell for nearly what a fake Chibson or Chartin will sell for by trying to pass it off as the genuine article.... And so the demand is massively lower....