Chinese made Gibson Les Paul

[broken cord]

Does any one own, or has anybody played one of the Chinese made Gibson Les Pauls?

 I've been noticing quite a lot of inexpensive Les Pauls be advertised and have come to find out that these are Chinese made. They say "Made in the USA" on some of them, but they are made in China.

I am trying to find out what the quality is like. I am sure that anybody that has bought a Les Paul lately can attest to shoddy fret work and over all set-up you get on anything less than a $5,000.00 Gibson. It seems that Gibson may be allowing and even endorsing the Chinese made guitars as well.

Please share any of your thoughts on this.

[Twinfan]

They're all fakes aren't they?  They're not Gibson endorsed.

Can't vouch for the quality, but I would expect it to be on a par with an Epiphone.

[Simon D]

Gibson themselves have this http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/CounterfeitGibsons/ to say about the Chinese knock-offs. I doubt they've changed their tune much in a year. I really can't see them endorsing illegal copies.

Personally I would touch one with a barge pole, even if they were cheap. You don't really say if you're thinking of buying one or not, but I wouldn't. It's also worth keeping in mind that you couldn't sell it on as a Gibson, so there's no big profit to be made.

[Philly Q]

Has anyone actually got any pictures of "Gibsons" which are really Chinese knockoffs?  I'm intrigued to know how good they can be.  The ones in that Gibson article would be obvious a mile away, I presume there are better ones out there.

I can't imagine Gibson allowing or endorsing fakes, what would they stand to gain from it?  Surely if they wanted to "beat the bootleggers" the thing to do would be to set up their own Chinese-made line.

Anyway, for a Gibson-endorsed LP copy, get an Orville or Japanese Epiphone!

[martinw]

I am trying to find out what the quality is like. I am sure that anybody that has bought a Les Paul lately can attest to shoddy fret work and over all set-up you get on anything less than a $5,000.00 Gibson. It seems that Gibson may be allowing and even endorsing the Chinese made guitars as well.

Please share any of your thoughts on this.

Do you really think you're going to get good/better quality from a £100 knock-off?

In any case, why would you want a fake? If you want a cheapish Chinese guitar, there are plenty of good ones out there that aren't illegal fake Gibsons.

I played one a few months back. It cost the owner £150 including shipping from China (which was over half of that price), and frankly played like it.  :x

[Ted 'N' Leo]

They attested to these in a magazine i've got somewhere, might dig it out later and type out the article.

Basically, they suck, they're not built like squiers of ye olde, or the early Tokais. And apparently, illegal to import.

[Simon D]

Basically, they suck, they're not built like squiers of ye olde, or the early Tokais. And apparently, illegal to import.

You're right, I believe they are illegal to import. I think there's summat in the trademark legislation.

[broken cord]

I am thinking of buying an Edwards LP, but I had come across the Chinese knock offs and I see that some are being pawned off on ebay as authentic. Just trying to get your .02 cents.

[TheDev01dOne]

I have played a knockoff Zakk Wylde sig. and they are definitely cr@ppy. I can remember the one I played had loads of stupid stuff going on:

Knobs bunched wayy too close together
Humbucker pickup covers with only a very primitive looking single coil bar magnet pickup inside
The truss rod didn't actually work, broke out of place when we tried adjusting it and then just twisted around and did nothing.
The nut was plastic and really cr@ppy, uneven string spacings etc
hardware was the usual cheap chinese stuff you'd find on most starter guitars, not too bad TBH apart from the pickups.
The wiring was also pretty messy and looked like it was just made out of scr@ps.
The control and switch plates didn't fit properly and weren't even neat, looked like they were cut by hand.

The body and neck (apart from no truss rod) were actually pretty decent. Neat finish, all the binding was flush and neat etc. Frets were good enough, inlay was neat, routing was all pretty clean.

I dunno, I wouldn't pay good money for one but if someone was getting rid of one dead cheap and the truss-rod actually worked I'd be quite tempted to get it just as a beater, maybe replace the pickups and get a setup on it then pay it like it was stolen?

[Yamhammer]

Remember the less = more.

[mikeluke]

Related anecdote....

On Saturday one of the guitarists in our band bought a new 2008 Gibbo LP Std.

First visit - large music store in Guildford - 3 LPs tried - one had a misaligned nut, so that the strings were not evenly balanced on the neck, 2nd the control knobs were unevenly set, 3rd one he didn't like the way it played.

Moves on to well-known guitar shop in Farnham - first one of the wall has no slot in the nut for the D string, 2nd one off the wall also has problems (I can't remember the details)

Eventually ends up in large chain store in Reading where he finds one that he liked.

It took him SEVEN guitars to find one that was acceptable - and this was a £1700 guitar!!

Lesson learned - if you want a Gibbo - TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!!

[Yamhammer]

Related anecdote....

On Saturday one of the guitarists in our band bought a new 2008 Gibbo LP Std.


It took him SEVEN guitars to find one that was acceptable - and this was a £1700 guitar!!

Lesson learned - if you want a Gibbo - TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!!

And even then there are doubts whether it's a good or bad Les Paul, cause it was the first acceptable example he could
find in the shops. It's a shame for Gibson really.

[mikeluke]

Hence why my 1989 Standard is going nowhere....

[Ratrod]

From the pictures alone you can tell they're absolute junk.

[dave_mc]

i wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.