COUNTERFEIT GUITARS
guitar, so the people who buy our products are
generally well aware of the instruments, and
less likely to be fooled by a fake. We haven’t
lost substantial amounts of money like Fender
and Gibson. The dilution issue is huge for them.
Fender lost a recent trademark case in court,
and now the Telecaster, Stratocaster and P-Bass
body shapes are in the public domain. I’m afraid
they’re out of luck.”
“You also have to realize,” he continued, “that
Gibson, PRS and Fender have been producing their own knockoff guitars in Asia for years.
Rickenbacker has never done that. We’re strictly
American made and will remain that way.”
One Down, Many to Go
Speaking of PaylessGuitar.com, it was reported
in a recent edition of the Gibson Lifestyle email
newsletter, that Li Dan, the Chinese woman
who owned and operated not only Payless,
but Musoland.com.cn and Musoland.com, was
sentenced to a three-year jail sentence after
being arrested in Nov. 2008, along with her
mother and a business partner named Yu Hui.
When raided by Chinese officials, Dan’s facility
yielded about 1, 200 fake guitars, 861 of which
were labeled as Gibsons. Li Dan had responded
to Gibson’s legal notices in 2007 by shuttering
her operation, but boldly started up again three
months later using new Internet hosts. She even
had her own Facebook page.
Gibson, along with Fender, Gretsch, Ibanez and
PRS, has formed a group called The Electric
Guitar Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition in order
to stop the counterfeiting problem. Darrell
Prescott, a representative for the EGACC,
remarked, “These follow-up actions by the
Chinese authorities should make it clear to
those who traffic counterfeit guitar products
that they will pay the price for their actions.
With this case closed, continued vigilance is
required and the EGACC will continue to take
swift, decisive action against this type of illegal
activity in the future.” The PaylessGuitar website
is still up as of this writing, but there are no
products offered for sale. Obviously, Gibson and
the others still have a huge problem to contend
with. With Payless out of the picture, others
continue to operate illegally.
Jason Farrell, Public Relations Manager of
Fender Musical Instruments Corp. commented,
“Fender’s primary focus is on the customer, just
as it was in 1946 when we first began building
musical instruments. To that fact, we urge all
150 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
of our customers to purchase genuine Fender
products from their authorized Fender dealer.
That way, they know for sure they’re buying an
authentic Fender product, as well as receiving
the customer support that goes with it.”
Frank De Fina, Vice President of Global Sales
and Marketing for Paul Reed Smith Guitars,
offered this comment: “When it comes to telling a PRS guitar from a fake, all you have to do
is pick up a guitar and look at it. PRS finishes
and build quality are extremely difficult to copy.
The problem is off and on … chronic yet intermittent, but thanks to our loyal customers, we
are notified instantly and then notify our legal
team immediately.”
A comparison of fake and authentic Gibson headstocks
from gibson.com.
The following statement from Ric Olsen
appeared in an article posted in the Lifestyle
section of Gibson’s website on July 8, 2009:
“With the current economic conditions, we’re
seeing an increased abuse of our brand name
intellectual property this year. It’s amazing what’s
going on right now. It’s a free-for-all, and people
are trying to get away with it. But Gibson is
bearing down harder than ever on the enforcement protection of our valuable brand names
and trademarks. We won’t stop fighting this.”
The same article, written by Ellen Mallernee,
Gibson’s former editorial director, also stated
that, “Eliminating counterfeit guitars continues
to be one of Gibson’s top priorities for many
reasons, but mainly because it is so clearly a
concern to so many of our consumers. A couple
of summers ago Gibson.com ran a consumer
warning acknowledging the counterfeit problem and offering tips about how to spot a
fake Gibson. The story turned out to be one
of the most popular to ever be published on
the site, receiving thousands of clicks each day.
Consumers spoke loud and clear, and they’ve
continued to.”
With the same recommendation as Fender,
Gibson encouraged customers to purchase
Gibson products only from authorized Gibson
dealers, and to report incidents of counterfeit
fraud to their customer service department,
service@gibson.com, or 1-800-4GIBSON.
In the aforementioned consumer warning,
Gibson listed the following references for
spotting a fake Gibson guitar: “Examine the
headstock and headstock logo to determine
that they match those of authentic Gibson
guitars; Check to see that the pearl is inlaid;
Check to see that the Les Paul model script
is always in cursive; Verify that there’s not a
three-screw truss rod cover; Check the control
and pickup cavities for sloppy routing or wiring; Make sure the pickup cavity is not painted
black; Always ask for the Gibson Owner’s manual and Gibson Warranty card; Check the wiring. If it’s plastic, it’s not a true Gibson; when
all else fails, call Gibson Customer Service.”
In the same article, Olsen also commented,
“There were victims who really had no idea
that what they were getting was fake. Until you
actually plug the piece in or take off the truss
rod cover and notice there’s Teflon in there
instead of a metal nut, it can be hard to tell for
many consumers.”
To buy, or not to buy?
In closing, this author wrestled with thoughts
of buying a counterfeit Les Paul copy as previously mentioned, but after much thought,
decided against it. Admittedly, I’m not
uncomfortable with the notion of “sticking
it to the man,” but it became a moral issue
when all was said and done. While it’s not
against the law to buy a counterfeit Gibson,
Fender, PRS, Gretsch, Ibanez, or any other
bogus guitar, you will be supporting criminal
activity. That is a matter of conscience, and a
judgment call that only you can make.
