COUNTERFEIT GUITARS
In an article from
the U.S. Federal
News Service,
North Carolina
Secretary of State
Elaine F. Marshall
remarked, “In
this case involving Gibson guitars, one young
musician even
had his dream
of owning what
was to him the
perfect guitar ruined by finding what he
had bought was a fake.” In the Dec. 1, 2007
issue of Music Trades, it was reported that
Bernard Musumeci, owner of Oakdale Music
in Oakdale, N. Y., was arrested and charged
by Suffolk County Police with second-degree
trademark counterfeiting after he allegedly
purchased $20,000 worth of bogus Gibsons
from a dealer on eBay. Police confiscated 33
guitars from Musumeci’s home and store.
Due to his obesity, Musumeci was arraigned
outside the Suffolk County courthouse. The
press and bloggers had a field day. Musumeci
claimed he never knew the guitars were fakes.
Headstock detail from one of
the seized Oakdale instruments.
Photo: Michael E. Ach/Newsday
instance, a fake Gibson VOS Custom Shop
Les Paul TV Junior sells for $338, as does a
VOS Les Paul ’ 59 Sunburst with flamed maple
top in an Iced Tea sunburst. There are close-up photos of the Junior on Baazarguitar’s
website, and having owned a vintage TV
Junior years ago, the Chinese fake looked
like a very convincing replica. I was sorely
tempted to order one until I realized the
photo was that of an actual Gibson VOS
Junior. Playing the part of an interested consumer, I took advantage of their email help
line and posed the following question: “If I
buy one of your guitars and am dissatisfied
with it, can I return it for another?”
Their response in broken but understandable English was, “You must decide first if
you can afford guitar. You get good one first
time. We hand pick best ones. If the guitar
damaged by shipper, you can return only.”
In other words, you cannot return it unless
it’s broken by the shipping service. The individual who runs Bazarguitar.com posted a
message to this effect on his home page: “I
am a good person. You get no trouble from
me. Best place to find your dreaming guitar
at a cheap price. We sell Gibson, Fender,
PRS, Ibanez and Gretsch guitars at cheapest
prices.” There was more, but you get the
drift. According to the law, he’s a
Asian counterfeiting is a widespread and
unquestionably illegal activity, and it’s not just
guitars. Counterfeit Nike sneakers, Gucci handbags, name brand perfume, Rolex watches, all
manner of designer clothing, DVDs, CDs and
so much more, have permeated the European
and American markets since the 1970s. The
problem, however, has accelerated quickly
since 1997. The largest producer of counterfeit goods is China, but South Korea is a
close second, where so-called “super copies”
are being made. Super copies are generally
knockoffs of designer products whose quality
is high enough to regularly fool employees of
the companies they’re ripping off. It was just
a matter of time before counterfeiters began
bootlegging famous brand guitars. Lax government and customs rules and regulations allow
counterfeiters to prosper overseas, leaving
European, Japanese, and American companies
little recourse in fighting the problem.
The Trade Tang.com website.
With all this in mind, and feeling bold enough
to dive head first into the fray, I made contact with a Chinese distributor of counterfeit
guitars, Bazaarguitar.com. They regularly sell
knockoffs of Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, PRS
and Ibanez guitars at very low prices. For
Bazaarguitar.com
www.premierguitar.com
