COUNTERFEIT GUITARS
criminal, a common counterfeiter. And they
accept Paypal, by the way.
Another Chinese distributor/clearing house
for all types of goods, including guitars, is
Trade Tang.com. They sell just about every
sort of consumer product imaginable, including toys, cell phones, household items, computers, health and beauty products, video
games, sporting goods, cameras, jewelry and
watches, clothing, wedding items, and even
motorcycle and auto parts. Are the products
legitimate? Perhaps some of them are, but
the guitars certainly aren’t.
A Bogus Boneyard
I decided to use the Gibson Joe Perry Boneyard
Custom Shop Les Paul, a guitar I like, as a starting point. Trade Tang listed many versions of this
guitar from multiple sellers, starting at $187.28
and going up to $567.50 with free shipping
and a hardshell case included. By the way, the
prices seem to change on a fairly regular basis,
but that’s most likely due to international currency fluctuation. Indeed, there were three
full pages of Gibson and Epiphone Joe Perry
Boneyard knockoffs, and many of them used
the same photo repeatedly. I noticed names
such as Guachao, Wanghongxia, Langping,
Linglongshanghang, Full-Of-Romance,
Jinshang58 and Eguitar58, as well as many others. These are online monikers for people selling
counterfeit guitars. One can only imagine what
you get for your money, but again, we have to
assume that the more you spend, the better the
guitar. Or can we? There’s no way of knowing.
You order one; you take your chances.
Once again, I zeroed in on a Gibson LP
Boneyard knockoff starting at $340.50 (there’s a
discount if you order 10 or more), and emailed
the distributor, one “hao-2010,” with the following query: “Do you have this guitar in stock? Is
a hardshell case extra money? Can you ship it
UPS or FedEx, and will you hand-pick a good
one for me with a highly figured flame top?
Please reply.”
Mr. “hao-2010” has this on his home page:
“Welcome to my store. Worthy commodity,
competitive price. Customer first. Your business
with me will be a pleasant experience for you. I
am dedicated to bring joy, safe and top-quality
products for you. All the products I offer in my
store come with fashion, style, superior quality
but cheaper price all the time … First time, we
do business, next time, we become friends.”
Their come-on also states, “We use Japan technology. Our quality control team is responsible
for all the guitar inspection from the selection of
the wood to the guitar finish.” As of this writing,
I have never gotten a response from hao-2010.
Despite a little apprehension, and with blessings
from my accountant, who assured me I could
write it off, I thought seriously about ordering a
Joe Perry Boneyard Les Paul “replica” from my
future friend, hao-2010, to aid in preparation for
this article. They promised delivery in a matter
of days and happily accepted PayPal. The guitar
certainly looked very nice in the photo—one
that was different from the others—a heavily
flamed top, correct color and features, and what
seemed to be exemplary fit and finish, plus a
hardshell case. It also came complete with all
requisite case candy: a custom shop certificate,
hang tags, warranty booklet, etc. Who knew
148 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
