I may never buy a used guitar again...

[Jimi75]

Those Chinese fakes are ridiculous. The foto finish flame....OMG...can it get worse? Still a lot of new players who believe the fake and buy such instruments.

I buy used instruments, but not at ebay or any other online source. I have to see and play the instrument. There are well known authorized dealers who have professional knowledge. That is where you can buy used instruments, too.

[FrankenFretter***]

This post has really generated some very interesting dialogue, and some great points.

Capitalism is a very new thing in China, and they've grabbed hold of it with both hands and run with it. Granted, it is their own version of capitalism, but it is changing the country rapidly. We've certainly fueled the fire based on large industries desiring less overhead and more profit. Greed and vanity is what drives the growth of industry in China. Buying a counterfeit guitar is rarely done because it's seen as a good deal on a quality instrument; it's to impress people with the name brand. There are plenty of bargain-priced Asian-made guitars out there that are great quality, and NOT counterfeit.

I find it interesting, or perhaps morbidly fascinating, that the counterfeiters are producing better copies all the time. They read the forums. They read the Gibson articles on how to spot a fake. They pay attention, and they adapt the products. I had read that the Les Pauls (or Ling Pauls, as they're known in some forums) used to have three-screw truss rod covers, and no control cavity or switch covers. They do now. They're also learning which models have how much binding, and where. They're getting better, and it's getting harder for us to know which guitars are genuine. Perhaps Gibson will go the route of MS, and have a unique registration number for each guitar that you have to call in and verify. There need to be some way to tell a fake from the real thing that the fakers can't duplicate.

That's my vent for the day. Talk amongst yourselves...