If nothing else I have found that the Chinese are relentless…

Chinese Les Paul Guitar Review Part 3

This all started here: DIY Guitar Kits Review I bought this really cheap kit that was billed as “High Quality Unfinished Guitar” and  Since looking at the two eBay guitar kits I was subsiquently sent and reviewed here in the past month I have come to believe these unfinished guitars were their own “factory Rejects” that they were selling as “Kits”, because aside from the glaring flaws, the penciled numbers did not match either body pocket or neck tenon… And really… They are crap even for dirt cheap. When the company that sells them caught wind of my review they really went quite out of their minds

My last conversation after publishing LES PAUL GUITAR KIT REVIEW PART 2 | MADE IN CHINA. Went like this:

Dear Friend, We have refunded your PayPal account. Please friend tell us how we can improve our product, we are a new factory and have many problems and look forward to providing a better product for review.Song

 Rather than be a jerk and leave poor Song hanging I contacted a friend who really is a professional guitar maker and lutier and asked him to read my review and comment on what would need to be done to fix these El cheapo kits, then I sent his suggestions along to my buddy Song. So a short while latter I received this email… I’m not entirely sure if it is the same conversation with the same person… I mean, Song may very well have changed his name to Susan… This is how it went:

 Hi Dear Friend,Thank you for interesing our guitars and thank you for the informations how we can improve product if you like the ebay of guitar, I will send this guitar to you for a review. We will send this guitar to you at once Pls see the attachment of pictureIf you order 5 guitars per month, I will give you 5%discount, if you order 10 guitars per month i will give you 10%discount  without ebay so ebay fee is very high. There is no shame in owning Chinese guitars we pay them very good. Pls see the new quality and add them to your website this is the very best quality gold top guitar kit we send you to inspect. tracking isEE085380085CNSusan.

And my reply:  What?

Anyway….

Today USPS Left this EMS Parcel on my Doorstep…

 

Having spent some time conversing with these people for a while now about my first review of their product and the subsequent second review of another example of they’re guitar kit. I’m pretty sure that they are not using the word “friend” as a term of endearment… Okay maybe I’m paranoid but this package could contain anything… Perhaps a Midget Ninja Assassin?… Possible… The little psycho bugger will jump out and say “AMERICAN! WHY U NO HAPPY?!” then stab me in the neck with a rusty pot-metal hat pin.

… So I left it on the porch for a while to think about it… Later that evening my wife said “Honey aren’t you going to bring that inside and open it?” I suppose I over reacted a bit because my answer was:  “What Are You Crazy?…  Don’t you know that package came from The Peoples Republic of China?

She brought it inside and made me open it “See honey it’s just another guitar”. 

Fake Gibson Les Paul Gold Top

  I now understand why the binding on the unfinished guitars was so lousy… You’re just supposed spray right over it. The sticker that passes for the Gibson inlay is kind of pretty though and they’ve gotten better at forging Les Paul’s signature. There is no way to show this in the pictures but the finish on the whole thing is wavy… And lumpy. This “Guitar” weighs 12.5 Lbs already with no hardware as you see it.

After all the hooting and hollering they did about the bad reviews I gave them… I must come to the conclusion that this is the best they can do.

 

 Sending Your Money to China

Regardless of how I feel about this I believe I have given this Chinese purveyor of inexpensive guitar kits (and apparently Gibson copy guitars) my honest best to represent them exactly how they are… There was no need to fudge the results… Heck I even left out the facts that they forgot to drill for the output jack before they laid the finish on it and that all the frets are popped weird.

 Aside from being of very poor quality these imports are made with zero regard for the environment… While Gibson Guitars today is having it’s problems with the Federal government over the Lacey Act because they allegedly illegally obtaining exotic woods these Chinese Les Paul knock offs come here, breeze right in through customs, free of duty taxes, pirated woods, trademark and patent infringements and all… WTF?

I can understand the allure of buying something for cheap but as the saying goes… You get what you pay for… And in the long run you get what you deserve…  It never struck me as a good idea to buy cheap imports regardless of price vs quality… I’m old enough to remember when we made stuff in this country… I’m also old enough to remember when a guy could work and support his family.

 This isn’t the first time I’ve had dealings with the Chinese and it wont be the last. I work in the Automotive industry and there are many (MANY) components and replacement parts today that are only manufactured in China…You just can’t get them any place else… In the 1980’s and 1990’s it was a counterfeiting problem… Now it’s the only game in town.

 I could probably go on and on about this but chances are you A: Already understand or B: Will never understand… So I guess I’ll just leave it at that.