Plenty of you had a lot to say on last weeks Miracle Guitar story, most of which wasn't good. Here's a couple of the comments from readers:
Philvis: "You want how much for that out of tune unintonated Tele? Are plum crazy. In the 40 years I've been tuning guitars it's happened a few times but I didn't make a big how to do out of it. Shit happens!"
Dags: "Who cares if they line up or not... Just play your f******
Nathan: "You want to hear something amazing? All the keys on my Roland digital piano are perfectly aligned as well - holy crap - and there are like 88 of them!"
Bobby: "All you have to do is adjust the bridge."
But it didn't phase Michael Fenemore, owner of the Miracle Guitar.
Fenemore: "Let's see you do it. :-)"
Read the Miracle Guitar article.
Meanwhile, Gibson's press release on spotting a fake Gibson guitar was very popular.
Shwan: "I recently visited Asia and saw one of these fake Gibsons in a store. My first reaction was, that can't be a genuine Gibson. As this article states, there was an obvious cheapness to the
Van: "I just bought a Gibson Les Paul Standard. One way to make this a little safer is to take the Gibson product code and serial number and call the Gibson toll free number right in the store and check them out. I did it and the
GuitarSite forum users often discuss the problem of counterfeit guitars and are more than happy to help regular users spot fakes.
I'm really enjoying the new commenting system. Reading your thoughts (and flames) on the news we run is not only exciting to read, but it shows what sort of articles you want published.
– Michael
Gibson owns all the Chinese factory’s Every cheap pos Gibson makes is not from the USA you can dilute yourself I am not its all part of the grand scam to rip off our country Gibson Baldwin china search it
Martin 20.07.2008 thinks gibsons are overpriced junk – he has a right to his opinion of course. I would invite him to take a virtual tour of the Gibson factory on line or even Carvin guitars for that matter. The guitars are all state of the art made with precision machinery that measures down to the thousandths of an inch. Back in the 60’s, my original Ventures model Mosrite (now gone) was hand made in Semies garage using bench tools – no computer programmed cutting machines back then. If anything, they are much more precise today and those finishes are fantastic. Price of course is determined by demand and if you want a less expensive L.P. buy an Epiphone. They are made in Japan by luthiers every bit as skilled as those in the west – just look at the inlays for precision craftsmanship. The Chinese however have not learned about repeat customers yet and are content to take you for what its worth – their stuff is crap and they figure if you don’t go back for more, someone else will. This is what we need to stop. The L.P.’s made here are pricy, but so is real quality – you get what you pay for. The signature models are grossly overpriced though. Not sure if I’m interested in that guitar with the barbed wire strap, pink pickups, nails in the headstock, and neon lighted pickguard originally owned by the guy with the orange hair and strange body mutilations but hey, that’s just me and I’m not willing to pay extra for his relics either.
Counterfeit guitars: I was recently stung by TradeTang when the guitars I purchasd on their site from wanglaoj117, (based on the American models shown in the sellers ad), were just a come-on and really not available. As it turns out, even after confirmation from the seller “what you see in pictuer is what you get” I still received counterfeit knock-offs. Ol’ wang listed a vintage Mosrite and Rickenbacker 370-12 in his ad (probably copied off e-bnay) – what I actually received however were 2 fake “RIC’s made by angry Mongols in the Gobi desert. Evidently, the English words “Truth in Advertising” and “Bait and Switch” are interchangeable in Cantonese. Other English words that apparently do not translate well are “Consumer Protection” and “Complete Refund”. What’s the harm? For one, it devalues your classic axe in your closet. It destroys the U.S. manufacturers copyright, and ultimately screws you the consumer. Don’t you even feel violated like a rape victim? I do and I’m mad as hell about it. How did I figure this out? By listing them for sale on e-bay. Here is the drill. The fakes have no seerial number, they lack the trademark “R” on the tailpiece, the tailpiece on the 12 string is actually a 6 string unit with all strings doubled up in the 6 slots, the pickups are Gibson humbucker types instead of the toaster type on real RIC’s, there is no stamp indicating country of origin, the neck is too wide at the body, and the stereo feature is missing. The Chinese think nothing of scrounging a piece of driftwood, slapping some strings on it and calling it an original. PayPal and the credit card companies will not back you – they don’t care. Here is the real kicker, the U.S. Customs inspector never physically opened the package – they only looked at the shipping label written in broken English and Cantonese. So much for border protection. If they had been on the ball, they might have stopped the copyright infringement at the border and sent the guitars back home. Do not buy from China. There are enough decent guitars out there and if you really want that Les Paul, do what we did in the old days back in the 60’s, save for the damn thing! Every music shop I know of today has payment plans available. I got sucked in by a good price and should have known better. Now I’m warning all of you. Buyer beware – be very aware.
I couldnt agree more with you Martin ,lets assume I had a time machine and could buy a 50’s les paul then and compare it with a modern Chinese copy . Well let’s face it they both twang and with a little tweeking the China copy could be quite playable by changing one or two pick-ups and setting up the intonation -umm modern Chinese vs 50’s American technology . Its the same issue with Watches Rolex or “chinex” hell I really need that time machine cos my rolex says the the same as that “chinex”.The Devil wears Prada, well guys and girls so can you for about $25 and guess what it’s made of real cow skin too.Yes I agree it’s wrong to copy lets ban Xerox machines,photoscaners stop painters from copying the great masters and stop those producers from making cd burners and tape to tape machines.At the end of the day lot at what it is for what it is and nothing more wood, metal and a few electronics thats it,every piece of tree is different-some good bits and some bad its a choice where badges and symbols don’t always mean its best.SB
All this talk about Gibson “USA” funny assembled here maybe.Everyone, gibsons are mass produced overpriced junk. The fakes are probably better. All you get through the glue is pickup sounds. The pickups are made in child labor land. There are so many builders that handmake and take pride in production of guitars with far better materials and tender loving American pride for lower prices. Your Gibson has plastic inlays!!!!!! my God you talk about a miracle guitar, any company who can get cats to pay $5000 for a guitar with plasctic inlays thats a miracle.
If you want a quality guitar at a reasonable price, look at Robin guitars in Texas, Jet guitars, Quicksilver. Hell, let the local shop class build you something.
I bet all those celebrity guitarist with the “Gibson” guitars have had them re-built or tweaked out by real luthiers.
the way i see fake gibson’s are
what’s the point in copyin’g them?
all the pickups in them are ******
korean made!not the real one’s you’d see
in a Classic or a Standard or a Custom,
I saw a Gibson on ebay for $3000,Now
I know that’s a real Gibson,and then
i saw a link to a another website
saying that a Les Paul was selling for
$200!!i just coudn’t ****** beleive it!i
mean oh my god!!copying them is just wrong!
you cant copy a Gibson,you just cant!!mabye
Epiphone,but otherwise you just cant copy them!!
I was too hard on the lad but miracle I think not but if it helps his playing to think its inspired by God far be it for my to rain on his parade.Yeah its a miracle Keep on Jammin my man you rule!
It aint no freakin Jesus taco is it. Tell me when you have the Virgin Mary on your headstock.
The miracle guitar whilst interesting, didnt seem to warrant the tagline of being a miracle