Gibson : China vs USA , any differences ?

Rescator

So , where and what is the difference SOUND&TONE WISE in this clip ????

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vic

All Gibsons made in China are FAKES. There's no such thing as a Gibson Les Paul China. This cr@p should be avoided ?

I have not listened yet to the video/sound clip, but I won't be surprised if one cannot differentiate between the fake and the real thing due to the poor sound quality of these videos in general.

Reinhard

With that much gain any solid body humbucker guitar would sound the same.

Ray

What if, and I'm only saying what if, the fake turns out to be a better instrument?

vic

Ray wrote: What if, and I'm only saying what if, the fake turns out to be a better instrument?

Which I doubt ?

However it still won't make it a "Gibson China"

studmissile

Vic wrote:
Ray wrote: What if, and I'm only saying what if, the fake turns out to be a better instrument?
Which I doubt ?

However it still won't make it a "Gibson China"

Scary!, still hold that thought, stranger things have happened. Sooner or later all these big company brands turn to china for a better profit. Fender's and not just squiers are now being made in china.

DaFiz

Played loud through a Marshal stack there may be similarities which could be difficult to distinguish...
but compare the same instruments in twenty years and there will no doubt be a distinction... :-\

AlanRatcliffe

There is a difference (even at 360px) - I can definitely hear it. Probably more so in the flesh, and even more so with a more revealing amp. There will also be a difference in playability and durability, fit and finish.

The comparison is similar to comparing a Squier and a US Fender Strat or Gibson and Epiphone through the same distorted Marshall - the sound is similar, sure, but not exactly the same ...and you will feel and see the difference easily.

Admittedly Gibson are overpriced, but there is no way a quality guitar can be built and sold at one tenth of the price. Half the price... maybe... (see Tokai). But quality raw materials alone will cost you more than these guitars sell for, so even accounting for near slave-labour, the quality of the guitars cannot compare.

In short, if you can't tell the difference, then you are welcome to the Chinese "Gibson". Just don't try tell anyone but yourself that it is "just as good as the real thing".

Manfred-Klose

while watching that vid, i came accross this one on youtube, chinese guitar factory tour.

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and the eye gouging factory
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AlanRatcliffe

Manfred Klose wrote: while watching that vid, i came accross this one on youtube, chinese guitar factory tour.
and the eye gouging factory

Huge difference in production techniques.

Wizard

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Huge difference in production techniques.

e.g. Your place of work?
"Sitting on a paint tin ..."

aubs1

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: In short, if you can't tell the difference, then you are welcome to the Chinese "Gibson". Just don't try tell anyone but yourself that it is "just as good as the real thing".

+1 ...... was gonna be my response as well. ?

AlanRatcliffe

Wizard wrote:
Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Huge difference in production techniques.
e.g. Your place of work?
"Sitting on a paint tin ..."

"Here am I sitting on a paint can..." ? Yeah - the woman slapping on grain filler like she is plastering a wall. And then the guy sanding with a belt (crossgrain), pushing it down with a wooden block.

But more the hand operated machinery and methods versus the CnC stuff. I didn't see a proper jig for the fret slotting machine, so it's down to the operator positioning the piece properly before cutting. Very prone to error...

Manfred-Klose

it amazes me how they can make a video and get away with all the health issues.
the spray guy doesn't even wear a proper spray mask

Wizard

When i've made musical instruments; I've done "custom" jobs for friends & "mass production" for unknown faceless customers.
Despite the methods & techniques being identical, I find the process and end result remarkably different.

Something little that struck me while watching those huge piles of wood being "processed".

No-one is looking at a piece of timber and saying :
"wonder how I should cut out blanks to get the best grain?"
"which way does this grain go? which way should I be planing it?"
"has the grain popped nicely? Would it work better if I gave it a steel wool rub and applied another coat of finish?"
"why hasn't this piece worked well? perhaps a different finish?"
...

No love going into that.
I think making your own stuff is under-estimated.
Or getting a friend to do so.

singemonkey

People have stripped those Chinese fakes down and they are complete rubbish under the paint naturally. People make fakes to sell a R1,500 guitar for R4,000. You're not mysteriously getting a R20,000 guitar for R4,000. It's not worth if for the fakers to make quality guitars. If they did, they could happily sell them under their own names like the Japanese copies do.

If you feel like buying one for the dubious thrill of having people compliment your Gibson (I for one don't feel any sense of pride when someone is gushing over one of my Gibsons - I'd far rather have someone tell me I played well) then knock yourself out. But all you're doing is over-paying for a piece of crap guitar so that some brand-dazzled person can pay you a meaningless - and undue - compliment.

Chabenda

singemonkey wrote: People have stripped those Chinese fakes down and they are complete rubbish under the paint naturally. People make fakes to sell a R1,500 guitar for R4,000. You're not mysteriously getting a R20,000 guitar for R4,000. It's not worth if for the fakers to make quality guitars. If they did, they could happily sell them under their own names like the Japanese copies do.

If you feel like buying one for the dubious thrill of having people compliment your Gibson (I for one don't feel any sense of pride when someone is gushing over one of my Gibsons - I'd far rather have someone tell me I played well) then knock yourself out. But all you're doing is over-paying for a piece of crap guitar so that some brand-dazzled person can pay you a meaningless - and undue - compliment.

+1 Well said Singe!

Chocklit_Thunda

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Wizard wrote:
Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Huge difference in production techniques.
e.g. Your place of work?
"Sitting on a paint tin ..."
"Here am I sitting on a paint can..." ? Yeah - the woman slapping on grain filler like she is plastering a wall. And then the guy sanding with a belt (crossgrain), pushing it down with a wooden block.

But more the hand operated machinery and methods versus the CnC stuff. I didn't see a proper jig for the fret slotting machine, so it's down to the operator positioning the piece properly before cutting. Very prone to error...

They use a loose belt sander in the Gibson factory too? There's a guy pushing down on the slack belt with a block and he quite literally finishes the carve on a les paul... Not sure if its rough carved before he gets it though... ? still quite scary seeing as how most of the videos I've watched on carving were done step by step and over long periods using a router or wood chisels... Not just robbed down on a belt sander for 5 minutes ???

rossgun

DaFiz wrote: Played loud through a Marshal stack there may be similarities which could be difficult to distinguish...
but compare the same instruments in twenty years and there will no doubt be a distinction... :-\

probably wont be around in 20 years!! :-\

rossgun

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: There is a difference (even at 360px) - I can definitely hear it. Probably more so in the flesh, and even more so with a more revealing amp. There will also be a difference in playability and durability, fit and finish.

The comparison is similar to comparing a Squier and a US Fender Strat or Gibson and Epiphone through the same distorted Marshall - the sound is similar, sure, but not exactly the same ...and you will feel and see the difference easily.

Admittedly Gibson are overpriced, but there is no way a quality guitar can be built and sold at one tenth of the price. Half the price... maybe... (see Tokai). But quality raw materials alone will cost you more than these guitars sell for, so even accounting for near slave-labour, the quality of the guitars cannot compare.

In short, if you can't tell the difference, then you are welcome to the Chinese "Gibson". Just don't try tell anyone but yourself that it is "just as good as the real thing".

If you have Supremes, then some of them are and even better!