PayLess Guitars

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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:35 pm

http://www.paylessguitars.com

Anyone somewhat knowledgable about instruments could easily tell why there's something wrong with them.... Rolling Eyes

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:12 pm

Are you a guitar player yourself? If so, you know what to watch out for on the market. Golden rule: Ludicrously low price+ high shipping fee=fake.
That site looks like a drama though, every person with at least half a brain should realise quickly that you can't get a Gibson 50th masterbuilt, 5 of 10 with completely inlaid neck for 210 bucks. I've seen one of those guitars on auction here that sold for 10k (euros).

The chinese guitar fakers are every singe bit as funny as our own 419 lads. For example, I'll try to make it readable for non guitarists as well, the classic Chinese JEM fake auction.

Steve Vai's signature guitar the Ibanez JEM 777vwh, is easily the most faked guitar. This guitar is very popular with modern guitarists, both for it's looks, playability and sound. Depeniding on issue and price, these fetch between 900 and 1500 euro's. Special issues and good years will fetch a lot more.This is what they look like.

..and this is what a chinese guitar scammer tries to sell you. Really.

Of course, not all auctions are as blatantly obvious as these, may are way more subtle. The latest batch of remakes I've come across are almost indistinguishable from the real deal. They still are chinese garbage and will fall apart quickly. Another example, taken from ibanezrules.com/fakes (good article there on guitar scams).

Like all Ebay scammers, these are not easy to bait or to root out, though it would be fun to bait them. If anyone finds out how, please let me now.

[Edit] Oh please, for the love of god, that site's return policy is hillarious.

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:23 pm

Yeah, these fakes are cropping up more and more. One trick now is to use a genuine Ibanez (or other type) of body and use crappy pickups and other components which is impossible to tell in the photos. They look the real deal and sound absolutely appaling. Check what other similar guitars are going for and if it seems too cheap then it is. Another scam is to use a genuine neck on a fake body and just take a closeup of the headstock for the 'Made In The USA' or whatever (I used to do this before I could afford a decent guitar but wanted everyone to think I could Embarassed

but I never sold them on)
For example the Stratocaster on the payless site has 2 string guides on the headstock wheras the genuine US standard Strat has(im pretty sure) only one and also their Epiphones and Gibsons are nearly the same price which is totally ridiculous as Gibsons are far superior build and component wise.
Oh and the Stevie Ray Vaughn Strat is missing his signature from the front of the headstock.

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:26 am

@ Herp

As a guitarist, my advice would be if you want a good guitar at a budget price, check out pawn shops and reputable second hand stores. Do not touch Chinese guitars.
Many guitars are well made copies of the real thing, and almost as good, at a far cheaper price.