Counterfeit Taylors

[TaylorGirl]

I stumbled upon several sites that are selling counterfeit Taylors from China. Here's one:
http://www.aliexpress.com/cheap/cheap-taylor-k24ce.html

I know some may be thinking that you aren't paying much and, who knows, maybe it's a great sounding guitar. My point is, they are passing them off as Taylors (calling them Taylors, putting stickers inside that make it look like they are Taylors, putting Taylor on the headstock, etc.).

This must be where these are coming from that we are seeing on Craigslist (previous threads).

This is just sick, in so many ways.

[Frances50]

Counterfeit guitars are nothing new.  Gibson has suffered from the same practice for many years, especially the Les Paul models. 

[DennisG]

Counterfeit guitars are nothing new.  Gibson has suffered from the same practice for many years, especially the Les Paul models.

Whether or not the practice of counterfeiting guitars is new, it's an awful thing to do.  It fools unsuspecting guitarists into believing they're getting an actual Taylor, it taints the brand when they form an impression of the company based on playing a guitar with cheap woods and shoddy construction, and it eats into Taylor's sales.

[Maple422]

Looking at the guitars in the link, I'm amazed at how shoddily put together they are. The necks look like 2 x 4's that have been shaved down, the glue drippings, wires exposed through the sound hole, and cold war Soviet style knobs for the electronics. Sadly the uninformed may be fooled into thinking they are getting the real thing.

[Kmeister]

I understand Gibson embeds a little electronic RFID thing into their Les Pauls so that the factory can scan them to know its legit. I guess they hide them somewhere in the body and move it around so that it's not always in the same place. Wonder if companies like Taylor will start doing the same in response to those counterfeits.

[Kmeister]

Whether or not the practice of counterfeiting guitars is new, it's an awful thing to do.  It fools unsuspecting guitarists into believing they're getting an actual Taylor, it taints the brand when they form an impression of the company based on playing a guitar with cheap woods and shoddy construction, and it eats into Taylor's sales.

I won't argue that it's wrong on 100 levels, but at the same time, if you're considering the purchase of a Taylor guitar, a quick search of the Taylor or a GC website *should* raise a red flag.... nothing Taylor sells is in that price point. A buyer who doesn't stop to question that probably also falls for the long lost African cousin millionaire scams....

[GreysSonicPlayground]

http://m.aliexpress.com/item/1771195904.html?productId=1771195904&productSubject=Hot-selling-High-Quality-Spruce-Solid-6-Strings-Taylor-K24CE-Natural-wood-Acoustic-Guitar-built-in&tracelog=wwwdetail2mobilesitedetail
Look through the pix on this one you'll see the truss rod access in the soundhole.

I'd notify Taylor. But they probably have lawyers pursuing these matters already.

[Jersey tuning]

 Counterfeit Taylor?

[DennisG]

Whether or not the practice of counterfeiting guitars is new, it's an awful thing to do.  It fools unsuspecting guitarists into believing they're getting an actual Taylor, it taints the brand when they form an impression of the company based on playing a guitar with cheap woods and shoddy construction, and it eats into Taylor's sales.

I won't argue that it's wrong on 100 levels, but at the same time, if you're considering the purchase of a Taylor guitar, a quick search of the Taylor or a GC website *should* raise a red flag.... nothing Taylor sells is in that price point. A buyer who doesn't stop to question that probably also falls for the long lost African cousin millionaire scams....

Kristen,

I completely agree with you that people should perform their due diligence before buying a guitar.  You would.  I would.  And pretty much everyone using this forum would.  But many people out there are complete novices, and I suspect they are the ones who are buying these guitars thinking they're genuine Taylors, especially when the sellers of this stuff are giving every indication that the stuff is real.  Gullibility isn't a crime.

[doctorinthehouse]

bet they play like crap and those knobs i got smaller on my amp 

[ronmcc4]

On another forum I saw a post from a wife wanting to buy her husband a guitar for Christmas. She knew almost nothing about guitars.  That's exactly they type of buyer who would fall for a fake like these.  Sad.  I'd like to think this can be stopped but I don't know how that can be done.

[Byrdsman]

On another forum I saw a post from a wife wanting to buy her husband a guitar for Christmas. She knew almost nothing about guitars.  That's exactly they type of buyer who would fall for a fake like these.  Sad.  I'd like to think this can be stopped but I don't know how that can be done.

It's simple. We bomb the factory making them.  Seriously, I used to own several lefty Rickenbackers and that company is very aggressive about going after chinese fakes. I hope Taylor is just as aggressive.

[mgap]

Did anyone notice that the spruce top k's were listed as K24CE Ha!

[TaylorGirl]

Did anyone notice that the spruce top k's were listed as K24CE Ha!

Yes, I did. That was one of many things I found funny. I only searched for K24ce.....I didn't even go so far as checking for other counterfeit models.

[doctorinthehouse]

they had a koa 1 bet its not koa