Fake knock off martin guitars made in china any good?? Whats the deal?

[bkharmony]

Please buy it.

[Rollmops31]

A brand is the main asset of a company. It represents it's legacy and the work of generations of workers. I feel that some companies are ruining that legacy with poor quality products (have seen a lot recently for repairs or trade-in atempt) but they are doing it in their own right. Any other company using the company name without any right is pure theft! Do not be part of it... And don't forget that what makes a great guitar sound great is the player, not the name on the headstock.

[dodadedadude]

Let's not encourage thieves and criminals by buying their junk. for your budget, you can get some really nice guitars that others have already mentioned. A Fake Martin is a Fake Martin .... no thieves can make a good product.... their goal is as much profit as possible, so don't get yourself cheated knowingly and waste your money...

[shambolic]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

The story behind the Chinese "Martin" knock-off is that the Chinese company registered the Martin trademark in China (and is now manufacturing "Martin" knockoffs) so that the real USA Martin cannot import and sell their guitars into China. However, the fake knock-off Chinese "Martin" cannot be legally imported into the USA because it would infringe Martin's legal USA trademark.

The US government may or may not do anything about your bringing an illegal guitar into the USA -- you never know, except that US Customs is very much aware of this dispute -- but Martin would certainly have a case for suing you, personally, for trademark infringement if they had the ability to find out about your purchase.


- Glenn

.

You sure about this? Surely it would be if you were importing to sell such a product. There are many products with name crossovers across the world, people don't get done for having a trademark product from one country that clashes with another country.


Having said that, buying it is a bad idea on so many fronts

[Will Kirk]

In some places, thieves are killed, in others, they are defending with words and letters, I like the first one.

Don't buy it, if anything I've learned it's that as a member of a country, regardless of money, it is better to support your home.

[MSchott]

I can't understand why anyone would seriously consider a fake of any brand. Why support someone making money by stealing another's identity? You'd be doing a disservice to Chris Martin as well. As said above, buy a Yamaha, RK, Seagull or other legit brand in that price range.

[RussMason]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. There are many wonderful brands that are now made in China, and for one reason: skilled laborers cost 1/10th of what craftsmen are paid in the states.

Silver Creek, Blueridge, Morgan Monroe, Walden and many others are all made in China. Oh yes, Johnson and the Carolina series. There are, I am sure, others.

I have some Silver Creek guitars. They are all solid wood - top, back and sides and they play and sound great. Yes I could pay 10 times more and buy a Martin, but the differences are no longer as significant as they were, even five years ago. I had a 1955 000-18 (solid mahogany) for 23 years and swapped it for a 1992 Martin J-40. No doubt about it - the J was an amazing guitar.

But now I live in the tropics where the humidity could ruin a Martin (or especially my Joel Stehr custom guitars). So I got some Silver Creeks and a Walden. I must tell you - the Silver Creek T-170 (Rosewood 000) model, sounds better and more balanced than my old Martin 000-18. The Martin was woodier and brighter sounding, but when one considers the difference in price, the Chinese guitars more than hold their own.

But be careful. There are good brands and there are unknown brands. The ones I mentioned above are very good. I think Eastman guitars are also made in China now, and they are exceptionally fine.

[Turp]

Originally Posted by shambolic

You sure about this? Surely it would be if you were importing to sell such a product. There are many products with name crossovers across the world, people don't get done for having a trademark product from one country that clashes with another country.


Having said that, buying it is a bad idea on so many fronts

As I understand it, there is an effort to shut down illegal imitations by the federal government. The products are illegal in the US.

[deja]

So we've now charged the OP with having no ethics at all, being a criminal, a thief, lacking patriotism, being disloyal to Chris Martin et al, a suggestion that such individuals are deserving of death, and all of this scorn for someone simply asking about the possibility of buying a fake Martin guitar.

If nothing else, you folks are entertaining.

[RiloKiley]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

No, it's not going to sound like the the genuine Martin. You'd have a difficult time finding the materials for a Martin HD-28 for $350, much less an assembled guitar at that price.

What's more, it's illegal to import a counterfeit Martin into the United States. There's an excellent chance that this ersatz instrument would be seized by US Customs.

And having a "tight budget" is no excuse for participating in a wholesale rip-off of a long-established brand like Martin guitars. I think you'd actually DESERVE whatever you got if you were to buy this instrument, but aside from being blatantly illegal it's wrong on so many other levels that I have to question whether you have any ethics at all.

Short version: it's a bad idea. If you've only got that much money to spend, watch Craigslist and buy a used Seagull guitar, which will almost certainly sound better than any Chinese-made rip-off copy of Martin, and will have the added benefit of being completely legal.


Wade Hampton Miller

I agree with this. Let's be honest, it's a moronic idea to buy a guitar solely based on the name on the headstock. If you look at these knock offs coming out of China, they are often targeting big names like Gibson and Martin.

Sit down and think about this for a second- What do you know about these fake knock-offs? The answer is probably nothing, beyond what they look like. I've read a lot of the debate (almost all negative) about these guitars, and I have NEVER read a post by anybody saying that these guitars sounded good, were made from high quality materials, or were well made. Nobody has said this. Why do you think that they are even worth considering? It must be the name on the headstock....

The sad reality is that many "musicians" buy into the perception that having the right name on the headstock of their guitar will make them sound like Jimmy Page or Slash. Real musicians will buy and instrument because they have either tried out the guitar and like the tone, or they are knowledgeable and have put some thought and research into the process.

Personally, I agree with Wade, you just can't look beyond the ethics of these guitars. Even if you can, you will definately be getting what you paid for (or substantially less) if you buy one of these guitars.

[GHS]

Yes Turp,you are correct. In the town next to mine a company that was manufacturing knockoff womans apparel was raided and shut down two days ago. They were sewing high end brand lables into cheap shirts and bags and passing them off as the real deal. They were based in Asia and made millions before they were closed down. In the case of the imitation Martins, we cannot go into their territory and shut down their business but we can stop the import of knockoff products. My point in my earlier post may not have come across properly after being up for 26 hrs. We all know that good instrument grade woods are getting harder to find everyday, with import restrictions and environmental legislation just adding to the mix. It would be a shame that this company could not find a legit importer and the material used to build these guitars went to waste.

[hermithollow]

An ex-coworker of mine was looking for an opportunity to make some money importing Chinese goods. His son convinced him to buy some knockoffs of Razorback electric guitars. Not being a guitar player, he was impressed by how closely they resembled the originals. He didn't seem to notice the second rate finish and electronics. He tried selling them on Craig's list, had a few calls ,but no takers. Eventually he did receive a call that convinced him it would be a bad idea to continue to try to sell these guitars.
Could a person slip a Chinese Martin guitar through customs for personal use? Possibly. Would they then have to endlessly answer the query - You do know that's not a real Martin? Most likely. I think I'd rather play a cheap guitar, than be thought a fool for buying a poor copy of an expensive one.

[rmyAddison]

Originally Posted by RussMason

I don't know what all the fuss is about. There are many wonderful brands that are now made in China, and for one reason: skilled laborers cost 1/10th of what craftsmen are paid in the states.

Silver Creek, Blueridge, Morgan Monroe, Walden and many others are all made in China. Oh yes, Johnson and the Carolina series. There are, I am sure, others.

I have some Silver Creek guitars. They are all solid wood - top, back and sides and they play and sound great. Yes I could pay 10 times more and buy a Martin, but the differences are no longer as significant as they were, even five years ago. I had a 1955 000-18 (solid mahogany) for 23 years and swapped it for a 1992 Martin J-40. No doubt about it - the J was an amazing guitar.

But now I live in the tropics where the humidity could ruin a Martin (or especially my Joel Stehr custom guitars). So I got some Silver Creeks and a Walden. I must tell you - the Silver Creek T-170 (Rosewood 000) model, sounds better and more balanced than my old Martin 000-18. The Martin was woodier and brighter sounding, but when one considers the difference in price, the Chinese guitars more than hold their own.

But be careful. There are good brands and there are unknown brands. The ones I mentioned above are very good. I think Eastman guitars are also made in China now, and they are exceptionally fine.

Russ, none of the brands you mentioned are puttting Martin or Gibson or Taylor on the headstock, there is a difference...............

I don't care how good Chinese products are when the government turns it's back on illegal copyright activites. China has been bootlegging software for decades and any other consumer products they can rip off, can me old fashioned but I call that wrong and won't support it. To each their own.

Ask the Buddhists in Tibet how things are going..........

[stratokatsu]

Why would anyone want a guitar made by a company that stooped so low that their major selling feature was the name of some well known company, but that they so obviously are not?

I agree there are some nice guitars coming out of China these days. I have a Silver Creek and an Epiphone that attest to that, but there's no way I would buy a guitar that is so obviously trying to defraud the buying public.

[sneaky]

a fake knock off you say? Then...it`s a real one.