Continuing to shape the music industry since 1902, Gibson has been a leader in both acoustic and electric guitars, bringing a timeless elegance and distinct sound to music history. As one of the most respected guitar brands today, Gibson guitars are highly valuable—as long as they are authentic. This week, thousands of fake Gibson electric guitars were seized in California.
According to both federal and state officials, these guitars could have sold for millions of dollars, making it the largest seizure of counterfeit goods of this guitar brand and the biggest shutdown on fake musical instruments in history.
While counterfeits continue to grow across all industries globally, at a news conference last Tuesday, the port director for the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport, Africa Bell, said that these guitars may have looked real, “but trust and believe they are not.”
The Gibson Crackdown
Reportedly arriving from Asia, officials shared that roughly 3,000 counterfeit Gibson guitars were confiscated and would have been valued at more than $18 million had they been original Gibson guitars. However, they noted that an authentic Gibson guitar is made in the United States.
According to officials, the counterfeit Gibson guitars were seized at the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport and were to enter the e-commerce market. The confiscation was part of a multi-agency investigative effort by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; however, few details have been released about the alleged suspects while officials continue the investigation.
“They are fraudulent, and they are part of a massive attempt to con the American consumer,” Bell said.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized a total of 19,724 shipments of goods that violated intellectual property rights across the nation last year, representing roughly 23 million counterfeit goods sent to the country.
How to Know Your Gibson Is Real
Knockoff versions of the iconic guitar brand will often be made with lower-quality, toxic, or potentially hazardous materials.
An authentic Gibson guitar will typically have a price tag of anywhere from $500 to $2,000 (possibly more). One Gibson guitar, the “Government Series II Les Paul,” had a starting price of $1,099 in 2014, while this year, the guitar company made 50 EDS-1275 Doubleneck Collector’s Edition as a replica of the same guitar Jimmy Page used on the smash song “Stairway to Heaven” by the legendary rock band, Led Zeppelin. The price for one of these bad boys was $50,000.
According to a Gibson official, an imposter Gibson guitar will have several clues that reveal the product as counterfeit—one being a misplaced logo.
“We can pick it up immediately and tell,” said Gibson’s chief marketing officer, Beth Heidt. “For the untrained eye, there are a couple of tips.”
Tips to help you decipher the real deal from a fake are the weight and finish of the guitar. Heidt stated that the weight of the guitar may be more flimsy, and the finish will have issues. Other tips include checking the inlays for incorrections and “the way the neck is fit into the guitar is inaccurate.”
Heidt expressed that “generations of American families” have “dedicated their entire lives” to handcrafting Gibson instruments.
The Los-Angeles Seizure
“This [seizure] is a big deal,” Andrea Bates, a lawyer who represents Gibson, said Tuesday.
“They were able to facilitate, identify, and seize $18 million worth of counterfeit guitars. This is something that’s incredibly significant,” she added. “We are thrilled that they have worked with us and helped take these counterfeit guitars off the market.”
China and Hong Kong account for nearly 50% of counterfeit seizures and 84% of the value of counterfeit seizures, according to federal officials.
“When shopping online, read seller reviews and check for a working U.S. phone number or address, and pay attention to the cost,” advised Cheryl Davies, director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Los Angeles Field Office.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Davies said.
