Have You Checked Under YOUR Hood Lately?

[heliman]

chrisgrimes said:

G day everyone

I am now totally convinced this is a "con" maybe not deliberately perpetrated by the little chicolina in the photo but I reckon she needs to change her managment or roll a grenade thru the door of the store she bought the "thing" from.

Chris - Dover UK

It appears that is NOT the case. Here is Epi Jim's response:

Dear Epiphone Customers,

The image(s) of the guitar posted by "Blissful" and appearing in the "LP CUSTOM" Mahogany Body, CARDBOARD TOP" thread is NOT an Epiphone guitar. While it might have "Epiphone" on the headstock, it is a COUNTERFEIT.

Just last week we were notified that Korean police (as they have done in the past) raided the infamous Nakwon Arcade in Seoul, Korea. This musical instrument mall is notorious for purchasing and selling counterfeit as well as OFF-QUALITY or REJECTED guitars produced by factories in Korea. Because they cannot export them into the USA, Europe, Japan, etc., these factories sell them "out the back-door" within Korea and ultimately, to unsuspecting customers.

Epiphone was and is NOT the only brand being illegally made and sold in Korea. There were other famous guitar brand names ceased by the police and facing the same counterfeiting problems.

As a result of this inherit market problem, Epiphone does not currently have nor have we had in the past, an active authorized Korean distributor. We have verified that we have NO RECORD of that guitar with that serial number being sold by our company.

Epiphone does NOT use nor have we EVER used particle board or any other similar materials in our guitars. With 131 years of quality and integrity on the line, there is NO WAY we would put that at risk by using inferior materials.

On several occasions in the past, we have worked closely with the Korean police to locate and identify counterfeiters in Korea. This has led to many guitars being confiscated and in many cases, arrests. While we wish this was not the case and we are doing all we can to stop it, this type of illegal activity is hard to eliminate completely. Therefore, if you do travel to or live in Korea, please understand there is a big risk when purchasing a brand-name guitar or other musical instrument.

If you are purchasing a new Epiphone from an authorized dealer in the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan or other "export" country, rest assured that these are high-quality instruments worthy of the name Epiphone - carrying our limited Lifetime Warranty and backed by Gibson Musical Instruments.

Thank you and if you have any question or concerns, please email me personally at [e-mail].

Best Regards,

Jim "Epi" Rosenberg


It looks like she was simply caught up in the cons in Korea.

Respectfully yours,

Heliman

[Dezine]

Jeez, i dont read the forums for a few days and all hell breaks loose

Well IMO the Lp she is holding just doesnt look right to me, I have a white saein LP custom and the body on the "thing" she is holding isnt quite right, the body looks way too thick and the headstock inlay looks much different from mine, hers seems to be elongated down to the truss rod cover , mine ends well before that.

The best thing for epi to do right now, is to "trade" a new LP custom for the remnants of her damaged custom, this would be a very good PR stunt, as well as let epi post some pics "proving" that her axe is a fake. This would only cost epi a few hundred bucks to calm the fire a bit, after all if she really wanted to scam them she could have gotten something really expensive.

[jazzalta]

Just for the hell of it I checked my new Sheraton. Didn't have to worry. It's the real McCoy.

[supedupviper]

I checked my LP today, no cardboard or cardboard related materials

[dgassie]

I would say it's a Pirate copy. I live down here in Mexico and think you may not even imagine just how many products are ilegally copied in many places of the world.

Perfume, jeans, wrist watches, handbags, videos, of course CDs and even canned goods are sold as originals, when in reality they're just rip offs. Some are very GOOD copies and it takes a savy buyer to tell them apart. I would bet this is the case here.

I did check mine just in case when I changed the PUPS... no cardboard anywhere!