I've had one and it was actually a really nice bass. Sounded great, played great. Yeah it's not a $800 bass but I don't understand some of the hate on them other than the fact that they are copies.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Chinese knock-off basses
- Thread starter Pete Langford
- Start date
-
- Tags
- chinese
Its like casino gambling. either you hit the jackpot or lose your money. There are no quality standards. It depends on what mood they're in. The same manufacturer can send one customer a nice playable instrument then send you a pile of junk. I never have and never will buy those knock-offs because of the patent infringements. They are just stealing for a living
Actually I think about getting a chinese copy of a Rickenbacker 4005.
Always loved the design and I cannot afford a vintage one.
Always loved the design and I cannot afford a vintage one.
-Except I didn't order or want a Stingray, I just wanted HH pickups! They just charged me for my custom and sent me a Ray clone. doh!
I got most of my money refunded, so it wasn't the worst purchase burn in my music history.
^^^^This. Some of this wood is like painted sponge. It dings if you look at it too long.
D
I am using one on this bass:
I needed to some itsy-bitsy work on the fretedges, but nothing more that I had to on an original Fender/Squier neck.
I did had to shave the neck a bit in order to fit the neck pocket (1mm each side). For the rest, they seem to be well dried and hold up pretty good in the wonky weather conditions of Belgium.
Last edited:
Counterfeits suck! A "replica" is OK by me, as long as the maker puts their OWN logo on it, and doesn't counterfeit the original maker's logo. Thus making it an obvious replica / homage, and not something that later could be passed off as an original to the great unwashed.
Certainly companies can try to legally enforce their headstock and body design trademarks and "trade dress" (Hi John!
), but if the country of manufacture is not a party to the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], (and/or if the original company hasn't bothered to register any "international Madrid Protocol" marks, and are just relying on their domestic ones...) then they actually don't have a legal leg to stand on. (They could of course still legally block any attempts of wholesale distribution from within their own country!)
It's funny how there is a such a thin line of ethical double standard though... you don't see the torches and pitchforks coming out for stuff like this (taken as a random example of a well-executed counterfeit)
Certainly companies can try to legally enforce their headstock and body design trademarks and "trade dress" (Hi John!
), but if the country of manufacture is not a party to the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], (and/or if the original company hasn't bothered to register any "international Madrid Protocol" marks, and are just relying on their domestic ones...) then they actually don't have a legal leg to stand on. (They could of course still legally block any attempts of wholesale distribution from within their own country!)It's funny how there is a such a thin line of ethical double standard though... you don't see the torches and pitchforks coming out for stuff like this (taken as a random example of a well-executed counterfeit)
It's not a problem to buy a guitar made in China from a well known brand. The issue comes from smaller brands, where the chances that it will not intonate or be finished correctly are quite high. QC is an issue in Mainland China. As a matter of fact selling USA made instruments in China will get you big bucks as people think it will be of higher quality.
'Chinese fingers' seem to do pretty well with Classic Vibe Squiers and that off shore Dingwall....
There are plenty of copies and knock offs all over the world....China has the population and online presence to be most noticeable....I would avoid linking it to race rather than state of manufacturing industry, rapid growth etc....Japan was the China before their Hallowed Mastumoko Status was delivered from on High....and plenty of folks used to gripe and moan about 'japcrap' copies...many of which are now sought after...would like to think we have evolved beyond lumping entire races/countries manufacturing ability and intentions in one basket.
Imho - This kind of reads like:
'I have no desire to start a political discussion so only I am allowed to state my opinion, no responses please'
If you don't want to talk politics, don't bring it up.
If you do, you should be open to responses and retort...at least by my understanding of conversation/discourse etc
How is your Chinese and Japanese writing?Yeah, their translation skills rank as " not so much"!
Don't get me started on 70's/80's era Japanese to English translations. Manuals for Yamaha products, especially their large frame mixing consoles, liberally made use of the word f#ck every time they instructed you to insert a connector in a jack or hook up the power supply cables!
If you want to talk politics, don't, it's against the rules here.Imho - This kind of reads like:
'I have no desire to start a political discussion so only I am allowed to state my opinion, no responses please'
If you don't want to talk politics, don't bring it up.
Over the last 40+ years I've determined that 99.9% of musical gear that has the word "Pro" somewhere on it, is a hunk of ****. I remember when in a band in Seattle, my guitar player had to go to China for like a month of work. When he got back, he told me (on the phone) that he picked up an awesome Martin acoustic guitar for cheap. When we showed up at our next rehearsal at the studio, he was excited to show me his "Martin". When he handed it to me, I noticed it was a round body and said "Pro Martin" on the headstock. I was too embarrassed to tell him he bought a fake Martin. If he was that stupid to not know the difference between Martin & Pro Martin then I wasn't going to burst his bubble.
Last edited:
When you buy one of those you are often not getting and actual bass, you are getting a B.S.O, or “bass shaped object”. It looks just like a really nice bass, but if you try to use it as one, you will find that it doesn’t do what a bass is supposed to.
Strikes me that with China wanting to create its own future above and beyond Trump's trade tariffs and really only replicating what the Japanese did so well back in the 70's; with all the skill and equipment in these Chinese guitar factories have some government/Party-driven directive should leverage these manufacturers to create their own style and create a niche market.
We do need to move on from the Bongo design, which was last real attempt in 50 years since the genius of Leo's P, J, MM & G&L' designs and Bill Lawrence's gifts to the bass world.
Having ventured down the Chinese road to custom manufactured basses before... my advice to those contemplating ordering anything not ready for shipping on Ali Express is ..... good luck..... you are going to be "romanced" and will be lucky to get anything with a neck radius of less than 1 mile and electronics with levels of sophistication which embrace a true "pioneering opportunity" in Sino / Western relationships !!
We do need to move on from the Bongo design, which was last real attempt in 50 years since the genius of Leo's P, J, MM & G&L' designs and Bill Lawrence's gifts to the bass world.
Having ventured down the Chinese road to custom manufactured basses before... my advice to those contemplating ordering anything not ready for shipping on Ali Express is ..... good luck..... you are going to be "romanced" and will be lucky to get anything with a neck radius of less than 1 mile and electronics with levels of sophistication which embrace a true "pioneering opportunity" in Sino / Western relationships !!
Folks, last reminder before reporting - Politics, not here, please. Take it to the lobby or elsewhere.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Then it's a cr@p shoot, .and tough to return if so (never mind the ethical/legal issue). If you want a decent platform, and some kind of security, get a Squer, Sire, or just buy the parts yourself? I built a '51' clone - including the upgraded pickup, detuner for e string, and paint (nitro) etc., cost me about $600 for everything.
