Getting rid of a Chibson

Fatfingers

I have a 335-alike I bought from China on a whim. I spent few quid upgrading the hardware and pickups with a Seymour Duncan and a Bulldog PAF. It's quite a nice guitar but I don't have room for it anymore and I can't stick it in the classifieds here or moderators will go into meltdown. I can't put it on eBay and frankly don't want to - too much aggro. So what do I do with it? Take the decent parts off it and throw it away?

It owes me £300 all in so it's not a massive deal. If I had a kid who played guitar I'd give it to them, but my kids aren't interested. 

crunchman

Paint over the Gibson decal on the headstock?

ICBM

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tyaye5p9tYA/maxresdefault.jpg



Difficult one… it seems a shame to destroy a perfectly good guitar, but it isn't quite OK to sell it. Probably the best thing to do is to sand off the logo - then it's just a copy, not a counterfeit. Painting over it may be enough, but that leaves open the possibility that someone could clean the paint off.

digitalscream

This reads suspiciously like a way to get around the rules of not selling counterfeits on here

It's not that we'll go into a meltdown, but rather the fact that if we allow a sale of such things on here then we are also liable for prosecution. We like to be helpful to our members, but we kinda draw the line where we could risk fines and jail time...

The moral of this story is: don't buy counterfeit guitars in a country where it's illegal to sell them on.

Fatfingers

Thanks for the morals lesson. I wasn't trying to sell it on here. I was just asking for suggestions. 

impmann

Surely, if there is no logo on it then it falls into the same category as all the other copy guitars - such as Tokais, Burnys or cheap end stuff like Columbus.

Therefore, belt-sand or paint over the logo(s) and advertise it as an "Electric Guitar" or call it a 335 copy - its perfectly acceptable to sell a guitar as such on eBay (and should be on here too... put down those pitchforks boys).

Its only "counterfeit" if you are deliberately trying to pass it off as something it isn't. And if it has no logos on it at all, then its just another guitar...

digitalscream

impmann said:

Its only "counterfeit" if you are deliberately trying to pass it off as something it isn't. And if it has no logos on it at all, then its just another guitar...

That's not actually true. Even if you say that a guitar (or any item, really) is a fake, it's still illegal to sell it if it has a logo on it (because the next guy might not be so scrupulous).

If, however, the logo is removed, then it can happily be sold on here.

Simply covering the logo (or keeping it out of shot) wouldn't be enough now, though, because this thread has made us aware of the fact that it's a fake.

Fatfingers said:

Thanks for the morals lesson. I wasn't trying to sell it on here. I was just asking for suggestions. 

Not a morals lesson - I honestly couldn't care less if there are fakes out there, and I don't like Gibson anyway. However, we do have to stick to the law...we don't want to end up in a fight with the big manufacturers like Basschat did.

Don't blame us...we didn't make the rules, we just play by them

Fatfingers

Claiming it's not a morals lesson when you wrote 'the moral of the story is,' is a bit rich, frankly. I fully appreciate the legal position the forum is in, which is why I haven't tried to sell it on here - either with or without the logo. I was simply asking other forum users what their thoughts were on getting rid of it. I'm not blaming you for the rules, just your over-zealous moderating.

digitalscream

Fatfingers said:

Claiming it's not a morals lesson when you wrote 'the moral of the story is,' is a bit rich, frankly. I fully appreciate the legal position the forum is in, which is why I haven't tried to sell it on here - either with or without the logo. I was simply asking other forum users what their thoughts were on getting rid of it. I'm not blaming you for the rules, just your over-zealous moderating.

Now you're being a dick. It was a throwaway comment, grow up. Also, there's a significant semantic difference between "the moral of the story" and "morals".

In any case, you'll find that our moderation is the exact opposite of "over-zealous". We simply don't want to pay the price (either personally or by the site being shutdown) for our members' lack of foresight or knowledge of the law.

I strongly suggest you drop the attitude.

mikeyrob73

im having a bonfire this weekend so if you want to send it on i am happy to help of the disposal :-) oh and play it for a bit first

sweepy

If you list it as a replica on eBay and you tape over or not include a headstock photo , afaik eBay are fine with it. I had no issue selling a Chibanez neck there as I made it plain in the title and description that it was a Chinese copy and not a real one 

Fatfingers

digitalscream said:

Fatfingers said:

Claiming it's not a morals lesson when you wrote 'the moral of the story is,' is a bit rich, frankly. I fully appreciate the legal position the forum is in, which is why I haven't tried to sell it on here - either with or without the logo. I was simply asking other forum users what their thoughts were on getting rid of it. I'm not blaming you for the rules, just your over-zealous moderating.

Now you're being a dick. It was a throwaway comment, grow up. Also, there's a significant semantic difference between "the moral of the story" and "morals".

In any case, you'll find that our moderation is the exact opposite of "over-zealous". We simply don't want to pay the price (either personally or by the site being shutdown) for our members' lack of foresight or knowledge of the law.

I strongly suggest you drop the attitude.

I'm being a dick because I challenged what you said? That's an interesting attitude, and I assume 'strongly' in italics is some kind of threat. I've never had a cross word with anyone on this forum, so I don't think I have an attitude problem. 

fretmeister

Fatfingers said:

digitalscream said:

Fatfingers said:

Claiming it's not a morals lesson when you wrote 'the moral of the story is,' is a bit rich, frankly. I fully appreciate the legal position the forum is in, which is why I haven't tried to sell it on here - either with or without the logo. I was simply asking other forum users what their thoughts were on getting rid of it. I'm not blaming you for the rules, just your over-zealous moderating.

Now you're being a dick. It was a throwaway comment, grow up. Also, there's a significant semantic difference between "the moral of the story" and "morals".

In any case, you'll find that our moderation is the exact opposite of "over-zealous". We simply don't want to pay the price (either personally or by the site being shutdown) for our members' lack of foresight or knowledge of the law.

I strongly suggest you drop the attitude.

I'm being a dick because I challenged what you said? That's an interesting attitude, and I assume 'strongly' in italics is some kind of threat. I've never had a cross word with anyone on this forum, so I don't think I have an attitude problem. 

Motion challenged.

Garthy

Fatfingers said:

Thanks for the morals lesson. I wasn't trying to sell it on here. I was just asking for suggestions. 

If it was me I would have the logo removed and list it as a Chinese made semi acoustic. You may need to sand the top of the headstock as the 'open book' is a trademark of Gibson that has been successfully tested in various courts in the Western hemisphere.

Gassage

JookyChap

There is a Chibson Facebook group that has a strong trading tradition - may be worth a visit there.

Chalky

JookyChap said:

There is a Chibson Facebook group that has a strong trading tradition - may be worth a visit there.

Ah, the calm voice of reason

Fatfingers

I really don't want another one though. I think I'll put the orinal pickups back in it and find someone to give it to.

p90fool

You could snap the headstock off so that nobody mistakes it for a Gibson.

Oh wait...

fretmeister

Donate it to a school music dept.

Sporky

Fatfingers said:

Claiming it's not a morals lesson when you wrote 'the moral of the story is,' is a bit rich, frankly.

You seem to be confusing morality with a moral. They share an etymological root but have quite different meanings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral