We all know about counterfeit guitars in the markets out there. The infamous “Chibsons” for example. When it comes to guitars, you really need to know what you’re buying and understanding the tell-tale signs identifying it’s a fake or knock off. With guitars, you can be talking about serious money as you can imagine. But are you aware pedals are now being counterfeited?
What are we talking about exactly. I wanted to clarify this first. I’m not talking about clones or knock-offs. Many Chinese companies are making pedals that are knock-offs to the original at very cheap prices. This is NOT what I’m talking about. Those are ripping off the guts, and marketing them as a “new” product under a different brand name. What we’re focusing on is a cheap duplicate of the original, including the brand name, etc.
I remember a couple of years ago, I started seeing the Paul Cochrane Timmy and the Fulltone OCD on Chinese sites for crazy low prices. This was the first time seeing this shift to counterfeit pedals for me. Since then, the offerings have spread to other brands and models.
Johnny from Alchemy Audio just put a video together to talk about this and provides some examples:
Their examples of the EP Booster and the Shure SM57 are great, but unfortunately, the majority of us will be making these purchases online. We’ll really only be able to tell if it’s fake after it’s arrived and in hand. So if you’re able to purchase via Craiglist or in a guitar store, take note of the weights. But if you’re online, I think the adage “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t” really applies. Also, pay note to the origin of the product. If it’s coming overseas, you should be wary immediately.
Let me know what you think by commenting below!
