Updated with New Stories 2022 AliExpress How To Buy a Guitar - You can get a good one!

[@heres2ya]

it would be nice to include a list of sellers that you have had good products from.

[@zaktrinidad2668]

I'm looking up the bald shredder videos. Maybe they have the links and store names in each video for each build.

[@LincolnStokley]

KZbin won’t let him post links

[@hermesinescrito3256]

​@@LincolnStokley it doesn't have to be the links themselves, just names of trusted stores would be of great help.

[@pab_lols]

Well even if he listed the seller, you probably wouldn’t get the exact same quality of the product.

[@rabbithowls71]

They come and go, plus changing names often. It’s a coin flip.

[@jimmyz2098]

Cool vid. I am super curious about guitars from Ali. I just have such a hard time being patient enough to wait a couple months on them. But so cool that there is a TON of stuff to choose from - and even get custom stuff done. Maybe one day I'll actually check it out.

[@tk75jo]

Chibson t-shirt. Classic!! LOL!

[@ctcards2636]

I bought 2 LPs about 4 years ago. A gold one and a Ice Tea burst. All i did was change the bridge, tuners and nut. Set the guitars up and it was scary how good these guitars were. I even added the little things that gibson adds under the tone knobs and vol. I fooled everyone who played it or looked it, when i told them it was fake... they were blown away. And my guitar player owns some expensive Gibson Les Pauls that do not play as well as these do. Later on i bought used Gibson pickups and redid the wiring. In the end each guitar was $450-500 total. If you buy it from the right place and i bought mine thru ebay. Took about 3 weeks to get the guitars. I honestly cant beleive anyone spends the money they do on a Gibson (current production).

[@ctcards2636]

Oh and by the way, i would only order one of these thru ebay. I dont trust buying these thru Ali Express etc.

[@ctcards2636]

Its funny when people spend $200 and get the guitar and it doesnt play out of the box... Dude get the thing setup ! Your only invested $200 right now ! LOL. Dont expect it to play out of the box, but for very little $ you have one hell of a guitar. I own Gibsons (1990s models) and i love them, but the current Gibsons are no better than these.

[@thebaldshredder]

Yeah there's just no need to spend thousands on a guitar. The snobs will say otherwise, but who cares. Let them waste their money.

[@PegeCovers]

@@thebaldshredder You play three times as good as any of those snobs. I respect you for that brother.

[@philross1547]

@@ctcards2636 Have you bought one thru ebay?

[@GRBAquatics]

Very Cool Thankyou. Have been seeing The guitars advertised for sale on Ali-Express and am getting tempted. I have ordered many products, Guitar parts, guitar Straps, Stickers, T-shirts etc and have only had good experience. Found your video Informative, interesting and entertaining. Thankyou

[@thebaldshredder]

Glad I could help!

[@hermesinescrito3256]

Thanks @The Bald Shredder! The tips given in the videos are great! It will help me a lot with my purchase.

[@LeviClay]

It’s worth considering, that purple guitar you showed a picture of is a Mayones Regius. I have 4 of them (i have an artist deal there) their pictures are edited so aggressively (contrast and saturation stuff) that even their guitars don’t look like that in the flesh! 😂

[@vintagetone22]

I bought a malmsteen strat and i stripped all the metal parts.tuners scratchplate pickups pots switch nut tremolo bridge all.i left the body and neck fitterd wilkinson trem tuners pickups pots brass nut the whole thing.ive spent 200 dollars and now its a malmsteen strat for 300 dollars instead of 2500 dollars.yayyyyy .happy puppy.👍🌹🌹👍⚘⚘

[@papablue3015]

I ordered a neck once that was wrong! Luckily it was threw amazon! 1st the guy tried to get me to send more money! I said I'll just turn you in to Amazon! He sent new neck free! Thanks!

[@thebaldshredder]

Yeah you have to be careful of the sellers.

[@OkieOrganix]

Can’t wait to see the 2023 version.

[@sithlordhowe]

Totally helpful bro! Thank you. I’ve been putting off pulling the trigger on a couple things because communication isn’t there.

[@Thrashpotato]

i was using DHgate and got a few, i had to learn that if they cannot send you an actual pic dont buy it, my Del Scorcho is a mix of a Washburn and and a Dean haha i was so mad but i learned, funny thing is it tuned out to be like my favorite guitar ever like it was built well, and plays amazing the neck is so comfy but i got like 4 more and made sure i could see the actual pic before i bought it Rare Relic, or Musicer was my dude, i just got Chinese EMG 81/85s from there they show up today, 26 bucks out the door so even if it doesn't work out, oh well, right? but i did all kind of research at this point like your vid advises, it's actually great advise and this vid SHOULD be watched before getting your feet wet, plan on getting something from over there this year and wish i seen this vid before i ever started doing that man. oh only took a little under two weeks for them emg's to get here thats cool i thought

[@thebaldshredder]

🤘🎸

[@2good2betrue3]

cant see my comments haha, this video is spot on and inspirational, AlieExpress rocks🤘, the best guitar store there is! Cheers Richard.😃

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks

[@jerryboy3301]

How they are doing it, from my observations is, they are sales clerks and they order from a factory once a month. They are a dozen factories in China that make these copies. Again. They peddle them as fast as they can. Most have never touched or seen the product they sell.

[@AdamBurseMusic]

Great video Richard, that was really informative man 😀🤘🎵🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@donalddemille5910]

I appreciate this advice. I am looking at the "Buckethead" Chibson. Going to ask questions for sure and see if they respond. thanks again!

[@thebaldshredder]

Good luck! Ask for pics too.

[@NlCKELODEON]

Good choice I saw that one on there too! Buckethead rocks!

[@Jimbo_-twisT]

Did u get it? I’m thinking about getting it

[@weedyguitarstudio1715]

Awesome video great details you Rock😎🎶🤘still jamming the CD every week brotha🎶🎶👍

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks

[@weedyguitarstudio1715]

@@thebaldshredder your very welcome brotha did use the pick a lot though it faded but I still have your signed CD that is top 5 of my collection I will always be a big fan and I'm glad you are good to yours Rock On Brotha I been here since the start let's keep on Rocking😎🎶🤘👍

[@johnpick8336]

Thank you very much. I plan on a hardware and electronics upgrade because you cannot buy the raw wood for the price they sell a beautiful finished guitar. Sorry about the patent issues.

[@quimquim89]

Yesterday I was browsing guitars on aliexpress, and there was a 1 star review by someone who was really annoyed that his knock-off guitar didn't even had a 9 volt battery cavity. The thing is, the original doesn't have one either. I always read the bad reviews because, a lot of times, it's just a person just trying to confirm their bias. Of course the hardware will be crap, but those are the things you can mod. If people rely on aliexpress for guitars nowadays, but the guitar manufacturers we all know are the ones to blame for it, for giving us less and less quality control, less and less options of what they make available and higher and higher prices, ignoring the economy we live in. If people didn't turn to aliexpress or homemade knock-offs, playing guitar playing would become a rich kid hobby

[@CaptainFrugalReviews]

Can you provide some names of good AliExpress stores?

[@redelk2974]

I enjoyed this again. Excellent. Thank you.

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks

[@hermesinescrito3256]

Hi, guys! If I could have some help from you it would be awesome. I am quite willing, dying actually, to order a custom guitar on AE, in fact what I want its only to have a replica of a left handed Gretsch Country Gentleman with a sunburst paint and instead the logo to ask them to print a symbol of my choice. I don't want to go around with a fake pretending and so. So if any of you guys could gimme a hint I would be very greatfull.

[@thebaldshredder]

Watch my video about the custom IYV guitar. They do inexpensive custom orders. They can make exactly what you want.

[@hermesinescrito3256]

​@@thebaldshredderHey, man! Thanks for the prompt answer :D. Thanks again for the tip. Im going to watch right now that video.

[@jriff79guitar]

I just ordered a ESP E-II replica 7-string blue burst with a string through Tun-O-matic bridge. I asked the seller if he could make the headstock a reverse headstock and he was very accommodating. I sent a few pictures of what I wanted and he sent me link to match my request. And said "reverse headstock right?" I said yes, and he said they can do it. He said it would take 2 months to build. I looked up the sellers info and they are Weifang guitar factory in Shangdong province. They manufacture a ton of guitars.

[@stratpluslover8391]

Im looking at getting a ES 355 and a prs copy guitar from aliexpress Can you tell the sellers to not put the top manufacturer logo on the headstock for copyright problems and uk customs are destroying them If they have gibson logos and Can you pay for the items with a visa debit card at the check-out

[@thebaldshredder]

Yes to both.

[@stratpluslover8391]

@@thebaldshredder fantastic,,

[@aksisoylenemez]

I want that t shirt! Awesome!

[@PanosRodopoulos]

Hello Which guitar seller do you recommend form Ali express?

[@LesterMitchell]

I need to try this one of these days. Eventually!

[@thebaldshredder]

You can finally order that Vinnie Vincent double V that you've always wanted!

[@msgn8i11s2]

Can someone recommend and a factory/manufacture that can custom make a 335 style quality guitar??

[@thebaldshredder]

Check the new Donner DJP-1000. Their quality is very good.

[@JoaoGabriel-lz3wp]

can you recommend any seller? do you have a list or something like that of good sellers you could share? It would help immensely, man. Thanks for the video!

[@AnthonyMcBazooka]

I need a 7 string guitar with a whammy bar and unfortunately there is only one cheap guitar available in Europe for 150 €, but that seems too cheap. Then it starts at around 700 € but easily goes above 1000 € for a guitar made in Indonesia. That's far too much, if I'd have a four digit sum to spend on a guitar, I would visit a local luthier. So now I ordered a guitar on AliExpress for 400 € which seems reasonably priced for what it is. The seller has 96.3% positive feedback and exists since 2019, so this seems like a massive green flag. I didn't try to communicate before ordering though. I'm also planning to do a video when the guitar arrives. Thanks a lot for the great advice!

[@AnthonyMcBazooka]

Okay, since it’s never too late, I contacted the seller. Communication is great. I asked about the whammy bar since it was not mounted on the fotos.

[@PaperBanjo64]

So can I have a Les Paul style guitar from Aliexpress that has dot inlays? I really like dot inlays and don't care for the trapezoid inlays, they're so gawdy!

[@thebaldshredder]

Yes. Just ask the seller to make it that way.

[@PaperBanjo64]

@The Bald Shredder wow that's cool that you can do that, thanks for responding to my comment.

[@robertmitchell2178]

The reason the "seller" can't take a picture or measure the neck is because China has a huge network of people working as selling agents doing "drop shipping". They take their cut and have the distributor/builder send it to you.

[@jgbulhoes8556]

Hey man, loved the video by the way. Do you have any tips about Floyd rose equiped guitars from aliexpress? I’m afraid of getting one and the Floyd be placed wrong, or don’t work

[@zaktrinidad2668]

Great video. Thanks for posting this. I've messaged about 5 sellers in the past 24 hours and only one of them has responded at all. Do you have sellers that you trust and like that you're willing to share the store name? Im wanting to look into getting an Albert king Lucy made but a little different on the inlays and abalone on the headstock. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[@thebaldshredder]

A couple things. They usually don't reply on the weekend. Plus I think a lot of them are just finishing up their Chinese New Year holiday. And they are still having a lot of covid lockdowns over there. I'd give them a few days to reply. As for a recommendation, watch for my next custom Aliexpress guitar video later this month (red guitar). I'll probably give the seller name in that one.

[@The73mp73]

Great video! Has anyone put an ali express Chibson les paul up to an Xaviere LP?

[@garettbodel3002]

I ordered a custom bass and they said that it shipped out and was entering port on July 8th it said it was supposed to be delivered by August 6 but it's now August 14th. I have messaged the store with a bunch of times and he is always got back to me I asked him to contact the shipping company and find out what's happening because when I look into the shipping company everything in Chinese anyways is overdue. He said it's coming it's coming can you give it another 28 days crazy I don't know what's going on should I just do a dispute. But I really want this base has been just the way I want it any help or advice would be great thank you so much

[@icedouted]

в итоге у меня остался вопрос. Так стоит ли заказывать гитару оттуда? Я подобрал себе 7 струнную гитару custom shop, из custom я хочу лишь сменить логотип. Но единственное что меня смущает это лишь одна ручка tone without volume or idk what is it.

[@thebaldshredder]

Is it worth it? Maybe. If you want a perfect guitar, no. But if can do some set up work or change things like pickups, then yes.

[@edwinstovall3334]

You know, Richard, this sort of thing is very taxing to the patience. And, considering how much I hate to be patient (Boy, HOW maturity sucks!😎), I think I'll just stick to modding readily available guitars for a little longer. Actually, maturity is setting is more than I like. Gear lust is starting to fade a little. Thankfully, there's still something I don't have that I want, just because it looks good. Thank goodness I'm still me!😆

[@mritorto1]

why not buy the lynch bones guitar on ali exprese

[@thebaldshredder]

I thought about it. It's iconic but I already have a couple of Lynch inspired guitars.

[@nathanshaffer5105]

These are pro tips!

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks

[@jackjerfstroem1072]

please! a great shops nbr??the first axe I ever orderd 3 weeks ago had 100% rating, but the strat i got sounds really bad, light weight shitty hardware, only the neck is worth anything bec of the guitar brands name on it. but bec it say Made in Usa on the front of it most ppl now it´s a chender

[@Smouchovich]

Would you buy from a seller that has 100% positive review or is it too fishy? They did send a picture of the gtr and been nice etc.

[@trevorgwelch7412]

Aliexpress Full Fake Marshall Amps - Would Be Cool 🔊🔊🔊🔊🎸✨✨✨✨✨

[@vox1966]

Wangs amps are awesome Marshall copys

[@patrickshannon4516]

Bought a couple guitars off Alliexpress before and yea they give you big hassle about getting you shit and you end up thinking your never going to get it in the mail. But it's a big big ass run around they give you for a while but they come in eventually come in I guess haven't heard of them stealing people's money are they good quality? the ones I bought were not bad for the price I only gave between 140$ and 150 for each guitar they weren't great but they weren't bad for the price needed some improvements. Would I order another one? maybe but you are taking a risk when you buy one, I heard of people ordering brand new guitars with broken necks for like four hundred.dollars. it's a really big risk if you have money to just throw away I guess it's okay. I don't know I was thinking about ordering from there again but if I were someone that didn't know how to set up guitars I would suggest don't pay for anything they have over five hundred dollars because if I pay five hundred dollars for a guitar and the whole neck is broke in half I'm going to be really pissed wouldn't you?

[@nikojnemavakvo]

this is what i did, i wanted a good strat. first i want to eliminate the issues than can easily occur but hard to fix, not just on chinese guitars but cheap guitars in general, like : the finish of the guitar , neck placement in the socket , as well as drilled wholes in the body and neck head. also, the tuners will be bad, the electronics( original fender pickups for example start from 80$ for a set, even custom shop pickups that are on 2000$ fender cost 200$, ), as well as the tuners, no point of ordering them, because you need to change them, you are wasting money and they are not that expensive ( i bought new and original fender tuners and tremolo for 50$, maybe not usa made butmade by fender) first i want to order unfinished body, from the wood i want, because painting wood is not that hard , you can do it locally, for not a lot of money and much better quality. when i will have the body, i can measure it and find exact dimensions and start ordering the neck. and thats it, then you can load it with the parts you want. so far all i need is the neck, and i spent less than 400$ and i have the same parts as a custom shop fender strat that costs more than 2500$. i estimate that the final cost will be less than 550$ with no compromises. conclusion: you should parts for the guitar and assemble it your self , it is rly not that hard and you can give it to a luthier to do the final touches.

[@Bjornsguitarspecials]

I am currently messaging a lot of sellers on aliexpress😂 it is a difficult process😅

[@oldmanandguitar]

I lost £150, ordered guitar, guy never shipped, i raised dispute, he said i will send in 24hr, asked me to close dispute, i did, this not knowing it meant sale concluded, he got the money, he then blocked me, ali express explained this is a trick used by some sellers, but would not give me money back.

[@GuitarDaze2023]

Before placing any order ,hit the heart emoji ❤ on the page your looking at for the guitar you want ,and wait a few days,this lets the seller know your into that guitar & added to your wish list and they will email you back with a lower price,you can also send back a lower bid, and you will start to see prices drop on many other of the guitars your interested in,never be in a hurry to order and just pay the asking price,hit that heart emoji on the ad and follow the seller,this starts the lowering of the original price of the guitar,I hold out on buying until the lowest price pops up,a guitar that was $270 drops to $220 or a price you can live with,I’ve also send extremely low bids,the sellers get mad tell you they can’t do it,then a few days later you see a price drop you can live with,they mess with you too,if you want two guitar and decide on one,as soon as you order,the guitar you didn’t get drops in price,a little patience can help you save big bucks.

[@shop7d]

The sellers there often are just sellers with no stock in hand.

[@monmixer]

You are correct, that %age will drag you down on ratings and people know that. Read the comments. Stock photo's are certainly a misrepresentation of the product that you are selling. To be fair it would more than 30 seconds to take picture, load it and send it if you are like me but after 24 hrs and no communication I would never buy from them. One of my issues in my brain is buy from nobody that does not have a phone number that they answer or return calls from and many of these companies only do email or msg. do no business from my phone. So I have to send it to myself and download it to my pc that I know is protected. I just stay away form them. I have looked at them but never pulled the trigger because it's to much buillshit to deal with to do a return and you just get stuck with it.

[@RexAndexler-y9q]

Are you related to the guitar Rabbi?

[@Wellthatfiguresss]

Does the payment go through automatically? Or is payment held until you receive the actual guitar and it’s confirmed it is what you ordered?

[@thebaldshredder]

Payment is held by Aliexpress until you receive the guitar.

[@robertmartello9882]

A lot of people don't know this but it is illegal to Dropship from China

[@shanewalton8888]

Do you have a Facebook group where people recommend certain sellers?

[@thebaldshredder]

Nope

[@jeffwagner2707]

Ah yes the Chibson tee shirt I own one can't tell the difference

[@toneman8478]

Yeah I don't know man.. I'm skeptical about buying anything from China

[@thebaldshredder]

Yeah a lot of people are. I've had good success with it, but I realize it's not for everyone.

[@nolatone]

Seems like a lot to expect of somebody selling a guitar for so cheap

[@therockandrollcreeps9398]

I want a custom neck made. I had one by ali done, it came very bad very low quality. how do i get a good manufacturer ?? how do i determine the good ones from the cons

[@volkiruski1221]

What people, anti China, forget is that most brands let produce theire guitars in China, more and more...The Chinese themselves launch own brands, like phones and EV cars for ex. Understand that the most brands already do for years theire business. Some of the brands already add India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam....as theire manufacterer countries (Washburn).

[@dimeblogguitartrips1816]

Dhgate also bro

[@thebaldshredder]

I've never used DHgate but I'm sure it's pretty similar.

[@CasualtiesOfGaming]

I want chibson shirt

[@childofGod75731]

Never mind I'm to afraid to buy things off that I'll use Amazon

[@mike23639]

I think your asking a bit much on some of your requests. Yea I'll buy the guitar but could you just go ahead and drop some Seymour Duncans in there for me. Lol

[@MobileDecay]

Sounds like a drug deal. Lol. You're better off buying from Harley Benton or any other known company who makes good budget offerings. I have two aliexpress guitarist. One of them has a twisted neck and the other has horrible pickups which I bought replacements for. I also have a Harley benton, a Grote, and a budget Jackson Rhoads V that are anywhere from cheaper to slightly more expensive than than the Aliexpress guitars and they are almost perfect. Good pickups, and minimal setup. Plus if I have a problem I can have a coherent conversation with someone about it. Some of these people ship inside of my country. Like SX Guitars.

[@thebaldshredder]

Yes you're absolutely better off buying from an established guitar company IF they have exactly what you're looking for. Aliexpress is great for cheap custom guitars that you can't get anywhere else. But it's not for everyone.

[@stephenkeddy6849]

Is it normal to not get a confirmation email for a purchase right away? It’s been 3 days and still nothing. My charge went through but so far nothing else. Is this normal?

[@thebaldshredder]

I've always gotten an order placed confirmation email right away. Check your email preferences in the settings. You should also be able to go to your Account and check the order status.

[@stephenkeddy6849]

@@thebaldshredder ok. I signed in using Apple account. Maybe that’s why? I just checked my account and it shows my purchase and that it will be delivered in 11 days or a refund will be applied. Man if this doesn’t work out I’ll be so bummed out. And $247 poorer

[@thebaldshredder]

It probably says it will be SHIPPED in 11 days. After that there is a longer amount of time for it to actually be delivered to your house. If they don't ship it in those 11 days, yes you'll automatically get a refund.

[@stephenkeddy6849]

@@thebaldshredder I appreciate your time. I hope everything works out. Thanks again

[@mikepeterson443]

I will never buy from Aliexpress again. I've been scammed from one of their sellers, and they don't give the buyer a platform to resolve the conflict.

[@Zam1Fear]

That's not true. I've opened many cases and won most of them. It's super easy to open a dispute.

[@Metaldad87]

You bought that hello kitty guitar didnt you 😂😂

[@thebaldshredder]

It's my main guitar! Don't tell anyone.

[@Metaldad87]

@@thebaldshredder dude put some nice pickups in it and i would rock it, if only just to make the metal elitist metal people rage 😂

[@DIYGuitarist]

AliExpress is banned in India and I am missing the opportunity to buy all cool stuff at decent prices 😏

[@guitarandmore69]

Are all Chinese dealers banned? Because there are others like DH Gate.

[@DIYGuitarist]

@@guitarandmore69 Only AliExpress to be specific. Others are not as good as AliExpress

[@RexAndexler-y9q]

You live in India?

[@DIYGuitarist]

@@RexAndexler-y9q yes I do!

[@zAvAvAz]

So, basically, its not aliexpress whom is the maker, builder, designer, & / or seller; they are just the website for the networking of the sales and buyers.

[@thebaldshredder]

Yes just like eBay.

[@23skidoo46]

i don't understand why u would treat this order as some kind of custom shop order. they're not some custom shop to make you the guitar you want. it's foolish to think so. u expect waaay too much from these sellers. if you're want that kind of service. you're buying from the wrong lemonade stand. move on

[@NeverTalkToCops1]

Bunch of obvious and useless info. Shame on you.

[@thebaldshredder]

😄 shame on YOU

[@amslu]

You look like a guy who would buy guitars from aliexpress

[@thebaldshredder]

And you look like a guy who would watch a video about how to buy guitars from AliExpress 😅

[@ArthurMorgan_5327]

Counterfeit items on a shady platform. This is what it is- it is FAKE. it does not deserve any light from any KZbin channel. let’s call it what it is- and sadly this is your “thing“ of your channel. shame.

[@thebaldshredder]

Then it's not for you. No biggie. Move along.

[@ArthurMorgan_5327]

@@thebaldshredder I wish this is just about my own preference. NO! how many these FAKEs will re-enter used market and Con innocent people? how many future musicians will get steered away by these cheaply made instruments that virtually having no QC? It is much more than my own personal taste. mean no disrespect sir, KZbin is not easy, I admire your work, but aliexpress fake guitar is cheap traffic, and it may have profound damage to the community.

[@thebaldshredder]

Calm down. They don't just make fakes. Anyone can order a guitar with or without a logo. It's up to the individual. I have never encouraged anyone to get a counterfeit logo and pass it off as the real thing. Besides, building "fakes" has been going on long before Aliexpress was ever a thing. This is nothing new. People watching this video I'm sure are all grown ups and have made up their own minds about this regardless of my videos. You can buy Fender or Gibson logos on ebay or anywhere. If someone wants to fake a guitar, then they will find a way to do it. Also saying that there is virtually no QC? How would you know? How many guitars have you ordered through Aliexpress? Don't make blanket statements just because you have some kind of bias against it. None of my guitars will ever fool anyone, nor should they.

[@DrPITV]

Some people are oblivious to the fact that Gibson was heading for bankruptcy in the 80’s not a single new artist played Gibson. We nearly had the potential end of some legendary guitar models. then along came a band who had a different style. They were poor and had to steal their gear to perform. Their lead guitar player stole a top hat before their first show from a clothes shop and went next door and stole a belt to cut and put round his top hat. He liked Marshall’s so he stole a jubilee from an amp rental store and toured with it until they could track him down. He liked Les Paul’s Jimmy Page and Joe Perry but couldn’t afford to eat let alone a buy a Les Paul. So he got a Les Paul copy made by a luthier he new. This guitarist is Slash. And that Les Paul copy saved Gibson from going out of business. Over 30 years later He still has this Les Paul copy and it’s what you hear on all his studio work. He states clearly that despite having a line of custom shop models, over 100 guitars and owns original 59 Les Paul’s. He always goes back to his Les Paul copy. You can spend £6k plus on a slash Les Paul and you see guys in their bedroom playing them. The markup on current Les Paul’s is something ridiculous like 50-60%. Im afraid most of our guitar hero’s who were scraping together money to travel to gigs, and struggling to “make it” would have also been the guys buying fakes, if they’d had the internet. So it’s not a black and white area my friend.

[@ArthurMorgan_5327]

@@DrPITV Thank you for typing this out. But this is absolutely false equivalency. Slash’s LP is made from a renowned luthier named Kris Derrig, it is not mass produced as a product, AliExpress LPs only look like a Gibson LP from afar, and it is night and day difference. But worst among all, the influx of fakes in the past some years has done real damage in the used/entry level market. Because LETS BE REAL, anyone can make a les paul style guitar, but people buying AliExpress fakes only buy it because it says Gibson on the head. The reality is no everyone can tell them apart, and I have seen way too many fakes floating on the used market trying to pass as legitimate Gibsons. I’m a technician and I have my shop downstairs, I will NEVER forgot in holidays 2020 a 13 years kid and him mom came in for a setup, kid was beyond thrilled that his mon got him a Gibson guitar, I was morally devastated debating if I tell or not. And that guitar was not even a decent fake.

[@rareform6747]

Don't !

[@wolfgangwylde5889]

If thinking of buying a guitar on AliExpress, One seller to not buy from is HistoricGuitar Store Regardless of how great the sellers rating is and great pictures of guitar as well showing in stock. Don't take any of that into consideration. Always ask for pictures of the actual guitar you'll receive,ask if it's in stock and ready to ship. Ive wasted days shopping for guitars on AliExpress only to be told it's out of stock soon as I decide to purchase.Aliexress sellers are getting much worse than they I just tried to order a guitar from . HistoricGuitar Store list guitars and promises fast delivery at good prices,but if you order a guitar from them that's on sale or has a great price, they'll tell you it's out of stock and hurry over to take it off or keep your money until the shipping deadline has expired and you file a claim