Chibsons

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Chibsons

Post by MakoGat »

Seen these all over Youtube, build quality isnt to bad, about the same quality as Epiphone which by the way these are supposed to be made in the old Epi factory. Good materials mahogony etc, maples ones have thich carved cap. They have Gibson logos, serial numbers, even say made in USA LMAO. Thinking of a LP Custom for NZ$370 delivered, swap out all the crap hardware and electrics over time and give it a good fret level and setup, just for something to tinker with.

Im not condoning copies or comparing quality to the real thing. My wallet just likes the idea and I like to build stuff that dont cost me $5K plus, and I can take it out or hammer it and im not freaking out about its value or age.

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale- ... itars.html

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Re: Chibsons

Post by null_pointer »

Well while I have zero interest in doing the above myself, I'd be curious as to how reasonable the wood and finish was at any rate - keep us posted if you go ahead.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by MakoGat »

If I do ill go right through it and report back with images and findings.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by Molly »

Naa. Throwing good money after bad. Not to mention the ethical considerations / sweat shop crap that underpins it all. Spend the same money on a second hand PRS SE.

By the way, I have a student with a 'Santana'. $350 worth of firewood.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by Polar Bear »

The chibsons that I've had through here have all been appalling piles of barely usable kindling. Twisted necks, unstable tuning, unusably high action and awful fretwork. I'm sure there's a couple of lucky ones out there, but there's so much wrong with the whole build, and indeed ethical process, that it seems a poor choice to waste money on them.
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Re: Chibsons

Post by null_pointer »

Just spent a few mins reading up on them. Consensus seems to be 'utter trash' and 'better off with a 1979 Hondo'.

As for the ethical considerations, I guess if you carry the 'counterfeit' reactions, they'd surely have to extend to lawsuit MIJs too? Because other than the logo, they just outright ripped off the structural IP of the donor companies (primarily Fender and Gibson). The sweatshop part is another kettle of fish, but by the sounds of it the 6-8 main companies in China currently producing these (or parts of them that are assembled into the finished Chibson) are as suspect as Foxconn is in terms of labour situations (or Cort for that matter).

Tough one. Sweatshops are one thing, but simply looking at another market's working conditions through the lens of our privileged place on Planet Earth and deeming them unacceptable is probably a bit rich on our behalf when you consider the Industrial Revolution conditions that built the West's wealth in the first place. Not being belligerent, just musing on the whole thing really. I have friends who are in manufacturing, and a number of them have opted for China-based production as the only means of being able to compete in the market (making locally is for niche items only, as 95% of the market shops on price alone). And there's that old saying that you can't eat your principles.

Glad I'm not in manufacturing!

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Re: Chibsons

Post by Jellybelly »

I have seen a couple of the aliexpress seven wonders and all I can reiterate is the last two comments. Piles of rubbish. Highly likely the only thing received that looks the same from the photos will be the cardboard box and that will be a coin toss. Hate to rain on anyones parade. Money could be better spent elsewhere :D

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Re: Chibsons

Post by mrmofo »

yea i agree with Molly.
they might look the same but there is no way that thing has a real maple cap, its could be a sticker or photo flame or veneer over the top piece. if there is a top piece. there is no way to tell who or where it was made etc etc
the roumer gibson make bodies in china and assemble them in the usa could be true about a few models here and there, in my view they must be the models that have a different configuration. there was a multy piece body les paul around a few years ago, it was a cheaper model, it had vaneer top and back. the body could have been made elsewhere, the ultra cheap flying vees and specials around a few years ago, looked like they were pained with house paint, they could have been, they looked a bit suspect. but i believe in all honesty that all maple top mahogney body les pauls are made in the same place the same way up untill binding is added. because it wouldnt make and sence to do it differently.
now fender are suspect imo but fly well below the radar. they have guitars for 100 bux and 10 thousand, fender could sell ice to mexicans or what ever the saying is.
There are still some that think the neck PU is moved to accommodate the extra frets which only proves they cannot detect the difference in length of each.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by godgrinder »

By the time you replace the hardwares and pickups you're getting into LTD/Tokai type of money.
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Re: Chibsons

Post by jeremyb »

Yeah I agree, and why bother when theres so many great secondhand deals around!
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Re: Chibsons

Post by mttn3 »

Maybe i misheard bit I think one of our Chch locals at the recent gearfest has one and says it's great?

Manufacturing sourcing ethics are definitely interesting. I wonder how different the Indonesian, Korean and Mexican factories are.. Actually i saw a wee tour of a Korean one, it looked fine but they didnt mention the pay rates or whether the staff were taking regular breaks and had decent brand coffee in the break room.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by willow13 »

yeah for $350 I would go secondhand epi or tokai...

I will add I have a "tradetang" yngwie malmsteen strat and it is an awesome guitar. I actually like it better than my real yngwie strat..........but I didn't pay anywhere near $350 for it and I kinda think because I already own a REAL one I can let the ethics slide a bit :rofl:
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Re: Chibsons

Post by Reg18 »

Finn from the forum has one and brought it to Gearfest, I didn't play it but he reckons it's great! I think it was under $200 S/H though which is probably worth a crack.
I've played a few first hand that have popped up in Cash Converters and Pawn Shops. Most haven't played very well! The action is often high, necks not dead straight etc I'd describe them as feeling not quite right, it's like bending 13 gauge strings when it actually has 10s on it or something.
I did play one Chinese Tele which seemed not to bad, probably on par with a generic chinese import like SX etc.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by Hollowpoint »

From what I've read/seen on youtube etc there are some reliable-ish manufacturers out there when it comes to quality but you also have to consider exactly what sort of quality you can actually get for $370 (which somehow includes shipping and a profit margin).

The other thing you need to be aware of is that these things are illegal and customs are well within their rights to confiscate them, which they do with many other counterfeit products.

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Re: Chibsons

Post by Bg »

How many people have bought or made clones of pedals? How many download movies? How many people have bought IPhones? Thats the IP and sweatshop arguments out of the way....

I bought a knock off steinberger once, because I wanted the parts - it didn't play too badly, but it was really shit compared to the original. Would I buy again? nah.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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