What defines a "good" scalloped neck, to you, Dave?
hahahaha - they said "Masarati"
the pup covers said masarati? HAHAHAHA thats great
Well, the same thing that defines a good neck, really. Scalloping is not a mystery...just dig out the wood between frets. But put say, a Squier next to a Music Man neck, and you feel a difference. One is absolutely better feeling.
I have 7 les pauls/lp style guitars, running the gamut from a Gibson Les Paul Custom to a Chibson knock off. Obviously you get what you pay for, but the aliexpress guitars aren't nearly as bad as people like to pretend they are.
It should absolutely be illegal. The ethics of it are not in question period.
However - a reasonable question is "How DOES it compare?" 20 years ago? Crap - no question. 10 years - getting better.... Today: One HAS to ask. How does it compare to the real thing. While most Gibsons have decent or better fretwork, as I always say, for $3k I expect to have to put it under a microscope to find a problem, and we know that isn't the case.
Ask the Auto industry how that model works. Japanese cars, and more recently, Korean were crap. Now there are NO 100% US cars. they ALL have an average of $12k of foreign parts in them. Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hundai RULE. As will the Alicaster one day.
I love the different ways people try to rationalize support of counterfeiting.
Back on topic, I think the name on headstock of a guitar should not be an outright lie.
I don't think it is the case of the copies ever getting better than what they copy. Especially since the #1 priority is cheap materials and cheap labor. You 'top out' quality fairly early if that is your only concern. Companies aren't willing to pay for better materials, so all they have is design with inferior materials. They are copying the designs from another company, right down to logos and trade dress. It really isn't 'free market' until the copycat company can build something of their own.
Isn't it peculiar that in the guitar world, if the company making the copy is from China, you call it 'copycat'; but if it's American like Suhr or Tom Anderson: 'Oh they make their own version of Strats that are far above Fender in terms of craftsmanship, sound, playabiilty." And guess what? People pay 3 large for those 'better Strats' or about twice the original.