Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

[NegativeEase]

On another thread, Oldguy and a few others referenced "Counterfeit Strings" like it was a normal and common thing. I haven't procured strings in the last 2 decades from anyone except the actual string manufacturer and some known trusted music stores for the odd stuff.

So sorry to sound ignorant, but I need to hear more... I've never in my life considered that anyone would go to the trouble to replicate a product that has such an obvious manufacturing signature and complicated packaging and such a low price point (I guess they counterfeit whole cases to retailers?)

Anyways please list your experiences -what brands did you see suffering form this? where did you purchase them from? how did you know they were counterfeit? how do you think they got into "circulation" -also were the counterfeit ones any good? :lmao:

Mind Blown...so many questions... need to know now... and asking for a friend.... :lmao:

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

Never seen it. Can't see how it would be worth the trouble. There is a good amount of counterfeiting going on with things like $7 Li-Ion rechargeable batteries though so who knows. I suppose stranger things have happened.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I think from a criminal standpoint, the "low return, high investment" idea is a stupid one.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I think from a criminal standpoint, the "low return, high investment" idea is a stupid one.

Agreed, this is why I was surprised to hear this

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I've heard about it online, but never encountered any first hand.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

Never seen it. Can't see how it would be worth the trouble. There is a good amount of counterfeiting going on with things like $7 Li-Ion rechargeable batteries though so who knows. I suppose stranger things have happened.

Not much worth manufacturing them, but if they order bulk loads of cheapest strings available and just manufacture the counterfeit packages I can see that happening...

 

[AlexR]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I've heard about it online, but never encountered any first hand.

Sounds like hearing about it online is about the extent of the issue.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

Sounds like hearing about it online is about the extent of the issue.

I know, right?

I'll say this as nicely as possible, but the place I heard about it the most was on a mandolin forum. The bluegrass crowd tends to be older dudes who don't deal well with change, so every time D'Addario changed the model of the strings from "J-75" to "EJ-75", or changed the style of the packaging, there was an unbelievable amount of uproar. Part of me thinks the counterfeit strings were merely old packaging that someone wasn't familiar with.

On the other hand, D'Addario themselves did put a code on the packaging so you can verify the authenticity. This could've been a response to a million bluegrass players flipping out because old Jim claimed to have gotten a set of fakes.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

Phillip McKnights made a video about it

The thing is cheap set of off brand strings
Whit a color printed card from Daddario

He showed some on his video
He said the sales rep told him about it

 

[Mark Cearlock]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I have a oddity for you- I ordered some "fender" strings from wish one time for $1 a set.. Some of the strings were too short, and some of them you couldn't hear through the amp..(wtf?) like there was no string there at all.. they rang out a bit when played acoustically, but nothing through the amp.Needless to say, my last "cheap string pack" experience. now only D'Addario, or Ernie Balls

 

[LLL]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

There's counterfeit Les Pauls.

There's counterfeit stompboxes.

There's counterfeit pickups.

There's even counterfeit tone.

So why wouldn't there be counterfeit strings?

Hey, if some people can cheat to get ahead, they'll do it. A lot of losers, lazy-asses and scumbags out there.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

There's counterfeit Les Pauls.

There's counterfeit stompboxes.

There's counterfeit pickups.

There's even counterfeit tone.

So why wouldn't there be counterfeit strings?

Hey, if some people can cheat to get ahead, they'll do it. A lot of losers, lazy-asses and scumbags out there.

So, I'm guessing if there's a good market for this, it means lots of players are sourcing strings from non authorized online distributors or pawn shops...-which since almost every String MFG sells direct online, I guess the counterfeit market is relying on someone thinking they are getting a "deal" not buying at the direct MFG price.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

Cheap unbranded strings for about 1-2 EUR/set from aliexpress are fine strings. Still no 7-string sets or two many options for 9's, that's why most of my guitars are strung with 10s

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

Thankfully, I have not purchased any, but as was mentioned above, I use D'Addarios and some of the last I bought had the info about how to authenticate the real thing and they added coding as a safeguard.
Seems like it wouldnt be worth the trouble to counterfiet something low cost like strings, vs say, a Chibson.. However.. something like strings would be easy to pass off as people most likely wouldnt put so much care into authenticating like they would an expensive item.. So, again would be easy to pass off and so they could move alot of them quickly. Just an example would be say 10 thousand packs at a 4-5 dollar profit would be a quick 40-50 grand.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

There was a rash of convincing counterfeit Daddario strings a few years back. Google it, there are threads about in on other guitar forums.
Daddario even has a how-to spot a fake tutorial PDF online.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I stopped using D'addario's for years because all we got here were crappy counterfeit's. They sounded tinny/flat & rusted in a week. Things have got way better after they changed their packaging & perhaps took other measures as well, so I'm back to using them again. Though I do use other brands on some of my guitars 'cause I think they sound better with other strings ( ...Roto's and EB's mostly).

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

There's a certain faraway land where counterfeits of just about any product you can imagine are routinely manufactured.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

There's a certain faraway land where counterfeits of just about any product you can imagine are routinely manufactured.

They make fake eggs in China out of inedible plastic. The problem got so out of hand that they made punishment for selling these carcinogenic eggs public execution.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I have a oddity for you- I ordered some "fender" strings from wish one time for $1 a set.. Some of the strings were too short, and some of them you couldn't hear through the amp..(wtf?) like there was no string there at all.. they rang out a bit when played acoustically, but nothing through the amp.Needless to say, my last "cheap string pack" experience. now only D'Addario, or Ernie Balls

Well there you go. I'd expect anything ordered from Wish or any of those other "too good to be true" discount retailers to be counterfeit merchandise. I guess the question is when you have a local shop trying to save a buck and they order their stock from one of these places is when unwitting customers get burned.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Counterfeit Strings -This is a thing? Where have I been?

I guess I never realized that saving a buck or two on a set of strings from a nefarious source online was worth it anyways

I mean a pack of regular D'addarios or EB Slinkys is like 4-5 dollars direct or an authorized online retailer-in bulk much less -like 3 doilars -so like 30-40 dollars a year? -if you are changing every couple of weeks.

I guess custom sets gets problematic -but even so I just don't see the chance of getting **** strings worth it.

Then again, I'm employed....