Masta' C
Well-known member
Anyone here have recent experience with guitar purchases from Temu or Aliexpress?
I took a chance on a "Chender" Tom Delonge strat copy from a top-rated seller on Temu that gets here Saturday and I'm kind of excited about it based on the few reviews I've managed to find out in the wild. It cost $225 shipped and I already got $200 credit back on it through Temu to put toward another purchase, which is crazy!
I'm not looking for a perfect copy of the real Fender, just a cool looking, decent playing pop-punk inspired guitar that I won't cry over if my toddler knocks around. Plus, I'm planning to get an actual Squier Mini-Strat to make him his own TD-style guitar to match mine!
I've never been able to justify buying an original TD Strat or even the newer reissues. I've checked out quite a few and they are all "ok" guitars at best. There's no way I'm paying $800-$1200 for an "ok" guitar with only minimal appointments (one pickup, one knob, non-locking tuners, etc) in today's market, so I'm clearly not the target demographic for the "real" thing.
I actually feel that way about a lot of guitars at this point. Like Gibson Les Pauls... I've owned a couple and played a bunch over the years. My early production Epi LP is the only one I wish I still had. Moving forward, I know for a fact that I'm never going to convince myself to pay $1500-$3000 for a proper Gibson LP again, so I'm no longer the target demographic for their products. But reviews of some of the Chinese-made LP and SG replicas out there are quite convincing and might be fun to check out!
Apparently, some of the "replica" Martin and Taylor acoustics around the $300-$400 price point are also surprisingly well made and punch very far above their price points in terms of tonality and playability. I suppose if you get good enough at copying something, you'll eventually recreate pretty much the exact thing you're trying to copy. It seems we've reached that point with some of these products!
I get that not everyone is a fan of either buying from China or the idea of buying fakes/replicas of existing products, but if you're not buying these guitars to try and dupe other people for a profit and are only buying them to modify for yourself and/or keep in a personal collection and never plan to pay the price for an original in the first place, I can't see much of a moral issue buying these types of products while they're available.
Curious what others' experiences have been? Not looking for "moral" or political opinions on the subject...
I took a chance on a "Chender" Tom Delonge strat copy from a top-rated seller on Temu that gets here Saturday and I'm kind of excited about it based on the few reviews I've managed to find out in the wild. It cost $225 shipped and I already got $200 credit back on it through Temu to put toward another purchase, which is crazy!
I'm not looking for a perfect copy of the real Fender, just a cool looking, decent playing pop-punk inspired guitar that I won't cry over if my toddler knocks around. Plus, I'm planning to get an actual Squier Mini-Strat to make him his own TD-style guitar to match mine!
I've never been able to justify buying an original TD Strat or even the newer reissues. I've checked out quite a few and they are all "ok" guitars at best. There's no way I'm paying $800-$1200 for an "ok" guitar with only minimal appointments (one pickup, one knob, non-locking tuners, etc) in today's market, so I'm clearly not the target demographic for the "real" thing.
I actually feel that way about a lot of guitars at this point. Like Gibson Les Pauls... I've owned a couple and played a bunch over the years. My early production Epi LP is the only one I wish I still had. Moving forward, I know for a fact that I'm never going to convince myself to pay $1500-$3000 for a proper Gibson LP again, so I'm no longer the target demographic for their products. But reviews of some of the Chinese-made LP and SG replicas out there are quite convincing and might be fun to check out!
Apparently, some of the "replica" Martin and Taylor acoustics around the $300-$400 price point are also surprisingly well made and punch very far above their price points in terms of tonality and playability. I suppose if you get good enough at copying something, you'll eventually recreate pretty much the exact thing you're trying to copy. It seems we've reached that point with some of these products!
I get that not everyone is a fan of either buying from China or the idea of buying fakes/replicas of existing products, but if you're not buying these guitars to try and dupe other people for a profit and are only buying them to modify for yourself and/or keep in a personal collection and never plan to pay the price for an original in the first place, I can't see much of a moral issue buying these types of products while they're available.
Curious what others' experiences have been? Not looking for "moral" or political opinions on the subject...
