Chinese Counterfeit Tuff Dog Tele

I am well aware of the ethical concerns with these guitars, so please spare the debate. I know it is illegal to sell these guitars but not illegal to own one, etc, etc.

I am not a "poser" trying to dupe people into thinking that I have a 6k Fender Custom Shop guitar. I own Gibsons, Fenders, Squiers, First Acts, Ibanez and a Peavey Rockster so I am not a headstock snob to say the least.

I was just genuinely interested in how these Chinese Counterfeits were and I got an opportunity to evaluate 3 of them and though I would share.

A friend of mine bought one of the Tuff Dogs plus 2 Ace Frehley Les Paul clones and asked me to give them a once over as far as adjustments, etc.

First of all, the 2 Chibsons weren't that good. The bridges were all wrong as well as the truss rods being metric, allen wrench style. They were both beautiful. One had the dreaded hump where the neck and body join and could not be set up with a low action at all. The other one set up really well. The pickups were bland on both but everything worked as it should. He plans on using the one with a neck issue as wall art and the other to just mess around with. I would rate an Epihone or Agile much higher than these two Les Paul replicas.

The Tuff Dog however, was another story. The build quality on this one is excellent. I think that the factory that makes Modern Players or Classic Vibes may be operating an extra ghost shift or something and churning these out. The woods used are not as pretty as the real deal and the tuff dog is a decal where I believe the real deal has an inlay. I gave it a quick set up (the truss rod worked) and put EB .09s on it. The action is low and the neck buzz free. The low E tuner broke re-stringing it so I put a set of Wilkinson EZ locks on it which were a direct drop in. It came with super cheap pearloid button tuners that were horrible.

Long story shorter, I ended up buying this one from him knowing full well that is is a fake. Also, there was no risk involved and it literally fell in my lap. I do not plan on ever parting with this one, but if I do give it away or trade it I will use my engraver to etch FAKE on the back of the headstock. I've told the few people that have seen it what it is and would never play it out anywhere because I wouldn't want to have explain the whole story to anyone who may comment or ask about it.

All in all I got a pretty sweet tele copy at a great price and just wanted to share with the group.

If you plan on lecturing me regarding the ethics and affects of counterfeits on the used market, etc. I am aware and would never let this thing out of my house and out into circulation with out first branding it as to what it is.



Peace.

 

I think so - unless it went to someone I trusted to never try to pass it off as real.

 

Thanks for taking the time!

 

It’s really something that they can produce this thing and ship it to the US for less than 2 bills.