Anyone bought from Trade Tang before? xD

[Faz540]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if you guys have heard of this website called Trade Tang?

From looking at the website it seems to be an ebay clone website...but it is PACKED with fake/replica musical instruments.

There are many vids on youtube about the Chinese Fake Gibsons and they're extremely close asthetically (obv not sonically) but paying a 1/5 of the price for a guitar that looks like a £2000 makes me intrigued.

I swear if I see a Musicman Bongo replica for £400 I'll cry!

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience before with them, as the guitars get very mixed reviews some say they're brilliant "FOR THE PRICE" others just say they're complete garbage.

Cheers!

[Stryfer]

I've never had experience with that website, but I've had more experience with cheap replicas than I'd like. For several years those were the only affordable items where I come from.

Cheap replicas are just that though, less quality for less money. Sure, they're made to look authentic, however that's the only aspect of them that resembles the original.
I'd take a guess that they sound much worse, break more easily and about a quarter of the products is faulty to begin with.

Also, I've noticed that most people who claim something is great "for the price" are rich enough to afford a pricier instrument. They play a real MusicMan, then when they grab the fakes for the heck of it they say "it's ok", because start with the notion that it can't match the original and end up surprised that the bass actually produces sound.

I'd say, forget fakes/replicas. The cheaper brands (like squire) and models made in asian countries (like the Warwick Korea ProSeries) can sound just as good as the more expensive models, while being around the same price as replicas.
For example: many praise the Squire Vintage Modified Jazz bass as being quite close to a $800 original Fender sound-wise, yet it's half the price. This one I can vouch for, having tried it personally.