More than 3,000 fake Gibson guitars seized in California would be worth $18M if authentic, U.S. Customs says

More than 3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Southern California in what authorities are calling the largest seizure of counterfeit musical instruments at the busiest container port in North America.

If they were authentic Gibson guitars, the instruments — which were destined for the e-commerce market — would be worth an estimated $18 million, according to U.S. Customs. They were seized by federal officials at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport, a sprawling coastal complex that includes the Port of LA. The massive West Coast port is the busiest in the U.S. among container ports, in the volume of shipments seen, with cargo worth an estimated $292 billion passing through in 2023. 

While the knockoffs seized by federal authorities were manufactured outside the country, all authentic Gibson guitars are hand-crafted and made in the U.S., said Beth Heidt, chief marketing officer at the company. 

The iconic guitar brand, founded in 1902 in Kalamazoo, Mich., has all its instruments made at facilities in Nashville, Tenn. and Boseman, Mont. — with several generations of artisans behind the more than 100-year-old company, she said.

"This is really emotional and personal for us because our teams have generations who have dedicated their entire lives to making these instruments," Heidt said, describing Gibson's guitar-making as a craft passed down generations within American families. 

Among the seized guitars were imitations of designs such as the Gibson SG and Les Paul, and while the majority were Gibson knockoffs, some were counterfeits of other well-known brands like Fender, Heidt said. She said there were models worth about $2,500 each if they were authentic as well as imitations of higher value Gibsons that would typically retail for more than $10,000. 

Federal authorities would not release any details about suspects in the investigation or where the instruments came from.

U.S. Customs officers worked with Gibson's intellectual property experts to determine whether the guitars were counterfeits, according to LA County Sheriff's Lt. Bill Kitchin, who oversees the department's piracy division. 

Violating the federal statute that protects U.S. consumers from counterfeit products can result in a fine of up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison, said Jaime Ruiz, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

Africa Bell, director of the LA-Long Beach Seaport, said the record-breaking seizure was especially noteworthy since the port is the largest container port in the country — collecting $19 billion in import duties, taxes and fees during the last fiscal year. She said finding counterfeits and contraband "in this massive amount of cargo arriving here everyday is like trying to find the smallest of needles in the largest of haystacks."

Heidt said seasoned guitar players would be able to easily tell the difference between the fake Gibsons that were seized and the brand's authentic instruments, from the sound to other elements visible to the trained eye.

"We can pick it up immediately and tell," she said, describing flaws in the fakes such as in the finishing, a more "flimsy" and light feel, placement of the logo, misplaced inlays and flaws in where the neck of the guitar meets the rest of the body. 

Andrea Bates, an attorney for the company who protects its intellectual property rights in court, said the well-known brand only sells through its website and authorized retailers which are listed on the site. 

Over the past fiscal year, Bell said, more than $2 billion in counterfeit products have been seized at the Southern California port.

John Pasciucco, U.S. Customs' deputy special agent in charge for Los Angeles, said the selling of counterfeit goods can not only violate intellectual property rights and undermine respected brands that play by the rules, but also put consumers at risk. They can be made with substandard, even dangerous materials posing health risks — while also potentially being made through forced labor.

Products made with paint containing lead, potentially dangerous counterfeit medications and knockoff brand cosmetics bearing that can cause severe skin reactions are just a few examples given by federal authorities of such potentially harmful counterfeits.