I know a guy who bought a Chinese knockoff Les Paul, the one that is covertly spelled "Gibsun" with embellishments to make the U look like an O. He then put Grover tuners on it, a Floyd Jane Rose tailpiece, and DiMarzio pickups in it, and it sounds GREAT! With his having some used parts on hand, he probably brought that guitar in for under $400. The Les Paul Standard it resembles would have cost him WAY more than that.

Only point here is to not dismiss those knockoff so quickly if sound is your only criteria. With a little tweaking they can sound good.


I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.