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Possible Fake Epiphone LP


neilsf73

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Hi

 

I'm new to the forum and have just bought an Epiphone Les Paul but something doesn't seem right with the guitar. I've done searches on the guitar and can't find another like it and i think its a fake. Can anyone help me confirm this below is a link to my photobucket pics hopefully it will work.

 

Many Thanks

 

N

 

http://s329.photobucket.com/user/JBNEILSRV/media/Les%20Paul/DSCF2372_zpsb8669083.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

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Hi

 

I'm new to the forum and have just bought an Epiphone Les Paul but something doesn't seem right with the guitar. I've done searches on the guitar and can't find another like it and i think its a fake. Can anyone help me confirm this below is a link to my photobucket pics hopefully it will work.

 

Many Thanks

 

N

 

http://s329.photobuc...html?sort=3&o=0

If you don't like it i will buy it . it looks like a epiphone to me

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Sorry, I have to admit there are some suspicious points. Scarf joint and positions of pickups, bridge and tailpiece seem just wrong to me. Did you read the scale length? By view I guess it's not 24.75" but 25.5". By the way, the truss rod cover doesn't belong to this guitar, too.

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According to the serial number - Your guitar was made at the

Qingdao Plant (Epiphone), China

February 2008

Production Number: 03180

It's a '56 gold top p90!

What makes you think it's fake?

Sorry for having to post this, but the pictures from the Epiphone website tell a different story:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Les-Paul/Les-Paul-1956-Goldtop.aspx

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Sorry, I have to admit there are some suspicious points. Scarf joint and positions of pickups, bridge and tailpiece seem just wrong to me. Did you read the scale length? By view I guess it's not 24.75" but 25.5". By the way, the truss rod cover doesn't belong to this guitar, too.

 

 

The trussrod cover and the EE being bigger than the number made me suspicious. The scale length i never even thought of how this measured? The control cavities are painted black inside and the pots have no brand. I have owned a MIK epiphone before but i don't remember the cavities painted.

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The trussrod cover and the EE being bigger than the number made me suspicious. The scale length i never even thought of how this measured? The control cavities are painted black inside and the pots have no brand. I have owned a MIK epiphone before but i don't remember the cavities painted.

Black painted cavities are normal, and larger characters are not suspicious to my experience.

 

The scale length is the vibrating size of open strings and is measured between the fretboard-sided edge of the nut and the bridge saddles. Since the latter are adjusted for obtaining proper intonation, the E1st should be very close to the theory while plain G3rd and possibly A5th and/or E6th can be slightly longer. From the fretboard-sided edge of the nut to the crown of the 12th fret wire you will read exactly half the scale length intended by design.

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hi,

just draw a straight line through the middle of the tailpiece toward the knobs and see where it crosses the nearest knob, then compare with the one on the Epiphone site. this looks different so knobs positioning and/or scale length look likely to be different.

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It could well be real i'm just a bit concerned the guitar plays and sounds great but for the price payed i want to make sure it is the real deal. I've contacted Epiphone and sent them pics so hopefully they will be able to shed some light. Would the P90's be stamped underneath like the PAF's?

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Sorry for having to post this, but the pictures from the Epiphone website tell a different story:

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Les-Paul/Les-Paul-1956-Goldtop.aspx

 

Apart from the pick guard, truss rod cover and possibility of pick up/ bridge placement I can't see major differences between the two guitars.

A lot of people remove pick guards and truss rod cover are easily available on ebay etc. I didn't spot the bridge/ pickup at first glance though, they do look a bit far apart. However without facts like scale length etc we're just looking at pics and making assumptions. The first thing to do is check serial number and that it is actually a model produced at that time, as I did, then ask what makes you think it's fake!

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I did date the guitar on one of the online websites and it did say its an 2008 produced and the Chinese Qingdao factory. I havent got a catalogue to check if this model was produced back then. There are no visible signs of a scratchplate being on the guitar no screws holes etc... which is why i have contacted Epiphone. Will check the scale length though.

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Apart from the pick guard, truss rod cover and possibility of pick up/ bridge placement I can't see major differences between the two guitars.

A lot of people remove pick guards and truss rod cover are easily available on ebay etc. I didn't spot the bridge/ pickup at first glance though, they do look a bit far apart. However without facts like scale length etc we're just looking at pics and making assumptions. The first thing to do is check serial number and that it is actually a model produced at that time, as I did, then ask what makes you think it's fake!

Sadly there are fairly many Fibsons around with abused real existing serial numbers matching a genuine guitar including finish colour.

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Just measured the scale length at 25.5 so its a fake??

Except for the limited Gibson 2014 Long Scale model, Les Paul guitars should have 24.75" to my knowledge. It doesn't look good, but I can't exclude they made some of these and your guitar is real. Perhaps it's a rare item, but I think it's best to have this clarified by Epiphone.

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So much wrong with this. There was a thread about these some years ago.

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/64035-56-goldtop-fake-or-not/

 

The pics have gone but the description is similar.

 

A 25.5" scale length? Really? Capmaster, that was a heck of a good call.

 

neilsf73, if you want a second opinion post to the Fake Epiphone Thread at MLP. There are a couple of people over there who will give you the definitive but to me it is wrong, for all the reasons mentioned already, and the comedy bridge pickup placement.

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And if you google that serial number it comes up on another fake on the MLP Epi fake thread.

Damn - this is really bad. According to the post, the guitar featuring this number had a diamond inlay on the headstock and was not the one pictured for selling. So perhaps anybody made a business out of it, regardless if it was a multiple use of the serial number, or a subsequent replacement or modding of the headstock.

 

I refer to this post I found when searching for the serial number:

 

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/1432461-post3426.html

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The guitar is fake. The two main telltale signs are that the EE in the serial number is much too large and the wrong font, and the control knobs are in the wrong place for a Qingdao guitar, the neck volume control should be about a half inch below the tailpiece, not in line with it.

 

 

 

 

And for future reference... the various guitar dater web sites are absolutely useless for determining whether a guitar is genuine or fake. All they do id decode serial numbers and they do not always do that correctly either. Read their disclaimer!!!

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Sadly there are fairly many Fibsons around with abused real existing serial numbers matching a genuine guitar including finish colour.

...

And for future reference... the various guitar dater web sites are absolutely useless for determining whether a guitar is genuine or fake. All they do id decode serial numbers and they do not always do that correctly either. Read their disclaimer!!!

That's why I pointed this out in my quoted post. Moreover, abused serial numbers already caused serious trouble for owners wanting to sell genuine guitars bearing them legitimately.

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...

Faking a $2000 guitar I can understand why people are doing it, but faking a $450 guitar. Now I have seen it all.

 

 

And that's exactly why they do it. They make a decent profit with little difficulty by dealing in volume. And in the lower end of the market, you are much less likely to come across someone with experience who would know what to look for, or even that fakes exist. Much easier to fool someone with a good deal on a $450 guitar for $350 than a $4000 guitar for $2000 where someone will wonder why they are getting such a great deal.

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Hi

 

I'm new to the forum and have just bought an Epiphone Les Paul but something doesn't seem right with the guitar. I've done searches on the guitar and can't find another like it and i think its a fake. Can anyone help me confirm this below is a link to my photobucket pics hopefully it will work.

 

Many Thanks

 

N

 

http://s329.photobucket.com/user/JBNEILSRV/media/Les%20Paul/DSCF2372_zpsb8669083.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Where did you buy this? From an authorized Epiphone dealer. OR, on E-bay, Craigslist, or some other

site? IF you want to be sure your guitar is "legit," you need to buy from a legit Epi dealer, first

and foremost. Otherwise, "youse pays yo money, and youse takes yo chances!" [scared]

 

CB

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The paint looks to sparkly to me. What price did you pay? MF has them for $450 new.

 

Faking a $2000 guitar I can understand why people are doing it, but faking a $450 guitar. Now I have seen it all.

 

 

FZ, I guess if these come out of a country where say $5000 per year is average wage, versus say $50,000 in the US, then making a couple of hundred bucks profit per guitar starts to look plenty attractive when you consider the buying power of that money in the native country and that you could sell a bunch of them (maybe even legally depending on the local laws) at a steady income.

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