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Is My Guitar Authentic?


nicksavva

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Hi,

 

I bought a new Gibson Les Paul Classic sometime during 2004/5 (I think, cant really remember the year!). Recently I decided to check the serial number to see if that could help me figure out exactly when I bought the guitar.

 

My serial is: 133571

 

The Gibson serial number guide states that the 1st and 2nd digits indicate the year of manufacture (for a Les Paul Classic manufactured from 2000), but following that logic the guitar was made in 2013, years after I bought it, so that cant be right. Its a puzzle and has me worried about the authenticity of my guitar.

 

So, anyone able to shed some light on this? I can't make sense of it.

 

Cheers! :)

 

oh, some pics:

 

1F832140-8DB8-4F66-A996-19D8D012EA09_zpsja43i0ej.jpg

307D18A0-05E3-45D3-9104-510583A084AB_zpstb7cay8c.jpg

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Hello Nick, welcome to this nice place in the web.

 

The serial number thing is odd indeed, but the pics you linked here don't show any red flag to me. Perhaps you could post some more pictures of your Les Paul Classic? It would also make it easier for the Customer Service specialists. One of them will possibly chime in here and clarify that for you.

 

Another way would be posting an inquiry and linking pictures to the Gibson Customer Service using this form: http://www2.gibson.com/Gibson/Talk-2-Us.aspx

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Hi, thanks for the reply (and the welcome :) ). Here are some more pics that I hope will help someone more familiar than I am with the instrument form an opinion regarding its authenticity. Is it rare to find a serial number that does not conform to the published scheme?

 

63273F0B-49EB-4D84-A2E2-F4EF8B6B39D2_zpsu0ecxvud.jpg

88091570-680D-4765-819A-FEA14ED86F90_zps79eosuvv.jpg

0D41A5F7-DD9C-41D2-A62B-4D7FDA305494_zpsbaweyik5.jpg

C61A3528-741E-49B0-9C51-7B9DF1D5969C_zpsxcbaout2.jpg

918D872A-2B24-4B1A-9989-B525FDC65475_zps5bzzivdx.jpg

AF3F6C29-6698-4A2C-954E-EE4FEE025213_zpscoqmmfw7.jpg

77C21AE4-DF6D-4B33-BD6E-894692EF04C9_zpsnct9zcov.jpg

F053DC1D-7E1B-472F-BC30-FD332F70AE42_zpssz66xfnh.jpg

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Don't worry, from viewing the pictures your guitar is definitely legit. Not a trace of a doubt.

 

Gibson's serial numbers seem to be a bit off the rules sometimes, but these things may happen without meaning anything. There are ambiguities in particular among the Les Paul Classics of several decades. There also are different ways of decoding them to be found online.

 

It's also not about Gibson only. Other manufacturers are affected as well. Once I read a headline in an independent German Fender serialization guide: "Chaos - Dein Name ist Fender" meaning "Chaos - Your Name is Fender" :)

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We seem to forget some of these special run guitars Gibson been putting out.. Ive seen the ink stamp before.. , Im not sure why there doing this though.. you would think they would be a little more on the ball with giving a proper special model prefernce in the pickup cavity and brand in a serial number as well. to make it a little more credible. with the amount of fake guitars being made.. Gibson would think maybe to wize up to keep Gibson owners from second guessing these.. Those asian Knockoffs are getting better as time goes on.. if your not up on whats out there.. you could get burned really easy..

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