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2016 ES Les Paul headstock "Gibson" logo


roggin

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I just purchased this guitar used. After playing it a bit I noticed the headstock "Gibson" looked like a decal under the finish rather than an inlay. My immediate thought was its a fake. After close inspection the guitar does look genuine. Serial number stamping, truss rod cover, COA, etc. I looked at several photos of the ES Les Paul on line and most of the headstock "Gibson" logo look like decals. Is this normal for the ES line or just the ES Les Paul ?

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I just purchased this guitar used. After playing it a bit I noticed the headstock "Gibson" looked like a decal under the finish rather than an inlay. My immediate thought was its a fake. After close inspection the guitar does look genuine. Serial number stamping, truss rod cover, COA, etc. I looked at several photos of the ES Les Paul on line and most of the headstock "Gibson" logo look like decals. Is this normal for the ES line or just the ES Les Paul ?

 

I have honestly never seen such a thing.

 

Most curious.

 

[mellow]

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In the product section of this website they show several different finishes of the ES Les Paul, most seem to be from 2016, but they all specifically say Mother of Pearl Inlaid "Gibson" on the headstock.

 

But there is also an ES Les Paul "Special" model which has a maple fingerboard, and a flat top with black binding around and for the "Special" it specifies that the Gibson logo is a decal.

 

The finish on yours, and the white binding would seem to make it regular ES Les Paul model, but if it has a flat top, it could be the "special" model and thus the decal logo? But it wouldn't be the first time that a guitar came out of the factory that didn't quite match up with specifications on the website. I wouldn't worry about it being "fake" as they made ES LPs with inlaid and decal logos.

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Thank you Twang Gang. Any information on this is most appreciated. Since my original post I visited the large guitar store in Lacrosse, WI. They have a used 2015 ES Les Paul and an ES 345 from 2015 (I think) and both appear to have decal logos. I am very surprised by this.

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Roggin, I also have an ES-Les Paul 2015, Cobra version. It has the exact same issue you mentioned. In fact, with my guitar the nitrocellulose 'finish' is cracking around the logo, as well as cracking at the back of the neck.

 

From what I can see on my guitar it looks like the 'Gibson' logo is inlayed with mother of pearl, but the finish that goes over the top of the neck does not go over the mother of pearl. In fact it looks as if something like masking tape was used to cover the mother of pearl before the finish was sprayed over, leaving a sharp/marked edge which I can feel with my fingers. It would be interesting to know why they did this.

 

The sound I get from this guitar is phenomenal. It is the best Gibson electric guitar I have ever owned for me and my style. At the end of the day I don't mind as much about the aesthetics as the sound is primary. But it is nice when the finish also delivers the same incredibleness of Gibson guitar sound, as this would help hold its market value. There was something magical that happened when I played the ES-Les Paul for the first time, I had been searching 'the' guitar for many years and finally I got my sound through this baby. At first I thought it would not suffice, because its marketed as sounding a bit like a 335 (which I do not like), yet mine sounds nothing like a 335 at all. It has some deep mysterious sound I just cant describe :-({|= .

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Seems that with my New ES330 that I got from CME a few days ago.

I can rub my finger on the top where it says Gibson.

Its like a Bump

You can run your finger and there is a Bump when you get to the decal.

The Decal I guess has Lacquer on top of the decal but you still feel the bump.

Myself I own many Gibsons and all my guitars are smooth when you run your finger over the decal........JT

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My 2015 is the same. I wonder if the inlay is on a separate piece of wood and they just do a simple route in the headstock on drop the whole piece in rather then route the script and inlay in the letters directly on the headstock? Either that or it’s a thin inlay on a piece of wood laminate glued onto the headstock. Like a wooden sticker so they can say it’s an inlay and still have the easy application of a decal at the factory.

Just a guess...-Jim

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