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How to spot a fake Les Paul


cam011235

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How do we spot a fake? how to avoid being ripped off..and to stop it happening

 

I am wondering if this thread is a mistake ...as this same info could be used by people scamming with fakes and i am now wondering if i have made a mistake though with good intentions.

 

I am still learning my way here

 

however feel free to discuss the issue or to vent to i know alot of us are frustrated and tired of this happening

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heres a couple just to use as examples

 

the burst is a verified fake though looks quite good the very green tuners are supposed to indicators of chinese fake

 

CounterfeitLesPaul1.jpgCounterfeitLesPaul2.jpg

 

heres a more obvious one a fake custom with the 3 screws truss rod cover and crooked gibson logo and incorrect nut

 

headstock.jpg

 

any input would be good so we have a thread people can look at as a reference..and to help stop fakes

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Hi im not an expert but from my experience so far their are a few things to look out for

 

# The tuners should be straight with no curve

# The truss rod cover should not sit on the nut

# The toggle should be switchcraft (Have a stop strip under the toggle head)

# The body is always done in Nitro if its feels plastic its probably ploy

# The Pickups should have "Patent applied for" sticker or "Gibson USA" engraved in the back with thick wrapped connections

# The pots should be CTS or engraved with "Gibson"

# It should include the Gibson Manual & Check Card

# The rear of the Headstock should be stamped into with serial, "Made in USA" and from 2008 (I think) the year stamp.

 

Hope this helps [thumbup]

 

UPDATE

 

In response to the above fakes seem to use "EPIPHONE" style bridges (Fat shafts)

and on a Gibson the finish isn't as glossy thanks to the Nitro

 

one HUGE rule to follow is on Ebay, UNLESS you see LOTS of images inc the COA stuff be very VERY careful as alot of the time this is where the fakes are lurking, expecially the more prized models...

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sorry i am only a noob..the subject has come up so i thought maybe an idea to do thread ..its lame i know but its an issue

Don't feel bad. It is true that that the issue has and does come up often, and becomes old hat, but obviously you are trying to be helpful and to actually contribute.

 

The BEST way to use a forum to help with spotting a fake is to post pics and info and let others more expert use their knowledge.

 

The only real detriment or harm that can be done is being too quick to judge. I myself have been guilty of that. Putting the idea that something may be fake or someone may be ripping someone off can do more harm than good, even with the best of intentions.

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Hi im not an expert but from my experience so far their are a few things to look out for

 

# The tuners should be straight with no curve

# The truss rod cover should not sit on the nut

# The toggle should be switchcraft (Have a stop strip under the toggle head)

# The body is always done in Nitro if its feels plastic its probably ploy

# The Pickups should have "Patent applied for" sticker or "Gibson USA" engraved in the back with thick wrapped connections

# The pots should be CTS or engraved with "Gibson"

# It should include the Gibson Manual & Check Card

# The rear of the Headstock should be stamped into with serial, "Made in USA" and from 2008 (I think) the year stamp.

 

Hope this helps [thumbup]

 

UPDATE

 

In response to the above fakes seem to use "EPIPHONE" style bridges (Fat shafts)

and on a Gibson the finish isn't as glossy thanks to the Nitro

 

one HUGE rule to follow is on Ebay, UNLESS you see LOTS of images inc the COA stuff be very VERY careful as alot of the time this is where the fakes are lurking, expecially the more prized models...

This is a perfect example. Most of this info is inaccurate, and if you use it for knowledge and think you are spotting a fake for someone, you will end up falsely accusing someone.

 

True, not cool to judge. I am far from perfect in that. But it is time to call it for what it is.

 

This individual has been caught selling a known fake on EBAY.

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it seems to be a growing issue and it seems to be really targeting les pals in particular..i would be very cautious of buying a guitar from an unknown source..i have heard of instances where even very experienced les paul players have been fooled by fakes..that it took removing pups or some details being wrong before they realised..it is a shame it is happening but thats life i guess where theres a buck to be made..

 

every time some one says some issue is wrong with their guitar often the idea that is could be fake comes up..it is a problem that is not just limited to guitars but alot of it is coming from china and they known for liking the big name western brands so gibson would be desirable to them as it is a premium brand

 

i thought twice about starting this thread as i want to talk about interesting guitar stuff and want these threads to be interesting or relevant to other members but it is a reoccurring issue and i thought with so much knowledge here having the info available could be useful to people as it keeps coming up unfortunately

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This is a perfect example. Most of this info is inaccurate, and if you use it for knowledge and think you are spotting a fake for someone, you will end up falsely accusing someone.

 

True, not cool to judge. I am far from perfect in that. But it is time to call it for what it is.

 

This individual has been caught selling a known fake on EBAY.

The info I listed should be used as a guide but its not perfect, im just surgesting with those points if you see something like that, have it checked out, it shouldn't automatically become something its may not be...

 

The Guitar in Question WAS an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, that I spent alot of time and money moding with Gibson hardware and pickup effects.

It was listed before the point was raised and has been shown on the forums a few times & has been seen by 2 Luthiers with no issues hinted. The intention was to use the funds to buy the Worn Brown model.

After it became clear it was a fake MDF body it was gutted for the parts I had spent a long time precuring and the body itself was thrown in the trash.

 

As you can see I still purchased the Worn Brown as fortunately the parts still covered alot of the cost... (Thank goodness)

 

All my Guitars that I now own came from Dawsons, Guitar Guitar, Dolphin Music & Ishibashi in Japan all bought brand new.

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This is a perfect example. Most of this info is inaccurate, and if you use it for knowledge and think you are spotting a fake for someone, you will end up falsely accusing someone.

 

True, not cool to judge. I am far from perfect in that. But it is time to call it for what it is.

 

This individual has been caught selling a known fake on EBAY.

 

This is why I always buy new and from a shop I know is authorized to sell them. Only exception would be if I know someone and they had purchased it new.

 

Its such a shame that the world is as it is, but greed is infectious and so many people will do anything to make what they view as quick and easy cash. Nail them up as the Romans would say.

 

Sorry, been watching "the life of Brian" again! ;)

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The info I listed should be used as a guide but its not perfect, im just surgesting with those points if you see something like that, have it checked out, it shouldn't automatically become something its may not be...

 

The Guitar in Question WAS an Epiphone Les Paul Custom, that I spent alot of time and money moding with Gibson hardware and pickup effects.

It was listed before the point was raised and has been shown on the forums a few times & has been seen by 2 Luthiers with no issues hinted. The intention was to use the funds to buy the Worn Brown model.

After it became clear it was a fake MDF body it was gutted for the parts I had spent a long time precuring and the body itself was thrown in the trash.

 

As you can see I still purchased the Worn Brown as fortunately the parts still covered alot of the cost... (Thank goodness)

 

All my Guitars that I now own came from Dawsons, Guitar Guitar, Dolphin Music & Ishibashi in Japan all bought brand new.

Specifically, what I meant to say and respond to your post was that the info on spotting a fake was mostly wrong. The reason I responded was because it was so innaccurate, using your points would serve to help make a fake look genuine, and make a LOT of Gibsons seen questionable.

 

The reason I would say such a thing is that more harm than good can come by causing one to be suspicious with little reason.

 

CAUGHT selling a KNOWN fake on Ebay means "exposed" by others as having a guitar for sale that the seller knew was not genuine.

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This is a perfect example. Most of this info is inaccurate, and if you use it for knowledge and think you are spotting a fake for someone, you will end up falsely accusing someone.

+1.

 

Seven out of the eight 'points to look for' are not always applicable and I'm just not 100% sure about the eighth.

 

The lesson here should be Only Cry "Fake!" When You Are 100% Sure You Know.

 

It hasn't happened as often recently but there was a time when lots of guitars posted here for verification were being called 'fake' because a few people thought they knew better than they did.

 

P.

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I guess there is a lot of paranoia on buying from unknown sources and that includes me i have sen some very experienced players get burnt..something i have learnt here is not to jump to conclusions and to weigh the information up properly before pointing the finger...it is a tendency that when someone says there is an issue with my les paul that some one will say is it fake?

 

that was part of the reason that i thought it may be good to start this thread so that there is some sort of guideline for people in this position.

 

i see some great deals on ebay but i am to suspicious to in reality risk thousands of dollars on something like this..i would much rather go through a totally reputable dealer or even better go through a gibson dealer

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One way to prevent heartache (if considering an ebay purchase) is to

RESEARCH the SELLER's FEEDBACK HISTORY!!!!

 

This came up recently on the EPI forum - Pics sho' nuff did look real, because

seller actually Posts pics of real guitars, then sends "not-reals". What ultimately

caused "US" to spot it was to click on seller's name, then check Feedback as SELLER.

 

Turns out "they" had sold (within las 5 months) 13 Epi Les Pauls, specifically the kinds

that are the most popular to move in the "SHADY DEAL" market. Also, this seller had 3 name changes,

and a request for input from a dis-satisfied buyer resulted in more confirmation.

 

Regardless of what PICS are posted, the "paper trail of sales history" cannot be changed.

If the "sucka" seems to have a whole LOT of gits just "laying around" for sale... RUN!!!!!!

 

EPI Thread:

"Custom Silverburst"

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/73494-custom-silverburst/

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its a catch 22 situation

 

we want to inform people so they can spot fakes easily themselves but at the same time we are also providing detailed information for the copy factories in china to correct the issues that give away the guitar being a fake.

 

as a result making them harder to spot for us the end consumer!

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its a catch 22 situation

 

we want to inform people so they can spot fakes easily themselves but at the same time we are also providing detailed information for the copy factories in china to correct the issues that give away the guitar being a fake.

 

as a result making them harder to spot for us the end consumer!

lol...that's a true story. It is also a catch 22 in that if you can't tell or you have to ask, how do you learn to tell or know when to ask?

 

I recently had the opportunity to check out a fake a guy had, and it taught me what you are saying here. The guitar was so obviously not a Gibson holding it and playing it in person, but I was surprised at the accuracy of some of the details it had in order to be able to pass as the real deal.

 

It was very much like the specs of the guitar came from "how to spot a fake Gibson".

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The ANIMALFARMER illustrates why the use of a forum, and THIS forum in particular is such a great resource for the help in spotting a fake.

 

In the example he shows, the seller was VERY sophisticated in the business of fakes, but still could not get past the EPI fake police.

 

There are some here on the EPIPHONE side that are almost like freaks of nature when it comes to spotting a fake Epiphone. Comparing a Gibson to a Chinese made guitar there will be some major differences in a lot of areas, but in the case of fake or counterfeit Epiphones, then you are comparing not only 2 Chinese guitars with the same hardware, but in a lot of cases 2 guitars that may have come from the same factory or even used the same tooling.

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Its all a bit of a learning curve and i am still a bit new here i need to adapt and think things through more instead of being to impulsive..it is mistake to give away too much info to those parasites but maybe it is good to have a thread where we can vent and at least address the issue.

 

it affects all of us in a very personal way as it is compromising something we value .. here the guitar has become a victim of ts own success because its so desirable to so many, there will be these criminals who try to cash in on it..and they are criminals so we shouldnt help them even inadvertently by providing to much data..but help genuine people in that situation

 

at least we can discuss the subject..maybe get a few tips how to deal with it..or vent

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Its all a bit of a learning curve and i am still a bit new here i need to adapt and think things through more instead of being to impulsive..it is mistake to give away too much info to those parasites but maybe it is good to have a thread where we can vent and at least address the issue.

 

it affects all of us in a very personal way as it is compromising something we value .. here the guitar has become a victim of ts own success because its so desirable to so many, there will be these criminals who try to cash in on it..and they are criminals so we shouldnt help them even inadvertently by providing to much data..but help genuine people in that situation

 

at least we can discuss the subject..maybe get a few tips how to deal with it..or vent

It certainly has changed my perspective.

 

Particularly in the case of Epi fakes, my first reaction was "who cares? It is just an Epi". But, come to find out, in other countries where guitars are worth more, it actually means the differences of a couple hundred bucks in the actual monetary value. And, while it could be said that every Epi is a copy of a Gibson, there ARE qualities to them that are valued and the company is held to a high regard that makes a genuine Epiphone worth more than a fake one.

 

And, after being here a while, one thing I have discovered about the EPI POLICE is that whether one cares or not, they can and do get it right when it DOES matter.

 

ANY discussion here about guitars that is friendly and informative is a good one.

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It certainly has changed my perspective.

 

Particularly in the case of Epi fakes, my first reaction was "who cares? It is just an Epi". But, come to find out, in other countries where guitars are worth more, it actually means the differences of a couple hundred bucks in the actual monetary value. And, while it could be said that every Epi is a copy of a Gibson, there ARE qualities to them that are valued and the company is held to a high regard that makes a genuine Epiphone worth more than a fake one.

 

And, after being here a while, one thing I have discovered about the EPI POLICE is that whether one cares or not, they can and do get it right when it DOES matter.

 

ANY discussion here about guitars that is friendly and informative is a good one.

 

there is good vibe here usually not to many trolls which is good in this day and age..love talking guitars

 

yeah epis being ripped stinks just as much they r ripping of the manufacturers and ripping us of the consumer users..they seem to get away with it to..how come more isnt done by customs and others to stop this...how come there r so many fakes out there and so little seems to be done to stop it

 

even the crooks getting busted seem to get a slap across the wrist..why arent the legal manufacturers protected more..none of us wants a fake...judging by the amount of fake epis there is a buck here to

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  • 2 years later...

Can you fake a serial number? Im looking at buying a used honey Burst traditional 2013, Ive checked the serial number on the head stock with the guitar dater web site and it confirms the guitar was built at the nashville plant, at least that serial number.

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