matthewjhawkins Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hey guys, Im new to this forum, but I was wondering if you guys would be able to help me authenticate this guitar. It is supposed to be a 1998 Gibson Hummingbird, and a few things don't seem right. Well for one I made a bid on it, and I am the high bidder right now....I know stupid. I should have done this before. The item is 170444272806 on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170444272806&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_701wt_1160 I contacted Gibson, and they weren't sure if it was authentic or not, they seemed to indicate that it may be a dealer custom. Also it is lacking the mother of pearl inlays...do all acoustics of this era have these? Thx guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 even my untrained eye says fake. i'm sure the masters will weigh in soon. body shape is wrong, decal is wrong, rosette is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Sure looks like an Epiphone to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Sure looks like an Epiphone to me. Are the tuners correct for an Epi? The one I recently bought for my DIL had Grovers-Tulips. And the Epi have double parallelograms fret markers... I think it's a Chinese "clone". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Who knows? I'm mainly going by the faded design on the guard, which is typical of Epis and Gibsons, and what I can make out of the shape of the headstock. Pics are pretty dark. I can't even really see if there is a truss rod cover at all, let alone get a good look at it. In any case, I think it's safe to call it fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185-4Me Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Total fake -- "take cover, Will Robinson -- danger!" Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Don't like the fact the case is not original. And is that label correct. Mine has the S/N handwritten, I think? Tuners look like the ones on my strat and I've never seen them on a Hummingbird. Should the neck have binding too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsc Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 The pics are terrible!! Gotta believe, that's not an accident !! If I were you I would pull my bid, & look for another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewjhawkins Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 yeah i retracted my bid. It just didn't seem right. Thanks for your help guys!! i just hope that no one ends up with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajsc Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Ebay doesn't have a good record of stopping the sales of fake guitars!! I'm done with them, I closed my account, which is not an easy thing to do!! This is a good site for finding used guitars. http://www.gbase.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I think the cat's out of the bag on this one, but I'll add my 2¢. The model name and SN appear to have been ink stamped using a generic multi-purpose stamper like a date stamper, only with letters. Note the letters don't all line up, let alone show up completely. re: the "U" that looks like a "J". I suspect in a production setting, this would be too time consuming and a single purpose stamp with a model name for each model would be made. Besides, I think on the authentic ones, arent' these typed on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Ebay doesn't have a good record of stopping the sales of fake guitars!!I'm done with them' date=' I closed my account, which is not an easy thing to do!! This is a good site for finding used guitars. http://www.gbase.com/[/quote'] there are fakes everywhere so be careful. some sellers are just playing dumb - using sketchy wording and such. others are just right out selling knock offs. seems esp. prominent in the les paul world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 yeah i retracted my bid. It just didn't seem right. Thanks for your help guys!! i just hope that no one ends up with it. Good move. You're leanin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 How do people live with themselves????? Alas.....sigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oubaas Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 How do people live with themselves????? Alas.....sigh Amusing' date=' ain't it? I just chuckle. Because I firmly believe that next time around (and yes, I think we come back until we get it right, at which time we then get to stay where all the really great guitars and horses dwell) they'll get to be something commensurate with their moral values and actions this time around. Of course, that might also mean that I'm in for something special next time for laughing when I think of the idiots coming back as snails in the kitchen of a French restaurant or nightcrawlers in a bait shop, but what the heck! If I didn't laugh at the world's stupidity, I'd be miserable, LOL! Cheers! Rick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchabalk Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 definitely fake in my book: - the rosette around the sound hole is very UN-gibson - there's no center brace on the inside, i've not seen a modern gibson without it (and i have an epi acoustic, it does NOT have it). - no body binding? - no neck binding - no fret board inlays? on a hummingbird!? - the headstock's hard to see but from what you can see it looks suspect FFFFFAAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenumber2 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 The lack of body binding and dot inlays gave it away in the first 5 seconds for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 No one has mentioned this yet (I think) but the bridge is belly down too. Don't think they have ever built H-birds that way, have they? Even my 1994 Epi Hummingbird has the belly up. Also the Pickguard on a Gibson is much wider than an Epi, the Gibson goes nearly to the edge of the guitar. I'm no expert, but I don't even think it's even an Epiphone that's been converted, it's a total fake IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 lol hopefully the winning bidder, currently at over $1000, is faking him out too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewjhawkins Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 yeah the sad thing is is that it went for 1175. I got an email from Gibson and they said this: "Hi, This is not a genuine Gibson. We have forwarded the auction link to our Legal department. For additional information please see http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/CounterfeitGibsons/." I sure hope they were able to step in on time, and get something figured out with eBay. thanks so much for your help guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fp Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 That one isn't even close to being a good fake. Only thing that looks right is the pickguard , maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.