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Would this be legal to sell?

Dkr84

By Dkr84
in The Gibson Lounge

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Dkr84

Dkr84

Posted
Posted

Let's say you bought a bulldog kit and made a Les Paul. That would be illegal if you put a Gibson logo on the headstock, as it would then be an illegal copy.

 

But if you bought a real 100% legit Gibson body, used a bull dog neck, and then built from there, or took a legit Gibson NECK and bought a bulldog BODY, it would be a heavily upgraded Gibson Les Paul! Would that work? I love building guitars, but I also like the peace of mind knowing that I could sell it if I wanted a new one badly enough to sell my built one.

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TommyK

TommyK

Posted
Posted
Somehow I think thats pushing the limits a bit.

 

Like this guy

 

www.croxguitars.com/overlays.htm

 

Who knows if his extras from Kalamazoo are real.

 

 

Left-overs from Kalamazoo.. [lol] That would make them.... stolen goods. No? [lol] Naw' date=' I don't think he is pushing the 'limits'. He crossed the line. Go get 'em Legal Dept.!

 

 

As far as "can I make a Gibson knock-off using some original parts or no original parts, then sell it as a Gibson...?

 

Tell you what, newbie, build it, put a price on it, then take it to the front steps of Gibson corp. H.Q. in Nashville and hawk your ware. Let us know how it turns out. [blink

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brundaddy

brundaddy

Posted
Posted

You can't sell it as a Gibson if it wasn't made at the factory. For many reasons though, people do 'Frankenstein' guitars or build copies (like Slash's #1 for example, which is a one-off custom built by a luthier, not a factory Gibson Les Paul).

 

When you get into selling one of these Frankenstein things, because the boundaries of Gibson/non-Gibson get somewhat blurred, you have to be honest concerning what is original vs. customized/replaced/repaired/upgraded.

 

Many Gibsons have design flaws that make them vulnerable to breakage, and IMO using parts similar to those described above in the course of repairing the guitar is perfectly legitimate. Headstocks and necks do break.

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Dkr84

Dkr84

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Left-overs from Kalamazoo.. :-k That would make them.... stolen goods. No? :-s Naw' date=' I don't think he is pushing the 'limits'. He crossed the line. Go get 'em Legal Dept.!

 

 

As far as "can I make a Gibson knock-off using some original parts or no original parts, then sell it as a Gibson...?

 

Tell you what, newbie, build it, put a price on it, then take it to the front steps of Gibson corp. H.Q. in Nashville and hawk your ware. Let us know how it turns out. [angry

 

 

Well when you put it that way, it does sound a little controversial, or at least flat out illegal... #-o

 

For the record, i'm only a newbie to this forum, i've been a dedicated guitarist for years. Just to clear the air on that. [cool]

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badbluesplayer

badbluesplayer

Posted
Posted

You can cobble together parts from different guitars. That's o.k. They're your parts, it's your guitar. You can glue your Gibson body to your Bulldog neck. That's fine. You can sell that guitar as a used guitar. That's fine. It's not counterfeit unless you claim it's something it's not.

 

If you say it's a used Gibson body with a whatchacallit neck, that's fine. It is what it is. You represent it as what it is. No problem.

 

Like if I take my Chevy truck and weld a Dodge bed on it. I stick a Toyota tailgate on it. It says Toyota, but it's really a Chevy. I can sell it as a used Chevy with a Dodge bed and a Toyota tailgate all day long, and Chevy couldn't care less. Now if I started making new Chevys with or without Toyota tailgates and sold them as new Chevys or new Toyotas that would be a problem.

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Chloe

Chloe

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone my name is chloe

my friend is selling a cheap gibson les paul cuz he got it for his birthday and for some reason hates gibsons

and he is sellin it at 350 pounds because he wants to buy a epiphone wildkat, crazy huh, but still

I have seen the guitar and it looks and sounds amazing

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Les-Paul-Gibson_W0QQitemZ160457377765QQcategoryZ33040QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7058034584445649690

 

 

there is the ebay page, anyone whos interested,, buy :-k

 

chloe

xxx

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pohatu771

pohatu771

Posted
Posted

I don't know that those overlays are stolen - I see parts on eBay all the time claiming to be old stock from Kalamazoo. It seems funny that entire warehouses of materials could be stolen from Gibson. I'm guessing it was easier to sell off all of that stuff and make new at Nashville than move the old stuff.

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Kimbabig

Kimbabig

Posted
Posted
^ LOL... damn spoiled kids these days.

It makes me sick when someone sells a birthday present' date=' someone who loves and cares for you gave it to you so it should have sentimental value. Also anyone who gets a Gibson for their birthday has to spoiled because it took me a long time to get my first gibson [biggrin Which I worked very hard for doing menial labor, which only made me appreciate it all the more. Besides that, who trades a Gibson for an epiphone #-o

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Silenced Fred

Silenced Fred

Posted
Posted
Hello everyone my name is chloe

my friend is selling a cheap gibson les paul cuz he got it for his birthday and for some reason hates gibsons

and he is sellin it at 350 pounds because he wants to buy a epiphone wildkat' date=' crazy huh, but still

I have seen the guitar and it looks and sounds amazing

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Les-Paul-Gibson_W0QQitemZ160457377765QQcategoryZ33040QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7058034584445649690

 

 

there is the ebay page, anyone whos interested,, buy [biggrin

 

chloe

xxx

 

So you made an account here just to advertise your friend's guitar?

 

PS (Does it look legit? Never seen that color before)

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milod

milod

Posted
Posted

Personally were I to do such heavy mods on bits and pieces of guitar, I'd consider it my own "brand." Making a guitar that looks like a Gibson isn't, any more than making a Fender from bits and pieces is a Fender.

 

You might make a case that putting a Gibson neck from an otherwise broken guitar onto a Fender still results in a Fender... but I don't think so. Or vice versa.

 

I think it's legal to sell almost anything for what it is. If you claim it's something it isn't, that's a different tale.

 

m

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TommyK

TommyK

Posted
Posted
I don't know that those overlays are stolen - I see parts on eBay all the time claiming to be old stock from Kalamazoo. It seems funny that entire warehouses of materials could be stolen from Gibson. I'm guessing it was easier to sell off all of that stuff and make new at Nashville than move the old stuff.

 

Just because they say, "It's NOS left over from Kalamazoo" doesn't necessarily mean that it really is NOS left over from Kalamazoo. In my opinion, due to the sheer volume of 'left over Kalamazoo' parts being hawked, by various vendors, I seriously doubt, but cannot say for certain, but still, seriously doubt that this stuff is left over NOS from Kalamazoo. i.e. It's possible it is NNS, and therefore it is possible it is counterfeit.

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pippy

pippy

Posted
Posted
But if you bought a real 100% legit Gibson body' date=' used a bull dog neck, and then built from there, or took a legit Gibson NECK and bought a bulldog BODY, it would be a heavily upgraded Gibson Les Paul!...[/quote']

 

No; it wouldn't.

 

It could possibly be described a heavily upgraded Bulldog (whatever that is) but it would certainly not be a heavily upgraded Les Paul.

 

Even if you were to get a 'spare' Gibson Les Paul neck (from a broken guitar, say); a Gibson Les Paul body from a similar source; all the genuine Gibson hardware necessary to complete an instrument and build it yourself it would still be illegal to call it a Gibson.

 

To be described as a Gibson Les Paul it would have to have been built by Gibson. Anything else is not a Gibson and were it to be described otherwise it would be fraud.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Andre S

Andre S

Posted
Posted

Instead of creating a new thread, I'll revive this one.

 

I have another situation:

 

There is a Gibson Skylark a Custom One-off made for Joe Bonamassa that was never followed up on for production.

 

Say someone built one with the same Les Paul body shape and the Gibson Headstock, but was not labelled as a Gibson, or labelled made in the US but labelled as being made in the actual country of origin, would that be legal to own if it was made by the owner?

 

The building section of another forum really has me wondering.

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