BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I was browsing through the Epiphone Les Pauls and I found this. It is convincing fake It had me till i saw the headstock. Look at that binding it is way to thick and the inlays on the head are all wrong. poor buyers. http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-EPIPHONE-LES-PAUL-LIMITED-ED-CUSTOM-SHOP-GUITAR_W0QQitemZ170298458341QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item170298458341&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A4%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluelake07 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I don't see any headstock difference between the one on Ebay and this one: http://erikguitars.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=112 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I don't see any headstock difference between the one on Ebay and this one: http://erikguitars.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=112 If you look carefully' date=' you'll notice the position [i']and[/i] shape of the "diamond" inlay are wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I don't see any headstock difference between the one on Ebay and this one: http://erikguitars.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=112 Yeah they are way off. the one on ebay is an obvious fake. the one that you have a link to is the real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Did you report it to eBay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KYSohn Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 The positions of volume/tone pots on the one on Ebay seem to be totally off. Looks very much like a fake, I say... But there are 14 bids??? Wow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Did you report it to eBay? I did not think of that I guess I should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I reported it I guess we will see what happens. I don't think they will really do anything but we will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluelake07 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I wonder if it is a production variation, not a fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 I wonder if it is a production variation' date=' not a fake. [/quote'] Nah I know this for a fact I used to have a Fake Gibson Les Paul so I know from experience. Now when I bought the fake Gibson I knew it was a fake so I did not get ripped off but this guy is trying to sell a fake as the real deal. However, the fakes are in many cases very nice and are really close to the real deal. but the binding on this headstock is way to think. GIbson ans Epiphone never use binding that is 1/2 the thickness of the headstock. if you look at the side of the headstock of the real deal it is no more than 1/4 of the headstock. Every fake i have seen is 1/2 the thickness of the headstock. you would think they would fake that part better. I just feel bad for the guy or gal who gets ripped off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Wait for the auction to end, then send the winning bidder a message about the guitar being a fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Lister Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Fake? Maybe. But not obvious. headstock: custom diamond inlay appears 1- 1.5 mm too long -- but these vary anyway from the factory binding: thick, but not excessive -- custom bindings are thick anyway, thicker than standards knob placement: a tad funky -- hey it's from China (EE 2008) and funky does not equal fake hardshell case: definitely not EPI -- peculiar for a custom but the seller does not say the case is EPI Ebay seller is a pawnshop ("AAA Pawn") with a lot of + feedback. Not likely to sell a known fake. You'd have to hold it in hand to be sure, but from the photos it looks more like a Friday afternoon special than a fake. Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Fake? Maybe. But not obvious. headstock: custom diamond inlay appears 1- 1.5 mm too long -- but these vary anyway from the factory binding: thick' date=' but not excessive -- custom bindings are thick anyway, thicker than standards knob placement: a tad funky -- hey it's from China (EE 2008) and funky does not equal fake hardshell case: definitely not EPI -- peculiar for a custom but the seller does not say the case is EPI Ebay seller is a pawnshop ("AAA Pawn") with a lot of + feedback. Not likely to sell a known fake. You'd have to hold it in hand to be sure, but from the photos it looks more like a [b']Friday afternoon special [/b]than a fake. Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-" Good points but I will have to stick to my guns on this one. I do agree that the seller might not know it is a fake. I guess we will have to wait for the buyer to log on to this site and post better pics of it when they are asking if it is a fake. I give it about two weeks will we see that guitar again. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlagJones Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 There are too many irregularities IMO. Headstock inlay, tuner alignment, tone and volume pot alignment for me to think it is a real Epiphone. The Pawn shop may not know a real from a fake. They are just passing on items that people didn't come back to get out of hock. I personally would err on the side of caution and question the seller thoroughly before bidding on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLesPaul2006 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 There are too many irregularities IMO. Headstock inlay' date=' tuner alignment, tone and volume pot alignment for me to think it is a real Epiphone. The Pawn shop may not know a real from a fake. They are just passing on items that people didn't come back to get out of hock. I personally would err on the side of caution and question the seller thoroughly before bidding on this one.[/quote'] Oh im not bidding on this. I own a real Epi LP. But someone is going to get bitten by this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyushPresley Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I guess its fake looking at the diamond inlays and the knobs alignment..but other things seem right though...a really good fake.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlagJones Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Not that good for the simple fact that a majority of people on this thread are questioning it. A real good fake would go almost undetectable. However if it really is an Epiphone, as discussed in other threads, they need to seriously look at their quality control or maybe the marketplace really doesn't care. I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarguy2 Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I have one of these purchased from an authorized Epi dealer. The diamond inlays are not the real problem, it's the TRC. On a genuine custom it ends below the bottom of the tuners not at their center. Knobs are way off too. Finish looks good though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yew Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Its best when sombebody posts a "Gibson SG " on ebay, and try their best to conceil thats it an epi or a bladwin =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingfrets Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 There are too many irregularities IMO. Headstock inlay' date=' tuner alignment, tone and volume pot alignment for me to think it is a real Epiphone. The Pawn shop may not know a real from a fake. They are just passing on items that people didn't come back to get out of hock. I personally would err on the side of caution and question the seller thoroughly before bidding on this one.[/quote'] On the issue of irregularities, can't you say that about most of the Chinese Epis now? With respect to the seller possibly not realizing this may be a "fake", GC should certainly know the difference and this example looks EXACTLY like 2 that are hanging on our local GC wall...right down to the sloppy diamond inlay and the overly thick binding. There was a time (ie: Korean built) when Epiphone wouldn't have let crap like this slide by QC, but with the new business model in place and QC down the crapper, it's getting more and more difficult to tell the real ones from the fakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlagJones Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 As I said, if it is a real Epiphone, the Epiphone/Gibson needs to take a serious look in the mirror and decide whether they want to continue to let their name ,which used to stand for a certain level of quality, to go in the dumper and lose market share to the likes of Agile and others. I haven't seen a real Epiphone that bad but if that's how they are sending them out these days, I am not sure how long the brand will last. I think most guitar players have high standards when it comes to their instrument and won't stand for this kind of QC for long. IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingfrets Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Well, let's see...it took Fender and Gibson (after their respective buyouts buy CBS & Norlin) roughly 20 years to get the message that the consumer wasn't enamored enough of their corporate crap to keep buying it before they actually started to regain some of their stature. I personally took a lot of $hit for "selling out" and playing Ibanez clones through most of this period, but they were better guitars for the money. What really slays me is that now, a lot of those 70's and 80's Gibson & Fender Pos's are going for serious vintage money. Did they miraculously get better with age? I only know I've bought the last Epi I intend to buy...unless I find an older Korean made one that I just can't live without. The new stuff is just that...stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Are the fakes plywood? If that LP is genuine then how else are we going to tell the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic24 Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Agree, currently Epi doesn't do much for me anymore, especially when you look at an Agile, etc and dollar value available. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Lister Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Are the fakes plywood? If that LP is genuine then how else are we going to tell the difference? Epi "fakes" aren't fake in the true sense of the word. Most if not all of them are made side-by-side with authorized originals' date=' right there in the Epi factory -- but they leave by the back door after midnight, in various stages of readiness. Nobody is going to go to all the trouble it takes to make a guitar to make a low-cost brand. Why would they? When it's no more difficult to inlay Gibson in the headstock and charge 3-4 times the price? It's a no-brainer. Looked at even another way, what better Q/C cover could Epi want? When Q/C is such that 1/2 of it's own forum members cannot identify if any given example is real (b/c we see so many variations in quality of the "real Epi") the maker benefits if most of you keep thinking, "that one cannot be real it's to irregular or shoddy." After a 2nd look today, I'm even more convinced that the one in question is 100% Epi -- not a good one, but an authorized one. Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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