Fake Epiphone Information

[EpiphoneFan]

I'm Gibson Korea Official Master.

I have had some fake epiphone information.

so, i'll offer some information.

 

[Bender 4 Life]

Thank you for your input !

[Guest]

Thanks for confirming what I always knew: that fake Epi makers do stamp "Epiphone" on the pickups.

[RobinTheHood]

3. Laminated Body.

This is not necessarily true.

The G-1275 double necks have laminated bodies (as well as the older Korean Epiphone strats and other low end models not worth mentioning).

 

6. Real Epiphones made in Korea have 8 digit serial numbers.

Not in the 80's.

They had 6 or 7 digits with no OEM initial at the beginning.

[EpiphoneFan]

3. Laminated Body.

This is not necessarily true.

The G-1275 double necks have laminated bodies (as well as the older Korean Epiphone strats and other low end models not worth mentioning).

 

6. Real Epiphones made in Korea have 8 digit serial numbers.

Not in the 80's.

They had 6 or 7 digits with no OEM initial at the beginning.

 

 

 

- Epiphone's Lam. is different method.(no space in the body)

- 7 digit use until the late 90'(about 97 : S initial), but use 8 disit because Serial Y2K problem.

[RobinTheHood]

- Epiphone's Lam. is different method.(no space in the body).

 

I'm not sure what you mean. Perhaps you could explain the differences. I'm not so sure that an inexperienced person such as myself would discern between the two without knowing the difference in method and results.

 

 

- 7 digit use until the late 90'(about 97 : S initial)' date=' but use 8 disit because Serial Y2K problem.[/quote']

 

Actually, it started in the early 90's, like 1990 or 1991. I have a 91, 92 and 94 with 8 digit serials and the Samick "S" OEM initial. I'm thinking that maybe the models produced for the Korean market were serialed a little different for awhile?

[EpiphoneFan]

I'm not sure what you mean. Perhaps you could explain the differences. I'm not so sure that an inexperienced person such as myself would discern between the two without knowing the difference in method and results.

 

 

Actually' date=' it started in the early 90's, like 1990 or 1991. I have a 91, 92 and 94 with 8 digit serials and the Samick "S" OEM initial. I'm thinking that maybe the models produced for the Korean market were serialed a little different for awhile?

[/quote']

 

it's not different any place.

my information is something to purchase now as a general rule.

it's not informations for exceptional old model.

 

 

ps.

laminated body epiphone(except hollow body) this is spec of 2005

-Fat-210

-Special-II "Hot Rod"

-SG-SPECIAL

-LES PAUL SPECIAL-II

[RobinTheHood]

Ah. I see now. I didnt notice the differences in the first post. Thanks...and wow! That lam job is terrible. Thanks for the heads-up on that. I had no idea...

 

my information is something to purchase now as a general rule.

it's not informations for exceptional old model.

 

Well, why didnt you say so? I'd have kept my fool mouth shut.

[jcwillow777]

Thanks, good info for all to have at their fingertips. Should make this a sticky.

[MrBlimp]

I posted on this subject in another thread - "How to really spot a counterfeit Epiphone" where I discussed how I believe that my EP/LP is probably a China fake.

 

Someone in that thread mentioned that on the Sweetwater's guitar gallery you can see examples of what the Serial Number should look like. I looked up the Epiphone Standard to check the serial number where I found that the serial number on the site showed the following format: 0906230698 (with tight justification) and my guitar looks like this: E E 0 5 1 0 6 3 1 7 (with wide justification). [For those not in the know: justification = space between characters]

 

Someone responded to my post with the following:

 

Epiphone changed their serial # pattern in 2008. Yours is just the older format' date=' EE indicates the Epiphone factory in QingDao (China). It was made in October 2005 (05 is the year, 10 is the month, 6317 the production #). You can remove the Rub-a-dub marker and proudly display the Epiphone logo on your case.

[/quote']

 

Someone else stated:

 

+1.

 

Which I didn't understand.

 

My headstock has a Les Paul sig in the place where

talks about: #2 - The opposite direction : Custom split diamond inlay.

 

The guitar still had the plastic protective skin on the pickguard and lots of inspection stickers on the back of the headstock' date=' like: Setup in the US, hand-crafted in china, etc.

 

- - -

 

. . .and hardshell Epiphone logo case.

 

- - -

 

The guitar looks as real as can be down to every detail.

[/quote']

 

So what does that mean - my guitar is, or is not a CHINA FAKE?

[Vic Flick]

I posted on this subject in another thread - "How to really spot a counterfeit Epiphone" where I discussed how I believe that my EP/LP is probably a China fake.

 

Someone in that thread mentioned that on the Sweetwater's guitar gallery you can see examples of what the Serial Number should look like. I looked up the Epiphone Standard to check the serial number where I found that the serial number on the site showed the following format: 0906230698 (with tight justification) and my guitar looks like this: E E 0 5 1 0 6 3 1 7 (with wide justification). [For those not in the know: justification = space between characters]

 

Someone responded to my post with the following:

 

Epiphone changed their serial # pattern in 2008. Yours is just the older format' date=' EE indicates the Epiphone factory in QingDao (China). It was made in October 2005 (05 is the year' date=' 10 is the month, 6317 the production #). You can remove the Rub-a-dub marker and proudly display the Epiphone logo on your case.[/quote'']

 

Someone else stated:

 

+1.

 

 

 

Which I didn't understand.

 

My headstock has a Les Paul sig in the place where talks about: #2 - The opposite direction : Custom split diamond inlay.

 

 

 

So what does that mean - my guitar is' date=' or is not a CHINA FAKE?

 

[/quote']

 

MrBlimp, Les Paul Customs have the diamond inlay, Standards have signatures. I hate to disappoint you, but so far nothing you've said indicates yours is a fake.

 

+1 is a way of expressing agreement.

[MrBlimp]

Jerrymac,

 

Thanks for the responses. [i sorta figured out what the +1 meant and edited my original post. I also sorta felt dumb once I had figured it out. I guess I should have thought about it a little longer before posting.]

 

I just looked up my Serial Number on http://www.guitardaterproject.org/epiphone.aspx and found:

 

Guitar Info

Your guitar was made at the

Qingdao Plant (Epiphone), China

October 2005

Production Number: 6317

 

Gibson: Qingdao The Gibson Qingdao Plant was opened in October 2002, Qingdao, China. It is the only plant run by Epiphone in Asia. Both acoustic and electric guitars are made here. The factory is dedicated to making Epiphone and only Epiphone guitars with the aim of producing higher quality guitars.

 

So, ok, my guitar is not a FAKE, that is unless someone is knocking-off copies of real guitars so that there are now more than one Epiphone LP with that serial number on it out there. I realize that this sounds like I just want to own a FAKE, but I have even seen a few others, like 1 or 2 listed in the same dollar figure as mine that also

. . . still had the plastic protective skin on the pickguard and lots of inspection stickers on the back of the headstock . . .

 

As for

I hate to disappoint you' date=' . . . [/quote'] No, you have not.

 

But, that still leaves me wondering how someone could sell an axe that retailed for close to $1000.00 (at least here in NY with a case), for under $250.00. Especially when I have seen others listing on Craig's List for more like $500.00.

 

I guess it is just me. I'm 55 years old, and been trying to play since I was 15 - I can't count the number of times that I have been off-and-on again or the number of years between those off-and-on times (now playing dedicatedly for over 6 months and have finally accomplished that 15 year-old’s dream), but, I never sold a guitar/instrument (approx 20+ if I count the mandolins, fiddles, and instruments in various states of repair/disrepair – just this year I put back together an old Harmony hollowbody electric that I bought from a flood sale which had cracked open in like 10 places and had been in parts since I disassembled it about 10 years ago – I painted it school bus chrome yellow and play it almost daily), and I still own that very first instrument - that one that I attempted to start to learn with: a Paramount tenor banjo that had been my dad's, and which he had purchased in a pawn shop when he attempted to learn how to play an instrument shortly around the time that I was born. Now if I could only play it.

[pohatu771]

 

So' date=' ok, my guitar is not a FAKE, that is unless someone is knocking-off copies of real guitars so that there are now more than one Epiphone LP with that serial number on it out there

[/quote']

In many cases, the serial numbers on the fake guitars could very well be authentic serial numbers - they just may not belong to the instrument they're on. Epiphone doesn't have a record of what guitar belongs with which serial the way Gibson does.

 

Gibson should (though not always) be able to tell you what year, what model, and what finish a guitar is based on the serial number... Epiphone can tell you what year and what factory... usually.

[MrBlimp]

In many cases' date=' the serial numbers on the fake guitars could very well be authentic serial numbers - they just may not belong to the instrument they're on. Epiphone doesn't have a record of what guitar belongs with which serial the way Gibson does.

 

Gibson should (though not always) be able to tell you what year, what model, and what finish a guitar is based on the serial number... Epiphone can tell you what year and what factory... usually.[/quote']

 

So that means there could be like dozens, even hundreds of Epiphone LPs out there with the Serial Number: E E 0 5 1 0 6 3 1 7

 

Someone should start a thread on this so that owners can log in their serial numbers to see if there is this sort of multiplication out there. Maybe I will, but I am not sure that there are that many others out there like me who would want to admit or accept that they own a FAKE.

[MrBlimp]

If you post this information' date=' the fakers will see and read it - and learn from it, too:-k

Peter[/quote']

Yeah Peter, that is true, but they can also just walk into any guitar store and look at the number on the floor models.

 

This is interesting stuff..........

 

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/beware-web-sites-722/

 

Peter

I checked that Gibson Lifestyle site from which I quote:

 

Olsen warns that there are some easy ways to detect an incorrect reading from the site.

 

“If you come across' date=' say, a ‘brand new’ Gibson or Epiphone guitar, but the serial number tells you it’s anything older than one year ago, question it,” he says. “If you’re looking at a piece that is older than one year old and it’s being sold as ‘new,’ that’s a red flag because a lot of these fakes are coming with serial numbers that actually roll to a manufacturer date of up to five years ago or longer .” [/i']

So that leads me back to my earlier posts and my gut feeling after the purchase that my '05 serial numbered guitar was too old to be so new without being a FAKE.

 

But, like I said in one of these threads: if they are all made in the same thrid world factory, which I believe they are, then, since I wasn't going to buy new anyway, and I wasn't spending all that doe on a Gibson either, it doesn't really matter to me at all.

 

I'm enjoying my guitar no matter what anyone says.

 

Years from now my already 4 year old brand new used guitar will just look like a 15 year old guitar.

 

In the meantime I am going to follow-up on what was in that article:

Olsen, . . . “There are many entities that claim to be experts on the serial numbers of Gibson and Epiphone guitars, but the only advisable validation method is to contact our Gibson Customer Service department. Send it to us. It is that easy. and send them my Serial Number for validation. I'll report back here if I get a response, regardless of what they tell me (Fake/Not Fake).

[bluesman345]

I would say that the best way not to get ripped off is to buy your new or used guitar from an Authorized Epiphone/Gibson dealer. If the dealer is not Authorized, at least get a store warranty on your purchase.

[MrBlimp]

OK, so here’s my follow-up to:

In the meantime I am going to follow-up on what was in that article:

Olsen' date=' . . . “There are many entities that claim to be experts on the serial numbers of Gibson and Epiphone guitars, but the only advisable validation method is to contact our Gibson Customer Service department. Send it to us. It is that easy.[/i'] and send them my Serial Number for validation. I'll report back here if I get a response, regardless of what they tell me (Fake/Not Fake).

 

I sent the following email:

-----Original Message-----

From: NAME WITHHELD TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT

Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2009 10:49 PM

To: Customer Service

Subject: Looking for validation on my Epiphone

Dear Gibson Service Representative,

 

I just read the "Beware Web Sites That Incorrectly Identify Fakes as Real Gibson & Epiphone Guitars" article on the Lifestyles section of the Gibson site in which Ric Olsen, the Gibson Manager of Brand Protection stated that "“There are many entities that claim to be experts on the serial numbers of Gibson and Epiphone guitars, but the only advisable validation method is to contact our Gibson Customer Service department. Send it to us. It is that easy."

 

So here I am. I purchased a used Epiphone Les Paul Standard within the past year from a private seller here on Long Island, NY.

 

The Serial Number is: E E 0 5 1 0 6 3 1 7

 

Everything looks legitimate. All the inlays, logos, labels, etc . .

 

So like Olsen says: Send it to us. It is that easy. I just did.

 

 

And received the following response:

-----Original Message-----

From: "Customer Service" [Customer.Relations@gibson.com]

Date: 12/15/2009 01:34 AM

To: NAME WITHHELD TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT

Subject: RE: Looking for validation on my Epiphone

Hi,

Thanks for the email. The serial number is consistent with an Epiphone Les Paul Standard in Ebony finish, made in China in October of 2005. Thanks again!!

Gibson Customer Service

1-800-4GIBSON

service@gibson.com

 

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*******************

So my “serial number is consistent with an Epiphone Les Paul Standard in Ebony finish”, which is exactly what I have. Still doesn’t certify the guitar’s authenticity, but it seems as close as I’d ever get, that is unless there was some warrantee under someone else’s name and that other person still has the instrument in their possession.

 

*******************

 

I took pictures – I’m trying to follow the upload directions right now.

[EpiphoneFan]

Serial's important part to distinguish fake epiphone.

but it's not all about distinction.

 

fake epiphone can use same serial system too.

so, check all hardware.

 

- pickup's bottom epiphone intaglio

- selector epiphone intaglio

- jackpot epiphone intaglio

- bridge epiphone intaglio(the latest model)

 

ex.

[peeper]

You need to judge a fake by more than its parts. I could out Epi parts on any guitar, don't make it a genuine Epiphone.

[EpiphoneFan]

You need to judge a fake by more than its parts. I could out Epi parts on any guitar' date=' don't make it a genuine Epiphone.[/quote']

 

Yes, it has many various things to distinguish fake.

but, at the least, we can know these difference for fake and real.

 

i clamped down fake seller in korea.

most of fake had wrong serial, wrong pickup intaglio.

 

do you have any information?

i have about 1,000 pics of fake epiphone.

if you have any info, share with us.

[MrBlimp]

so' date=' check all hardware.

- pickup's bottom epiphone intaglio

- selector epiphone intaglio

- jackpot epiphone intaglio

- bridge epiphone intaglio(the latest model)

ex.

[/quote']

 

That means disassembling the electronics – if I ever upgrade them I’ll make sure to check the intaglio and post what I find here. Maybe the next time I change the strings I’ll see about looking at the pickups.

 

You need to judge a fake by more than its parts. I could out Epi parts on any guitar' date=' don't make it a genuine Epiphone.[/quote']

Yup, just like they can FAKE a legitimate serial number.

 

Which brings this discussion back to if the same earlier question: If a factory manufacturers the supposedly FAKE guitar/parts, and retails it direct (not thru the Gibson contract), is the instrument actually a FAKE?

[supernaut1281734212]

I just bought a used epiphone dot. according the seller it's korean made. this is the serial number on the sticker inside the body : 03101500594

 

Can you confirm if this is authentic?

 

Thanks in advance guys!

[supernaut1281734212]

Hi' date=' and welcome here,

 

there's something wrong with the serial#

 

"older" guitars from Korea should have one or two letters infront of the number

 

more information here:

http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=8067

 

Peter[/quote']

 

If i'll base my new Dot's serial number to the link you gave then my dot is authentic

 

 

YYMMFFRRRRR -- new model codes, no letter prefix

Beginning 2008-09 models are appearing w/o a letter prefix to i.d. the factory. Based on what is reported so far, it appears that the serial code may be:

YY = first two digits = year of manufacture

MM = second two digits = month of manufature

FF = third two digits = factory i.d. where made -- the factory code #s identified so far are shown in red print below

RRRRR = remaining digits = ranking number

-- example 08121520333 was made in December 2008, factory 15, 2 unknown significance, 0333 unit produced

[NOTE - pre 1993-94 productions also frequently omitted factory letter codes and appeared as all numbers e.g. 023849354 -- these are Asian made (Korea, Japan, Indonesia) but again the exact factory origin is not usually available from guitardater project or other sources.]

[Rickey wilcox]

Do all Epiphone guitars have serial #s

[RobinTheHood]

On 8/4/2019 at 8:05 PM, Rickey wilcox said:

Do all Epiphone guitars have serial #s

Yes, but during the 1980s and early 1990s they were on a sticker on the back of the headstock and would either wear off or get taken off. And of course, the acoustics and hollow bodies have serials on a sticker inside of the sound hole which can also be removed.