Epiphone Les Paul Serial Number

[3pc]

I have an Epiphone Les Paul purchased new on 5/5/1990 at Moeller Music in Middletown, Ohio.

I cannot find a serial number anywhere on the guitar. As far as I know the number is supposed to be either stamped or printed on the back of the headstock. This guitar has never had either on the back of the headstock since new.

I have a serial number that was written on the original purchase receipt: 9111868

According to www.guitardaterproject.org it was made in Korea in 1989 (I assume at Sammick).

I am concerned whether this is an authentic Epiphone Les Paul or possibly a counterfeit.

The guitar is completely original bought new off the showroom. All I have done is remove the pick-guard and added soft rubber speed knobs on the volume controls. The original volume knobs kept falling off the first time I played a gig with it.

Does anyone know where the serial number should be located on this guitar?

 

I have clear pictures of the guitar if anyone is interested. This is my first post at this forum and its not real clear how to upload a picture with this message.

 

Thanks,

3pc

[3pc]

Hi 3pc

 

and welcome here.

 

helpline for posting pics....

 

http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=8886

 

I guess they don't fake back in the beginning 90s

 

Peter

 

Thanks Peter,

 

I just located the forum info about uploading pics right after I posted. I will upload my photos to imageshack and post a few here. In the meantime, I loaded a small pic of the guitar as my avatar.

 

What do you mean they don't fake back in the beginning 90's?

 

3pc

[3pc]

Here are some pics of the Les Paul without a serial number:

 

 

 

 

[Fantana]

Well it looks genuine to me, it has the rare older style headstock and an amazing maple flame and paint job.

 

I might be wrong but wasn't the serial number printed on a sticker on the back of the headstock on these ones?

[3pc]

Thanks Fantana,

 

You may have a point there about the sticker. I seem to recall some kind of sticker on the back of the headstock but it seems like it said Made in Korea. I vaguely remember removing a sticker to put a good polish on it. Don't care for stickers on guitars. I don't recall it having a serial number sticker but you could be right. It's been 20 years so I can't recall all that clearly. If it had a serial number sticker, that's a pretty cheesy way of marking it. I wasn't sure if maybe it was under the neck joint or inside a pickup cavity or something like that where you have to disassemble things to find it. Kind of like a Martin has the serial number stamped into the neck block inside the sound box and sometimes you need a mirror to see it.

[Vic Flick]

I have an Epiphone Les Paul purchased new on 5/5/1990 at Moeller Music in Middletown' date=' Ohio.

I cannot find a serial number anywhere on the guitar. As far as I know the number is supposed to be either stamped or printed on the back of the headstock. This guitar has never had either on the back of the headstock since new.

I have a serial number that was written on the original purchase receipt: 9111868

According to www.guitardaterproject.org it was made in Korea in 1989 (I assume at Sammick).

I am concerned whether this is an authentic Epiphone Les Paul or possibly a counterfeit.

The guitar is completely original bought new off the showroom. All I have done is remove the pick-guard and added soft rubber speed knobs on the volume controls. The original volume knobs kept falling off the first time I played a gig with it.

Does anyone know where the serial number should be located on this guitar?

 

I have clear pictures of the guitar if anyone is interested. This is my first post at this forum and its not real clear how to upload a picture with this message.

 

Thanks,

3pc

[/quote']

 

You bought a guitar from a legitimate dealer 20 years ago, what make's you doubt it's authenticity??? Fantana is correct, the serial #s were on little stickers, most of which are long gone by now. The dealer must have had it since he noted it on your receipt, perhaps he removed it and attached it to his original paperwork.

 

Counterfeit Epiphones from China originated much later. Epiphone was a dying company in the early '80s, and were just beginning their resurgence with the new ownership and the move to Korea. There was no reason to counterfeit them back then. Ironically, the opportunity to counterfeit Epis later on as they became a desirable low cost alternative to Gibson came about because Epiphone had no distributor in Korea despite the fact they were made there. In 2004, Korean police raided the Nakwon Arcade in Seoul and confiscated numerous counterfeits. (Read this article). So don't worry, not only is it legit but those early Samick Pauls are terrific guitars.

[3pc]

Thanks again for everyone's help. I believe you guys solved the serial number mystery for me.

 

I bought this a long time ago when I was gigging 3-4 nights a week. I didn't want to put down a grand or more for a Gibson LP to get it all dinged up or stolen in bars and night clubs so I got this thing. I used to play the first couple sets with a Fender Strat and then switch to the LP for the remainder of the night and this puppy would rock. Kind of like letting your dog off the leash once you get down the trail a ways.

 

Only problems I had were the volume knobs spinning off and the pickup selector switch plastic tab just broke off while playing. I figured they just used cheap pots and switches. Does anyone happen to know what kind of pickups came stock in these models? I figured those were probably cheap too. I've always wanted to replace the pickups and put standard Gibson LP volume and tone pots in it. The volume knobs seem to just roll off to nothing when you just back it off farther than a notch or so. I still play it at gigs now one night a week. Never changed a thing on it except strings. Its been a reliable guitar for many years now.

 

Thanks,

3pc