liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Hi, Just bought a Zakk Wylde model. I bought it from a local store, not an Ebay auction or some unknown dealer. To my surprise, after sending pictures to Gibson customer support, I was told it's a fake... The guitar was made in China, comapring to a korean one I saw in another store - there are defenitly finishing differences. The packaging, manuals all seems original. The problem as I see it is in the neck joint, zakk and Epiphone logo The contact person in china is sure it's not a fake. Could it be that the korean and china are constructed differently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I bought it from a local store' date=' not an Ebay auction or some unknown dealer. [/quote'] Local store? I know some local stores I will not shop at... Check if it's an official dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 Hi, Here are some pictures: http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6293/img2144b.jpg http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4025/img2175p.jpg http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1997/img2188p.jpg http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/8692/img2195l.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colchar Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Accorind to that serial number, it was made in China (same month and factory as my G-400). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 It's not the epiphone representative in my country but a well respected store and music teaching place. the things that caghut my eye is the difference between the neck joint of my epiphone and the one here (I think a korean one): http://www.epiphone.com/ZakkUPCLOSE/rt6.html Plus, the ZW logo is missing the knobs which I saw on a korean one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 laundry man, just laundry :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Being an LP, shouldnt the neck be mahogany instead of maple? And it should be painted, not bare IIRC. Also, the Epiphone logo looks whack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 No' date=' the ZW has this kind of neck, IMO http://www.sweetwater.com/guitargallery/electric/all/s0807210434/ Peter[/quote'] Yeah, I just GIS'd for some and saw that too. My bad. The epiphone logo still looks very sloppy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 More pictures: http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1133/img2149ij.jpg http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8691/img2150qb.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twofeets Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Looks like the same neck joint to me, although the finish/seam on the Epi website example is more uniform and better disguised...unless I'm missing something? There are noticeable differences between MIK and MIC Casinos, for example the headstock joint and apparently even choice of neck wood species, so maybe a little variation is normal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 If you look close, you see that the depth of my neck is less than the epiphone picture shows... In my guitar it doesn't reach to the end but there's a gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 Hi, I'm from Israel, This morning we had a conference call with his china contact person and he should check the issue. they are sure it's the korea/china construction differences and that the guitar is authentic but I wait for her answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colchar Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Being an LP' date=' shouldnt the neck be mahogany instead of maple? And it should be painted, not bare IIRC. [/quote'] Look at the link to the EPi website. In those photos the neck is not painted either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colchar Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Go to the website below and check out their Epiphone Les Paul forum. Post your questions there and they'll be answered fairly quickly. http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I've always kept these around for some reason... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 25, 2010 Author Share Posted April 25, 2010 I tried another shot and this time I got: Thank you for sending the pictures. The instrument appears consistent with a 2009 Epiphone Zakk Wylde model What do you say... I even made contact with the china dealer that suggested me to email the Gibson china customer support... and that I wil do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touron Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 WOW!! I hope it turns out to be a legit model.... If not maby it will play one song well....."If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all"...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanH Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 I tried another shot and this time I got: Thank you for sending the pictures. The instrument appears consistent with a 2009 Epiphone Zakk Wylde model What do you say... I even made contact with the china dealer that suggested me to email the Gibson china customer support... and that I wil do... Do you mean you emailed Gibson/Epiphone a second time and got a different answer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarpBoy Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 Here are your pics.... for comparison http://www.thomann.de/de/prod_bdb_AR_157423.html?image=12&small=1 The serial' looks legit' date=' as said I think the ZW's are still made in Korea, that's what I'm wondering and like Ricochet said, it's an authorized dealer ? Peter[/quote'] What size is that nice underwire bra in the upper right corner of the second picture? Sorry, was there a question about a guitar? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 Currently in China the Gibson/Epi counterfeiting business is running at capacity, and almost totally unchecked. If there is ANY doubt, (as in, the 1st Gibson response) why don't you just tell the seller that you want your money back, and then order one from an authorized dealer? If the seller is resisting, that would be red-flag #2 to me........... Don't "soft buy" with them........get your money back, while you still can. ALWAYS buy from an authorized dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liyboviz Posted April 25, 2010 Author Share Posted April 25, 2010 China customer support approved its a genuine guitar... :-) I rest my case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 China customer support approved its a genuine guitar... :-) I rest my case... "China Customer support"? Sounds like a crock of **** to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharmash Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 Hi, My first post[biggrin] I had a similar experience. When I got my epi I took shots and sent it to Service.china@gibson.com and service@gibson.com. Some guy over at gibson told me its fake while china service said its legit. So, I emailed both...again. Now, I asked them why i got different replies. Service china said "its because we have updated database for chinese guitars than in US". So now Im fine. photos they require by the way are: - full body shots F&B (front and back) - headstock F&B - close up body - markings under tailpiece, bridge, etc. - wiring if possible cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Arcadius Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 Hi' date=' My first post[biggrin'] I had a similar experience. When I got my epi I took shots and sent it to Service.china@gibson.com and service@gibson.com. Some guy over at gibson told me its fake while china service said its legit. So, I emailed both...again. Now, I asked them why i got different replies. Service china said "its because we have updated database for chinese guitars than in US". So now Im fine. photos they require by the way are: - full body shots F&B (front and back) - headstock F&B - close up body - markings under tailpiece, bridge, etc. - wiring if possible cheers. Hi and welcome to the forum man, As far as I'm concerned I'm not happy with that reply. It's not that hard nowadays to have a database updated every single day, and if that's true then Gibson should simply reply that this serial number does not exist in their database, not to call it a fake! It just does not make sense to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharmash Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 thanks man, Well, somehow I agree with you. Funny thing is gibson didn't reply after china gibson did. When they told me its fake, they even asked me to provide seller info and they will forward it to their legal department. That's why i emailed them twice. Just after this, I looked over the manual and checked the parts in my LP like Tailpiece, bridge, input jack, toggle switch and found epiphone markings. Also found 500k alpha pots and wiring harness on the cavity and the pickups. All hardwares conforms with the standards so im pretty sure its legit. Also I found out guitarupdaterproject is crooked. My friend owns a copy LP long time ago and to my surprise, the serial is legit according to this. When I inspected the parts,there were no markings on all hardwares, no brand on pots, messy wirings, aside from the odd shape. So When in doubt, its best to send the photos I've stated above to gibson. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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