Thundergod Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 I'm posting this in the Robot section too, but there's not much people in there daily, so I'll post in the Les Paul section too, it is after all, a Les Paul supreme. The guy says it's the Robot prototipe and wants 15K for it... is it real? Description is strange... says it's a Gibsn custom, then it's a supreme... could it be a fake with a tronikal set bought before Gibson started making the robot? Or is the the real deal? Only one pic provided (edit I was seeing it on the iphone and only 1 picture showed, on the computer it shows lots of pics)and the guy says he's got the ultimate proof of the guitars legitimacy: a picture of the guitar with a Gibson worker in the Gibson factory ('cause, you know, everyone has pictures of the entire Gibson roster to compare <_< ) Anyway... here's the link http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Supreme-2004-Robot-guitar-/180612525272?pt=Guitar&hash=item2a0d586cd8#ht_1926wt_205
LPguitarman Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Looks pretty real to me, but I'm not an expert. His story is a little strange. Someone volunteering his guitar for a prototype. I guess I would question why Gibson needed someone's guitar for a prototype. Why wouldn't they just pull one off the line and use that? Definitely would not pay $15,000 for it though.
Big Bill Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Looks real to me too, but is the story real? :unsure:
BigKahune Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Most likely a real Gibson Supreme. But . . . . I don't buy a protype Robot. More like someone (maybe Gibson, maybe some guy) took a LP Supreme and installed the Tronical parts. Pretty obvious that the chrome Tronical parts don't match the gold bridge and stop posts. No way on $15K.
pippy Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Like the others who have expressed an opinion I'm pretty certain the guitar's a legitimate Supreme. Everything checks out; curious mix of gold and chrome hardware; gold-coloured frets; arched back; inlay seems to say 'Supreme' rather than 'Suprome'. Even the jack-socket looks long enough... Whether it's a 'Supreme Robot' prototype is another matter. It certainly could be. Oddly enough I'm inclined to think it is. I'm no expert on the Robot series by about a million miles but I don't know of any examples of the Supreme being released as Robots. Perhaps this really was a prototype and, having crafted the guitar, Gibson decided not to go ahead with the project? Obviously Gibson must make full-scale properly finished working 'mules' of any proposed future product and the Supreme would be a reasonable starting point. I certainly would give it more credence than most Gibsons I've seen listed on ebay. As always, I'm afraid, Caveat Emptor... P.
Tim Plains Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Who cares if it's a prototype? Robots have been plagued with technical issues. Why would anyone want the first one made before Gibson sorted out most of the bugs? The last gen of LP Robots didn't sell very well and were basically liquidated at $1,000 new. Nobody in their right mind would pay this guy's asking price.
pippy Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Who cares if it's a prototype? Robots have been plagued with technical issues. Why would anyone want the first one made before Gibson sorted out most of the bugs? The last gen of LP Robots didn't sell very well and were basically liquidated at $1,000 new. Nobody in their right mind would pay this guy's asking price. R9! If I can just to play the part of 'Devil's Advocate' for a moment... Whilst I'm in complete agreement with you with regard the technical problems (which have been un-resolved for practically every generation of Robot guitars) I can't help feeling that if the guitar is indeed genuine it could be an interesting acquisition. A genuine 'proposed' Gibson Les Paul range that didn't reach final production? Curiosity value alone would make it worth something. Certainly not (for the time being) $15K; but in the future? Especially if the Robot Technology becomes the way forward... And I quite like the finish too! P.
Tim Plains Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 Even still, I generally don't see Supremes as being very desirable or collectable to the masses. A lot of people don't want Supremes because they are too flashy and don't want Robots because they don't trust the technology or just don't like the idea. So, here this guitar combines those two things/features that most people don't want. Because of that, I don't think it'll never be worth anything. Maybe just $500 - $1,000 more than a regular Supreme. There is likely a very good reason this guitar never made it to production. My guess is it was either not reliable or Gibson realized there was no market for such a guitar and that's why they eventually went with the Studio Robot.
pippy Posted January 20, 2011 Posted January 20, 2011 ...There is likely a very good reason this guitar never made it to production. My guess is it was either not reliable or Gibson realized there was no market for such a guitar and that's why they eventually went with the Studio Robot... Well; as I said - I was playing Devil's Advocate... I agree with everything you say here. I've no doubt the lack of a prospective market would be the reason there was never a Robot Supreme. (Prettier than the Dusk Tiger, though! LOL!) P.
badbluesplayer Posted January 20, 2011 Posted January 20, 2011 Sounds like a real guitar with a fake story behind it. I looked at the guy's other items and it looks like he's not a guitar guy. He probably just doesn't realize how dumb his story sounds.
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