guitar slinger1281734097 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Ladies and Gentlemen, In the early 1990's I was on a family holiday to Florida with the family:- Disney etc. We had a lovely time but whilst there I visited a guitar shop in Kissimee which was offering for sale Telecaster and Stratocaster shaped guitars, single coil pick ups with a Gibson headstock. The name "Gibson" was on the headstock but the shape was unlike any other I have seen, certainly not recogniseable as Gibson but certainly not Fender either. They were "pointy" but I can't remember very clearly the exact shape of headstock. The retailer assured me they were a genuine Gibson instrument The guitars were made in the Far East and retailed for about $100 and I wish I had bought one as I have never seen one since. Kissimee has changed significantly since I was last there and I was unable to find the shop which probably has long since closed. However no retailer anywhere or internet search has demonstrated the existence of these instruments. Does anyone know anything about them? Has anyone owned or played one? My recollection was that they were at least the equivelant of a Squire strat or tele in terms of quality of construction and had the fender tone. I swear they existed.........can anyone corroborate that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 A $100 guitar made in the far east with a Gibson name tag? Don't waste your time regardless of the shape of the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Gibsons have only ever been made in America. And they've pretty much never been cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar slinger1281734097 Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 A $100 guitar made in the far east with a Gibson name tag? Don't waste your time regardless of the shape of the guitar. Since you put it like that! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Yeah cheap fakes. There are Gibson super strats though, mabye in the 80's and 90's but they werent made in the far east and went for more than $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar slinger1281734097 Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Yeah cheap fakes. There are Gibson super strats though, mabye in the 80's and 90's but they werent made in the far east and went for more than $100. I am unaware of this guitar. Do you have more information please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I am unaware of this guitar. Do you have more information please? One of the models is called U2, very sleak superstrat. Heres some guys blog on it: http://gibsonu2.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Oh and the gibson US-1, which was a superstrat with a flametop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Bah! I think i know what you saw, it could of been an Epiphone superstrat. Ive seen a few that said "Gibson" on the truss rod cover. Like this Ok, ill stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar slinger1281734097 Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 One of the models is called U2, very sleak superstrat. Heres some guys blog on it: http://gibsonu2.wordpress.com/ Gibson U2 looks like it. I remember the crazy headstock. It probably was more than $100, I remember being cheap compared to UK prices. However I am damned sure there was a Telecaster type equivelant on sale in the same shop. It was about 20 years ago.............please bear with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar slinger1281734097 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Like this? Erm.......exactly like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Yeah so it was a guitar made in the far east, excpet its not a gibson. Its an epiphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar slinger1281734097 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Yeah so it was a guitar made in the far east, excpet its not a gibson. Its an epiphone. Thanks. Thanks for everyone's help here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Tari Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 WOW Dem00n I learned something. I did'nt think they did anything that looked like a Fender since 65 with the KG-2A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 This is exactly why I couldn't get all worked up about the "Gibson builds new Hendrix Strat" story last year. Talk about making something out of nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Its possible that what you saw on the headstock said "Epiphone by Gibson". Between 1986 and 1989 that is what the logos had read. And to make things slightly more confusing, the very early models (at least on the strats) used three or four different font logo styles; one of which sported one of the older Gibson logos...not the version like you see at the top of the forum and is common on most Epi by Gibson guitars Also, I have never come across a Gibson Tele, so you most likely saw Epiphone by Gibson guitars. These strats and teles were something concocted shortly after the move to Korea from Japan. There were only two Teles; the standard model and custom (ash). But there was a pretty massive variety of strat-style models. Five different Series and multiple models of each, starting in 1986 and continuing through 2004. I have only seen a small handfull of Gibson strats - maybe two or three different models and they seem to much rarer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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