Les Paul Studio

[Phalaris]

Hello again.

 

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was purchasing a Gibson Les Paul Studio, and currently it's on layaway. It is a used guitar, and I only have a little left on it before I can pick it up, but I'm still able to walk away and get my money back, should thing not be right. I initially asked for help in what should I be looking for to validate it as real or fake. You all gave me some great things to look for, but some have asked for pictures. I went back to the shop and they allowed me a little leeway. I was able to take some pictures, and they allowed the removal of the Truss Rod Cover. I wasn't allowed to remove the back panels. I spoke the manager of the shop, and he understood my concern about it being real or fake. He said that they double check the serials numbers with Gibson, and that's how he verified it. But, here are the pictures I was able to take. I'm sorry for the quality, I don't have a digital camera, but had to use a cell phone camera. You will notice that in the picture, that the Studio has dot inlays. I did some searching, and found, on these very forums, that Gibson made Studios with dot inlays in the late 90's and early 00's. If for some reason that leads you to believe that this is a fake, could you give me the reason.

 

Sorry for the glare off the gold hardware.

 

There are no slots on the top of the bridge pegs, and it does have the thumb wheels.

 

Front of Headstock. The center of the "open book" cut seems to be well defined. It also has the hex nut for the truss rod adjustment.

 

Read of Headstock. It's hard to see but it does show the Serial number 90969425 and also has the made in usa. Both are engraved in the headstock. The tuners are Grovers

 

View of Neck sith the Dot inlays.

[BigKahune]

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That's one thing about Gibson - inconsistency. Originally in the 80s the Studio had dots. Then after a couple of years or so Gibson switched to trapezoids. After that, intermittently, dots show up now and then - looking at the fleaBay listings, as recently as 2010. According the the serial#, that guitar was built in 1999. Looking at your pics, the control placement, screw heads, bridge, stop, headstock - it looks like a genuine Gibson to me. If the dots still concern you, email Gibson at service@gibson.com with the serial and pics (2mb limit) and ask if they can verify the guitar's authenticity - this would be double checking what your shop said it has already done.

 

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[Phalaris]

I actually wasn't concerned about the guitar having dot inlays. Would I have preferred it to have trapezoid inlays? Of course. The fact that I found posts on the forums here saying Gibson continued to make Studios with dot inlays eased my mind about it. I was more concerned with knowing if she was real or fake. I do feel a lot better knowing that she looks genuine. Perhaps it was just my paranoia about spending this kind of money, and finding out that I was taken.