QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 Hello everyone Yesterday i was having a beer in this bar and i found, hanging on a wall, a very worn out guitar. I asked the guy in the bar i f i could see it. I looks like a very old and worn gibson les paul but, there are no electronics, no tune o matic no tail-piece (just one of the screws), major part of the binding had fallen off... basically it is just the wood. I really wanted to buy the guitar from the owner but, how do i know if it´s a real les paul? there is no serial number on the headstock or anywhere . here´s the description of the guitar: I checked the wood and it´s definetly mahogany body with a very thick plain maple top, it weights as much as a les paul classic i have even though the hardware and elecronics are missing, the pickup cavities are NOT painted black and the truss rod (very very rusted) looks exactly like the one on my real les paul. the nut is missing as well as the binding on the body one thing that cougt my atention was that, on the fretboard, the is no holes for the fret markers. It´s like it never had fret markers, there´s only room for the frets (wich are missing). he asked me 100 bucks for the guitar Can you guys help me to determinate if it´s a fake guitar or if it´s the real deal Thanks in advance!
Thundergod Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 No serial number on the back of the headstock? The headstock does have the gibson logo, right? if not, it could be anything
QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Author Posted November 30, 2008 well, axe i could not get pictures from the guitar but i was asking if there is a way to find if its indeed a gibson by the looks of some parts ill try to get some pics
QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Author Posted November 30, 2008 nope no gibson logo, it seems like someone sanded the all the paint from guitar ( i dont know what was he thinking!) i guess that how the serial number got erased too it does has the headstock shape and the neck feels like a 50´s profile
lucy-guitar Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 I'd give him ten but never ever 100 bucks - sounds like it could be any Japanese law suite Lester copy body...
QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Author Posted November 30, 2008 well ill try to get some pics to see if its possible to check that out
Dynadude Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 What does the owner claim it is? At this point it doesn't matter so much what it was, as what you plan to do with it. How much can you alter something and still claim it as genuine? Would you attempt to restore it, or just hang it on the wall at your house?
Thundergod Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 I'd give him ten but never ever 100 bucks - sounds like it could be any Japanese law suite Lester copy body... That is wxactly was I was getting to through my question... with no logo and nothing aside from shape to make one think it's a gibson you can't say it is a gibson, it might very well be one of those you can buy at 150 new.
QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Author Posted November 30, 2008 well my plan was to restore it and use it since it has no paint at all you can totally see the wood and it looks very solid the wood looks like the one on my gibson les paul classic and it looks very well carved it think its real cuz the truss rod on cheap guitar are usually hid in the neck and on gibsons it comes out of the neck-hole
Thundergod Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 it think its real cuz the truss rod on cheap guitar are usually hid in the neck and on gibsons it comes out of the neck-hole Of course, I forgot about that... that is the one thing that would led me to believe it is a gibson.
britabe Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 hmmm, could it possibly be a reject that gibson threw out the back door and this guy somehow aquired it. it has always been my understanding that gibson destroyed rejects and there is no "B" stock gibsons. however, i know that is not totally true because i know an owner of a backdoor instrument. i am frankly still unclear on this matter and furthermore i recently noticed on MF some scratch 'n dent traditionals. i was shocked at this as i just won a LP traditional from gibson
QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Author Posted November 30, 2008 ok maybe not but what about the weight les paul copys never weight as much as the real ones do they? an this one is as heavy as my gibson les paul classic even thought the hardware and pickups are missing
lucy-guitar Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 Old Goya, Tokai, Ibanez and Maya law suite copies often weigh as much as an old Gibson (for example my long sold Maya Custom with 10,2 lbs) and at least one of my early Japanese copies I owned in the '70s and '80s had a truss rod coming out of the hole, reaching above the nut. What about the headstock angle of your sleeper?
Dynadude Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 The weight means little. It could be made from exactly the same woods, and still not be a Gibson. I'd say that it doesn't matter what brand it is at this point. The condition would be the deciding factor for me. The truss rod condition, and the neck and headstock angles would be the major factors I'd consider.
QWMO Posted November 30, 2008 Author Posted November 30, 2008 well the neck feels like a 50´s profile it is very round and confortable which i like, it is actually way more confortable than my les paul classics neck the headstock angle seems right, cant tell you exactly but it looks like it has the normal angle, you cant put it on a table facing up with the whole body in the table cuz the headstock wont leave you
Don. Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 Are you able to do the restoration work yourself? I'd guess that even if it's real, the repair costs would be more than buying a new playable guitar.
SRV-Zeppelin Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 +1, Don... If you're going to buy it, it wouldn't be worth the effort/cost to restore it to Gibson specs. It would likely almost be cheaper to buy an anniversary R9...
Bluemoon Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 hmmm' date=' could it possibly be a reject that gibson threw out the back door and this guy somehow aquired it. it has always been my understanding that gibson destroyed rejects and there is no "B" stock gibsons. however, i know that is not totally true because i know an owner of a backdoor instrument. i am frankly still unclear on this matter and furthermore i recently noticed on MF some scratch 'n dent traditionals. i was shocked at this as i just won a LP traditional from gibson[/quote'] The scratch 'n dent guitars are returns that MF can no longer sell as "new." It has nothing to do with Gibson.
nikko18 Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 as others have said the brand does not really matter anymore, but if you can do the restoration your self i would say buy it if you like the neck. it seems like even if it's not a gibson it could be a very decent guitar. and if you don't want it you should buy it any ways and then sell it to me :] i can do the restoration for sure. or it would be cool if you baught and than payed me to restore it :P haha anyways if you like the feel of it i think you should get it. it would be cool to be able to say i restored this guitar and then pull a picture out of your wallet or something it used to look like this. x]
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