Almost bought a fake Les Paul from GC

[Bourbon Burst]

1) first off the truss rod cover is correct,
2) the bridge is in the correct spot
3) inlay looks great and in the correct spot 12th fret and is scribed 20th aniversary
4) newer solid klusons , no extra holes showing these have been replaced
5) gibson pull back wire in the cavity soldered securely to the the top of pots also the switch wire is pull back as well
6) no conductive paint in the cavity

these boxes all check properly to being a real guitar

this model possibly has a chip under the fret board for verification

How does an average Joe like me able to scan the chip? That would be great.

All of this fake Les Pauls make me think of getting a new one. My brother-in-law said the quality isn't there as compared to older ones (pre 2006).

 

[Boreas]

How does an average Joe like me able to scan the chip? That would be great.

All of this fake Les Pauls make me think of getting a new one. My brother-in-law said the quality isn't there as compared to older ones (pre 2006).

Doubt you could. It was for in-house production tracking from what I gather. I doubt a Gibson dealer has a scanner. You could try your veterinarian...

 

[northernguitar]

How does an average Joe like me able to scan the chip? That would be great.

All of this fake Les Pauls make me think of getting a new one. My brother-in-law said the quality isn't there as compared to older ones (pre 2006).

Your brother-in-law would be wrong. That's not saying there aren't overpriced lemons out there; but a blanket statement like that has no validity. You'll pry my 2012 Gibson LP Junior Special from my dead hands!

 

[ClashCityTele]

Is it just me or does the body look odd? Seems like where the bass side upper bout meets the neck should be at more of a right angle. Maybe I'm tripping.
This area.

No, you are correct. I was going to post a pic but the same pic is a few posts below yours.
You can tell by lining up the binding with the frets.

 

[DrBGood]

https://www.guitarcenter.com/pdp/productDetail.jsp?productId=site5117647127

It is still up..

Really ?

All the telltales are there
- Upper bout meets the body at an angle, not 90°
- Pickguard screw too close to the edge of pickguard
- Knobs not parallel to neck and in a wonky pattern relative to tailpiece
- Lower bout jutting outwards
- Overall body contour wrong
- Upper strap button too close to body
- Wrong size control cavity back cover (elongated)

And on and on. They're all the same as on a fake Epiphone.

I just emailed the store with these clues to a counterfeit. Let see if they respond ...

 

[jvin248]

.

The safest way is to just avoid buying anything marked with Gibson.

You can do it!

Then you avoid all that fakery drama and if it's somehow real you avoid all the fragile headstock drama. Double win!

.

 

[northernguitar]

.

The safest way is to just avoid buying anything marked with Gibson.

You can do it!

Then you avoid all that fakery drama and if it's somehow real you avoid all the fragile headstock drama. Double win!

.

 

[24 track]

Great points on this second LP. However, what friggin nonsense to have to deal with.

that was why i bought a fake so I could see first hand what the real differences were, I will never buy a gibson sight unseen or played

 

[northernguitar]

that was why i bought a fake so I could see first hand what the real differences were, I will never buy a gibson sight unseen or played

It sucks that there is such an issue, but I concur.

 

[24 track]

How does an average Joe like me able to scan the chip? That would be great.

All of this fake Les Pauls make me think of getting a new one. My brother-in-law said the quality isn't there as compared to older ones (pre 2006).

there is a YT video tour of the Gibson factory in the states and they stated that a chip was placed under the fret board to check authenticity

it may be this vid, (there are a few)

 

[24 track]

It sucks that there is such an issue, but I concur.

at the time I got mine ( and I am not sorry I did ) guys were passing them off as real, and some poor kid who cut lawns all summer saved his sheckles then got burnt , this was a common occurance , so I took upon myself to be educated.

I also have document from Rickenbacker on how to tell lawsuit 4001 Basses from the real thing , simple tells , but Ricky did state the Ibanez copies were incredably well made

 

[Electric Warrior]

How does an average Joe like me able to scan the chip? That would be great.

All of this fake Les Pauls make me think of getting a new one. My brother-in-law said the quality isn't there as compared to older ones (pre 2006).

I've had pre- and -post. That is not my experience at all.

Don't sweat it getting a used one, @DrBGood had a good list. Another obvious tell is the control cavity cover color (white vs. black on the real deal). Just get familiar with LPs, find a reputable dealer with a good return policy and you'll be fine.

Headstock crap is overblown. Don't be careless and if you're that worried, get personal article insurance [not the Guitar Center-style "protection" policy]. I pay $60 a year on my R8, play it everyday, and sleep like a baby.

 

[Tonetele]

Bones I had a MIJ Epiphome acoustic for 17 years. Got it in 1973. Great guitar.

 

[somebodyelseuk]

serials & made in usa is stamped on models after 73, my point was Made in USA and the serial should not be stamped into the final finish but done under the finish
all my gibsons dont have plastic jack plates and if they do have them that gets back to the qual

Point 1 - not on all models.
Point 2 - all mine do. It's nothing to do with quality.

Mine were made in 2019 and 2021, they obviously cost considerably more than your's did, and I know for certain they are genuine.

 

[modavis99]

How does an average Joe like me able to scan the chip? That would be great.

All of this fake Les Pauls make me think of getting a new one. My brother-in-law said the quality isn't there as compared to older ones (pre 2006).

Im a Gibson fan and mostly an LP player. The consensus among fans is that the best guitars Gibson has made since the golden era are being made right now, post 2019 after Henry J lost Gibson in bankruptcy and KKR and Curleigh took over. I have a friend that consults for Gibson and he says the new owners are guitar nuts, ie have vaults of great vintage guitars, which I think helps explain why quality has gone up all across the line (Epiphone, Gibson USA, and Gibson Custom Shop). The improvement has been most dramatic in the Epiphone and Gibson USA lines in my experience.

 

[Skyhook]

There is no history of Japanese makers selling fakes. They all had Ibanez, Greco, Tokai, Burney, etc. on the headstock. People weren’t being fooled.

Mine has ES-S on the headstock. Google tells me it's from the Tokai factory.

 

[24 track]

Point 1 - not on all models.
Point 2 - all mine do. It's nothing to do with quality.

Mine were made in 2019 and 2021, they obviously cost considerably more than your's did, and I know for certain they are genuine.

that is subjective,
I recently saw a a new 3700.00 cdn Les Paul out of the box (I do repairs for Long & McQuade ), it did not have the mother of pearl , gibson logo as my 73' has or the gold leafed logo that my 97' has, it had a 3 cent water slide decal for the gibson logo that was imitation MOP. so it depends on your perspective as to quality cutting , no one is claiming your gibsons are not real. but even there is a marked difference in quality from 72'-to-97'

as you saw from my photo My chibson is a copy of an ultima tree of life ,no ultima ever left the gibson factory with a plastic jack plate , this is a 15,000.00 guitar and the one i compared it to had never been played .

but I do question why a company that knocks out a ton of guitars using a cnc machine charges a rediculous amount of coins when they cut so many corners ( just one of their CNC machines cuts 6 bodies at one time ), this is not specific to gibson so this is not a bash , the fit and finish on my 73 's neck is perfect ( norland era) , the 97' had about 90.00 worth of fret sprout to be fixed , that should never have left the factory in that condition and would not have previously.

at one point you could get a one piece mahogany body on a les paul , now you may get a 2-3-4 piece and you still pay top dollar. once you accept a compromise to quality its what you end up with .
but they do not think twice to take your money for it .

but as I say it is amatter of personal opinion and that is subjective.

 

[northernguitar]

Mine has ES-S on the headstock. Google tells me it's from the Tokai factory.

It was made to be a counterfeit?

 

[Skyhook]

It was made to be a counterfeit?

"Knockoff", more likely. It's trying to look like a black LP Custom and mostly succeeds.
Bolt-on neck and ES-S logo make sure that nobody will ever mistake it for a Gibson though,
so it would be neigh impossible to use as a counterfeit.

It has Shadow -branded pickups which a very guitar savvy acquaintance of mine, long ago, once assured me
are the total bee's bejizzles. On an unrelated note; his Kasuga -branded Strat knockoff also had Shadow pickups.
Most of the Shadow stuff I find on the web now is like pickups for acoustics.

I've played a bunch of gigs with that thing, including my first gig ever.
I've recorded lots of music with it too. Good guitar! Happy I hung on to it when I started
GAS:ing for "the pointies" and guitars with 24 frets for a while.

 

[northernguitar]

"Knockoff", more likely. It's trying to look like a black LP Custom and mostly succeeds.
Bolt-on neck and ES-S logo make sure that nobody will ever mistake it for a Gibson though,
so it would be neigh impossible to use as a counterfeit.

It has Shadow -branded pickups which a very guitar savvy acquaintance of mine, long ago, once assured me
are the total bee's bejizzles. On an unrelated note; his Kasuga -branded Strat knockoff also had Shadow pickups.
Most of the Shadow stuff I find on the web now is like pickups for acoustics.

I've played a bunch of gigs with that thing, including my first gig ever.
I've recorded lots of music with it too. Good guitar! Happy I hung on to it when I started
GAS:ing for "the pointies" and guitars with 24 frets for a while.

Got it...good knockoff, but not meant to deceive.