[G Armenia (Turtle888)]

Well, unfortunately my son who is now in Georgia at school, purchased one of these Les Paul's. He knows the saying, if it to good to be true, it's not. However, the person selling this on craigslist had a great rap of how he needed money for school. The rest is History. He Paid just under a Grand for a Custom with Seymour Duncan's(they were real) it had all the things that made it look good, Serial number, Made in USA, Correct Truss cover.
After finding out that his purchase was bad he feels like crap. He wants a REAL Gibson not some replica.
So here is my question, What can Gibson do to help prevent these guitars from being imported? He cannot even pick it up to play it without thinking what a lousy deal. How about this. He sends it to you (Gibson) for a credit towards a Les Paul Studio? You can use this one as a research tool. Oh ya, he has a Gibson case that says made in Canada.
Thanks for your time and having this forum.

[M Ryan (Malikon)]

Sorry that happened to your son. I hope they can find some way to stop the counterfeiters.

[D Thompson (rockstar232007)]

G Armenia (Turtle888), on 09 August 2010 - 03:56 PM, said:

Well, unfortunately my son who is now in Georgia at school, purchased one of these Les Paul's. He knows the saying, if it to good to be true, it's not. However, the person selling this on craigslist had a great rap of how he needed money for school. The rest is History. He Paid just under a Grand for a Custom with Seymour Duncan's(they were real) it had all the things that made it look good, Serial number, Made in USA, Correct Truss cover.
After finding out that his purchase was bad he feels like crap. He wants a REAL Gibson not some replica.
So here is my question, What can Gibson do to help prevent these guitars from being imported? He cannot even pick it up to play it without thinking what a lousy deal. How about this. He sends it to you (Gibson) for a credit towards a Les Paul Studio? You can use this one as a research tool. Oh ya, he has a Gibson case that says made in Canada.
Thanks for your time and having this forum.

Sorry your son got burned, but he would be better off chalking it up as a lessoned learned. It's always important to do your "homework" when it comes to things like this, because the sad truth is, there really isn't much that can be done because of the difference in international trademark laws.

BTW, some legitimate Gibson cases ARE made Canada...just for future referrence!

[N Beach (shred_bringer)]

D Thompson (rockstar232007), on 10 August 2010 - 12:38 AM, said:

BTW, some legitimate Gibson cases ARE made Canada...just for future referrence!

Actually all Gibson cases are made in Canada, Gibson contracts their cases to be made by the TKL case company, which is a Canadian company.

[G Armenia (Turtle888)]

Yes he has learned his lesson and is saving his money for a true Gibson. Although he will be glad to know his case is authentic. The photo is of the fake GIbson.

Attached File(s)

•  images-8.jpeg (4.58K)
  Number of downloads: 62

[G Armenia (Turtle888)]

Sorry, I posted the Wrong photo.

Attached File(s)

•  1270451032519525436.jpg (84.84K)
  Number of downloads: 81

[K Bolas (lespaul1963)]

Turtle...your fake Gibson picture...I don't recall Gibson using "block" inlays on the fret board. Would this be a hallmark of a fake Gibson?

[M Ryan (Malikon)]

Gibson uses blocks on the Customs. See the diamond on the headstock? It's supposed to be a Custom.

[T Carlson (Todd C)]

How did he discover that it's a fake?

[P aruwi (PeteR)]

T Carlson (Todd C), on 10 August 2010 - 10:58 PM, said:

How did he discover that it's a fake?

The Deal was too good to be true........

Quote

He Paid just under a Grand for a Custom with Seymour Duncan's(they were real) it had all the things that made it look good, Serial number, Made in USA, Correct Truss cover.

Peter

[N Beach (shred_bringer)]

G Armenia (Turtle888), on 10 August 2010 - 12:35 PM, said:

Sorry, I posted the Wrong photo.

The two obvious signs of this being fake are the fretboard, this one has a rosewood board as where a real Gibson with block inlays will have a fretboard made of ebony. Ebony is darker than rosewood and has a tighter grain, and less pours than rosewood. Here is a difference...

This is an Epiphone Les Paul Custom which has a rosewood fretboard...




And this is a Gibson Les Paul Custom with a ebony fretboard



Also those stickers over the pickups are ONLY on fakes. The only stickers Gibson puts on the pups is the pleked sticker over the bridge pup, that is if the guitar was pleked.

Hopefully that info will make it easier to spot a fake if he comes across one again.

[D Thompson (rockstar232007)]

N Beach (shred_bringer), on 10 August 2010 - 11:59 AM, said:

Actually all Gibson cases are made in Canada, Gibson contracts their cases to be made by the TKL case company, which is a Canadian company.

Thanks for the correction Shred!

[C Thaeler (fly7hotel)]

I do wonder if Gibson could "chip" guitars inthe same way that you can "chip" your dog. Gibson or reputable repair facilities could "chip" existing guitars, for a price. Once "chipped" it would be VERY hard to fake.

[d papazoglou (dem00n)]

Dont they chip custom gutiars?
I swear i read that on the Gibby forum in the custom area...hmm.

[J Hall (Jonny Rocker)]

Carvin puts RFID chips in all of their guitars. I think they are called SNAGG chips.

http://www.snagg.com/techinfo.htm

[G Armenia (Turtle888)]

Well, there is good news....The Guitar salesman was found and with the help of his band mates. They were able to convince (I didn't ask how. I really didn't want to know) the seller of the Guitar that he should refund his money. The person was able to come up with almost the full amount.

As for the Guitar, he said the guitar was destroyed( I didn't ask) after the Duncan electronics were taken out. He has his money and the guitar will never see another day.

Evidently the Crook wanted nothing to do with the guitar. (I didn't ask why)

I would have kicked butt or turned him in to the police. They may have. Again, (I didn't ask.)

It ended by the statement. What Guitar?

Lesson learned.

[b sellers (formula73)]

Hey! That's my 73 in that pic. Cool!

[b sellers (formula73)]

Oh, and I'm sorry to hear about your son. The last Standard fake I saw in a pic was REALLY good looking. They're definitely getting better.

[p carlino (jimihendrix)]

G Armenia (Turtle888), on 10 August 2010 - 12:31 PM, said:

Yes he has learned his lesson and is saving his money for a true Gibson. Although he will be glad to know his case is authentic. The photo is of the fake GIbson.

Does that autograph say "Gary Moore"...???...

[S Sanchez (trekhead)]

I'm sorry to hear about your son's fake chinese guitar. However, I do wonder about Gibson's commitment to getting these guitars out of the market place. I reported a chinese les paul on this forum, I provided the name of the pawn shop and the phone number, I provided the names, addresses and phone numbers of two different law enforcement agencies so that gibson could follow up on this and have the guitar confiscated. The only thing that I saw happen was that the thread was removed and no further mention of this issue was made. The reason I gave the info to gibson was because I'm pretty sure if I had called the police, they would have dismissed my complaint, while a call or fax from gibson would be taken seriously. As someone who had to pay a bundle for the Gibson and Epiphones that I've purchased, I believe I have a vested interest in keeping fakes out.