my new toy

[simus35]

I Just got few days ago my new guitar (Gibson Les Paul Custom)

On the pic i look tired and yes i'm tired

 

[picker]

There is something very classy and upscale about the look of a Black Beauty with gold hardware. It's like a piece of art. No other guitar, not even other color schemes on Les Pauls, manages to quite pull that look off for me.

 

Cool score, mon ami!

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Very cool looking!

 

Make sure you wipe down the gold hardware after every use to keep it from corroding.

[Larryz]

I'd be look'en tired too, from staying up all night oogling at that baby...very nice and congrats...

[Bluesape]

I love LP Customs, but that model calls for an ebony fretboard. Yours looks decidedly brown in the pic, indicating it's rosewood, and likely not a legit Custom, unless the lighting in the shot made a black fretboard look really brown. My V has an ebony board, but looks brown due to the red stage lights. I hope I'm wrong about yours.....

 

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/reifspano/Mr/Me%20pics/100_2041.jpg

[simus35]

My wife use the flash is the reason and is ebony fretboard and is black. After looking at my pic it look brown, but you can see some black on the second fret.

[p90jr]

A guy I know in Texas has been asking us to look at photos of Les Paul Customs that have been popping up on Clist for fairly cheap... and they've been Chinese frauds. We taught him what to look for... he eventually went and played one, told the guy he knew it was a fraud but he'd give him $200 because he liked it and bought it.

 

Anyway... I hope I don't offend you but I think this one might be an imposter, too. The headstock is too long above the tuning keys (which seem too close together), and the word Gibson falls into a strange position. The cut-away also doesn't look round enough to me, and then as bluesape mentioned the fretboard doesn't look like ebony.

 

Hopefully I don't know what I'm talking about (always a distinct possibility), or you're testing us here to see if we can tell the difference.

 

Fake LP Custom Headstock

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/4056/dscn1362u.jpg

 

fake Chinese Les Paul Customs

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg376/st4vros/IMGP2012.jpg

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/gg376/st4vros/IMGP2039.jpghttp://image5.sahibinden.com/photos/51/84/28/big_12518428_mmh.jpg

 

Sorry... these look like the same batch as yours...

[desertbluesman]

Nice

[p90jr]

The fake one the guy I know bought -

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll165/pazman6/gibson-lp-custom.jpg

 

and the a real one for comparison -

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/6/8/7/395687.jpg

[Bluesape]

PM the serial number if you like. A bud of mine can run it...

 

Did you acquire it privately, or from a legitimate retailer?

[Bluesape]

Actually, the nearest Long and McQuade store to you can authenticate it for you, as they are the sole importers of Gibsons into Canada. We hate to be dream killers, but your guitar seems very suspect.

[picker]

I have read that just owning a counterfeit Gibson is illegal. Anybody know if that's true?

[simus35]

Ok you caught me, i just want to know if you can see a real and a fake one, but the fretboard is ebony and is black. One of my friend got a real black beauty and he try my fake one and he can't tell the diffence (sound to sound) and he play trought a marshall JCM 2000. the only thing he found from a real and a fake is will never come vintage. But for the price i paid with the case (copy case for lespaul). I paid only 360$ Canadien that incl. the shipping and he put as a gift for the custom.

[harvey]

well spotted bluescape and p90...i thought the cutaway looked odd but thought it was the picture...

[Scott Fraser]

i thought the cutaway looked odd but thought it was the picture...

 

And I thought the radius of the upper bass bout also seemed not right, in addition to the cutaway being ever so slightly less curved, but again, the picture could skew that. Seen next to the real deal it becomes obvious.

Apparently some cloners have been lax in copying the proper typeface on the truss rod cover as well as using the wrong number of screws there. Odd.

 

Scott Fraser

[picker]

"Illegal merchandise entering the country offer great damages on many levels; and counterfeiting in the United States is a serious crime punishable in a court of law. By Federal statutes, selling and also owning counterfeit merchandise is a felony. By issuing this warning, Gibson Guitar hopes to educate its loyal consumers about such wrongdoings and protect them. For more information on how to protect themselves and report incidents, consumers should contact their local policing agency and can also go to www.ic3.gov/."

 

Read the whole article HERE.

 

If you remove any Gibson logos or trademarks, it might be okay. Otherwise, you'd better get rid of that thing, man. Just owning it is a felony, an international one, apparently.

[Gifthorse]

Well, if you played the guitar and loved the way it sounded and plays that's all that counts in my opinion.

 

I only buy guitars based on that criteria.

 

 

[simus35]

Picker

yes is true for people they sell fake and said is a real gibson and sell for price like 2k or more. but for people they bought and know is a fake and the seller said is a fake and sold for the price i paid (360$ Canadien). i just bought to see if i would like and if i like the feeling when i play.and i forgot to tell my gibson store in my town saw my fake les Paul. he ask to me to see the fake, because he never saw a real fake in person. and

[p90jr]

Simus, you sly one...

 

What I've wondered about this is why the woman apparently responsible for these Chinese factories (who's now locked up) didn't just put a different name on them and alter the headstock? Then again, I understand that China and Russia have a bit of a hard time understanding the "traditionally western" things about trademarks and name recognition. Why would we judge a guitar or anything else by its name as opposed to its individual qualities as a piece?

 

Since there's websites set up where you can order these forgeries for $100-$400, it's not as if they're making any more than they would if they produced a new guitar that got decent reviews.

[p90jr]

Also, you're bound to laugh out loud at this:

 

http://www.givson.com

[simus35]

sorry my english is not very good,and i don't laugh out loud. What i try to said. i was just curious to see the diffence between the real one and a fake. why gibson sell a custom like this one almost 4k and the pickup they put inside is not better than the one i found in the fake one. the body use the same wood on both side, the key they put on the fake is better than the one they put on the real. just look at some real PRS the price can go up to 12k. why because the people they make those guitar they got high paid. when some people can do the same quality job(i don't want to said the chinesse and russian people)What i want to said. Me i got real brand, Like fender, Godin, Yamaha for the guitar and for bass Ibanez, OLP, and ESP(LTD) and 2 no name one for bass and one for guitar. Just like my Godin Signature(i Paid 1800$ 4 years ago) and it was my better guitar and the copy of les paul i got have a better sound quality

[picker]

Picker

yes is true for people they sell fake and said is a real gibson and sell for price like 2k or more. but for people they bought and know is a fake and the seller said is a fake and sold for the price i paid (360$ Canadien). i just bought to see if i would like and if i like the feeling when i play.and i forgot to tell my gibson store in my town saw my fake les Paul. he ask to me to see the fake, because he never saw a real fake in person. and

 

Simus, it doesn't matter if there was intent to defraud in the sale or not. It is illegal to own a counterfeit. As long as it says "Gibson" and has their logo and headstock shape, it is using & displaying their trademarks without their permission and/or license, and if it gets back to Gibson that you own the instrument, you could be looking at serious consequences. At the very least, the Gibson company could send out someone with a warrant and a saw, and cut off the headstock. It has happened before.

 

Think about it; you have posted a large picture that clearly shows your face on a public internet site for guitarists, and you are holding the thing. Then, you posted a statement admitting that you are aware that it's a counterfeit, and were aware of that when you bought it. It's just not that hard to track down people who post on the internet. Is there anyone here who could use some reward money for reporting a counterfeit and it's owner to Gibson? It seems like I recall that somebody here a friend of Henry Juskiewicz...

 

Call me paranoid, but if it was me and I wanted to keep it, I'd change the shape of the headstock, get a blank truss rod cover, and remove the Gibson logo. I'd probably delete my posts about it, too.

[Caevan O’Shite]

FWIW, do the same (or similar) laws apply in Quebec, Canada?

 

And, has anybody to date either arrested Slash, or confiscated the "Les Paul" that he recorded much of the stuff that broke his and G&R's career?

 

Also, you're bound to laugh out loud at this:

 

http://www.givson.com

 

WOW... !

[picker]

If they are prosecuting people in China for making the guitars, do you suppose it would be all that hard to prosecute some one in Canada?

 

And I don't know about Slash, but maybe he can afford a good lawyer...

[Larryz]

Didn't even think a guy would post a fake picture as a proud new papa on this forum...and it sure looked nice to me...but, I'm glad we have guys on this forum that can spot a fake...if you like the guitar, why not make it legal? what's a fake headstock worth anyway when you feel it sounds and plays just as good as the real thing...chisel it out and cover it with a custom logo and make it your own...

[p90jr]

I don't know if it's illegal to own one in Canada, and actually that would be a hard thing to prosecute here, because they'd have to prove your ownership somehow devalues the ownership of actual Gibsons (not that it seems that Gibson doesn't give stuff like this a shot...).

 

I just got my new toy, A Hamer Echotone ES-335 style guitar.

http://i.ebayimg.com/17/!Bmr3gYgBWk~$(KGrHqIOKi4Er)63BvfpBLgeGE5E4g~~_12.JPG

 

Made in China, doesn't feel much different from the Korean ones I'd played. The guy put 2 Seymour Duncan '59 pickups in it, barely played it so it's virtually brand new, for a little over $300 (the pickups street for $90 each). It's not totally the equal of an ES in feel, but for a couple of thousand $'s less it's good enough, and the sound is more than close enough. I'd done some recording with a friend's Epi Dot and it sounded just like the vintage 335 another guy played on the same recordings. Looking through the Epis on eBay thy were mostly the Chinese ones, which all suffer from some problem with the wood used in the necks (TONS for sale with snapped off headstocks which occurred in initial shipping, lots more cracks in that place from shipping, lots more cracks that developed over time).

 

I'm happy. This will come in handy when recording.

[p90jr]

I Just got few days ago my new guitar (Gibson Les Paul Custom)

On the pic i look tired and yes i'm tired

 

Don't fret Simus. I doubt Interpol is on the look-out for counterfeit guitar owners... and you could always claim it was airbrushed in and you were really holding an assault rifle or something...

[p90jr]

If they are prosecuting people in China for making the guitars, do you suppose it would be all that hard to prosecute some one in Canada?

 

It took them a decade to prosecute the woman, who was flagrantly forging out in the open despite threats and proceedings. I think one French Canadien could remain under the radar.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Also, you're bound to laugh out loud at this:

 

http://www.givson.com

 

THE DIFFERENCE IS EASY TO SEE

AND EVEN EASIER TO HEAR

CHECK OUT THE PRICES

AND YOU'LL SAY THAT

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE

Givson.

 

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n94/1hch1/facepalm-1.gif

[p90jr]

As for the reasons behind the price difference, Simus...

 

American labor is more expensive per hour than Chinese labor, and there's differences in how things like health care (provided by the government in China) and taxes figure into things in calculating that... I've seen documentaries of Chinese factory workers going home to live in the equivalent of huts with dirt floors. They live on a very low wage. That doesn't happen here.

 

The wood might even be the same type of wood by name, but it probably came from vastly differing sources, and are different grades and costs... as well as the fact that Gibson is bound by certain regulations in who and how they purchase the wood (and are being investigated for that right now, right?).

 

Then there's the entire expense of maintaining the profile and reputation of this huge company - advertising, public relations, marketing, product research, executive salaries, etc. This is where it's unfair to attach their name to a forgery, because you're "stealing" all of that, and the value people have come to associate with the name... and all of that stuff costs much more to maintain than just a guitar production factory.

 

There's professional touring bands - Heart, Sevendust, My Chemical Romance, etc - who use Epiphone Les Pauls onstage. They do the job well enough for most people, in reality, and are affordable to everyone. You could pick one up for about what you paid for that forgery.