# Les Paul Scam?? Post your opinions here!



## Paulonbass (Apr 4, 2007)

$1800 for a "$3000 Les Paul"?

He wants $1800 for this guitar.
Sounds too good to be true. What do you guys think?


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

I've never seen a Les Paul like that before. But it is unique enough that it could be a hard sell. Without knowing the details, $1800 seems fair. $3k would be ridiculous unless there was something truly coveted about it.


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## mario (Feb 18, 2006)

Did you take the pics? The pics seem to be kind of on an angle. From what I see, the body does not look right. I could be wrong. Is this an Ebay posting?


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

Looks like a fake to me. Wonky pickup and knob placement. Truss rod cover is wrong. Headstock inlay is gruesome. Run away, quick!


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## mario (Feb 18, 2006)

mario said:


> Did you take the pics? The pics seem to be kind of on an angle. From what I see, the body does not look right. I could be wrong. Is this an Ebay posting?


 .....also the machineheads look to be installed crooked. There are a lot of fake Les Pauls' made in China at the moment. I would pass on it!


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## Paulonbass (Apr 4, 2007)

It's a craigslist posting here in Cambridge.

I think it's a fake to. Just wanted you guys to have a look. Two heads are better than syndrome.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Yeah, the inlay looks horrible. What year is it supposed to be? I can't tell from the pics but is the hardware gold?

At least if it's local you chack check it out firsthand.


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I'm definately no expert on the subject, but I thing the serial number is from 2003. It looks awful yellow for a guitar that's less than five years old.

The colour looks like something they offered on the 'Custom Lights".


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Same thing for me, really looks fake for what I know about real Les Paul.
First of all the truss rod cover is from an Epiphone for sure, I have one, 3 feets from me right now!  And like Mario said the machineheads look really bad. Probably really tempting to get a real Gibby for that price but...run, run for your life!


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## Davestp1 (Apr 25, 2006)

Just the shape in general does not seem right. The seller has to know it is a fake


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## Paulonbass (Apr 4, 2007)

Running from my keyboard as I type this. 

The sad thing is someone might buy it. Doh!!!!!!


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## Intonator (Mar 7, 2007)

Looks like the headstock says Gibsun?

not Gibson

Cheers


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## JSD's Guitar Shack (Feb 24, 2006)

Yeah, thats your typical Chinese fake, no doubt about it. Hope no one bites on that POS.


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

*les paul forum*

you could always double check the les paul forum guys, or even send the serial number and pic to customer support at gibson, and ask them if it makes sense.

there's probably safer used LPs to pick from, from reputable dealers.

g.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I want an SG. So I don't care about Les Paul Posts. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I will be able to buy an Epiphone Elitist or Epiphone Japan or a MIJ SG.


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

Intonator said:


> Looks like the headstock says Gibsun?
> 
> not Gibson
> 
> Cheers


Actually the logo is pretty close, though perhaps a bit oversized. It's supposed to have an open 'b' and 'o'. It's not a 'u'. Through the 70's it would have a closed 'b' and 'o'.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Is it just my eyes or is the bridge pickup mounted on an angle?


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## mod13 (Nov 30, 2007)

You know what....trust your gut...there are soooo many fakes running around out there...and that one is not even a good one...at least they are installing 2 screw truss rod covers!!!


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## Intonator (Mar 7, 2007)

Lester B. Flat said:


> Actually the logo is pretty close, though perhaps a bit oversized. It's supposed to have an open 'b' and 'o'. It's not a 'u'. Through the 70's it would have a closed 'b' and 'o'.


Hi Lester

Thanks for clearing that up!

I wasn't to sure ....it just looked strange to me

:food-smiley-004:


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## demon (Feb 20, 2006)

Oh man, thats not even in the ballpark. The inlays, the headstock, the serial number, even the pickup switch is in the wrong spot, not to mention the shape of the body. Thats a $250 piece of dung.


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## NB-SK (Jul 28, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> I want an SG. So I don't care about Les Paul Posts. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I will be able to buy an Epiphone Elitist or Epiphone Japan or a MIJ SG.


I don't know if you'd like it, but I love my made in Japan Epiphone SG Limited (the one with a lacquer finish). It's basically an Elitist with Japanese made pickups (but the pickups are good, though) and a Gibson-shaped headstock. Beautiful neck, by far my favorite of all my guitars. The bridge sucks, though...but that's because it's one of those tunomatics with that little wire over the screws (it's a design flaw, not an indication of the quality of the guitar).


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## Ophidian (May 22, 2006)

If your not sure don't buy. There will always be another guitar.


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## violation (Aug 20, 2006)

Yeah I'd pass on it. The binding on my Ibanez LP from the 70's isn't even that yellow.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I agree it's a fake. But I wouldn't use the machine heads as a reason.
If this guitar was real it's certainly not in original condition. If it was real it would have had Klusons on it. A lot of people apparently changed these for Grovers (including the previous owner of my Les Paul, but I replaced those with Schallers.) So it is possible to find a real Les Paul that had the machine heads replaced poorly.

I'd say it had been refinished-poorly. 

But there are several other clues mentioned here. 
It's a fake.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

NB-SK said:


> I don't know if you'd like it, but I love my made in Japan Epiphone SG Limited (the one with a lacquer finish). It's basically an Elitist with Japanese made pickups (but the pickups are good, though) and a Gibson-shaped headstock. Beautiful neck, by far my favorite of all my guitars. The bridge sucks, though...but that's because it's one of those tunomatics with that little wire over the screws (it's a design flaw, not an indication of the quality of the guitar).


Hardware and electronics can be changed. It really the wood and the neck that count. And yes, I have been keeping an eye out for Epiphone Japan SGs. 

Now to keep this thread on topic - I don't remember seeing a cheap, fake SG. Most all have been LPs.


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## [email protected] (Jul 5, 2006)

run ...dont walk
if in doubt always go with your gut feeling
I agree it looks odd
if you buy private, always make sure you can see the guitar in the flesh
make sure all the gibson paperwork is in order and ask to see the original bill of sale....there are just too many fakes out there today


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> Hardware and electronics can be changed. It really the wood and the neck that count. And yes, I have been keeping an eye out for Epiphone Japan SGs.
> 
> Now to keep this thread on topic - I don't remember seeing a cheap, fake SG. Most all have been LPs.


There are definitely fakes of the Gibson '61 reissue floating around. There is a guy selling a convincing one on Toronto CraigsList, but he is being completely honest about its origins.


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

But that one on the Toronto CraigsList has a bolt-on neck... which he finally admitted in a subsequent ad. It wasn't apparent from the pictures, though. Someone must have called him on it and he decided to come clean. That said, he had always maintained that it was a fake.

It may even be a cool guitar. But a bolt-on neck for an SG? It ain't an SG then.


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## aC2rs (Jul 9, 2007)

Call Gibson with the serial number, they will they confirm its authenticity.

It does look a bit odd but that might be attributed to the pictures


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Ophidian said:


> If your not sure don't buy. There will always be another guitar.


This is the best advice to follow. 

I'll just add - I was at L&M today and saw a Les Paul with the exact same finish and it looked fake although the proof showed it was real. It was a little different tha the one you showed though. It had a crown style inlay like a 61 SG and had a blank trush rod cover


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## Perkinsfan (Oct 17, 2007)

If you are looking at this guitar now and thinking "something doesn't look right about it" how would you feel 10 years down the road after spending(almost?) enough to have bought a real Gibson.
Especially when you would probably still be thinking "something doesn't look right"?
I'd pass on it.
If it dosen't feel right,it ain't right.
just my 2 cents.
Eric


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Sometimes the mistakes are a little more obvious


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

bobb said:


> Sometimes the mistakes are a little more obvious


What?
You don't have one of those Gretsch Gibsons?
They're much better than the Rickenbacker Fenders...


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I'll play Devil's Advocate here:

"Lawsuit" guitars from the 70's and 80's are now fetching a decent buck. Who wants to speculate on the future value of "counterfiet" models from the early 2000's?

It might turn out that the more obvious a sham that it is, the more valuable it becomes - you never know these might be a good investment if you can get them dirt cheap.


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

At least this seller admits to selling a fake http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/msg/509094517.html


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*thats funny*

bobb that is real funny,you know what we have a guy from china trying to flock his cheapo copies on another forum where I moderate, the first one was a Gretch and then he came back the following week with a Gibson fake, boy I wish we could just get rid of these idiots and make them listen to someone playing one of their instruments.Ship


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