# Fake, watch out.



## BGood

All the signs of a counterfeit are there, starting with the serial EE bigger than the digits.









Mag-log in sa Facebook


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## BlueRocker

I've seen that type of serial number on Epiphones before. I'm no expert on fake Epiphones, but it looks legit to me.


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## gtrguy

BlueRocker said:


> I've seen that type of serial number on Epiphones before. I'm no expert on fake Epiphones, but it looks legit to me.


Yeah, that's not suspect at all if you ask me. I've seen it before also.


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## BGood

Nope faky faky. The legit EE serial have the letters the same size as the numbers.

I'll give you more, but you'd have to compare to a legit one to see the evidence. For example, wide domed washers on tuner posts, fake Grovers, domed tail piece stud heads, misshaped truss rod cover, bold Les Paul script on trc, diamond on headstock not centered and wrong size, side binding on headstock way too wide, lower bout on body juts outside and too pointy, misplaced knobs, etc, etc. If I had better photos, I'd show you more clues.

Here, there's zillions of pages on those fakes.

The Fake Epiphone Thread II

The New FAKE Epi thread


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## Arek

Fake Epiphone?
Why would someone make one?
The profit margin is too slim.

The split diamond looks to big for those washers.
Hereis one I have for comparison:


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## BlueRocker

Well, I'd be pissed off to buy that, then find out it was made in some factory in China...


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## tomee2

A few years ago Epiphone had a warning on their webpage about fake Epiphone Les Paul Customs, explaining that real Epiphone were not made with MDF. Seems people took the pickups out of their Customs and saw MDF… and they were fakes.
The profit margin is there if everything is made to the lowest quality possible, like MDF or frets made of scrap metal.


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## BGood

Mostly high end models were faked, Customs and Zakk Wylde especially. No recent ones are seen on the market.

No profit to be made ? If the guitar cost like $25 to build and sold at the time for $350, a nice profit margin right there for the faker. Then the buyer puts it on the market for $600 to $800.

The Epiphone buyer is much less likely to look for fakery, you guy are the best example of that, you can't believe they exist. What is the easiest to pass, a fake $100 or five fake $20s ?

Still don't believe me ? Go read on the links I provided.

What pisses me is when someone knows and tries to sell it as a legit item to the kid who thinks he found the best deal ever on his dream guitar that he buys with his summer earnings eventually finds out there's no truss rod or it's made of cardboard.


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## FatStrat2

Tsk tsk, a copy of a copy.


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## 5150EVH0515

No offence but why would someone fake an epi? Unless its a zakk…. But even the zakks can be had for $800. 🤔


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## Frenchy

Can you spot the fake ???


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## Mark Brown

There is no way that couch is real leather!!


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## Frenchy

I honestly need to try them to figure it out !!!


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## elburnando

A friend of mine bought a fake Epi Zakk Wylde, knowing it was fake. It was fine, until he went to change the pots on it and found the wood in the cavity was rotten and moldy. China will fake anything these days. They're was a notice on the news a few years ago that they were selling fake J&J baby powder, crest toothbrushes, extension cords, and Kleenex.


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## Arek

Motherfakers would likely fake an epidemic or something..


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## BGood

5150EVH0515 said:


> No offence but why would someone fake an epi? Unless its a zakk…. But even the zakks can be had for $800. 🤔


If you can't be bothered to read what I wrote earlier ...


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## Paul Running

There may be a reason for naming an e-commerce company Alibaba:


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## Rollin Hand

Frenchy said:


> Can you spot the fake ???
> 
> View attachment 431917


If the knobs line up wrong....


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## Milkman

Frenchy said:


> Can you spot the fake ???
> 
> View attachment 431917



I could if I played them all.


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## tomee2

I was surprised when I first heard of this, thinking there’s no way anyone would make a fake Epiphone, but when Epiphone acknowledged it, and I watched some YouTube videos showing the poor quality I believed it.
In some electronics forums there are often warnings about buying transistors on eBay in bulk because there are fakes coming out of china. These are $3 items they’re faking, so it seems they’ll do anything to get your dollar.






Counterfeit Transistors


ESP - The Audio Pages. Counterfeit transistors are in epedimic numbers world wide. Find out how to identify the real from the frauds




sound-au.com


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## bzrkrage

Frenchy said:


> Can you spot the fake ???
> 
> View attachment 431917


Yes. The Louis Vuitton bag should only have double stitching, that's single.
Oh, and the blondes, they're all really brunettes (collars & cuffs.....)


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## FatStrat2

.I know this is stating the obvious, but maybe someone should.

All the fakes are from China, never from Indonesia, Korea or Japan (lawsuit guitars don't count). That tells you something.

And unlike what others are posting here, my experience with multiple fake Gibsons show they are similar in quality, fit & finish and play-abilty to a regular off-the-shelf Epiphone (which sorta makes sense considering they usually come from the same factory).


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## Frenchy

FatStrat2 said:


> my experience with multiple fake Gibsons show they are similar in quality, fit & finish and play-abilty to a regular off-the-shelf Epiphone (which sorta makes sense considering they usually come from the same factory).



Stupid question on my part... 
Are Epiphones made in China ??? 
I honestly dont know since I dont buy Epiphones.


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## Frenchy

bzrkrage said:


> Oh, and the blondes, they're all really brunettes (collars & cuffs.....)



Hard to tell !

They all shave these days !!!


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## Milkman

In a sense, this is even worse than faking a Gibson. Epiphones are an opportunity for those who can't afford high end Gibsons to get something close to (in some cases) one. Let's face it, people who are spending $5000 ~ $10,000 for a guitar are probably less likely to be fooled by a Chibson.

Someone with less experience and maybe shallower pockets may not be so quick to spot the fake.

Meh, if people would stop buying them, they would quickly stop building and selling them.


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## FatStrat2

Frenchy said:


> Stupid question on my part...Are Epiphones made in China ??? I honestly dont know since I dont buy Epiphones.


Not so stupid question, it's confusing.

I know that all new Epiphones are MIC now and have been for a few years. The old stuff from Japan/Korea is golden if you can find them.

And not buying an Epiphone, IMO - that's the way to go considering there are so many other options.


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## BGood

Rollin Hand said:


> If the knobs line up wrong....


That's one clue



Milkman said:


> Meh, if people would stop buying them, they would quickly stop building and selling them.


They haven't made any in recent years. They made enough at the time that we still see them go around.


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## Milkman

BGood said:


> That's one clue
> 
> They haven't made any in recent years. They made enough at the time that we still see them go around.


Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying that they have stopped making fakes in China?


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## BGood

Milkman said:


> Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying that they have stopped making fakes in China?


Fake Epiphone yes. 

They are easily spotted because fakers used templates from the worst factory to ever produce Epiphone. There was 3 or 4 (not Chinese) making them at the same time, quality control went out the window in a few. To a point where a legit one from that factory could at first glance pass as a fake.


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## Frenchy

Is this real ???

Guitare Epiphone | Guitars | City of Montréal | Kijiji


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## 2N1305

Although I am not as versed as many others here in spotting the different details in a fake epi, I would like to say that that Dot is a real Epi, as I owned one for several years, which I bought new at Lauzon. The headstock was exactly like that. Can't remember where it was made but it was a real epiphone for which I paid 500$. I played great sounded, great, to me, only thing was the selector switch was problematic, it would cut out all the time on the bridge pickup. But that happens in my epi les paul. Both guitars were from roughly 2000-2004. I sold the dot for probably 350$, can't remember, to some young kind who wanted to grow his guitar collection. He opted to buy that one instead of my Kramer Pacer "American" (another misused word) with Floyd and H/S/S setup. I'm glad he didn't buy that one!


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## BGood

Again, a Zakk Wylde this time. Same serial with big EE in front
Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom Bullseye Electric Guitar | Guitares | Région de Mississauga/Peel | Kijiji










More clues ?
Knobs pattern not parallel to the neck
Upper rounded body doesn't meet neck at true 90° angle
Body contour wonky
Big domed tuner washers that overlap binding
Screws too big on trc


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## BGood

Frenchy said:


> Is this real ???
> 
> Guitare Epiphone | Guitars | City of Montréal | Kijiji


Yes, those weren't copied.


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## BGood

2N1305 said:


> ... only thing was the selector switch was problematic, it would cut out all the time on the bridge pickup. But that happens in my epi les paul.


A can of spray cleaner will fix that in a second. Same for scratchy pots. Mechanical parts need maintenance, like on a car. Use that spray once a year and everything will work great forever.


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## tomee2

BGood said:


> Again, a Zakk Wylde this time. Same serial with big EE in front
> Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom Bullseye Electric Guitar | Guitares | Région de Mississauga/Peel | Kijiji
> 
> View attachment 432524
> 
> 
> More clues ?
> Knobs pattern not parallel to the neck
> Upper rounded body doesn't meet neck at true 90° angle
> Body contour wonky
> Big domed tuner washers that overlap binding
> Screws too big on trc
> View attachment 432525


There was one of these for sale recently on Kijiji stripped of all the parts and advertised as a fake. This is the model that is the most faked Epiphone?


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## BGood

tomee2 said:


> There was one of these for sale recently on Kijiji stripped of all the parts and advertised as a fake. This is the model that is the most faked Epiphone?


That one and the 2 or 3 pups Custom


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## HeavyMetalDan

BGood said:


> Nope faky faky. The legit EE serial have the letters the same size as the numbers.
> 
> I'll give you more, but you'd have to compare to a legit one to see the evidence. For example, wide domed washers on tuner posts, fake Grovers, domed tail piece stud heads, misshaped truss rod cover, bold Les Paul script on trc, diamond on headstock not centered and wrong size, side binding on headstock way too wide, lower bout on body juts outside and too pointy, misplaced knobs, etc, etc. If I had better photos, I'd show you more clues.
> 
> Here, there's zillions of pages on those fakes.
> 
> The Fake Epiphone Thread II
> 
> The New FAKE Epi thread


I bought a Zakk Wylde EPI signature off kijiji, it was a very good copy. The only thing that made me realize was the wiring cavity, no pots said Epiphone and the wiring was not clean. The pots looked like good quality and full size.

At the time, I had zero clue there were fake Epiphones, like why? Well apparently there are some higher end Epiphone fakes. The EE serial number was one thing Gibson flagged right away when I called them. I told them on the phone the EE was bigger.The serial checked out ok when I put it in their decoder. 

Gibson was awesome, I sent them pics, within an hour, they sent me an email. Gibson wanted the sellers address, phone number, etc... what ever I had. They wanted to charge him for fraud. So, I said let me contact the seller first. 

Well I sent the seller the email, he ended up giving me $400 of the $600 I gave him and added an LTD guitar I sold for $500. He needed some of the money for what ever reason but obviously was scared he was going to be charged. I feel he knew it was fake.

Sorry for the novel but this guy is likely 99% correct that the guitar is just fake because Gibson said the serial number should all be the same size.

I have learned a lot from that and check everything now. If the seller does not want me to, I just don't buy the item. No parking lot deals, etc.....


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## BGood

And ... another one
Epiphone Les Paul. | Guitares | Kitchener / Waterloo | Kijiji


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## BGood

I didn't know you could report them to Gibson. I'll do that from now on after advising the seller.


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## Milkman

I hear there are now companies making unlicenced copies of the Chibsons. You can get a Les Pol for $65. and it's every bit as good as the real thing.


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## HeavyMetalDan

BGood said:


> I didn't know you could report them to Gibson. I'll do that from now on after advising the seller.


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## HeavyMetalDan

BGood said:


> And ... another one
> Epiphone Les Paul. | Guitares | Kitchener / Waterloo | Kijiji
> View attachment 432678
> 
> 
> View attachment 432680


Something else to look for is the neck heel at the body. A real Epiphone Zakk Wylde is one piece, the knock off I had was 2 pieces there


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## BGood

HeavyMetalDan said:


> Something else to look for is the neck heel at the body. A real Epiphone Zakk Wylde is one piece, the knock off I had was 2 pieces there


Yep, but seller will rarely show that part.


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## player99

Fake watch out:


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## FatStrat2

The hand on the right is fake.

Seriously though, if you held those watches in your hand, it's usually much easier to discern the phony. A bit different for a Chinese copy of a Chinese guitar.


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## BGood

FatStrat2 said:


> A bit different for a Chinese copy of a Chinese guitar.


Not if you know what to look for, it's pretty obvious.

I couldn't tell a Rolex from a Fisher Price watch.


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## BGood

Another Zakk. Just look at the wonky knobs pattern and tailpiece domed post heads.









“EPIPHONE” ZAKK WYLDE LES PAUL CUSTOM REPLICA w/ EMG 57/66 PUPS | Guitars | Brantford | Kijiji


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## Verne

I saw that Zakk yesterday. I love how they spell counterfeit wrong every time. REPLICA. As if!!


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## Milkman

Verne said:


> I saw that Zakk yesterday. I love how they spell counterfeit wrong every time. REPLICA. As if!!


Mmmm, I hear there are "replica" $20 bills in circulation in many regions.

No biggie I guess.


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## BGood

Another fake

Epiphone Les Paul Custom - Alpine White | Guitars | Oakville / Halton Region | Kijiji

Two obvious features: pickguard screw is way too close to the edge and domed tailpiece stud heads.


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## BGood

Another white Custom.


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