# Help IDing/valuing Gibson Acoustic.



## swcblues (Apr 27, 2012)

I just noticed this on a local estate auction site. It looks like a Gibson hummingbird, but not with any bridge I've ever seen before or can find with my Google-fu. It's going tomorrow, so I'd really appreciate if you gurus could help me out on this. If it's authentic, I want it, but if it's some sort of weird fake, I'd rather know before I bid...
Thanks in advance!


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## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

Might not be fake, but modified for sure...either a Dove with a Hummingbird pickguard or a Hummingbird with a Dove bridge. Best to contact the seller if possible for whatever history you can gather.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

gtrguy said:


> Fake. Truss rod cover with 3 screws, pickguard, bridge and inlays look wrong. That's my opinion anyway.


I am inclined to agree. The shoulders don't look square enough either after a second look.


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## swcblues (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. Having pointed those things out, I can definitely pick them out against real photos. I was kind of hoping it might be a Dove with a peeling pickguard replaced indiscriminately, because that would still be worth playing even with it's collectors value killed. There's so many things off that I'm likely not even going to bother going to look, though. I'm curious what the sticker actually claims it is, since it's not readable in the auction picture.


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## BlackAngusYoung (Mar 31, 2010)

*Saw it last night.*

Funny to find this here. I was at the auction yesterday. There was a lot of buzz about this guitar. It has no serial number written across the back of the headstock, which some people thought it should have. Also, there's no serial or model number written on the sticker inside. The spaces aren't filled in.

Somebody bought it for around $700 I think, before realizing what people were saying about it. He already paid before being convinced it was fake, so he left it there hoping the auctioneer would sort it out for him after the sale.

I don't have any experience with real Gibsons or other high-end brands. I know what a $200 guitar looks like, and that's what this looked like to me. (With some fancy-looking stuff going on, though.)

Where did you find such a big version of the pic, and is it still there? I noticed before the auction that the thumbnails weren't expanding. It bugged me that I couldn't see it this big. I wonder if someone realized that feature wasn't gonna help sell it, and turned that part off after you had already saved the big version.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

While its always good to know ahead of time, in my humble opinion its impossible to tell fro just one picture if it is real or a fake. Its always easier to judge a guitar with multi pictures of the headstock and label and even the inside braces and such. And missing numbers well that part doesn't worry me as I have seen many real Gibsons that had the label empty before.
The fellow who bought it is going to be stuck with it unless the auctioneer maybe an expressed warranty that it was a real Gibson ( which I have never seen them do ).ship


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## BlackAngusYoung (Mar 31, 2010)

Yeah, Ship, I agree about the auctioneer. I think all he said was that it's a Gibson, but that is what's clearly marked on it and I don't know how much of an expert he's expected to be.
The buyer said he didn't want to make a fuss in front of everyone because the auctioneer's a great guy and would help him out when he realizes what happened. That could be true, and he is a good guy, but I thought mentioning it in front of everybody would have been his best bet.

Maybe will find out what happened today. I wonder if the guitar buyer will be at tonight's auction. (...I wonder if the "Gibson" will be up again!)


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