The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 10-31-2010, 07:20 AM
jayhawk jayhawk is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Lost in Oregon
Posts: 1,690
Default I saw a counterfeit Les Paul, yesterday

I was in at my guitar shop yesterday and the owner (Ken) said, 'Got something you'll be interested in.' He took me over and a couple of the guys that worked there were playing a Les Paul Supreme. Ken asked me if I saw anything unusual about it. The only thing that really jumped out at me was that the truss rod cover was brass and was shaped funny.

Ken said, "It's counterfeit." I asked him how he could tell. He started showing me that the back was flat, rather than carved. The Gibson logo was straight rather than at an angle. The access ports were wrong for a Supreme. The pots were import pots. Lots of minor differences that were clues.

Now, what is interesting is, the guys that were playing it said that it played really well, as good as a real Gibson. The builders had the mechanics of building a good guitar down, but they couldn't get the details of making it look right.

Jack
__________________
The Princess looked at her more closely. "Tell me," she resumed, "are you of royal blood?"
"Better than that, ma'am," said Dorothy. "I came from Kansas."
--Ozma of Oz, by Frank L. Baum, 1907


1975 Mossman Great
1995 Taylor LKSM-12
2008 Taylor Fall Ltd GC
2008 Applegate C Nylon Crossover
Fender Stratocaster - Eric Johnson Model
Nyberg Cittern
2011 Eastman AC508M
2012 Epiphone ES339
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-31-2010, 07:31 AM
HHP HHP is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 29,351
Default

The good counterfeiters build good instruments. They have to to be able to pass them off as the real thing without obvious tip offs to the buyers. If you look at some of the Lloyd Loar F5 mandolin counterfeits, they are excellent instruments, they are just not the $300K collectors item they purport to be. These builders are not unskilled, just unethical.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-31-2010, 07:34 AM
Hodges_Guitars Hodges_Guitars is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Posts: 1,364
Default

I keep seeing links (Ads) to these guitars on Facebook and actually went and looked them over. The Les Pauls were the first thing that drew my attention and the Fender Strats were next. Prices for these guitars were just a fraction of a real guitar and they tout that these guitars are all brand new.

Im really surprised that they are able to get through Customs, but maybe Customs doesnt know they are fake since they are imported one at a time Vs a whole truck load??
__________________
Regards,

Ken Hodges
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-31-2010, 08:18 AM
HudsDad HudsDad is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SE Texas
Posts: 3,234
Default

I've got a few real Gibson LP's and a cheap "replica" I picked up at a pawn shop a couple of of years ago. I'm guessing it's Chinese, but it could be from any of the usual Asian factories. The copy is very well built and the fit/finish is better than my Gibson Studio. The pickups/pots and wiring were utter garbage, but that was easily fixed in less than 30 minutes with a soldering iron. I installed a couple of Gibson 490/498 pickups that I had removed from another Les Paul and it sounds just as good as any of my Gibsons at about 1/10 the price.

The Gibson logo is sloppy, the headstock shape is wrong and the pots aren't aligned quite right, but otherwise it's a perfectly good guitar. I keep it as my "loaner/RV" electric and drag it around to places where I wouldn't want to take my Gibsons or Agiles.

It's much easier for these factories to pump out decent solid-body electrics than acoustics and they are getting quite good at it. I'm sure it keeps the lawyers in Nashville busy.
__________________
How I wish...how I wish you were here.

A few Canadian and American Guitars
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-31-2010, 08:38 AM
Rick Jones Rick Jones is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,008
Default

I have an old Japanese Tokai Les Paul copy that I prefer than any Gibson LP I ever tried. When you look at the pickup routing etc, the woods are all solid and cleanly routed, the neck tenon extends into the pickup cavity (unlike alot of Les Pauls), and the binding is flawless.
The pots etc were inferior, but have been replaced, and I have bareknuckle pickups in it.
__________________
Rick

Yamaha MIJ CJX32
Avalon L32
Avalon A32 Legacy
Lowden 022
Gibson J-185
Takamine TNV360sc
Cole Clark Fat Lady 3
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-31-2010, 09:53 AM
BLenmark BLenmark is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Oregon
Posts: 437
Default I saw the same Les Paul at Ken's shop

...and he walked me through the differences, too. I am not a huge LP fan, and have never owned one (too heavy, and not really my style), but notably:

The playability was actually pretty good.
The top was very beautiful!
The headstock looked a little odd, due to the logo, the cut of the "V" at the top (too sharp).
The binding on the fretboard was not correct.
And the original poster's comments as well.

The most striking aspect of the guitar was the relief stamp on the headstock - "Made in USA". If it were stamped "Replica", it might have left a better impression, but legitimizing an illegal copy of a Les Paul with this stamp made the whole guitar seem kinda creepy. It made me question every other aspect of the guitar...what other corners were cut that I couldn't detect?

CAVEAT EMPTOR just got kicked up a notch.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:29 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=