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  #1  
Old 11-12-2019, 12:13 PM
RalphH RalphH is offline
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Default Does this look right? Fake Gibson?

There's a J30 on eBay I'm intersted in, but it almost looks like the rosette is a sticker. Does that seem right? I know the J30 is no-bling guitar, but did Gibson ever use a stick on rosette?

(look at the bottom of the 7 ply piece - looks like it's peeling off?

Click to see bigger.

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Old 11-12-2019, 12:29 PM
lowrider lowrider is offline
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To me, it looks more like they didn't clean up the routing of the groove. Any other pics you can show us?
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Old 11-12-2019, 12:46 PM
CoffeeFan CoffeeFan is offline
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Of bigger concern to me would be the incorrectly sized pickguard...
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Old 11-12-2019, 12:52 PM
dwasifar dwasifar is offline
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The curve of the pickguard doesn't match the curve of the rosette, and it appears to be peeling off at the point. Those things look like red flags to me.

There was a guy yesterday, new user posting for the first time, who shared a link to buy new fake Gibsons online for around $500. The listing was upfront that they were "replicas," but they had the Gibson name on the headstock and a fake Gibson sticker inside the body, and I bet a lot of those get bought and then resold without mentioning the "replica" bit. The post was removed by the mods. I'm not saying I know the guitar in your picture is fake, but there's enough weird about it that I'd pass and look elsewhere.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:31 PM
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UncleJesse UncleJesse is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dwasifar View Post
The curve of the pickguard doesn't match the curve of the rosette, and it appears to be peeling off at the point. Those things look like red flags to me.

There was a guy yesterday, new user posting for the first time, who shared a link to buy new fake Gibsons online for around $500. The listing was upfront that they were "replicas," but they had the Gibson name on the headstock and a fake Gibson sticker inside the body, and I bet a lot of those get bought and then resold without mentioning the "replica" bit. The post was removed by the mods. I'm not saying I know the guitar in your picture is fake, but there's enough weird about it that I'd pass and look elsewhere.
There was a post on facebook recently of a guy who bought a fake D45S and even though mutiple people posted that it was a fake he kept saying he liked it and thought it was fine. Unbelievable.
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:32 PM
frankmcr frankmcr is offline
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The pickguard in Post #1 is very different from the one on this 1993 J-30:

https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...ht-guitar.html
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Old 11-12-2019, 01:36 PM
dwasifar dwasifar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frankmcr View Post
The pickguard in Post #1 is very different from the one on this 1993 J-30:

https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...ht-guitar.html
That's true. OP's picture looks like a Taylor pickguard.
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Old 11-12-2019, 03:44 PM
maxtheaxe maxtheaxe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dwasifar View Post
That's true. OP's picture looks like a Taylor pickguard.
Agreed...doesn't look like a Gibson guard to me, plus it's kinda rotated counter clockwise, has the wrong radius for the soundhole. I'd be concerned what they might be trying to cover up with that funky pickguard.
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Old 11-12-2019, 04:21 PM
jim1960 jim1960 is offline
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I think the OP may be right about the rosette being a decal. This looks pretty bad.
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Old 11-13-2019, 03:32 AM
RalphH RalphH is offline
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Thanks guys, I'll pass on the guitar - it's either a sticker or gibson did a shocking job in building it.

Last edited by RalphH; 11-13-2019 at 03:46 AM.
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Old 11-13-2019, 03:55 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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I can't speak of this particular guitar, but in the past two instances when I have gone our to seek to buy a Gibson, I have found finish issues which make the unacceptable.

This has not always been the case but in was an issue when I went to inspect two Jackson Browne models and again when I was looking for a L-oo.
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Old 11-13-2019, 06:20 AM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
I can't speak of this particular guitar, but in the past two instances when I have gone our to seek to buy a Gibson, I have found finish issues which make the unacceptable.

This has not always been the case but in was an issue when I went to inspect two Jackson Browne models and again when I was looking for a L-oo.

The guitars coming out of Bozeman over the last few years are excellent just like my J45.
The one in the OP appears to be a fake. Wrong pick guard and all.
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Last edited by rokdog49; 11-13-2019 at 06:26 AM.
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Old 11-13-2019, 10:54 PM
J185-4Me J185-4Me is offline
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Looks to me like a legit, probably 1995-ish J-30 with a changed-out pickguard.

Fred
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Old 11-14-2019, 03:36 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Fred has forgotten more about contemporary Gibson acoustic guitars than most of the rest of us have ever known. He’s an engineer with an engineer’s passion for details, and he’s the guy I always ask when I have any questions about any Gibson acoustic.

I concur with Silly Moustache’s observation about some of the fit and finish problems on Gibsons that he’s seen in music stores, because I’ve seen the exact same thing more than once at Gibson dealers on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Without seeing more photos of the guitar that have convincing “smoking gun” evidence of fakery, I think Fred got it right: it’s probably a genuine Gibson that had its factory stock pickguard ineptly replaced.


whm
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Old 11-14-2019, 03:41 AM
RalphH RalphH is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J185-4Me View Post
Looks to me like a legit, probably 1995-ish J-30 with a changed-out pickguard.

Fred
Holy smokes Fred.

It is indeed listed as a 1995 J-30 with a changed out pickguard!! I'm seriously impressed.

I'm still not buying it. I said to my wife "[sigh] what I'd really like a brand new customshop hummingbird" and she said "ok, so just go buy one" :O
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