NGD! My buddy thinks my new Les Paul is a Chinese fake!

[vklobucar]

So yet another new guitar arrived today as well. The UPS dude kindly dropped off a like new Les Paul Standard.

My buddy who happened to be at the house when it arrived quickly proclaimed it as a Chinese fake. I think he is nuts because....

-It has all the case candy as well as the original shipping box from Gibson stamped to Long and McQuade (a major Canadain music dealer)

-I called Gibson Customer Service and they pronounced the serial number as a2006 Les Paul Standard (w/'59 neck) just as the seller stated.

This friend of mine is still not convinced. He says that it weighs a fraction of what my '82 weighs for starters and "look cheap" to him.

Here are some detailed pics by the way!

[Trussrod]

If it was a fake the volume knob would be under the strings. Is the body a laminate?

[vklobucar]

Based on what I see from the control cavity it is not...

[emperor_black]

Your friend is right!























NOT!

[vklobucar]

Heart attack in the making there!

[lhrocker]

Looks good!!!

[Codswallop1]

All the recent Gibby fakes I've seen have been very subtle to spot...like excess flashing on the backside of the Tune-o-Matic and stop bar and the gauge of wire used in the electronics cavity. A couple of years ago the fakes didn't match up with Gibson records; but the last two were spot on what Customer Service said the S/N's should be. One thing to find out from Gibson is who/where the guitar was shipped to. That should allay any fears you have.

[Hellbat]

It's clearly a fake. You should send it to me for proper disposal.

[surfreak]

It's not a fake. I'd say the neck pickup is not original though, and that's a sloppy wiring job there.

[Gartron]

Does that serial number not make it a 2007 , i thought Gibson dated there guitars by the first and the fifth number..or have they went and changed that?

[straycat]

Serial # should be 8 digits not 9 and the Les Paul silk screen should be gold not white.
The cavity looks off too it does look laminated but those could be router marks.China makes Gibby logo'd pots too.
Pull the pick ups out and look in there for other signs should have the short tenon as well.

[vklobucar]

The seller mentioned that the pickups were changed for a set of Dr. Vintage Wolftone set. I will pull them out later today.

My mistake on the serial numbers too. Gibson did say that it was indeed a 2007. Typo!

So even with a proper serial number from Gibson customer service dept, the Chinese have managed to pull off fakes with perfectly matching numbers too? Wow!

So does having all the case candy including warranty and inspection card not solidify this as a real deal? Do they even fake the dates of the inspection cards too?

[vklobucar]

I just pulled the pickups off and here is what I found. The body is NOT a laminate as the maple cap is clearly seen in the pics. It did look a little wonky in the control cavity but that is just router marks. The Les Paul silk screen is indeed gold its just that my crappy camera does not show it.

And now for some more pics...

[zeegler]

Looks fine to me.

[DonP]

Serial # should be 8 digits not 9

Gibson went to a 9 digit s/n a while back stray. I'd say around this time frame 2007.