Spotting a Les Paul copy (or any gibson)

[Dusty89]

My friend was smart enough to get away from being jipped. I'm sure many of you already know this, but a true Les Paul has only two screws mounted in the plastic piece on the head of the guitar. The piece that directly abuts the neck. The screws are parallel to each other. A fake copy will almost always have three screws on this piece. This knowledge helped me determine the legitimacy of a Gibson G3 I just purchased. There are other sure signs as well (look on youtube), but this is the first to look at. Just thought I should pass this info. on to others.

"Knowledge is Power."

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Yep, knowledge is power, but if You rely solely on the TR cover screw count, You are, quite appropriately said, screwed.

There's quite a few Gibsons that don't follow the "2 screw TR cover" rule, and undoubtedly many, many counterfeits that do.

The serial number however, for most time periods (exept '70-'75), is a sure way to at least narrow down the possibility to identify the instrument.

No Gibson (or any other make for that matter) instrument has just one certain design point that proves it's authenticity.

Regards
Sam

[Dusty89]

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.

Yep, knowledge is power, but if You rely solely on the TR cover screw count, You are, quite appropriately said, screwed.

There's quite a few Gibsons that don't follow the "2 screw TR cover" rule, and undoubtedly many, many counterfeits that do.

The serial number however, for most time periods (exept '70-'75), is a sure way to at least narrow down the possibility to identify the instrument.

No Gibson (or any other make for that matter) instrument has just one certain design point that proves it's authenticity.

Regards
Sam

Thank you, the more info. the better. That's why I started this thread. I was aware of a lot more than what I mentioned above, but thought that this would be a good starting point for those that don't know.

[()smoke()]

IME, no 'copy' I've come across of a Gibson guitar has ever had a nitrocellulose lacquer finish, aside of course from the high end esoteric 'clones' such as a max or keebler that are often priced higher than actual Gibson custom shop...so that's something that's always a quick giveaway when one has a polyester or polyurethane finish (provided you can see it in person)

...and I apologize in advance if some Gibson basses don't have a nitro finish--never owned any nor really knowledgeable about their basses