Bargain of the day... (unless you want a real one)

JezWynd

Sellers appear to have removed listing. Possibly been victims of a fraud? Though if they are a typical cash converting type operation they likely havn’t lost on it.

hotpickups

gringopig said:

hotpickups said:

Just out of interest what are the obvious signs of a fake for future reference?

Side by side




A few:
Position of the stop tailpiece relative to the volume knobs. Fakes will often have the tailpiece behind the knob. real ones have the tailpiece just in front.
The bridge won't have slotted screws and will be a proper ABR-1 if it's a re-issue.
Knobs are wrong with the centre being too dark.
Cutaway is the wrong shape.
No nibs on the fret ends. Gibson would never have no nibs on a re-issue but no nibs were found on unbound necks and some models in 2014/15?
Some logos can be found on fakes to have the G of Gibson slanted towards the treble side.
Truss rod cover is wrong and held by incorrect screws.

Although I've seen plenty of legit Les Paul having the tailpiece on top / slightly forward of the volume knob (like the red one)? Many images on retailers websites images have too?

poopot

Ok, so I messaged the seller yesterday pointing out someone may have pawned a fake with them...

had a response

”

New message from: lainhead_electricals (7,881)

Hello there, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would never knowingly sell something that isn't genuine so we contacted Gibson before listing this guitar on eBay and they told us that it looked genuine and that serial numbers matched up. We have removed the listing for now while we await further confirmation from Gibson. We will only relist this item if Gibson themselves confirm without a doubt that this is a genuine Gibson guitar. Kind Regards,”

HarrySeven

I’ve received the same.

In my reply, I did point out the fact that I was surprised that Gibson themselves couldn’t spot a Chibson...

xRandomreg

I also received the same having emailed them yesterday - glad there are a lot of us on the ball

On a separate note have you guys noticed that when you type in "gibson" in the search, the first 50ish listings are all fraudulent - I recognise quite a few as lifted listings from other users.

I have been reporting them to ebay but get a bit fed up doing it day after day

Anyone else doing the same

I feel like we should be able to report Ebay to some watchdog for not being able to sort their own website out especially given the fee income they are getting

darthed1981

Randomreg said:

I feel like we should be able to report Ebay to some watchdog for not being able to sort their own website out especially given the fee income they are getting

It's likely trading standards will become interested over time.

It probably hurts eBay quite a bit, I don't think I'd buy a guitar off there if I'm honest.

hotpickups

poopot said:

Ok, so I messaged the seller yesterday pointing out someone may have pawned a fake with them...

had a response

”

New message from: lainhead_electricals (7,881)

Hello there, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would never knowingly sell something that isn't genuine so we contacted Gibson before listing this guitar on eBay and they told us that it looked genuine and that serial numbers matched up. We have removed the listing for now while we await further confirmation from Gibson. We will only relist this item if Gibson themselves confirm without a doubt that this is a genuine Gibson guitar. Kind Regards,”

Are we absolutely sure it's fake then after all that? 

Phil_aka_Pip

darthed1981 said:

I don't think I'd buy a guitar off there if I'm honest.

I wouldn't either. I once taught a lad who did, he didn't tell me first that he was going to buy a guitar off ebay (I'd have told him to play it before bidding if he had). Anyway he turns up to his lesson with his new toy and asks me to check it over. I'm sorry to say that I had to tell him the neck was warped. I think he learned his lesson because the next instrument he bought he contacted the owner first and agreed to go play it before bidding, and this time he knew what to look for. He ended up getting a nice guitar

gringopig

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gringopig

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JezWynd

gringopig said:

I think they are at it personally and know full well. Gibson said it was real my arse.

They're going full trump and doubling down. sad.

thermionic

So Gibson said it was definitely real, but they pulled it because it might not be? Full Trump indeed.

HarrySeven

hotpickups said:

poopot said:

Ok, so I messaged the seller yesterday pointing out someone may have pawned a fake with them...

had a response

”

New message from: lainhead_electricals (7,881)

Hello there, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would never knowingly sell something that isn't genuine so we contacted Gibson before listing this guitar on eBay and they told us that it looked genuine and that serial numbers matched up. We have removed the listing for now while we await further confirmation from Gibson. We will only relist this item if Gibson themselves confirm without a doubt that this is a genuine Gibson guitar. Kind Regards,”

Are we absolutely sure it's fake then after all that? 

Yup. Totally.

That guitar is 100% NOT a USA Gibson.

I don’t believe for a moment that Gibson themselves endorsed it’s authenticity (even from the most cursory inspection it clearly isn’t) and I’d like to bet that the seller knew from the outset that it was fake, despite claims to the contrary.

siremoon

HarrySeven said:

hotpickups said:

poopot said:

Ok, so I messaged the seller yesterday pointing out someone may have pawned a fake with them...

had a response

”

New message from: lainhead_electricals (7,881)

Hello there, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would never knowingly sell something that isn't genuine so we contacted Gibson before listing this guitar on eBay and they told us that it looked genuine and that serial numbers matched up. We have removed the listing for now while we await further confirmation from Gibson. We will only relist this item if Gibson themselves confirm without a doubt that this is a genuine Gibson guitar. Kind Regards,”

Are we absolutely sure it's fake then after all that? 

Yup. Totally.

That guitar is 100% NOT a USA Gibson.

I don’t believe for a moment that Gibson themselves endorsed it’s authenticity (even from the most cursory inspection it clearly isn’t) and I’d like to bet that the seller knew from the outset that it was fake, despite claims to the contrary.

*If* it carries a genuine serial number then maybe, just maybe, they asked Gibson about that but there's no way they showed Gibson the pictures.  Like you though my gut feeling is that they didn't speak to Gibson at all.  I fully expect this to pop up again for sale after a while, probably on a different account.

sawyer

Don't know how company's put themselves at risk like this. I was once offered an obvious copy in an actual guitar shop. Wanted £1100 for it. Give him a long list of things not right including scarf joint neck and blockboard body. Then admitted he'd paid £300 that morning. Claimed he hadn't seen enougth Gibson to know it was fake. This a small independent shop!