January 8th, 2009
Ok, bad title but I’m all out of Menace quips.
As described by the Giibson website; “Brute force and raw power. With take-no-prisoners looks and face-melting tone, the Les Paul Menace delivers over-the-top metal performance like no other. Not for the faint of heart.”
I suspect if you were to buy the one below, (main picture) it would more likely be, “limp wristed feeble yelp, with a touch of, “I made this out of drift wood” build quality and lacklustre crackly drone”. I doubt any metal shredding guitarist would appreciate this piece of plop.
At a quick glance not much can be said, it looks like a real Gibson Les Paul Menace, without a clear look at the headstock it is hard to know if it is a forgery or not. If you look at the pick ups on the fake Menace compared to the real ones on the smaller picture, you can see that, though covered in protective film, they are not the special smoky-coil 490R & 498T brass stud humbuckers found on the Gibson. Another thing to check out, (if you come into contact with such a guitar) is the fret board, which should be made of ebony not rosewood. More obviously, the grooves on the top before the bridge are too short and the other grooves above the selector switch also appear to be incorrect in their size. The real give away of course is the price, this one is a wallet friendly $289.43. A good copy though so take extra care if you are buying one from the ‘Bay.
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January 1st, 2009
I am pleased to announce that fibsons.com has helped in supplying the information that helped Jamie from South Carolina obtain a full refund for one of the better fake Zakk Wylde Les Paul Customs in circulation. Here is Jamie’s email as well as the pictures he attached to it.
“ Dear sir,
I want to personally thank you for your web site. I almost became a victim of a scammer. I saw what I believed to be a real Zakk Wylde Gibson custom shop Les Paul in a pawn shop for $600.00. I could not buy it fast enough! I got it home and well, my gut feeling said to check the serial numbers on the head stock against the published numbers at Gibson.com . Low and behold the stamped on numbers on the back of my so-called Zakk Wylde guitar did not exist. I started to panic! So, I went back to my computer and stumbled across your web site and your information put me at ease. With your information I had enough evidence to convince Visa to back me up just in case the pawn shop owner refused the return of this P.O.S!! Your pictures were exact pictures of the guitar I just purchased! It was an overwhelming case of fraud. After viewing the evidence, the pawnshop owner fell over backwards to take the guitar back and give me a full refund! Again sir, thank you. Please look at the photos I’ve sent you if you don’t believe me.
Jamie
Irmo, S.C. ”
The Gibson inlay on the headstock is very good, in fact the whole headstock is a very good copy but if you look at the back of it you will see the fake serial number stamped into the headstock, a real Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom has the serial number inked on. Another thing to note is the pot knobs, on Jamie’s we see the Top Hats with silver inserts, on a real Zakk Wylde you should find Speed Knobs. I am also willing to guess that this guitar has a single piece maple, (or maple effect) neck, the real ones have a three piece unfinished maple neck.
A special thank you to Jamie for his kind email and for the use of his pictures.
Posted in Custom Shop, Les Paul, Les Paul Custom, Zakk Wylde | No Comments »
