July 13th, 2010
For those (parents of?) blink 182 and Angels and Airways fans, if you want to buy a Tom Delonge sig, you’re better off buying from a reputable dealer. This one is a fake.
Why? Well, the frets, (though hard to see here) go over the binding, (which on this white model should be brown). A re-fret? Well, not when it’s advertised as “New”. The headstock appears to be at the wrong angle. Also, notice that the headstock is a different color/colour to the rest of the guitar. The pickup surround on his white one is black, the one on the natural one is white, (the fake white one has the white surround but a natural headstock). Also, the only Delonge model you can get from Gibson, (unless you can get a custom order) is chocolate brown satin with cream racing stripes.
The real one, (pictured above) has been made for Tom in a few different colours/colors, I’m thinking the manufacturers of the fake are trying to combine two models. For a bit more information on the real ones check out this website.
Posted in Custom Shop, ES 335 | Comments Off
March 27th, 2010
While commenting on these fake Gibson guitars I often mention frets going over the binding being a giveaway, or the wiring being really bad or the hardware placement being incorrect, but be aware that that is not always a giveaway. The guitars I have pointed out have been advertised for sale as new and therefore it’s easy for me to say that one of the many reasons that such and such is a fake is the bad wiring, or the hardware is wrong etc. However, If the guitar is getting on a bit, maybe a re-fret is done and the new frets appear over the binding. In the world of guitar customisation/customization, people like to rip the guts out of their gear and install new pickups, a different bridge, hell, maybe slap a Floyd Rose tremolo system on there, so you can’t rely on these differences when deciding the authenticity of a used instrument.
The really easy way to know if your looking at a cheap, mass produced, fake Gibson is not always possible from a photo, because it’s all about the angle of the headstock.
A real Gibson guitar should have a headstock angle of 17 degrees, there is however always an exception to the rule, in Gibson’s case there was a period where the angle was reduced to 14 degrees. Be aware though that a replica Gibson built by a professional luthier probably does have this angle, so the angle rule should not be used to authenticate, just to refute.
There was going to be a joke here based on a double entendre; ”it’s all about the angle”, but quite frankly it was childish and not that funny, I’ll just leave it at that.
Posted in Acoustic, Blueshawk, Custom Shop, EDS-1275, ES 335, Explorer, Firebird, Flying V, Les Paul, SG | Comments Off
