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
January 1st, 2010
The Gibson Firebird, (above is a real one), was created by Detroit car designer Ray Dietrich at the request of legendary then Gibson main man Ted McCarty, had a more rounded out Explorer shape with “neck-through” construction*, (neck and centre of the body are one piece with “wings” glued to either side).
This Firebird, (above) was not designed by Dietrich. It’s a weird looking bird.
From left to right; The control knobs are the wrong type, they should be top hats with silver inserts not speed knobs. The pots that they sit on are incorrectly placed, due in part to there not being enough space below the bridge as the body shape is just plain wrong, (the treble front horn far too pointed). The pickups on a Firebird should be mini humbucker style* and no real Gibson comes with decals on the pickups. The pick guard is the wrong shape, again probably to fit the awkward body shape, and it has no Firebird emblem on it next to the pick up selector switch.
Looking at the headstock, which is the wrong shape, we see that the tuners are wrong*, they should be the so called “banjo” tuners. The truss rod cover is incorrect and would usually take up a fair chunk of the headstock and would have the Gibson logo on it, not inlaid into the headstock.
*The Firebird Studio differs from other Firebirds in that it has set neck construction, regular sized humbuckers and regular style tuners. This guitar was advertised as a Gibson Firebird V.
Posted in Firebird | Comments Off
