Fibsons.com – the fake Gibson guitar blog.

This one is very good. An eagle eyed reader emailed in, if he hadn’t it may have been missed.

It all looks very good, even showing a bit of age and wear. No wonder some poor soul bid over $2000 on it.

The two screw truss rod cover looks ok from a distance – close up it is a copy with an incorrect font. The Gibson logo does not appear to be mother of pearl and not an inlay, it is also at slightly the wrong angle. The deal breaker for me is the split diamond inlay, it really doesn’t look right, possibly a decal with the wrong angles, more white than mother of pearl. Well spotted.

Thanks to Matt Yee who emailed me with this Les Paul Custom. Matt is sure it’s a fake and he’s right.

It is a very good fake, a two screw truss rod cover with the correct text and fonts but the headstock shape and the angle of the Gibson logo are a little off.

Turn it round and there is an 8 digit serial number and made in the usa stamped underneath it, fine on a Les Paul Custom if it’s made by Gibson USA and almost all the other guitars coming out of the Nashville factory, but not right on this Les Paul Custom. The serial number shows it was manufactured in 2005 but all Gibson Les Paul Customs made after 2004 are made in the Gibson Custom Shop and therefore have a different serial number system that is printed on, not stamped in.