Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

[Myaccount876]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

sorry, it just doesn't bother me at all.

If it doesn't bother you, fine. But I ask that you consider this: for every copy out there that is believed to be a genuine Gibson, but is rather an imperfect copy, Gibson's reputation gets hurt for something they didn't do. Every company deserve the reputation they earn, but no company deserves to have their reputation ruined by something they have no part in, such as counterfeiting. Why support these counterfeits? Sure some may be decent guitars, but the vast majority are dogbreath guitars sold to make a quick buck. Even when you support a decent counterfeit, you're simultaneously, and possibly unintentionally, supporting shoddy counterfeiters. Supporting the shoddy counterfeiters unfairly dings Gibson, who even with dubious business practices, supports working people and their families with job opportunities. That's exactly why it is illegal to knowingly own, sell, or purchase counterfeit items in the US.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

If it doesn't bother you, fine. But I ask that you consider this: for every copy out there that is believed to be a genuine Gibson, but is rather an imperfect copy, Gibson's reputation gets hurt for something they didn't do. Every company deserve the reputation they earn, but no company deserves to have their reputation ruined by something they have no part in, such as counterfeiting. Why support these counterfeits? Sure some may be decent guitars, but the vast majority are dogbreath guitars sold to make a quick buck. Even when you support a decent counterfeit, you're simultaneously, and possibly unintentionally, supporting shoddy counterfeiters. Supporting the shoddy counterfeiters unfairly dings Gibson, who even with dubious business practices, supports working people and their families with job opportunities. That's exactly why it is illegal to knowingly own, sell, or purchase counterfeit items in the US.

Word.

I noticed the upper bout was too boxy looking. The cutaway seemed off but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the angle but the headstock also seemed skewed to the right. The bottom portion closer to the nut seemed a little longer on the left. The inlays are also too narrow.

Not even a very good fake.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

sorry, it just doesn't bother me at all.

I think the thing that annoys me the most about this particular attitude that people who buy counterfeits take is that if the guitar had a different name on the headstock... they wouldnt buy it. They only buy it cause it is a fake. If the headstock said "Glisten" instead of "Gibson" they wouldnt pay 50 bucks for it. No matter how nice of a guitar you showed them it was.

Even funnier was when I lived in Beijing occasionally you would see the fakes in a shop but never with a Gibson logo Glisten was the most common and the chinese wouldnt buy them. If you asked in the shop about it they would tell you it was junk and to spend your money for something better.


If these guitars are as nice as their owners say they are then why do the people that build them want to own the real thing and not the counterfiet?

 

[superpete]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

If it doesn't bother you, fine. But I ask that you consider this: for every copy out there that is believed to be a genuine Gibson, but is rather an imperfect copy, Gibson's reputation gets hurt for something they didn't do. Every company deserve the reputation they earn, but no company deserves to have their reputation ruined by something they have no part in, such as counterfeiting. Why support these counterfeits? Sure some may be decent guitars, but the vast majority are dogbreath guitars sold to make a quick buck. Even when you support a decent counterfeit, you're simultaneously, and possibly unintentionally, supporting shoddy counterfeiters. Supporting the shoddy counterfeiters unfairly dings Gibson, who even with dubious business practices, supports working people and their families with job opportunities. That's exactly why it is illegal to knowingly own, sell, or purchase counterfeit items in the US.

i'm happy tell everyone that the guitar is a fake. I'm happy to have spent $230 on it and tricked it out. The damage the chinese marketplace is doing to Gibson guitars is nowhere near as bad as what Gibson is doing to themselves with their 2015 Les Pauls. Your argument is that these guitars are bad and anyone who plays them or hears me play mine will think poorly of gibson. That's just not true. I don't know how many you've played (or when you've played them, as they get better all the time), but a majority of the ones i've played are far from dogbreath guitars, and are surprisingly good for the money.

so if it's a legal/ethical/moral issue, i get it 100%. I just don't feel the same way. But if you're worried that the stellar name of gibson will be sullied by people buying them thinking they are real, don't. i'm far more concerned with brass zero nuts, robot tuners, and bizarrely wide flat necks destroying gibsons rep than a few craigslist hucksters.

Also, while it is illegal to knowingly sell a counterfeit guitar as real, it is not, to the best of my knowledge, illegal to purchase a counterfeit guitar.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

i'm happy tell everyone that the guitar is a fake. I'm happy to have spent $230 on it and tricked it out. The damage the chinese marketplace is doing to Gibson guitars is nowhere near as bad as what Gibson is doing to themselves with their 2015 Les Pauls. Your argument is that these guitars are bad and anyone who plays them or hears me play mine will think poorly of gibson. That's just not true. I don't know how many you've played (or when you've played them, as they get better all the time), but a majority of the ones i've played are far from dogbreath guitars, and are surprisingly good for the money.

so if it's a legal/ethical/moral issue, i get it 100%. I just don't feel the same way. But if you're worried that the stellar name of gibson will be sullied by people buying them thinking they are real, don't. i'm far more concerned with brass zero nuts, robot tuners, and bizarrely wide flat necks destroying gibsons rep than a few craigslist hucksters.

You're perfectly entitled to criticize Gibson's practices. However, just because you believe their reputation will not be tarnished, does not make it a reality. My argument is that counterfeits have a lower standard of quality (just this thread is one of many examples). You cannot use the counter-argument that counterfeits are trying to compete with Gibson in producing a quality guitar either. The counterfeiters are knowingly trying to sell their product with someone else's name brand recognition. They're trying to emulate, not compete, and they can't put in as much labor or attention to detail an equal quality instrument would require to keep the price low enough. Now, the fundamental issue is that Gibson as a company has the right to have control over their brand's intellectual property and their brand's output, which affects their reputation, but counterfeiters diminish and take away those rights. Do you agree or disagree that every company deserves the rights to their intellectual property and output affecting their reputation? If you disagree, saying companies don't deserve those rights, why? Please explain.

Also, while it is illegal to knowingly sell a counterfeit guitar as real, it is not, to the best of my knowledge, illegal to purchase a counterfeit guitar.

I double checked, and knowingly purchasing a counterfeit is not a crime. Although knowingly buying a counterfeit most likely means you are buying from someone who is knowingly selling a counterfeit. The point is, the trade is still illegal, but I was wrong about the legality of ownership (apparently France and Italy are the exceptions, where buying counterfeits is in fact illegal).

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

The damage the chinese marketplace is doing to Gibson guitars is nowhere near as bad as what Gibson is doing to themselves with their 2015 Les Pauls.

Thats interesting logic... So is it only Gibson that deserves to have their products ripped off? What about all the fake Jems floating around? The fake ESP's?


Would you have bought the guitar you have if it didnt say Gibson on the headstock? If they sold as just a single cut off brand?

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

The damage the chinese marketplace is doing to Gibson guitars is nowhere near as bad as what Gibson is doing to themselves with their 2015 Les Pauls.

This could be the most ridiculous statement of the year. Although I am not a huge fan of the 2015 models myself, they are still superior guitars to whatever piece of junk, made in china bullcrap you are misleading people to believe is a Gibson.

Folks, don't be a cheapskate. If you want the bragging rights of owning a Gibson, then pony up and buy a Gibson.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

I don't even know if I've ever even see a Cherry Sunburst Custom. Most Customs are either Black or White.

This was my first thought when I saw the pic. Never seen a Custom that isnt white, black or wine red..

Also, some of the other things pointed out are hard to tell from the photo. The first two things that caught my eye was the top/front side of body where the strap button is looks flat and not rounded as normal. Also the cutaways look too "tight" to me..

Its a pretty good looking copy. I think you did the right thing by passing, DEF if the serial # didnt work. What a tool.. Was gonna beat you up cuz you werent a sucker I guess. should told him you have him arrested for trying to pass off a fake..

Anyhow, glad things worked out for you..

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

i'm happy tell everyone that the guitar is a fake. I'm happy to have spent $230 on it and tricked it out. The damage the chinese marketplace is doing to Gibson guitars is nowhere near as bad as what Gibson is doing to themselves with their 2015 Les Pauls. Your argument is that these guitars are bad and anyone who plays them or hears me play mine will think poorly of gibson. That's just not true. I don't know how many you've played (or when you've played them, as they get better all the time), but a majority of the ones i've played are far from dogbreath guitars, and are surprisingly good for the money.

so if it's a legal/ethical/moral issue, i get it 100%. I just don't feel the same way. But if you're worried that the stellar name of gibson will be sullied by people buying them thinking they are real, don't. i'm far more concerned with brass zero nuts, robot tuners, and bizarrely wide flat necks destroying gibsons rep than a few craigslist hucksters.

Also, while it is illegal to knowingly sell a counterfeit guitar as real, it is not, to the best of my knowledge, illegal to purchase a counterfeit guitar.

While I personally have zero love for Gibson I can not in good conscience support counterfeiters.

Here's the thing, too... You give them money. What might they use that money for? Maybe they'll counterfeit a brand you do support, like Fender, Ibanez, PRS, or whoever.

Also, while I hate the 2015 Gibson line, they are at least made to their absolutely freakin' horrible specs with quality materials using proper tooling and quality assembly.

Also, don't try to sell that thing here. If it's illegal it's very much against the rules.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

This was my first thought when I saw the pic. Never seen a Custom that isnt white, black or wine red..

Also, some of the other things pointed out are hard to tell from the photo. The first two things that caught my eye was the top/front side of body where the strap button is looks flat and not rounded as normal. Also the cutaways look too "tight" to me..

Its a pretty good looking copy. I think you did the right thing by passing, DEF if the serial # didnt work. What a tool.. Was gonna beat you up cuz you werent a sucker I guess. should told him you have him arrested for trying to pass off a fake..

Anyhow, glad things worked out for you..

Here's a '73 with a TERRIBLE top.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Anyone old enough to remember (or still possess) the Norlin-era Gibson catalogues featuring the RD, Marauder, S-1, L-6 and the Ripper/Grabber basses, will be able to view photographs of cherry sunburst LP Customs, possibly even a Natural finished example à la Mick Ronson's stripped SFM Custom.

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

They reintroduced HCSB Customs in the early-mid 2000's and still make them.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LPCHSGH

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Personally I would rather buy a Chinese copy without the gibson name. I don't mind knock-offs like Agiles, or Xavieres at least they own up to it and put their names on them instead of putting some one else's name in order to sell it

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Personally I would rather buy a Chinese copy without the gibson name. I don't mind knock-offs like Agiles, or Xavieres at least they own up to it and put their names on them instead of putting some one else's name in order to sell it

Yeah see im cool with this... I just bugs me when it says gibson.

 

[Wormhelmet]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

1981 - Gibson Les Paul Custom $949
2015 - Gibson Les Paul Custom $5000

Adjust for inflation and see if Gibson is shooting themselves in the foot.

Granted - if I want a Gibson, it better be the real deal. Thats why I love my Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul Custom

It says Epiphone on the headstock - $550 + $85 at Luthiers for awesome setup. Plays as good as my previously owned 1974 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.

Oh yeah - Deluxe bought used in '86 in pristine condition for $575

 

[AlexR]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Any LP copy is fine as long as it doesn't say Gibson. Thats just morally bankrupt, as are those who buy them.

 

[Dahla]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Any LP copy is fine as long as it doesn't say Gibson. Thats just morally bankrupt, as are those who buy them.

I can agree with this.

But one other thing that rubs me more than fake LP's, is the off-brand necks with a Fender decal on homebuilt strats and teles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

But one other thing that rubs me more than fake LP's, is the off-brand necks with a Fender decal on homebuilt strats and teles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

''Oh, I have a few of those. I don't think it amounts to the same thing at all in most instances.Although I DO have a few that are dead ringers for Fender that are aftermarket with a Fender decal. maybe its a bigger problem than I am aware of.

 

[superpete]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

This could be the most ridiculous statement of the year. Although I am not a huge fan of the 2015 models myself, they are still superior guitars to whatever piece of junk, made in china bullcrap you are misleading people to believe is a Gibson.

Folks, don't be a cheapskate. If you want the bragging rights of owning a Gibson, then pony up and buy a Gibson.

i think you're reframing the argument. I didn't say that the gibsons were inferior to the chibsons, i meant that for every person who gets burned on craigslist because they don't know what to look for in a les paul, there are 10 people who play the 2015 gibsons and feel gibson is screwing up. Both are bad for gibson's rep, but i believe that what gibson is doing to themselves is far more damaging to their reputation than someone buying a fake guitar. You may not. It's fine.

 

[superpete]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

While I personally have zero love for Gibson I can not in good conscience support counterfeiters.

Here's the thing, too... You give them money. What might they use that money for? Maybe they'll counterfeit a brand you do support, like Fender, Ibanez, PRS, or whoever.

Also, while I hate the 2015 Gibson line, they are at least made to their absolutely freakin' horrible specs with quality materials using proper tooling and quality assembly.

Also, don't try to sell that thing here. If it's illegal it's very much against the rules.

i eat papa johns pizza, but dont agree with that dude's morality.

and i'd never sell it. certainly not on the forum where i'm loudly declaring it to be fake!