Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

[MetalManiac]

some dude actually wants to trade me a supposed Les Paul Custom for my Zakk Wylde Epi and a Crate amp.
Either its hot or something , or what he said was his dad bought him a supreme , and zakk wylde is his idol.
Anyway, what do I look out for,take the truss rod cover off and look for acorn nut, check, check for mother of pearl inlays? He said the pickups aren't original, but what about the electronics?
I'm pretty scared pf getting a well executed fake- some of the best ones are real real hard to tell, and I don't have much experience with Les Pauls..

Heres the guitar. He says there are no repairs to it.

he'll be here in a couple of hours;

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

I'm pretty scared of getting a well executed fake

Good because that is a poorly executed fake. I see various blatant visual clues.

If you buy that, you may need to revise your Sig.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Good because that is a poorly executed fake. I see various blatant visual clues.

If you buy that, you may need to revise your Sig.

like which clues if you don't mind?

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Ask if you can bring it to a dealer or pawn shop to get it appraised because... something seems a bit off.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

DISCLAIMER: Some of the following visual anomalies may be a consequence of lens aberrations in the supplied photograph.

All of the proportions around the headstock look out. The 'heads look too close together, leaving too much headstock beyond the D and G posts.

The line of the cutaway does not look rounded enough - even allowing for the five-ply binding.

The stopbar tailpiece looks kinda skinny. Its mounting screws appear kinda domed when they ought to be flat-topped.

The thumb wheels at either end of the Tune-o-Matic bridge do not seem to protrude far enough.

The screw hole for the absent pickguard is centred almost exactly perpendicular with the 22nd fret - possibly, even, slightly offset towards the headstock. It should be noticeably offset towards the bridge.

The Gibson LP Supreme has a multiple-A grade maple cap. I do not see such a top in the supplied photograph.

If/when the vendor arrives, ask to look in the control and pickup cavities. Look for dogbreath electronic components and, more importantly, evidence that the flamed "maple" cap is not just a veneer over plain maple onto "mahogany".

 

[LazNovak]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Looks fake.

Compare the body shape, mainly the lower horn.

http://www.vintageandrare.com/uploads/products/30832/604829/original.jpg

 

[LazNovak]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

And the headstock is wrong.

https://www.google.com/search?q=gib...a=X&ei=oEmMVffNJoOp-QH54IyADQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Pass

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

@MM. There is no need to call out the would-be vendor over the sunburst guitar.

If you are inclined to part with the Epi ZW and/or Crate amp, plead poverty. Politely decline the trade but express your willingness to accept cash.

 

[JOLLY]

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.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Looks fake.

Compare the body shape, mainly the lower horn.

http://www.vintageandrare.com/uploads/products/30832/604829/original.jpg

The Gibson logo is way the hell lower on the headstock in the OP pic than in the guitar pictured in this link.

 

[Funkfingers]

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.

The guitar that Frank Zappa is holding on the cover of "Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar" is a sunburst Custom - albeit a Norlin "pancake" example. A friend from my school days has one. (Seventies pancake again.)

The LP Supreme is, technically, a model in its own right rather than a "special edition" variant of the production line LP Custom. It costs thousands of Dollars. Who in their right mind would trade one for an Epiphone ZW?

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Tell Lucid Lunatic you weren't born yesterday! :lmao:

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

I passed- Gibson said the serial number did not register. Dude was very PO'd he drove all the way up here. he said a lot of $^&^%$%$%&^ , and **&^^%$, and threatened to beat me up .Glad he doesn't know where I live, but I'd wager he knows its a fake.
Thanks.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

he said a lot of $^&^%$%$%&^ , and **&^^%$.

Sassafrassin' Rick Rastardly!

One thing. Who originally approached who about making an exchange? Which of you was advertising gear for sale?

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Me was advertising.

LMAO- Joneser was right, I was thinking the dude looked like Lucid- but Lucid wouldn't trade his custom for an Epi!

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Funk has a good eye, the inferior maple cap and rounded stop bar screws are the only things I noticed right away. Good thing you passed. I'm sure that dude was pissed; good for him.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

inferior maple cap

"Inferior" is subjective.

The maple on Gibson Supreme models is an attempt to compete with the PRS "10" top. The flame or quilting borders on being traffic-stopping. In strong light, it gives the illusion of physical depth by the way that it reflects, appearing to "move" as you shift the guitar relative to the light source.

By comparison, the item illustrated in the OP looks like Fender Fotoflame.

No contest.

 

[HALENisking]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Does the non cutaway side "curve" look almost square to anybody else? haha.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Need Fast Advise on Les paul Custom

Yeah, I was about to mention that the bass side upper bout isn't looking right...