My friend is standing in a pawn shop looking at what is purported to be a Les Paul Supreme for less than $800. He's asking if it is legit. It's fake, but it took me a while to confirm it. One of the best fakes I've ever seen.
First impression was looks pretty good. Cutout horn seems a bit off, but might just be the camera angle. Floyd Rose, locking nut and pickups obviously not stock.
Frets and fret nibs look good. Inlays are correct for a Supreme. Joint where body binding meets neck looks a bit sloppy, but not outside what might have left a Gibson factory.
"Supreme" and truss rod cover engraving looks bad. First clue something is amiss.
Ok, my first big "must be fake": no wings on the side of the headstock. I have never seen a Gibson electric with a mahogany neck that didn't have thin glue on wings on the outside of the headstock. The neck to headstock transition looked off as well. And I've never seen a Gibson stamp in that location.
Also, no Gibson ever left the factory with Grover tuners that I know of. Given the customization work done, seeing Grovers isn't surprising, but there should be screw holes showing since all Gibson tuners use two mounting screws (I think...)
Next oddity - the neck to body relief carving. Not like anything I've seen on a Gibson.
Control cavity doesn't look stock, but has good components. I thought Gibson always used a metal plate in the cavity, but further research shows examples of pots mounted directly in wood. Also, I *think* Gibson only sells replacement pots with the Gibson logo. I don't think they put them in new guitars. I could very well be wrong about that, though.
Final kicker: Googling the serial number shows lots of other fakes with the same number.
I find this guitar surprising. Whoever built it put a hell of a lot of work into getting things right, but then used that awful "Supreme" inlay and truss rod cover.
First impression was looks pretty good. Cutout horn seems a bit off, but might just be the camera angle. Floyd Rose, locking nut and pickups obviously not stock.
Frets and fret nibs look good. Inlays are correct for a Supreme. Joint where body binding meets neck looks a bit sloppy, but not outside what might have left a Gibson factory.
"Supreme" and truss rod cover engraving looks bad. First clue something is amiss.
Ok, my first big "must be fake": no wings on the side of the headstock. I have never seen a Gibson electric with a mahogany neck that didn't have thin glue on wings on the outside of the headstock. The neck to headstock transition looked off as well. And I've never seen a Gibson stamp in that location.
Also, no Gibson ever left the factory with Grover tuners that I know of. Given the customization work done, seeing Grovers isn't surprising, but there should be screw holes showing since all Gibson tuners use two mounting screws (I think...)
Next oddity - the neck to body relief carving. Not like anything I've seen on a Gibson.
Control cavity doesn't look stock, but has good components. I thought Gibson always used a metal plate in the cavity, but further research shows examples of pots mounted directly in wood. Also, I *think* Gibson only sells replacement pots with the Gibson logo. I don't think they put them in new guitars. I could very well be wrong about that, though.
Final kicker: Googling the serial number shows lots of other fakes with the same number.
I find this guitar surprising. Whoever built it put a hell of a lot of work into getting things right, but then used that awful "Supreme" inlay and truss rod cover.
