Need help with spotting a fake les paul!

[Efekkt]

Hey I'm looking at buying this les paul but the headstock doesn't match up with a custom which is what the truss rod cover says and overall I'm uneasy about it after looking online but I'm not completely sure it's a fake yet.

According to the serial it was made in Nashville in 2003. Here are two pics I had him send me, sorry they are from a cellphone.

 

[Arminius]

Ask him if he maybe replaced the truss rod covers. Maybe someone who knows more about Gibsons can help.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Fake.

True Les Paul Customs have the Diamond headstock inlay, and DARK Ebony boards. That looks like Rosewood, though it may be the picture. The tuners are off as well, and the truss rod cover looks suspect.

Either way, I've never seen an LPC without the Diamond.

 

[13point9]

 

[Efekkt]

Yeah I know what the custom headstock should look like. I was thinking maybe it was just a different model then the custom with a weird truss rod cover on it. He didn't replace anything, his parents bought him the guitar a while ago. Also it wasn't an ebony board, I checked it out earlier when I went to buy it but told him I couldn't buy it yet because it looked off and to send me the pictures when I saw the headstock.

Seems like it is a fake though unless someone knows a les paul that looks like this, I'm confident now it isn't a custom. I'm pretty disappointed because I was just buying it to flip it and would've made a sick profit, I know the kid myself and like I said his parents bought it for him so he doesn't know anything about it so it's just bad luck it end'd up being a fake.

 

[Efekkt]

Also since the bottom of the truss rod cover got cut off, it's a two screw and there's a white binding on the side that can't be seen in the pic but doesn't look like any of the binding on the real truss rod covers i've seen.

 

[Adam Of Angels]

Looks like a Chinese fake to me, easily. Where is the guy from?

 

[Efekkt]

Looks like a Chinese fake to me, easily. Where is the guy from?

Ohio, it's possible his parent's are from China though as he is Asian and it's crossed my mind that if they are then they could have bought it in a shop there unknowingly, because I've heard pretty much everything in their guitar stores are fakes.

I played the guitar a while ago and it wasn't too bad, definitely one of the better made fakes, although I've never played a real Gibson les paul and the headstock is pretty off from a custom. I didn't crack open the electronics cavity or look under the pickups though.

 

[Adam Of Angels]

The body was probably much thinner than an LPC too. The fretboard was Rosewood, wasn't it?

A friend of mind was going to trade me his LPC recently... until I pointed out that it was a fake and he raised hell with the guy he got it off of.

If you really want to know for sure, ask the experts: Gibson Les Pauls - My Les Paul Forums

 

[MaxOfMetal]

It could have been a falsely re-branded Epiphone LPC from Gibson's Qingdao, China facility.

I've seen factory seconds get their headstocks altered.

 

[Efekkt]

It could have been a falsely re-branded Epiphone LPC from Gibson's Qingdao, China facility.

I've seen factory seconds get their headstocks altered.

That's pretty interesting, never heard of that.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

That's pretty interesting, never heard of that.

A lot of factory 2nd's apparently "go missing".

 

[Duraesu]

its a fake, i'm 100% positive! stay the hell away from that! and message that seller as scammer!! those people make me mad -.-

 

[ittoa666]

Fake or not, that guitar is not very attractive.

 

[Demiurge]

Just doesn't look right. There are legit deals to be found for sure, so it's never worth it to risk money on something even slightly uncertain.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it's a black finish, then the hardware would be gold. Those photos are terrible, but it looks like that hardware is either chrome, nickel, or horridly tarnished (for a 2003?). Also, don't LPC's have the fancy tuners?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Just doesn't look right. There are legit deals to be found for sure, so it's never worth it to risk money on something even slightly uncertain.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it's a black finish, then the hardware would be gold. Those photos are terrible, but it looks like that hardware is either chrome, nickel, or horridly tarnished (for a 2003?). Also, don't LPC's have the fancy tuners?

Some black (Gibson calls it "Ebony" ) LPC's came with Chrome hardware, it's also a fairly common mod on them as well, so it wouldn't be a definitive sign of a fake.

As for tuners, they've either come with Klusons (such as in 13's picture) or Rotomatics.

 

[Efekkt]

its a fake, i'm 100% positive! stay the hell away from that! and message that seller as scammer!! those people make me mad -.-

It's a friend from school and I told him a little earlier that it's a fake, like I said he doesn't know about guitars and his parents bought it for him a while ago.

Yeah the people out there on the bay and craigslist selling these guitars piss me off too.