I Believe my Epi LP is a FAke now

[JBLesPaul107]

I read a post today that list a web site that you tells you where and what year your Epi LP was made... http://www.guitardaterproject.org/epiphone.aspx...and when I submitted the serial # i get "Serial number unrecognized"..plus i have been trying to replace the pots but I cannot locate pots small enough to fit. And the placing of the pots doesn't look right.. I add some picks below.

My parents bought this guitar at a music store when I was in the 8th grade (long time ago) I remember picking it out!!!

What do you think...

Group Shot (to compare to other LPs)


Now up close!!


And here are the small pots????

[lifele55]

Well it looks like its a fake with the pots being in wrong, awkward places...BUT! With other LPs like those, you won't have to worry about that Epi being a fake!

Hmmm... my MIJ also has small pots.... making me wonder...

[uOpt]

A shot of the pickup cavities would be more interesting.

[dennistruckdriver]

Who does the other LPs belong to? If they are yours, then don't be too concerned about the Epiphone! Those are NICE!

[Inside Guy]

Sorry to tell you this but, that Epi is definately a fake. The knob placement is pretty far off and the cutaway doesnt look right either.

[Davey Rockets]

well, at least the wiring looks decent. But those knobs DO look bizarrely far apart.

How does it play/sound?

[Eggy]

Originally Posted by Inside Guy

Sorry to tell you this but, that Epi is definately a fake. The knob placement is pretty far off and the cutaway doesnt look right either.

It's got a nice looking top on it but I'm afraid I agree with the above post. The cut away is way too wide and the knob placement speaks for itself.

[ninny404]

I agree, that is definately fake. Curious though, how does it play?

[JBLesPaul107]

Originally Posted by ninny404

I agree, that is definately fake. Curious though, how does it play?

Playability the Gibson’s are in a whole different ballpark... smoother, I really believe that my playing improved when I got the first Gibson (gold top). Just sucks I didn’t get it off EBAY we got it from a small Mom and Pop guitar store back in 92 or 93… May not be a fake... just a bad production model that should have not left Korea but escaped some how

[JBLesPaul107]

Originally Posted by uOpt

A shot of the pickup cavities would be more interesting.

I may get a shot of the cavity tonight...I thinking of putting the stock PU back (bridge is a Dimarzio)..

[bildozr]

You know, I always thought it was stupid to fake an epi. If your gonna con someone get $800 dollars worth of profit at least. Not a hundred or two. But people shock me....

[Sven]

There are alot of fake Epis out there.

[diceman]

Originally Posted by Sven

There are alot of fake Epis out there.

That has been coming up a lot lately - who would have thought that the market was so saturated with them!?

[lifele55]

And to think you bought it a long time ago... hell they must be smart to start copying epis even back then!

[timgman]

The bill most often counterfeited is the 10 and 20... not the 50 and 100.
enough said. I just find it hard to believe that epi's we're being faked' back in 93 ish...
I think it's real with shotty craftsmanship.
timg

[Eminor]

Given the date, first (cynical) guess is Korean Epi, maybe somebody at the factory was hung over that day. Looks pretty "wrong". OTOH it looks so wrong that it kind of seems more like a pioneering fake, possible precursor to these insidious phoneys that we're seeing all over the place now. Maybe one day that will make it a "rare early fake Epiphone model" (!!).

Or not.

At one time I owned a circa 1997 Korean Epi SG and while it sounded more or less like crap, it was definitely authentic looking at least.

Excellent point about lower denomination bills being the most commonly counterfeited. Folks are generally less inclined to be suspicious about something with a lower face value.

[timgman]

Originally Posted by timgman

The bill most often counterfeited is the 10 and 20... not the 50 and 100.
enough said. I just find it hard to believe that epi's we're being faked' back in 93 ish...
I think it's real with shotty craftsmanship.
timg

Or perhaps you'll need to side by side compare it to korean ipi's of the same genre.
timg

[twinrider1]

The pickups appear to be mounted at an angle, fwiw.

And those fireplace logs, definitely fake. :-)

[afine106]

i am pretty sure after looking at these posts that mine is a fake. but i am ok with that. if it was a fake gibson i would be pretty upset. but its a fake, of a fake gibson...right? still sounds good and looks good. but is it a fake? some things look legit, while other are way off. for the 3 hundred i paid some guy on ebay i am ok if its not a real epi. i would like to add that all parts are stamped epi. and i have include the picture of the pickup. the bridge and the stopbar are also epi. if it is not real then it seems like they use real epi parts.















and here is a pic of my switch

[-=[Shifty]=-]

Wow, interesting thread.

The LP in the OP is NOT a fake.
It's as real as any other 90s MIK Epiphone.

[GNR4EVR]

Would have commented, but I am at work and all the pics are blocked.

[Sinmastah]

Originally Posted by -=[Shifty]=-

Wow, interesting thread.

The LP in the OP is NOT a fake.
It's as real as any other 90s MIK Epiphone.

+1 Doesn't look to be fake to me. I love some guy named inside man just blatantly says it is, and everyone follows suit.

[River]

Originally Posted by Sinmastah

+1 Doesn't look to be fake to me. I love some guy named inside man just blatantly says it is, and everyone follows suit.

This shit's really getting old. I see two of you have special titles. Shouldn't one or two others get the same? Then if someone asks me I can just say "do you see that in their title? If you don't, take it with a grain of salt."?

[GNR4EVR]

Originally Posted by River

This shit's really getting old. I see two of you have special titles. Shouldn't one or two others get the same? Then if someone asks me I can just say "do you see that in their title? If you don't, take it with a grain of salt."?

Yeah. I think Shifty and maybe the Guitarist could use the same title. They do quite a bit in the Fake thread. (Hint, Hint, Wink, Wink!)

[The Guitarist]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

Yeah. I think Shifty and maybe the Guitarist could use the same title. They do quite a bit in the Fake thread. (Hint, Hint, Wink, Wink!)

Thanks GNR!

[GNR4EVR]

Originally Posted by The Guitarist

Thanks GNR!

My pleasure. I meant what I said.

[jrnic]

I seem to recall, years ago, stock photos of Epi LP's in Sam Ash brochures that looked exactly like your Epi. It always struck me how far apart the knobs were and how the cutout looked too "wide." I had also read that real early LP's had that far knob spacing. As for the small pots, I have had some really old MIK guitars that had those mini ones.

I wouldn't be so fast to claim it a fake. I think it's a very early model. I don't think the counterfiters even copied guitars back then. I might be wrong, but I don't think I am.

[Skynyrdpicker]

Originally Posted by -=[Shifty]=-

Wow, interesting thread.

The LP in the OP is NOT a fake.
It's as real as any other 90s MIK Epiphone.

I was sure of that too... No fakes have that TRC, and they weren't faking Epiphones until recently.

[jrnic]

*******UPDATE********

I knew I had seen that type of Epi LP before. Here is the proof, I think, that this LP is legit. Below is a scan I made of a 1995 Epiphone catalog I have (I have most years from 95-08.) It shows basically the same model as JBLesPaul's. Check out the knob placement and cutout! Also check the "Epi" logo. It goes straight across the headstock, which was correct for the early to mid 90's. It was later that they started to angle them upwards like the Gibson logo.

[afine106]

Originally Posted by jrnic

*******update********

i knew i had seen that type of epi lp before. Here is the proof, i think, that this lp is legit. Below is a scan i made of a 1995 epiphone catalog i have (i have most years from 95-08.) it shows basically the same model as jblespaul's. Check out the knob placement and cutout! Also check the "epi" logo. It goes straight across the headstock, which was correct for the early to mid 90's. It was later that they started to angle them upwards like the gibson logo.

kind of hard to ingnore this evidence. Can someone actually post an epiphone that is actually fake? I am curious what one would look like because everytime one is said to be fake it turns out to be real.