epiphone les paul custom from china ?

[yr990099]

hi..i have just purchased an epiphone les paul custom black from ebay for £150 brand new with £30 postage..the seller said that its coming directly from epiphone factory in china ..im a bit worried that the guitar is fake as the price i paid was quiet low for a brand new epiphone..do chinese also make epiphone or is it just the koreans who make the genuine epiphones ? please help..
here is the link
EPIPHONE LES PAUL BLACK CUSTOM GUITAR on eBay, also Epiphone, Electric, Guitars, Musical Instruments (end time 09-Jun-08 22:42:09 BST)

[bildozr]

Epiphone is strictly in china now.

I dont know about you, but that sounds like it fell off the truck if you know what I mean.
But it looks genuine.

[portablefrank]

no clear indication from the pics, shipped direct from the factory normally means fake or at least "out the back door" though...have you paid for it yet?

[kaptinkrunch]

When you buy from China you have NO WAY of knowing that the guitar in the picture is even the guitar you are being sent. They could post pictures of genuine Epiphones and then send counterfeits.

I know I say this alot, but it bears repeating. In my 21 years of playing guitar I have purchased 19 guitars (total 6 string & bass) of those only 2 were purchased with out my having played them before hand. One was a MIM Phat Stratocaster Olympic Whitew/a Floyd Rose, best non-Les Paul guitar I've ever owned the other was my current Epi BB which is the 2nd best guitar I've ever owned period. In both cases my brother in law who works in a pawn shop was able to get them for me for 10% above what they took them in for (usually they put them out @33%). So that means GREAT prices on good guitars. Paul (my brother in law) is a guitar player and he knows what I like so if he sees a REALLY nice guitar that plays well he calls me I pay w/a credit card over the phone and the next time my wife visits her sister (5 hours away) I pick up my guitar or he brings it to me. But unless you are lucky enough to have a situation where there is some one you can trust to check out the guitar I strongly recomend only purchasing a guitar after you have played it. And I am not above going back and tryin' a guitar a couple times before I make up my mind!

I hope it is genuine, but that price seems very low for such a guitar.

[GNR4EVR]

Heres another of his.. Its fake, the volume/tone knobs are in the wrong place, so are the back plates.

I wouldnt trust him at all if he sells stuff like this.

New Epiphone Zakk Wylde Bullseye Les Paul Custom Guitar on eBay, also Epiphone, Electric, Guitars, Musical Instruments (end time 11-Jun-08 20:25:37 BST)

[dennistruckdriver]

Originally Posted by yr990099

....please help....

Seems like you are asking too late.
I hope it turns out to be real. Good luck.

[gibiphone]

Originally Posted by yr990099

hi..i have just purchased an epiphone les paul custom black from ebay for £150 brand new with £30 postage..the seller said that its coming directly from epiphone factory in china ..im a bit worried that the guitar is fake as the price i paid was quiet low for a brand new epiphone..do chinese also make epiphone or is it just the koreans who make the genuine epiphones ? please help..
here is the link
EPIPHONE LES PAUL BLACK CUSTOM GUITAR on eBay, also Epiphone, Electric, Guitars, Musical Instruments (end time 09-Jun-08 22:42:09 BST)

A recent post from Diceman summed up this question:

"Factory Direct" = FAKE
Just to make this a little more "out in the open," our MyLesPaul forum inside guy from Gibson (with appropriate handle of "Inside Guy") stated the following in another thread today:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inside Guy View Post
For the record, Epiphone does not sell directly from the factory in China.
Some more good research was done by member Gibiphone, who also posted today that:

Quote:
Originally Posted by gibiphone View Post
Heard back from Gibson... They state categorically that no guitars from the Gibson Epiphone factory go anywhere but back to Tennessee for eventual invoicing to authorized dealers.
Moral of this story is: DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM AN EBAY SELLER WHO SAYS THAT THEY WILL SHIP YOU A GUITAR DIRECTLY FROM THE EPIPHONE FACTORY - IT SIMPLY DOES NOT HAPPEN.

In addition, the seemingly legit "invoices" that may accompany these guitars are fraudulent as well. Gibiphone had also checked a forum member's invoice with Gibson - they said that it was not authentic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gibiphone View Post
...that invoice you were given by the first seller was as phoney as the git you ended up with...
I just wanted to get this right out in front - for people to find, and as an easy reference thread to link when the question arises again.

Thanks to McVeyMac, who found this out the hard way - but made all of the information that he'd gathered available to all of us here on the forum - to Gibiphone for the research - and to Inside Guy for the inside info.
__________________

Sites such as www.paylessguitars.com and MUSOLAND are a couple of places where you can look at some pretty authentic looking (but FAKE!) Epiphone forgeries...


Sorry for your pain. Can you stop the transaction? Do so!!

gibiphone

just north of the mexican line

[gibiphone]

Originally Posted by gibiphone

A recent post from Diceman summed up this question:

"Factory Direct" = FAKE
Just to make this a little more "out in the open," our MyLesPaul forum inside guy from Gibson (with appropriate handle of "Inside Guy") stated the following in another thread today:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inside Guy View Post
For the record, Epiphone does not sell directly from the factory in China.
Some more good research was done by member Gibiphone, who also posted today that:

Quote:
Originally Posted by gibiphone View Post

Heard back from Gibson... They state categorically that no guitars from the Gibson Epiphone factory go anywhere but back to Tennessee for eventual invoicing to authorized dealers.
Moral of this story is: DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM AN EBAY SELLER WHO SAYS THAT THEY WILL SHIP YOU A GUITAR DIRECTLY FROM THE EPIPHONE FACTORY - IT SIMPLY DOES NOT HAPPEN.

In addition, the seemingly legit "invoices" that may accompany these guitars are fraudulent as well. Gibiphone had also checked a forum member's invoice with Gibson - they said that it was not authentic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gibiphone View Post
...that invoice you were given by the first seller was as phoney as the git you ended up with...
I just wanted to get this right out in front - for people to find, and as an easy reference thread to link when the question arises again.

Thanks to McVeyMac, who found this out the hard way - but made all of the information that he'd gathered available to all of us here on the forum - to Gibiphone for the research - and to Inside Guy for the inside info.
__________________

Sites such as www.paylessguitars.com and MUSOLAND are a couple of places where you can look at some pretty authentic looking (but FAKE!) Epiphone forgeries...


Sorry for your pain. Can you stop the transaction? Do so!!

gibiphone

just north of the mexican line

BTW please take this advice with a "grain of salt". Some would accuse me of interfering with a sale

gibiphone

just north of the mexican line

[Big_dawg]

well someones complained the listings have been removed...

Did the OP get their money back..??

[GNR4EVR]

That would be me. I complained about the guitar. I have made it my personal grudge and mission to get these guitars off the market, mostly because
1). If it were me buying, I want what I am paying for and
2). These people are taking food out of the mouths of hard working people wherever they are and in todays world with the cost of gas and food, they cant afford to have some schmuck show up and snatch away what they work so hard for.
Maybe they dont know its fake, but that doesnt matter, one 400-500.00 guitar can buy a lot of food for some hard working folks.
I encourage everyone here to do the same.
These sellers can hate me all they want, but IMO, this world lacks folks with principal. And they have no idea what they are doing to people by doing this.

[Big_dawg]

hey well done...

Normally when stuffs reportedto ebay as fakes they seem to have a policy of totally ignoring it...

[Kennyh]

Makes me very sad to hear of people getting ripped off like this. Both eBay and the guitar companies (all of them) need to do more to educate would be buyers about how to spot fakes. But to be honest, the main problem is that most of us find it difficult to resist a bargain.

I've never bought a guitar without playing it, and can't see myself ever doing so unless, as in kaptinkrunch's case, someone I trusted had played it and circumstances meant that getting a good deal on a great guitar meant trusting their judgement.

But I guess these days more and more people buy guitars online without even having seen them, let alone played them. In those circumstances the best you can do is make absolutely certain that the seller is genuine before jumping in credit card first.

yr99099 you don't say how you paid for the guitar, but if you used PayPal, you should contact them directly and if you paid by credit card, contact your cc company and report it as fraud.

[Kennyh]

Forgot to say, good on you GNR4EVR for complaining and for taking that attitude. If we all do the same, we might, eventually, make a difference.

[dennistruckdriver]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

That would be me. I complained about the guitar. I have made it my personal grudge and mission to get these guitars off the market.....
These sellers can hate me all they want, but IMO, this world lacks folks with principal. And they have no idea what they are doing to people by doing this.

I have made some on this forum dislike me by my having and stating that same ideal.
I agree with you 100 percent! There are threads on this site where the pros and cons of these cheap-ass pieces of firewood are debated hotly! I do not visit those threads anymore, rather, I let the id--ts debate their id--tic thoughts with each other. By their doing so, they stay away from more mature and useful discussions regarding REAL, VALUABLE guitars.
Keep up the good work, Gunner.......

[McVeyMac]

Originally Posted by yr990099

hi..i have just purchased an epiphone les paul custom black from ebay for £150 brand new with £30 postage..the seller said that its coming directly from epiphone factory in china ..im a bit worried that the guitar is fake as the price i paid was quiet low for a brand new epiphone..do chinese also make epiphone or is it just the koreans who make the genuine epiphones ? please help..
here is the link
EPIPHONE LES PAUL BLACK CUSTOM GUITAR on eBay, also Epiphone, Electric, Guitars, Musical Instruments (end time 09-Jun-08 22:42:09 BST)

Get out of it, get your money back and start over again from a reliable source. You are not getting what you think you are with this guitar.

[GNR4EVR]

Looks like ebay has allowed one guitar I reported to be reposted, look at this P.O.S.! I cant believe they allowed it to repost.

New Epiphone Les Paul Custom White Electric Guitar - eBay (item 250257906160 end time Jun-13-08 18:03:24 PDT)

[GNR4EVR]

[Oh, and the same seller shows up with a fake Zakk Wilde buzzsaw...
Funny how the auction header pics for both are with the guitar turned upside down...

New Epiphone Zakk Wylde Buzzsaw Les Paul Custom Guitar - eBay (item 250257905591 end time Jun-13-08 18:01:27 PDT)

[portablefrank]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

[Oh, and the same seller shows up with a fake Zakk Wilde buzzsaw...
Funny how the auction header pics for both are with the guitar turned upside down...

New Epiphone Zakk Wylde Buzzsaw Les Paul Custom Guitar - eBay (item 250257905591 end time Jun-13-08 18:01:27 PDT)

does the TRC actually say Zakk Wyide?

we should just keep reporting his items, hopefully eBay will keep removing them

[dennistruckdriver]

Originally Posted by portablefrank

does the TRC actually say Zakk Wyide?

we should just keep reporting his items.....

I did. You guys do the same.

[yr990099]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

Looks like ebay has allowed one guitar I reported to be reposted, look at this P.O.S.! I cant believe they allowed it to repost.

New Epiphone Les Paul Custom White Electric Guitar - eBay (item 250257906160 end time Jun-13-08 18:03:24 PDT)

hi..how do you know that this guitar is fake . it looks genuine to me and people have bid on this already.

[McVeyMac]

Originally Posted by yr990099

hi..how do you know that this guitar is fake . it looks genuine to me and people have bid on this already.

"It is shipped from Chinese manufactory, so please understand such a longer time."

If it ships direct from China, it is a fake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

No offense to any Chinese or Chinese American members, but the listing is full of what I refer to as Chinglish "if you interested in that case you can ask me..."

[dennistruckdriver]

Originally Posted by yr990099

hi..how do you know that this guitar is fake . it looks genuine to me and people have bid on this already.

There are guys on this forum who have YEARS of experience judging good fakes from bad fakes and fakes from the real deal.
I, myself, would ask here first before bidding on ANYTHING that was even the slightest bit questionable.
I would not mind if threads regarding fakes (except for threads warning about potential fake websites and eBay auctions) were all deleted.
Debating the 'good points' of fakes is rather oxymoronic, if not plain moronic.

[portablefrank]

Originally Posted by dennistruckdriver

I did. You guys do the same.

I did earlier and it's still up GRRRRR

ideas people?

would it be bad to message all the individual bidders?

[GNR4EVR]

I wouldnt bother contacting him, it would be a waste, since even the user name is probably fake too. In case anyone is wondering why I thing these two are fakes, feel free to look at pics from an Epiphone and Gibson site and compare the two, heres what I see:
1). The forward strap lug is in the wrong place, it should be directly above the top screw of the 3 way switch cover, look at the real one then look at his. Youll see what I mean.
2). Look at the diamond shaped volume/tone control knob cover on the back. Look at the real one, then look at his.
3). Look at the face of the guitar... ALL Epis and Gibby's, WITHOUT EXCEPTION have the top volume knob just below the bridge. ALL of his are forward of it.
4). Ships direct from China "Manufactory" what kind of crap engrish is this?
5) Last but not least, look at the idiots name and feedback count, cmon, folks,
genuine michael? 5 positive feedbacks? Not a whole lot of history here.

No way youre gonna get me to buy from this thief...

[portablefrank]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

I wouldnt bother contacting him

i dont mean contact the seller

contact the bidders?

[GNR4EVR]

Oh, I see. They scramble the bidders names now so you cant. I fired off an email to Gibson about this, lets see if big daddy can give em' a spankin'..

[portablefrank]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

Oh, I see. They scramble the bidders names now so you cant. I fired off an email to Gibson about this, lets see if big daddy can give em' a spankin'..

[GNR4EVR]

Originally Posted by portablefrank

Gibsons reply:

Hi,



Thanks for the email, and for the information. We appreciate your interest in helping us maintain the Gibson name. This information will be forwarded to our legal department. Thank you!


Gibson Customer Service

1-800-4GIBSON

service@gibson.com

[Robotchicken09]

Originally Posted by mcveymac

"it Is Shipped From Chinese Manufactory, So Please Understand Such A Longer Time."

If It Ships Direct From China, It Is A Fake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

No Offense To Any Chinese Or Chinese American Members, But The Listing Is Full Of What I Refer To As Chinglish "if You Interested In That Case You Can Ask Me..."

Lmao

[Kølabrennern]

Originally Posted by GNR4EVR

3). Look at the face of the guitar... ALL Epis and Gibby's, WITHOUT EXCEPTION have the top volume knob just below the bridge. ALL of his are forward of it.

Wrong. There is at least one exception: Mid-90s Korean Standards from the Samick plant. I have a '95, and should know.

Anyhow, It's a great thing that you're trying to prevent these fakes from being sold to kids that think they're the real deal, but do try to get all your information right, will you...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/DSC_3315.jpg