Black Beauty 82 Custom, hand signed by Slash...

[sunsetstrip]

Hey guys, I'm new to this neck of the woods so good to meet you all!

I picked up my gibson in a cash converter a couple of months ago, serial number etc all reads fine, and there are the logos etc aplenty on the headstock; one, is a gold imprint of a lady with a guitar, if anyone knows what that is? If the serial number is to be believed, its an 82 Black Beauty Supreme, complete with abalone logo and planet on the headstock, and elaborate inlays. The dealer didn't know anything about guitars, and I bought it for next to nothing. (£200)

Naturally my main concern obviously is that it might be fake. If anyone can tell me what to check for, I'd be much obliged. To be honest, it LOOKS absolutely convincing, and sounds damn impressive. The Gib shows rust on the tail stop, and has all original pots as far as I can tell for an 82 model, as well as the edging looking pretty yellow with age. It has grover tuners, but I can't tell what the pick-ups are. They're rusted up pretty good.

So I'm wondering if it's fake -- but also, I took it with me when I met SLash last month (he wanted to steal it!) and he signed it for me in gold marker. But its already starting to dull, so should get it laquered or something to preserve the signature? It's a tricky one, huh...?

So two questions really -- how to tell if the guitar is genuine, and what should I do about the signature?

Thanks again everybody! Opinions appreciated

[LoKi]

Hard to tell if its fake without pictures...

The Slash signature, just get one of those clear vinyl things to put over it so it doesn't fade. I forget who makes em, but they are out there just for that purpose...

See if you can get some pics!

[sunsetstrip]

Thanks for replying! I'll try and post some pictures when I get home