Is this 2005 Gibson Les Paul real?

[Soundshooter]

Hey everyone!
I could purchase a Gibson Les Paul today and have some pictures of it, although they are not that great. The more I look at them, the more I get suspicious whether or not this Les Paul might actually be a fake. The body shape look good to me but the knobs are wrong and there are no fret nibs. What about that colored serial number? I hope you can help me out, I am not looking at this guitar before I am certain it is real.

Thanks in advance and many greeting from Germany!
Sebastian

 

[noodlingguitars]

Looks like 100% authentic Chibson. Backplates /w sticker is an immediate giveaway (not saying someone can't put a Chibson sticker and wrong plastics on... but hey. I digress).

Other things that look wrong:
- Back plates - mentioned above (they should be black on this model in 2005 btw).
- Bridge - looking at pic 8, looks like he changed it out to some other type of ABR so that he can use convert studs, but 2005 should've come with a Nashville bridge IIRC.
- Tailpiece - look at the studs - Chibson rounded top studs
- Knobs - you already noted.
- Pic 6 looks like your typical cheap Chinese veneer pretending to be mahogany back. I mean.. let's be honest, even the veneer looks like crap.
- Inlays - shouldn't be sharp - should be rounded edges.
- Serial number - they're not colored like that. Incorrect font as well. Dead giveaway.

List goes on... but yeah... I'd stay away from this one.

 

[Soundshooter]

Thank you so much for your help! Yes, I had a bad feeling about this one. I'm not going to even check it out. I will inform the seller about this and hope that he doesn't sell it to someone who doesn't know any better.

 

[drmmrr55]

If anything, the "striped African mahogany" on the back of the body is a dead giveaway. Every Les Paul Standard I've ever seen does not use that wood. Some Epiphones use that wood, but not a real Gibson.

 

[musicmaniac]

Run Forest run!!!

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

Just for the hell of it:

08015550

The guitar would have been made the 801st day of 2005.
That was a very good day for assembling wood.
Although in July 2005, serial numbers went to 9 digits.
The 801st day is much later than July...

Need anything else?

 

[Gibsonrocknroll]

 

[Soundshooter]

Just for the hell of it:

08015550

The guitar would have been made the 801st day of 2005.
That was a very good day for assembling wood.
Although in July 2005, serial numbers went to 9 digits.
The 801st day is much later than July...

Need anything else?

Oh boy, that should have told me from the start!
Thank you all for helping me out! That's a great community over here!

 

[01GT Eibach]

It seems that 2004-2006 was a hot bed for the Chibson factory. You see a lot of guitars with those years.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

It seems that 2004-2006 was a hot bed for the Chibson factory. You see a lot of guitars with those years.

Good wood years too!

 

[MP4-22]

fake

 

[crazy levi]

I made it as far as the first pic I looked at, that ridiculous serial number font on the back.

 

[InTheEvening]

Just for the hell of it:

08015550

The guitar would have been made the 801st day of 2005.
That was a very good day for assembling wood.
Although in July 2005, serial numbers went to 9 digits.
The 801st day is much later than July...

Need anything else?

Lol I was staring at that 801 confused for a good 5 minutes thinking I had gone crazy. That def raised red flags…among the other things mentioned.

 

[Findthetone]

You guys notice the bridge posts? When did they move from the non-slotted on the counterfeits?

 

[noodlingguitars]

You guys notice the bridge posts? When did they move from the non-slotted on the counterfeits?

Hrmmm I had assumed the seller swapped those out as part of his ruse... but never looked into (and never will) buying one of these things.

 

[ElChoad]

All I had to see was the serial number. There was no 801st day in 2005. Or any other year...

 

[Azmedian]

100% Fake

 

[dimeified]

Please let us know how the seller responds, I'm curious.

 

[01GT Eibach]

Please let us know how the seller responds, I'm curious.

I bet the seller knows. In that one pic, the seller has an Engl half-stack, not some little Boss Katana or Fender Mustang combo. Oh, yeah, he definitely knows ...

 

[KS 5150]

I don't know. Based on the serial #, it's perfectly plausible this guitar was indeed made on the 801st day of 2005