if it cost 250$, can you imagine how much it's actually worth, as far as materials, build, labor, overhead cost, shipping, and realistic profit. The entire online marketing & sales of chibsons are based on cosmetic appeal. They look somewhat like an LP online or from a distance. A more reasonable comparison would be between this and some other guitar within the same 250$ price range.
@@drock2313 I get that. Online scamming is a profitable business in itself, & nothing will stop it as long as consumers do nothing to educate themselves on the higher-end purchases they make. I've bought some 40 or more guitars over the years, and i'd never buy any without personally inspecting & trying it out first --rock on !
@@emartinezr where did I say he's comparing for someone to decide which one to buy? If you have the money & are willing to spend it on an actual LP, then you're not going to consider a 250$ knockoff as a reasonable alternative --get real
I bought my Les Paul replica from a seller on ebay. After putting Grover Deluxe vintage style tuning keys and Epiphone Alnico Pro pickups and wiring harness kit, it sounds amazing. My Pro Guitar Tech crowned, leveled and polished the frets, installed a bone nut, and gave it a full set up. The body and neck are very well made, and are nearly flawless. The real flamed maple top is beautiful, not a photo flame. My 60's Les Paul Standard Heritage Cherry Sunburst Replica plays as good as ANY Gibson Les Paul I have ever played at Guitar Center. Slash would love it just like his Les Paul Replicas that Gibson is now making replicas of. Go figure!
@@carlodelavera9735 my Replica came from a 5 star factory in South Korea and I paid $350 for it as it is much higher quality than the Chinese made replicas. 😁👍
Laughable comment you’re giving your money to some rich guy in China who probably pays 10 year old kids making 10 cents an hour and comparing it to a master luthier who built a Les Paul masterpiece that at that time was better than anything Gibson was making back in the 1980s. Could’ve bought a used Epiphone Les Paul for $275-350 and they sound and play great out of the box.
Slash's LPs likely cost him the same or more as actual ones made by Gibson. He didn't have them made to save money, but to have guitars custom built to his specifications. The guy is worth well over 100million. I doubt he was interested is buying 250$ crap in order to save a few thousand . If you think that, then you just don't understand the difference anyway
Holy mother of amp walls!! By the way: The binding on the side of the neck (covering a portion of the fret end) is the best way to tell a fake Gibson. I’ve never seen any copy use the correct neck binding
Great info. That being said, I have a Chibson Greeny (AliExpress) and am very impressed with it. Has nice weight and the frets are butter smooth. I didn't have to do a single thing with it. I was checking my Greeny as you were going through the video and mine only had a couple of things wrong with it that you pointed out.....I have the reliced version and mine has waffle back style tuners, the back cavity fit is very slightly off and my poker chip is not embossed.......other then that mine seems pretty spot on with no "Les Paul" silk screening, mine has a printed serial number, the hardware feels great, etc. Needless to say it was far far better then I was expecting. If I am being honest it feels as good as my real Les Paul. That being said I do plan to hard stamp "FAKE" into the back of the headstock so it can never be sold as anything else once it leaves my possession
Great video. Other frequent giveaways include: The nut, cut too deep, Epiphone style No fret nibs Pickup rings larger than real ones One piece headstock instead of the wings Epiphone style bridge with flat head screws (not here though) Logo usually off, with a weird "G" angle Chibsons won't stay in tune Bad electronics, volume pots won't clean up the tone very well Cheap wiring, not comparable to CS, not even Std The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that they put a Gibson logo on it. Otherwise it would be just some cheap copy, not-too-bad-for-250$ guitar to experiment with. People who buy them from the Chinese makers know what they're doing. What is really wrong is when they try and sell them, second hand, to fools who have no idea they're being ripped off
protect everyone from knockoffs? I think this is a very good ad for the fake gibsons to save thousands of dollars, if you dont care about the 0.2 inch taller knob.
if you don't care about your investment in the instrument, and being able to get it back when you sell it. Or if you don't care about the quality of the hardware/woods, or playability. If you know how to setup a guitar really well when it has bad hardware....then I guess you could look at it as a way to save thousands....
I'm glad you made the video, but you probably missed the two biggest tells for fake Gibsons. Any Gibson with a bound neck will have fret nibs, and Nashville style tunomatic bridges will never have slots for a flathead screwdriver. Also no Gibson will have a scarf joint. And like you said no ohsc is usually a dead giveaway.
When i sold them in the late 70’s early eighties they were usually the last guitar in the shop that you’d want to drop on your foot. I’ve picked up ones since that were visibly constructed from several pieces (look at the sides) and Pete Townsend pick-up ones that were so light it felt like balsa wood.
Chinese Les Pauls are the greatest thing to happen to the market. Working on guitars is not rocket surgery. Learn how to do a little bit of work and end up worh a fantastic instrument without the bullshit prices. Anyone who spends money on a Gibson is a schmuck unless you're doing it solely for resale. Don't be a schmuck.
Great Video ! You can also check for fret nibs. Gibsons usually have them, unless the guitar has been refretted. Rawk on, greetings from Germany Philipp
@@drock2313 some of the chibsons actualy have fret nibs these days..but they they always used epiphone sized pickup rings...thats the first thing that gives them away as fake imho.
It’s setup properly, the neck feels great, the body honestly feels like vinyl plank flooring. Honestly is easily worth what I paid for it. I just don’t think it should say Gibson on it
Wrong, they aren't getting closer to any actual LP or quality guitar. They are still the same very cheap knockoffs that they have always been. Nothing has changed as far as materials & build. If anything, they just may cosmetically look slightly more convincing online.
Just play an in-authentic G, just don't pay extra for the metric knock-off. If you aren't hung-up on the badge, grab a luthier made single cut from the same general area and it will be a great deal.
I have an Edwards John Sykes model that is a Japanese domestic only, meaning it's not for sale in the American market because it's all but identical to a Gibson Les Paul Custom even the hardware, body weights and dimensions and even the open book headstock. I bought it from the guy who imported it from Japan. and it's a Les Paul in every conceivable way apart from having a stylized split diamond and not having Gibson on the headstock. honestly I would put it up against any Gibson LP and the Q.C. was absolutely meticulous unlike Gibson who are trying to get better but still letting guitars that are slightly above Chibson quality be sold to customers for 5 grand and up.
If you look at the back of the headstock on a real Les Paul you will see that there are actually thin strips of wood on either side of the headstock... these pieces of wood are obvious on any Les Paul without a painted back. Chibsons never have the strips.
as soon as i started watching, i could see the pickup rings are epiphone sized and not gibson. also the headstock wings are too symetrical , and the roundness around the curve around the toggle switch is wrong. but the chibson you have they at least got the knob placements kinda right...and that is rare to fins a chibson with correct placements. most i have seen either line that nearest volume up in line with the tail peice or just above by a small amount. they even fake the kluson tuners and grovers with the name stamps (they too are wrong if you know how they are meant to be. if they do put a serial number on ect, it will never be branded into the guitar (usually just a white print) and the gibson logo is never placed or sized properly. some chibbys even have fret nibs aswell...but its obvious to anyone who is seriously into their gibson "real" les pauls subbed :)
Yes, anyone that is a real Gibson fan will know immediately that it’s not authentic. This is more for those out there that aren’t. I know when I bought my first Gibson (16 years into playing). I definitely could have been fooled by a knock off.
@@drock2313 i get it.....i began playing at 14, but months prior to first getting my first guitar, i had a pic of jimmy pages les paul on my wall , i used to just stare at it everyday...and dream...so i guess i went kinda overboard with my fascination. i have the same attitude towards epiphone les pauls lol...they aint a real les paul in my eyes either....come to think of it, neither are studios and tributes. cant be not having binding. yes i am that anal about what makes a real les paul😀
They're getting harder to spot than before. I (knowingly) bought a chibson lp custom that had fret nibs and correct looking hardware including "grover" tuners, 2 screw truss rod cover etc. The giveaway was the truss rod itself and the poly finish. Could easily see someone getting screwed.
Yeah, in photos this one is hard to spot some of the issues. In person it is easy. That being said, would I have known 20 years ago…..nope, 100% would have gotten taken.
chibsons never use gibson sized pickup rings, they use epiphone sized...first thing that gives it away. look at the screw spacing on a real les paul...then look at your chibby...ill wager your chibby has epiphone spacing on the screws ect...and your also be very lucky if the knob placement is correct. i have dealt with them all..from P4M/bad cat aka jason jia up to cathy ect. none of them make a proper replica...always something that gives it away imho.
Once the chibson thing started I'm sure by now the market is flooded with them by now. Unless it was really bad I doubt I would be able to tell without a side by side comparison.
Remove truss rod cover. No hex nut it’s not real. This is the quickest way for folks not familiar with these. Just to add, I’m surprised your example didn’t have a serial number with Made in the USA. The majority of the ones I’ve seen have a routed and not pressed serial number.
I bought one by accident one time on reverb. Still have it because I don't feel comfortable selling it. Nice guitar. But not perfect. All the hardware is cheap so I'm trying to find parts. Mine has a "made in usa" and serial number.
The only giveaways are giant metric tune-o-matic posts with sharp edges inside the string holes, cheap electronics, and the truss rod has a metric Allen head and not the Gibson nut.
@@PooNinja 800, so enough it was regrettable, but not what I'd have paid for a real one so there's that. I think it has the potential to be an 800 dollar guitar. Build quality on the body and the fretboard is solid.
@@cwwisk i never had a SC that felt right in my hands but i always GAS’d for the lifeson axcess model so i bought a Harley Benton with the floyd and a fender scale length ( probably based on an ESP) and its a really nice guitar (after a pro set up adding 100 bucks to the price) it’s probably my third favorite guitar i own, but i knew what i was getting and had low expectations which were blown away by the quality, it’s about 5 now and no issues to date.
I've purchased 2 knock-offs from China, a LP Custom Orange Widow, and a PRS. The build quality is actually good, but as mentioned the components are junk. Swap them out, and you've got yourself a nice guitar. The craftsmanship coming out of these Chinese factories is quite good actually. These Chibsons aren't those of 10-15 years ago. Remember folks, we're dealing with wood and electronics here, this isn't rocket science lol.
Gibson would do well to just let other guitar makers build their guitars under license. My favorite guitar of all time is the Explorer. Gibson only makes the non-pickguard version in black and white and it costs $2400. Other guitar makers have to make Explorer clones with weird notches in the body shape, but they make better quality versions of that guitar. Les Paul clones are much better quality, have a lot nicer paint jobs and wood laminations. I really cant feel sorry for Gibson, their versions of the Les Paul just look old and provide no options.
Just no to all that. Most explorers are Korina, but they come in a variety of color options. Gibson simply does not use veneers of any kind. All Gibson guitars are finished with the best paints available and nitrocellulose clear coat which is the most painstaking labor intensive finishing process there is. And best of all if it says Gibson on the headstock that means it was made with 100% American labor. Chinese versus American is night and day. for reasons such as these, no guitar holds its value as well as Gibson.
@@JimPooter No... Most explorers are not. They were made with Korina for around 20 guitars from '58-'60... Korina is difficult to source. Most are made of mahogany.
the entire marketing & sales of these knockoffs is to push the fantasy of having a Gibson for practically nothing. Without it they would just be another very cheaply made guitar
career musicians don't use garbage for touring, because they are unreliable . If you're playing regularly on tour, the last thing you want is a bunch of cheap instruments that make your work more difficult
Lack of fret nibs, pick up rings are too wide on the sides, the nut looks wonky and are cut too deep, the GIBSON logo is not angled correctly, the output jack plates are usually too wide, the bridge is usually the screw adjustment rather than the smooth pin inside, the saddles are usually too sharp and have terribly cut notches, the truss rods are the import style allen heads and not a nut, take out the pickups and look and see what they say, most Chibsons have Epiphone branded pickups in them, the wiring for the pickups looks cheap and do not have the shielding sheath over the wiring, the Pots are usually no name crap.....on and on. You missed most of the obvious ones.
Your staff is blind. That white line dividing the open book maple top is the first give away. They haven't fixed that for like 9 years at least. That alone tells how crappy they are.
I guess my question is... and has always been... why does Gibson and our Government continue to allow this? Where is the US Customs Department?? OR the Department of Justice? Federal Trade Commission? Department of Commerce?? Obviously, it's not only musical instruments... FAKE Vuitton and Gucci and been an issue for years.
I think they try in Canada, when this was shipped to be, they taped over the logos. Customs doesn’t inspect enough individual shipments to catch them all. Had they inspected this, it would have been destroyed by them.
China is outside the US laws jurisdiction so there's nothing they can do about the fakes. other than try to catch them at customs, but with the number of containers coming into ports from China they're not going to catch 1/10th of them coming in. and most of the sellers who get their shipments caught and confiscated just send another batch through and chances are they make it in. they have so little money in materials and production they can lose a lot of them and still make money. Cheers
What I don’t understand is how these overseas companies are able to get away with selling these knock offs. They do everything to deceive the buyer in to thinking it’s legit. I have seen a site selling Rickenbacker as well. You would think these US companies would team up and shut this crap down.
these being made in China are outside the jurisdiction of our country's laws. they can basically tell Gibson to pound sand in every available orifice and there's absolutely dick that our government can do.
Oh yes, absolutely. It’s better than a lot of guitars I have played that are $1500. That being said, my issue with this is them using Gibson’s branding, not the guitar itself.
THE single biggest giveaway, that tells you enough without any doubt, is that the Headstock is a 1 piece. The real Gibson will always have one middle piece of wood, and 2 "Wings" on the side. If it doesnt have that, its a fake one!
I think the real point should be that a Gibson Les Paul shouldn’t cost $2500 just because it’s been around for 75 years... that’s for 1/10 of the money of what you pay for a less Paul custom you can get a copy guitar. And I will tell you this, that if you spend 350 on one of these things and get one of the good ones that you will get an absolute complete millimeter by millimeter measurement authentic copy of a Les Paul custom or some other Les Paul guitar. And the very biggest giveaway which is more than cosmetic is that every Les Paul From Gibson ever made breaks at the 19th Fret and the binding goes just passed the 19th threat towards the 18th, and a lot of the cheap knock offs break at the 20th or even lower. But make no mistake, if you spend the extra $150 you will get an absolute solid mahogany real flame maple top real Ebony fretboard with actual real mother of pearl inlay perfect icon guitar.I have been a professional level guitar player for over 20 years and have been playing for 10 years before that, I have never spent over $1000 on a guitar, as never will.. and would only pay $1000 for an absolute American made custom shop level Gibson Les Paul which would never happen. That company is what is wrong with the American economy today. And I will willfully and happily settle for a Chinese imitation at art level of a $3500 guitar and pay $350 for it all day long and be happy even if I have to put another hundred dollars with the hardware on it..
I have no issue with that as long as my ad the Chinese one doesn’t use Gibson’s brand or trademarks to sell it. I know that manufacturing in North America is not inexpensive, and neither is selling through a dealer or distribution network. So there are other costs involved that buying direct from a wholesaler in China don’t incur. But by all means, grab one without a logo and play it :)
I’m sorry, remind me again how much I’m going to spend for that little real Greenie, versus realizing my utter stupidity, and just buying the fake and swapping out all the hardware for the “real“ Chinese made they put on the actual Gibsons…lol…good advertising. Also, why don’t you plug them in and compare both of them?
All I look for when I buy a Les Paul knock off,is if it has good bones, like most budget guitars,most of us mod them with all new & better parts, I've found the chibsons to be the best feeling guitar,compared to other budget guitars in your hands, they look the best, sound the best, come set up the best, and need the least amount of work, if you want to know what a real LP feels like,test drive a chibson 🤣👍
I don’t see the issue. It’s a cheap replica and doesn’t claim to be made in the USA. It’s clear that it is a replica. Also, the knockoff didn’t flip the front pickup so again, not a true greeny replica. Even the Greeny to the left is a replica of the original and very different from Gary Moore’s original.
Exactly, the issue I have is them using Gibson’s trademarked branding to sell it. It’d be good as its own brand, just don’t use Gibson’s brand to sell it
if it cost 250$, can you imagine how much it's actually worth, as far as materials, build, labor, overhead cost, shipping, and realistic profit. The entire online marketing & sales of chibsons are based on cosmetic appeal. They look somewhat like an LP online or from a distance. A more reasonable comparison would be between this and some other guitar within the same 250$ price range.
For sure, my point was to make sure someone doesn’t see on listed for $1500 and buy it online thinking they are buying their first real Les Paul.
@@drock2313 I get that. Online scamming is a profitable business in itself, & nothing will stop it as long as consumers do nothing to educate themselves on the higher-end purchases they make. I've bought some 40 or more guitars over the years, and i'd never buy any without personally inspecting & trying it out first --rock on !
Yeah but he's not "comparing" 8t for someone to decide which one to buy. He's comparing it so that people know how to spot a fake guitar
@@emartinezr where did I say he's comparing for someone to decide which one to buy? If you have the money & are willing to spend it on an actual LP, then you're not going to consider a 250$ knockoff as a reasonable alternative --get real
You should buy that fake dumble to pair with that fake greenie for a full faux rig.
That would be awesome….
@@drock2313 fawesome
@@PooNinjais it still for sale?
@@drock2313 probably
I bought my Les Paul replica from a seller on ebay. After putting Grover Deluxe vintage style tuning keys and Epiphone Alnico Pro pickups and wiring harness kit, it sounds amazing. My Pro Guitar Tech crowned, leveled and polished the frets, installed a bone nut, and gave it a full set up. The body and neck are very well made, and are nearly flawless. The real flamed maple top is beautiful, not a photo flame. My 60's Les Paul Standard Heritage Cherry Sunburst Replica plays as good as ANY Gibson Les Paul I have ever played at Guitar Center. Slash would love it just like his Les Paul Replicas that Gibson is now making replicas of. Go figure!
Kris Derrig guitars were made to the highest level of quality, slash’ replica is the equivalent of a high end R9 not a $150 copy from China
@@carlodelavera9735 my Replica came from a 5 star factory in South Korea and I paid $350 for it as it is much higher quality than the Chinese made replicas.
😁👍
Laughable comment you’re giving your money to some rich guy in China who probably pays 10 year old kids making 10 cents an hour and comparing it to a master luthier who built a Les Paul masterpiece that at that time was better than anything Gibson was making back in the 1980s. Could’ve bought a used Epiphone Les Paul for $275-350 and they sound and play great out of the box.
Amen!!!!@@carlodelavera9735
Slash's LPs likely cost him the same or more as actual ones made by Gibson. He didn't have them made to save money, but to have guitars custom built to his specifications. The guy is worth well over 100million. I doubt he was interested is buying 250$ crap in order to save a few thousand . If you think that, then you just don't understand the difference anyway
Curious about the truss rod end, was it just a cheap Allen wrench or something that resembles Gibson’s?
Holy mother of amp walls!!
By the way: The binding on the side of the neck (covering a portion of the fret end) is the best way to tell a fake Gibson. I’ve never seen any copy use the correct neck binding
Great info.
That being said, I have a Chibson Greeny (AliExpress) and am very impressed with it. Has nice weight and the frets are butter smooth. I didn't have to do a single thing with it. I was checking my Greeny as you were going through the video and mine only had a couple of things wrong with it that you pointed out.....I have the reliced version and mine has waffle back style tuners, the back cavity fit is very slightly off and my poker chip is not embossed.......other then that mine seems pretty spot on with no "Les Paul" silk screening, mine has a printed serial number, the hardware feels great, etc. Needless to say it was far far better then I was expecting. If I am being honest it feels as good as my real Les Paul.
That being said I do plan to hard stamp "FAKE" into the back of the headstock so it can never be sold as anything else once it leaves my possession
Most people aren't going to do that which is how they get out on the market.
Great video. Other frequent giveaways include:
The nut, cut too deep, Epiphone style
No fret nibs
Pickup rings larger than real ones
One piece headstock instead of the wings
Epiphone style bridge with flat head screws (not here though)
Logo usually off, with a weird "G" angle
Chibsons won't stay in tune
Bad electronics, volume pots won't clean up the tone very well
Cheap wiring, not comparable to CS, not even Std
The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that they put a Gibson logo on it. Otherwise it would be just some cheap copy, not-too-bad-for-250$ guitar to experiment with. People who buy them from the Chinese makers know what they're doing. What is really wrong is when they try and sell them, second hand, to fools who have no idea they're being ripped off
Exactly! If it was branded with its own Brand, it would honestly be a great guitar for $250
Isn't there an actual Chibson brand now that has the Chibson name instead of Gibson? Kinda trying to make it a legit guutar?
protect everyone from knockoffs? I think this is a very good ad for the fake gibsons to save thousands of dollars, if you dont care about the 0.2 inch taller knob.
if you don't care about your investment in the instrument, and being able to get it back when you sell it. Or if you don't care about the quality of the hardware/woods, or playability. If you know how to setup a guitar really well when it has bad hardware....then I guess you could look at it as a way to save thousands....
@@RevvAmps Like $25,000 !
I'm glad you made the video, but you probably missed the two biggest tells for fake Gibsons. Any Gibson with a bound neck will have fret nibs, and Nashville style tunomatic bridges will never have slots for a flathead screwdriver. Also no Gibson will have a scarf joint. And like you said no ohsc is usually a dead giveaway.
Great points!
The seller could say that the neck has been refretted, in which case it's a common practice to get rid of the nibs.
@@boshi9 yes, I have seen that on an authentic 90’s Gibson
When i sold them in the late 70’s early eighties they were usually the last guitar in the shop that you’d want to drop on your foot. I’ve picked up ones since that were visibly constructed from several pieces (look at the sides) and Pete Townsend pick-up ones that were so light it felt like balsa wood.
Chinese Les Pauls are the greatest thing to happen to the market. Working on guitars is not rocket surgery. Learn how to do a little bit of work and end up worh a fantastic instrument without the bullshit prices. Anyone who spends money on a Gibson is a schmuck unless you're doing it solely for resale.
Don't be a schmuck.
The gap in the electronics cavity route is a welcome improvement imo, I hate having to use a tool or something to pry it up.
Metric hardware is the usual giveaway for Chibsons.
It’s pretty garbage hardware
All good stuff, but what’s the setup like and what’s it’s like to play ? Are the pickups rubbish?
setup was very bad, we set it up so that it was at least intonated. The pickups in this one actually sounded pretty good.
welp first off they both have different spacing between stop bar and bridge and I believe the angle is less on the right side example?
Just change all the hardware put some good pickups in and you’ll have a nice guitar at a great price. Most people won’t know that it’s not real.
The pickups I this one are actually killer
Great Video !
You can also check for fret nibs.
Gibsons usually have them, unless the guitar has been refretted.
Rawk on, greetings from Germany Philipp
Great thing to point out!
@@drock2313 some of the chibsons actualy have fret nibs these days..but they they always used epiphone sized pickup rings...thats the first thing that gives them away as fake imho.
Dont but counterfeit goods. PERIOD
Couldn’t agree more
Biggest giveaway is if the guitar has no flaws 😄
Setup chibson properly , install the same pickups ,do a blind test and maybe you you’ll have no need to look under the microscope and pay 20x more 😂
It’s setup properly, the neck feels great, the body honestly feels like vinyl plank flooring. Honestly is easily worth what I paid for it. I just don’t think it should say Gibson on it
Hi Derek, great explanations. Videos that help are always appreciated. I will be waiting for the next one. Thanks
No problem! This was a fun one to do. I have to admit the Chibson sounds killer though.
It isn’t “a real problem” by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a “problem” for Gibson-obsessed dorks. 😆
The Chibsons are getting closer and closer in some ways for sure.
I can’t wait for you to try this one
I wouldnt want one even if it was “perfect” id know. And i can’t fool myself
Wrong, they aren't getting closer to any actual LP or quality guitar. They are still the same very cheap knockoffs that they have always been. Nothing has changed as far as materials & build. If anything, they just may cosmetically look slightly more convincing online.
I got the Ace Freely blue burst chibson as a gift from my dad. Its alright. Not as fun to play as a real gibson but for 250 man, its a deal.
Just play an in-authentic G, just don't pay extra for the metric knock-off. If you aren't hung-up on the badge, grab a luthier made single cut from the same general area and it will be a great deal.
Yup, I would have no issue with this guitar if it didn’t have Gibsons brand on it
I have an Edwards John Sykes model that is a Japanese domestic only, meaning it's not for sale in the American market because it's all but identical to a Gibson Les Paul Custom even the hardware, body weights and dimensions and even the open book headstock. I bought it from the guy who imported it from Japan. and it's a Les Paul in every conceivable way apart from having a stylized split diamond and not having Gibson on the headstock. honestly I would put it up against any Gibson LP and the Q.C. was absolutely meticulous unlike Gibson who are trying to get better but still letting guitars that are slightly above Chibson quality be sold to customers for 5 grand and up.
This videos seems to lend credence to the fact that Gibson charges too much for their guitars.
It’s not meant to. There are vast differences, but yes, the Gibson logo on the headstock for a real USA made Gibson is a factor in the price tag
If you look at the back of the headstock on a real Les Paul you will see that there are actually thin strips of wood on either side of the headstock... these pieces of wood are obvious on any Les Paul without a painted back. Chibsons never have the strips.
Yeah, the wings, great point
The pegs on the Tune-o-Matic are a dead giveaway, as Gibsons don't use flathead screw posts.
as soon as i started watching, i could see the pickup rings are epiphone sized and not gibson.
also the headstock wings are too symetrical , and the roundness around the curve around the toggle switch is wrong.
but the chibson you have they at least got the knob placements kinda right...and that is rare to fins a chibson with correct placements.
most i have seen either line that nearest volume up in line with the tail peice or just above by a small amount.
they even fake the kluson tuners and grovers with the name stamps (they too are wrong if you know how they are meant to be.
if they do put a serial number on ect, it will never be branded into the guitar (usually just a white print)
and the gibson logo is never placed or sized properly.
some chibbys even have fret nibs aswell...but its obvious to anyone who is seriously into their gibson "real" les pauls
subbed :)
Yes, anyone that is a real Gibson fan will know immediately that it’s not authentic. This is more for those out there that aren’t. I know when I bought my first Gibson (16 years into playing). I definitely could have been fooled by a knock off.
@@drock2313 i get it.....i began playing at 14, but months prior to first getting my first guitar, i had a pic of jimmy pages les paul on my wall , i used to just stare at it everyday...and dream...so i guess i went kinda overboard with my fascination.
i have the same attitude towards epiphone les pauls lol...they aint a real les paul in my eyes either....come to think of it, neither are studios and tributes.
cant be not having binding.
yes i am that anal about what makes a real les paul😀
They're getting harder to spot than before. I (knowingly) bought a chibson lp custom that had fret nibs and correct looking hardware including "grover" tuners, 2 screw truss rod cover etc. The giveaway was the truss rod itself and the poly finish. Could easily see someone getting screwed.
Yeah, in photos this one is hard to spot some of the issues. In person it is easy. That being said, would I have known 20 years ago…..nope, 100% would have gotten taken.
@@drock2313 You and me both!
chibsons never use gibson sized pickup rings, they use epiphone sized...first thing that gives it away.
look at the screw spacing on a real les paul...then look at your chibby...ill wager your chibby has epiphone spacing on the screws ect...and your also be very lucky if the knob placement is correct.
i have dealt with them all..from P4M/bad cat aka jason jia up to cathy ect.
none of them make a proper replica...always something that gives it away imho.
Once the chibson thing started I'm sure by now the market is flooded with them by now. Unless it was really bad I doubt I would be able to tell without a side by side comparison.
I noticed the Greeny pickups first thing.
Remove truss rod cover. No hex nut it’s not real. This is the quickest way for folks not familiar with these. Just to add, I’m surprised your example didn’t have a serial number with Made in the USA. The majority of the ones I’ve seen have a routed and not pressed serial number.
I bought one by accident one time on reverb. Still have it because I don't feel comfortable selling it. Nice guitar. But not perfect. All the hardware is cheap so I'm trying to find parts. Mine has a "made in usa" and serial number.
The only giveaways are giant metric tune-o-matic posts with sharp edges inside the string holes, cheap electronics, and the truss rod has a metric Allen head and not the Gibson nut.
Ooof that sucks man. Hope you didn’t pay to much.
@@PooNinja 800, so enough it was regrettable, but not what I'd have paid for a real one so there's that. I think it has the potential to be an 800 dollar guitar. Build quality on the body and the fretboard is solid.
@@cwwisk i never had a SC that felt right in my hands but i always GAS’d for the lifeson axcess model so i bought a Harley Benton with the floyd and a fender scale length ( probably based on an ESP) and its a really nice guitar (after a pro set up adding 100 bucks to the price) it’s probably my third favorite guitar i own, but i knew what i was getting and had low expectations which were blown away by the quality, it’s about 5 now and no issues to date.
I've purchased 2 knock-offs from China, a LP Custom Orange Widow, and a PRS. The build quality is actually good, but as mentioned the components are junk. Swap them out, and you've got yourself a nice guitar. The craftsmanship coming out of these Chinese factories is quite good actually. These Chibsons aren't those of 10-15 years ago. Remember folks, we're dealing with wood and electronics here, this isn't rocket science lol.
pretty embarrassing the ali babba top looks way better, no seam sticking out like a sore thumb
It’s pretty different up close. Up close it looks like plastic
Who won Ola's blue amp!?
Koushyar Naserani
Gibson would do well to just let other guitar makers build their guitars under license. My favorite guitar of all time is the Explorer. Gibson only makes the non-pickguard version in black and white and it costs $2400. Other guitar makers have to make Explorer clones with weird notches in the body shape, but they make better quality versions of that guitar. Les Paul clones are much better quality, have a lot nicer paint jobs and wood laminations. I really cant feel sorry for Gibson, their versions of the Les Paul just look old and provide no options.
I think both should exist
Just no to all that. Most explorers are Korina, but they come in a variety of color options. Gibson simply does not use veneers of any kind. All Gibson guitars are finished with the best paints available and nitrocellulose clear coat which is the most painstaking labor intensive finishing process there is. And best of all if it says Gibson on the headstock that means it was made with 100% American labor. Chinese versus American is night and day. for reasons such as these, no guitar holds its value as well as Gibson.
I wish someone would. Even better since Hamer is no longer around someone should make a hamer standard replica.
@@JimPooter
No... Most explorers are not. They were made with Korina for around 20 guitars from '58-'60... Korina is difficult to source. Most are made of mahogany.
Headstock angle is sometimes wrong.
Yeah, I have seen those too
cheap knockoffs like these regularly have angle, contour and aliment issues
And how does the head stock angle impact the tone or capability of staying in tune?
I wish they stop puting Gibson in the headsotck and just sells good les pauls, with a proprietary "brand". Cause they look good, and are cheap.
That would be very smart of them.
the entire marketing & sales of these knockoffs is to push the fantasy of having a Gibson for practically nothing. Without it they would just be another very cheaply made guitar
$250? if i was a touring artist i would totally buy some these just to smash on stage
Hahah, that would be awesome
career musicians don't use garbage for touring, because they are unreliable . If you're playing regularly on tour, the last thing you want is a bunch of cheap instruments that make your work more difficult
@@triphandle3608 i said to smash..
Routes usually are very coarse,compared to gibsons.
These ones aren’t too bad, it is a bit sharper on the edges though
I may know a thing or two about fakes......
I bet you do ;)
Lack of fret nibs, pick up rings are too wide on the sides, the nut looks wonky and are cut too deep, the GIBSON logo is not angled correctly, the output jack plates are usually too wide, the bridge is usually the screw adjustment rather than the smooth pin inside, the saddles are usually too sharp and have terribly cut notches, the truss rods are the import style allen heads and not a nut, take out the pickups and look and see what they say, most Chibsons have Epiphone branded pickups in them, the wiring for the pickups looks cheap and do not have the shielding sheath over the wiring, the Pots are usually no name crap.....on and on.
You missed most of the obvious ones.
I was actually shocked at how good the pickups were in it to be honest. But thanks for all the tips of what to watch for
Your staff is blind. That white line dividing the open book maple top is the first give away. They haven't fixed that for like 9 years at least. That alone tells how crappy they are.
I guess my question is... and has always been... why does Gibson and our Government continue to allow this? Where is the US Customs Department?? OR the Department of Justice? Federal Trade Commission? Department of Commerce?? Obviously, it's not only musical instruments... FAKE Vuitton and Gucci and been an issue for years.
I think they try in Canada, when this was shipped to be, they taped over the logos. Customs doesn’t inspect enough individual shipments to catch them all. Had they inspected this, it would have been destroyed by them.
China is outside the US laws jurisdiction so there's nothing they can do about the fakes. other than try to catch them at customs, but with the number of containers coming into ports from China they're not going to catch 1/10th of them coming in. and most of the sellers who get their shipments caught and confiscated just send another batch through and chances are they make it in. they have so little money in materials and production they can lose a lot of them and still make money. Cheers
Oh dang. Great advice
Thanks Nick!
There is only one Gibson feature that Chibsons don’t seem to fake. Every other spec that novices quote, I’ve seen done.
What I don’t understand is how these overseas companies are able to get away with selling these knock offs. They do everything to deceive the buyer in to thinking it’s legit. I have seen a site selling Rickenbacker as well. You would think these US companies would team up and shut this crap down.
these being made in China are outside the jurisdiction of our country's laws. they can basically tell Gibson to pound sand in every available orifice and there's absolutely dick that our government can do.
That Cheeny has a beautiful bamboo top to it.
No ida what it is, it doesn’t really feel like wood
for the price, it is ok
Oh yes, absolutely. It’s better than a lot of guitars I have played that are $1500. That being said, my issue with this is them using Gibson’s branding, not the guitar itself.
@@drock2313 yes, with a original Name
THE single biggest giveaway, that tells you enough without any doubt, is that the Headstock is a 1 piece. The real Gibson will always have one middle piece of wood, and 2 "Wings" on the side. If it doesnt have that, its a fake one!
what if the guitar is attached to your mum does that count?
I think the real point should be that a Gibson Les Paul shouldn’t cost $2500 just because it’s been around for 75 years... that’s for 1/10 of the money of what you pay for a less Paul custom you can get a copy guitar. And I will tell you this, that if you spend 350 on one of these things and get one of the good ones that you will get an absolute complete millimeter by millimeter measurement authentic copy of a Les Paul custom or some other Les Paul guitar. And the very biggest giveaway which is more than cosmetic is that every Les Paul From Gibson ever made breaks at the 19th Fret and the binding goes just passed the 19th threat towards the 18th, and a lot of the cheap knock offs break at the 20th or even lower. But make no mistake, if you spend the extra $150 you will get an absolute solid mahogany real flame maple top real Ebony fretboard with actual real mother of pearl inlay perfect icon guitar.I have been a professional level guitar player for over 20 years and have been playing for 10 years before that, I have never spent over $1000 on a guitar, as never will.. and would only pay $1000 for an absolute American made custom shop level Gibson Les Paul which would never happen. That company is what is wrong with the American economy today. And I will willfully and happily settle for a Chinese imitation at art level of a $3500 guitar and pay $350 for it all day long and be happy even if I have to put another hundred dollars with the hardware on it..
I have no issue with that as long as my ad the Chinese one doesn’t use Gibson’s brand or trademarks to sell it. I know that manufacturing in North America is not inexpensive, and neither is selling through a dealer or distribution network. So there are other costs involved that buying direct from a wholesaler in China don’t incur. But by all means, grab one without a logo and play it :)
Also, you deserve to be had if you think that’s a real Greenie
So, cut it in half and see how its made 😅
Honestly considering it
Remove the truss rod cover first and check for 4 mm Allen screw truss rod! fake every time done. Don't make it so hard!
Great tip!
How to identify a fake Gibson: It's $200.
... and has better QC
Yeah, the problem comes in when someone tries to pass it off on Craigslist as real and cons some kid out of $1200-1500
... guitar making is not rocket science, even if they try to make you believe so.Perfect copies can be made using CNC machines.
and the CNC made guitar is usually much more stable and less expensive.
if i hit my hand on an emo i would get more cuts then on a chinese gibson.
I’m sorry, remind me again how much I’m going to spend for that little real Greenie, versus realizing my utter stupidity, and just buying the fake and swapping out all the hardware for the “real“ Chinese made they put on the actual Gibsons…lol…good advertising. Also, why don’t you plug them in and compare both of them?
All I look for when I buy a Les Paul knock off,is if it has good bones, like most budget guitars,most of us mod them with all new & better parts, I've found the chibsons to be the best feeling guitar,compared to other budget guitars in your hands, they look the best, sound the best, come set up the best, and need the least amount of work, if you want to know what a real LP feels like,test drive a chibson 🤣👍
I am certain most of the Chibson market is driven by content creation!
It’s easy when you have them side by side, but for the unexperienced person who doesn’t… not as easy.
yup, that was the reason we wanted to make the video, to help new comers to Les Pauls not get taken.
I'd choose the Korean one everytime. Namastè.
Remove rod cover, no brass nut = NOT a gibson!!! There i saved you 10 minutes
I don’t see the issue. It’s a cheap replica and doesn’t claim to be made in the USA. It’s clear that it is a replica.
Also, the knockoff didn’t flip the front pickup so again, not a true greeny replica.
Even the Greeny to the left is a replica of the original and very different from Gary Moore’s original.
It has the name on it, it's a counterfeit not a replica.
Exactly, the issue I have is them using Gibson’s trademarked branding to sell it. It’d be good as its own brand, just don’t use Gibson’s brand to sell it
If you can't tell a real Gibson from a fake Gibson, you probably shouldn't be buying a Gibson anyway.
No way I would have known the difference when I was buying my first Les Paul.
@@drock2313in any commodity realm, if it's priced too good to be true, it usually is