Last year saw “the largest seizure of fake musical instruments in history,” as U.S. Border Protection officers seized $18 million worth of fake Gibson guitars. The seizure highlights the costly issues that fraudulent electric guitars present to both manufacturers and consumers.
The interception of over 3,000 wannabe Gibsons came after U.S. Customs collaborated with Gibson, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The number of agencies involved demonstrates how intricate the operation was.
Recognizing that the everyday player may need a little help spotting a fake, YouTuber Robert Baker has enlisted all-star help for a useful video. With the assistance of Gibson’s Tom Murphy and Joe Bonamassa at the fore, the team of guitar aficionados have examined a fake Les Paul to pinpoint the giveaway signs that players should be on the lookout for.
It seems Baker has personal experience on the line here. The fake guitar in question is from his own collection.
“A lot of us have friends who have, unfortunately, purchased some of these thinking they were real,” Baker says. “It’s just heartbreaking to see someone spend so much money on something fake.”
However, he says there are “subtle things that are wrong with these,” that, if identified, can spare other guitarists similar levels of heartache.
Bonamassa and Murphy are joined by a number of other specialists who identify faults over the length of the 44-minute video.
The guitar's headstock quickly comes under scrutiny, with Bonamassa calling it “Way off.” Gibson has been notoriously possessive of its headstock shape and sued Ibanez over the headstock shape on its budget Les Paul builds in 1977.
The headstock in question here relates to its shape, the fact that the logo on the headstock is a decal rather than a silkscreen. The body, meanwhile, sports a striking white binding that stands out. In this case, for the wrong reasons.
“I don’t know of any Gibson guitars that possess that,” says Murphy of that latter feature.
Other facets of the guitar to come under fire include its finish, the quality of its veneer, its truss-rod cover, cavity, tuner machine spacing, uncharacteristically small side dots, and beyond that, the shape of the pickguard, height and angle of the nut, and the position and shape of its control knobs. All these, the eagle-eyed team agrees, betray its imposter status. Clearly, they needed a harder challenge.
Great lengths are undertaken later in the video, including slicing a chunk of the body off with a razor blade. In previous cases, the depth of the veneer has served as an indicator of a guitar's status as a real or imposter.
It’s an extreme measure, granted, and one no sane person would take if there was even the faintest belief that the guitar could be genuine, but the task force weren’t in the mood for half measures, it would seem.
Of course, the power of hindsight is a mighty thing, but even a glance at the below image published by US Customs and Border Control showcasing a portion of its haul, show that razor blades aren't always necessary. The guitar on the far left with the cream finish and bright edging in particular, feels like an instant give away based solely on the strangeness of its colorway.
Sure, Gibson has been guilty of finishing some of its LPs with rather questionable paint jobs, but this one seems a bridge too far. The Zakk Wylde Bullseye imposter, meanwhile, is let down by its lack of gold hardware — legitimate models feature a gold bridge and tailpiece.
However, not everyone is as well versed these details, and amateurs — including parents shopping for birthday presents — are sitting ducks without proper guidance. To that end, Gibson has promised to “caution customers about fraudulent products sold on e-commerce platforms and other sources” in the wake of last year's multi-million-dollar seizure.
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