PeeWee
10-15-2006, 04:11 PM
There seems to be a rash of these things popping up everywhere you look these days and last week I finally saw one up close and personal.
While having a nut shaped and cut at my fav tech's shop in Baltimore, I noticed what appeared to be a Custom Shop Zaak Wylde Les Paul Custom in "green bullseye". My tech told me to check it out and pulled it off the wall. He then told me it was a Chinese fake and had been bought by the wife of one of his customers as a gift to her husband. The poor guy didn't have the heart to tell her that it wasn't what it appeared to be and brought it in to see if it could be salvaged in any way.
I'm no expert, but I do have a pretty keen eye for detail. I have never seen such a piss-poor attempt to forge something in my life! I examined the guitar for over 20 minutes and couldn't believe what I was seeing -
1.) The Gibson logo was placed in the wrong position, more like the graphic on a race car, appearing to be moving "at speed" rather than angled left to right toward the treble side point.
2.) The "diamond" inlay on the peghead was soooo off center that it was amazing; the bass side literally was touching the washers for the machines and in some places was actually covered by them.
3.) The shape of the cleavage in the headstock was completely incorrect, as were the points on the wings, which were more rounded than pointed. The entire shape of the peghead was off, with the bass side of the carve looking more like that of a Fender and the treble side very close to an original Gibson. Kinda like when your barber gets two different lengths when trimming your sideburns!
4.) There was what appeared to be a Gibson Custom decal on the back of the headstock, just above the join with the back of the neck. After really looking hard at it, I noticed the word "SooJIM" in small print inside the decal between the words Gibson & Custom.
5.) The neck featured a maple fretboard, which isn't odd, but the thickness of the neck itself was similar to that of a Hofner Beatle Bass; very thin and without taper. The guitar as a whole was unplayable, as the fretwork was of extremely poor quality.
And these were just the issues on a part of the guitar!! I guess to someone not familar with Gibson's work or their features this could go un-noticed and bless his wife's heart for thinking of him, but the poor gal got taken to the cleaners and back. I didn't ask what she'd paid, but I have a feeling that she paid Custom Shop money for this piece.
Has anyone else ever seen something like this up close? It's just amazing.........
While having a nut shaped and cut at my fav tech's shop in Baltimore, I noticed what appeared to be a Custom Shop Zaak Wylde Les Paul Custom in "green bullseye". My tech told me to check it out and pulled it off the wall. He then told me it was a Chinese fake and had been bought by the wife of one of his customers as a gift to her husband. The poor guy didn't have the heart to tell her that it wasn't what it appeared to be and brought it in to see if it could be salvaged in any way.
I'm no expert, but I do have a pretty keen eye for detail. I have never seen such a piss-poor attempt to forge something in my life! I examined the guitar for over 20 minutes and couldn't believe what I was seeing -
1.) The Gibson logo was placed in the wrong position, more like the graphic on a race car, appearing to be moving "at speed" rather than angled left to right toward the treble side point.
2.) The "diamond" inlay on the peghead was soooo off center that it was amazing; the bass side literally was touching the washers for the machines and in some places was actually covered by them.
3.) The shape of the cleavage in the headstock was completely incorrect, as were the points on the wings, which were more rounded than pointed. The entire shape of the peghead was off, with the bass side of the carve looking more like that of a Fender and the treble side very close to an original Gibson. Kinda like when your barber gets two different lengths when trimming your sideburns!
4.) There was what appeared to be a Gibson Custom decal on the back of the headstock, just above the join with the back of the neck. After really looking hard at it, I noticed the word "SooJIM" in small print inside the decal between the words Gibson & Custom.
5.) The neck featured a maple fretboard, which isn't odd, but the thickness of the neck itself was similar to that of a Hofner Beatle Bass; very thin and without taper. The guitar as a whole was unplayable, as the fretwork was of extremely poor quality.
And these were just the issues on a part of the guitar!! I guess to someone not familar with Gibson's work or their features this could go un-noticed and bless his wife's heart for thinking of him, but the poor gal got taken to the cleaners and back. I didn't ask what she'd paid, but I have a feeling that she paid Custom Shop money for this piece.
Has anyone else ever seen something like this up close? It's just amazing.........