Let me start by saying I have purchased a lot of stuff from ebay. It can be a fantastic source of weird and wonderful old music gear as well as a good place to get a decent price on some new stuff. With that being said, I have also noticed a huge number of ‘too good to be true’ auctions for Gibson Les Paul’s. These auctions usually feature ridiculously under priced products and originate from China.

I’d like to think that most people out their wouldn’t fall for these sorts of scams, but I can understand if people get blinded by the price. A $100 price tag on a Les Paul Black Beauty Custom should be enough to set off the alarm bells. But what happens if someone buys one of these counterfeits and then attempts to on sell it at what would be a more realistic price for the genuine article?

Gibson have outlined an example of this on their website:

Last year, 15-year-old Jonathan Jakubowski of Cary, North Carolina emptied out his savings account to purchase a Les Paul he found advertised in the local newspaper.

Intending to purchase the advertised Les Paul Standard, Jonathan and his father visited the seller at his house, where they were persuaded instead to purchase a Wine Red Les Paul Custom, which the man said he’d bought off a traveling musician. Jonathan paid the man $1,000 for the guitar, but once he got it home, he could tell that something wasn’t right.

The staff at a local guitar shop confirmed Jakubowski’s suspicions—the guitar was a counterfeit. The high school sophomore alerted police, and following an investigation, the North Carolina man who’d acquired the guitar from a Chinese website and resold it to Jakubowski was arrested on two felony counts of criminal use of a counterfeit trademark.

This is but one of several reports that have prompted Gibson to lead an aggressive industry fight against the growing problem of counterfeit instruments being shipped from and sold by outlets and individuals in China.

In this case, the seller was based in the US and the price tag was realistic for a used Les Paul Standard. Therefore, the two tell tale signs of a fake product weren’t present. To have recognized the counterfeit guitar, the buyer would really need to know what to look for. Telling the difference between a fake and the real thing can be quite difficult if you haven’t had a chance to examine the real thing in person.

Gibson have provided the following tips for consumers, to help people avoid getting ripped off:

• Measure the guitar to check that it’s not undersized. Correct measurements can be found on www.Gibson.com.
• Examine headstock and headstock logo to determine that they match those of authentic Gibson guitars.
• Check to see that all pearl is inlaid.
• Check that Les Paul model script is always in cursive.
• Verify that there’s not a three-screw truss rod cover.
• Check the control and pickup cavities for sloppy routing or wiring.
• Make sure the pickup cavity is not painted black inside.
• Always ask for the Gibson Owner’s Manual and Gibson Warranty Inspection card.
  Check the wiring. If it’s plastic it isn’t a true Gibson.

Long story short, if in doubt, contact the manufacturer.

This practice has been going on for a while. We can only hope that Gibson pursue this issue as aggressively as they did the Paul Reed Smith Single Cut lawsuit!