Les Paul?

[TheHeroCycle]

What do you all make of this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-LES-PAUL-...A1%7C294%3A200

[TheHeroCycle]

sorry, meant to post int he "keeping an eye out thread".. move please.

[Jesse]

Jesus...I dunno about that. Did Gibson even make a lefty LP Custom with 3 hums?

[lostinthemasses]

it was probably routed for the middle one

why would gibson gut this thing up? it makes no sense

[crawdaddy]

Looking at that headstock, I'd have to say that is one of those fakes coming from Asia.

Also, no "MADE IN AMERICA" stamped on the backside of the headstock.

I would stay far far away.

[lostinthemasses]

oh snap, i spaced on the made in usa stamp

that's probably a counterfeit gibson had destroyed

[LPLover]

I have a "FrankenPaul" Custom as well. It was cut in half at the narrow part of the body and the headstock had been cut off, just like the description of this guitar. As is the case on the eBay guitar, the binding on mine is not quite lined up after re-assembly, and the headstock (which is obviously not the original because it's from a Standard) is slightly crooked. Unless you look hard, you can't see it. The construction on mine is correct: Mahogany body, thick maple cap, correct tenon length. Plays great, sounds great, looks like crap.

The Chinese counterfeits have a known set of glaring "tells", and there's nothing in the construction of the eBay guitar that screams Chinese. The knobs are in the right place, the bridge and tailpiece look well placed and correct. The headstock looks correct - the split diamond is in the right place and is the right size. The serial number imprint is the correct font, and the lack of a "MADE IN USA" stamp is really a non-issue. It could be either that the camera didn't pick it up (sometimes they were stamped very shallow), or it's not there - which is also possible in a legit LP. OTOH, I suppose someone could have grabbed an Epi and grafted on a Gibson headstock.