Gibson Les Paul

raptor543219 · Joined: 11 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

I'm new to guitars, and i was wondering what the differance is between a USA made Gibson Les Paul, and a Chinese made Gibson Les Paul? Also, why are the Chinese versions so much cheaper? Is the sound for the Chinese made worse in some way?

glw · Posted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:21 am Post subject:

Chinese-made Gibson Les Paul?

No such thing, surely, other than illegal copies.

lee_UK · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:29 pm Post subject:

glw is right, there are korean made Epiphone les pauls, which are pretty close the the Gibson Les Paul sound, and worth every penny, but there are differences between the 2 guitars. Gibsons arent made in China... At least not yet.

mrblanche · Jammin' Hot Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 117

Here are two for less than $400 for the pair! (Yeah, sure.)

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-and-fine-pair-Gibson-Les-Paul-Supreme-guitar_W0QQitemZ200017727668QQihZ010QQcategoryZ33040QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

raptor543219 · Joined: 11 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

I found something similar to that, which led me to believe they were made in a China, because the seller was from China. Are they some sort of copies or something?

lee_UK · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:27 pm Post subject:

They steal other peoples auctions and then relist them.
Very common scam, they always have (0) sales, they dont actualy have the item, neve buy anything from ebayers in China, unless you know they are legit.

mrblanche · Jammin' Hot Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 117

lee_UK wrote:

They steal other peoples auctions and then relist them.
Very common scam, they always have (0) sales, they dont actualy have the item, neve buy anything from ebayers in China, unless you know they are legit.

Actually, probably not in this case. If you bid, and pay the extemely high shipping, you will probably get two guitars. And they may even look like the guitars in the photo. But they'll be cheap Chinese copies.

This has gotten to be an extreme problem with Ibanez, lately. One expert says there are more "Ibanez" guitars made in China than Hoshino makes around the world, including in THEIR Chinese factory. Most of the copies are really bad, often hundreds having the same serial number, etc. If there is an accurate picture of the item, it's usually not hard to tell that it's a fake.

Here's an example. This guy has been around, been booted off e-bay, and just keeps coming back under new ID's. Take a look at the photos. You'll see a number of problems, if you know what to look for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-white-ibanez-electric-guitar_W0QQitemZ300018060951QQihZ020QQcategoryZ113476QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ryan · Joined: 19 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

I just read an article about Chinese "les pauls". usually, all you have to do is pay for the shipping, they're so cheap. Anyways, they are not "les pauls", they are junk.

1bassleft · Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 5:20 am Post subject:

Both types of scam happen. Long-timers will know of my uphill struggle to get eBay to do something about these frauds.

One type is a genuine auction (usually in the US or UK) for a genuine, valuable Les Paul or Fender. After, or sometimes during, the auction, the whole thing is "highjacked". Text and pictures are lifted, but the "seller" is now "fmslbn99" with a zero rating. The guitar is offered at RMB2000 (Yuan, say about £300 or $550) and payment must be by bank transfer. Only an idiot would fall for this scam that is still common.

The second type is the "new exquisite fanciful omniscient Les Paul" auction. As mentioned, the guitar may be listed at £1 but has a shipping rate of £200 or so. You may well get a guitar (unlike the above scam, where the "seller" has never seen the thing in the flesh) but it won't be a Les Paul. They are vastly inferior even to an Epiphone or Squier and not worth the total cost paid.

Somebody (not me) has written this up on eBay. If you look up the guitars section you will see a "related guide" called "China Guitar Scam". Please, everyone, click on it and click on that you found the guide useful. It is the best way of keeping the scam flagged up for the newbs.

lee_UK · Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:22 am Post subject:

I once bought 8 vintage amps in 5 minutes, all at the BIN price, it was quite fun asking for 'extra' pictures of the amps from the Chinese scammers before i sent payment, thier eyes lit up when i mentioned sending cash through the post. Well worth a giggle.
They were then 'Unregistered' from ebay so they couldnt leave me bad feedback.

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