Ebay Gibson A-9 - What the ???????

[f5loar]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not up on the Gibson A models of the 90's and beyond but this one sure looks suspicious looking to me. Take a look A-9 owners and weight in on what you think this is..... A real Gibson A9 made in Bozeman, MT or one made from a far away land that speaks no English with a Gibson logo and label added for comfort and piece of mind.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-A-9-/...p2056016.l4276

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-A-9-/...p2056016.l4276

[sgrexa]

I don't believe Gibson Montana ever made an A-9 and the early ones were brown so that is the first of many problems.

Sean

[robert.najlis]

that does not look like a Gibson A-9

[brunello97]

Saw this one. It didn't make me swear, but I did kind of scratch my head. I'm no expert but it looks muy sketchioso to me.

Mick

[Vernon Hughes]

pac rim for sure.

[F-2 Dave]

What the F^#*? indeed.

[journeybear]

You guys are so cynical! Look at the seller's handle, composed of two great American icons, Johnny Cash and JFK. If that doesn't inspire confidence in his integrity, what will?

[Bernie Daniel]

No way is it a Gibson --why bother to do a label and get it totally wrong as well? That along with too many other obvious discrepancies to warrant listing them all.

[Charley wild]

Even I can spot that one, and a Gibson expert, I'm not!

[Jeff Mando]

Fake, IMHO. If you look at the man's other items he has for sale on eBay, mostly toy cars, toy guns, Barbie dolls, mostly priced at $5-50....maybe he ran across this at a yard sale and really felt his ship had finally come in! Might have been an honest mistake, someone not well-versed in musical instruments.

I got a kick out of the modified snakehead shape. Actually, Gibson did revive it briefly in the 70's and 80's with the Mark series acoustic guitars and they even made a 335 style electric with a similar peghead and script logo, called the ES-369. Not sure if any mandolins were produced by Gibson during that strange revival? But again, I think this one is a fake, and not very convincing, either.

[samlyman]

I posted the following comments to his ad in the Ebay question area:

This does not appear to be a real Gibson A9 for the following reasons:

The body shape is the wrong shape where the neck meets the body

The label says Bozeman, Montana. A9s were never made in Bozeman and were made in the post-Montana period in Nashville.

The finish appears to be high-gloss lacquer instead of the A9's matte finish

The tuners do not match those of the A9

The shape of the headstock does not match the A9

This was his response:

I'm going to do a little more research on this. I appreciate you sending me the information on the mandolin. I bought this from an estate and thought it was a Gibson. I took it to a guitar center and they said it was a reissue Gibson from about 1997 and onother guitar place said it was real. I took it the third and they said it was not real so who knows better just to take it off and keep until I find the correct answer.
Thanks
John

[jdchapman]

Auction ended, so he listened to Sam.

[LongBlackVeil]

Yeah I talked to him and got a similar answer. I don't think he was trying to pass off a fake, I believe he truly just didn't know

[f5loar]

I am more concerned about the two guitar experts/dealers that told him it was real. They should have their dealer's license revoked! This is one even poor dumb-a^^ Chumlee could tell was a fake.

[Mark Wilson]

This is one even poor dumb-a^^ Chumlee could tell was a fake.

[Capt. E]

It is interesting that people seem to 1st go with their questions to the great experts at Guitar Center.

[Petrus]

They could relist it as "after Gibson" or "in the manner of Gibson," like some sellers do with artwork.

[MikeEdgerton]

eBay would consider that Keyword Spamming and would possibly remove it with enough complaints. These are the garden variety pawn shop fakes but then again, Tom really knew that.

[Petrus]

"Gibs0n"

[f5loar]

garden variety is right. This one is a little different than others I've seen so there is more than one source for these fake Asian Gibsons out there. Some only use decals, others inlay plastic pearl. Some use MT labels, others use Nashville labels. The biggest give away when looking at these fakes is those huge F holes and awful looking sunburst finishes with extreme heavy lacquer. There is no excuse for any guitar dealer to not pick up on that. These are the type fakes that can spotted at 100 feet.

[MikeEdgerton]

Yeah, that and the awful snakehead peghead shape. Gibson snakes are elegant. These, not so much.

[f5loar]

Okay it seems the Russians are being blamed on all things "bad" with the world today, so I guess I will blame the Russians for these fake Gibson that seemed to have invaded our Pawn Shops. See ebay item:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GOLD-HEADSTO...item1c438be896

[brunello97]

Okay it seems the Russians are being blamed on all things "bad" with the world today, so I guess I will blame the Russians for these fake Gibson that seemed to have invaded our Pawn Shops. See ebay item:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GOLD-HEADSTO...item1c438be896

I've got a couple Italian bowlbacks that those would look pretty good on. Matches the brass hardware, nut and saddle.

I'm pretty sure that Gibson made a line of bowlbacks that most people haven't (yet) seen. From sometime in the early / mid '10s, I think. Very rare. The ebay ad copy will write itself.

Let me know when you guys aren't looking....

Mick