Gibson???? Maybe George Gibsonakwa

[Gary Hedrick]

Hooo boy this shore is a fine one!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-F5-Mandolin-Beautiful-Gold-hardware-on-Sunburst_W0QQitemZ220297457196QQcmdZViewItem?hash= item220297457196&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[TomTyrrell]

Looks like the Texas fake-maker has moved up from the A models.

[Mike Bromley]

That's a doozy for sure!

[bobcoe]

For the amateurs out here, how can you tell when it's a fake?


Bob

[Mike Bromley]

For the amateurs out here, how can you tell when it's a fake?


Bob

Here's a few clues. The headstock is too narrow, with the tuner courses causing the strings to go at a crazy angle over the nut. The back wood isn't maple, in fact, it's probably plywood. The scroll curlicue is too big. The bridge is rosewood. The fingerboard inlay is nothing ever produced by Gibson, to my knowledge. The headstock inlay is, well, all wrong.

Like I said, a doozy. I'm sure some of the real experts on here will see even more.:disbelief:

[MikeEdgerton]

Here's a better thought for those that don't know. It has three screws in the truss rod cover, Gibson uses two. It's not even a good fake, this one is simply a cheap F5 copy with a decal.

[phiddlepicker]

What a bargain....sheeeesh

[MikeEdgerton]

Note the real Gibson on the left, 2 screws in the truss rod cover, the fake has the normal 3 screws that are seen on most of the inexpensive imports. Having 2 doesn't guaranty it's a Gibson but having 3 guarantee's it's not.

[Gary Hedrick]

Mike's point is a good one but but as Mandoflash has said there are so many things that aren't "Gibson" on this one that one cannot know where to start. Gibson in its darkest days of the 70's never made anything this ugly and cheap.

[Gary Hedrick]

Also I should add that perhaps I'm not politically correct in my title line....no offensive intended to that of Japanese decent.....it's just that most of the aborted Gibson fakes are really Asian in origin.

[f5loar]

I will say if Gibson's lawyers sitting by on those heafty retainers don't go after this one they simply are not earning their keep. Doing the A's was small change but now going after the Gibson F5 name and model should make it worth their while to nail these counterfiters. It's a $400 or less Korean F5 copy being sold for $2800.

[JEStanek]

I think someone , not me, should buy it. Clearly he's got an infant to feed (see right side of back photo). Or mmmmaaaybe the baby bouncy saucer is fraudulent too.

Jamie

[MikeEdgerton]

...It's a $400 or less Korean F5 copy being sold for $2800.

Probably much less :confused:

[Jim Broyles]

Surprise surprise, it's from Texas. This makes 7 out of 9 of these things from the Lone Star State. 91.7 % positive feedback for the seller, too. Only thing I can't figure out is if it's a pawn shop or not.

[TomTyrrell]

I really think the people actually selling these things on ebay are the first victims of the scam. Most don't seem to have any history selling musical instruments. I'll bet the guy they buy these things from also sells Rollex watches.

"I'm in a bind and I don't know how to do eBay so I can give you a really good chance to double your money."

[John Flynn]

I really think the people actually selling these things on eBay are the first victims of the scam. Most don't seem to have any history selling musical instruments. I'll bet the guy they buy these things from also sells Rollex watches.

"I'm in a bind and I don't know how to do eBay so I can give you a really good chance to double your money."
I think you are right on. A few tangential anecdotes: My wife used to be a store manager for a high-fashion purse company. She says she spent about 1-2 hours PER DAY dealing with people who bought fakes on eBay thinking they were real and were later wanting warranty service from her company. Her company hired an ex-FBI agent just to deal with the problem in the US. That agent gave a presentation to the managers and told them that fakes are a multi-billion dollar industry and some fake-product operations are know to finance terrorist organizations. An article I saw in a news magazine said there is a whole range of fake prescription drugs and even fake Honda motorcycles. I guess mandolins are the latest area of interest.

[MikeEdgerton]

Counterfeit brand name items are not new by a long shot. In the early 70's there was a rash of counterfeit auto parts. As they tracked down the sources they shut them down. The majority of that manufacturing was taking place in the US. When one UK auto parts manufacturer of auto-electronics located the company that was counterfeiting their parts they contracted with them to build the parts because the counterfeits were a higher quality than the original. That's was a rare case.

[TomTyrrell]

Gibson does have all the necessary protections to prevent products that infringe upon their trademarks from being imported to the US. Protecting against this type of infringement is not so easy. If they bust the individual who lists the product for sale on eBay they take one counterfeit off the market. I'm sure they'd rather find the source but these eBayers probably don't even know the source.

The real problem for Gibson is the harm this can do to their reputation. The guy who buys one of these mandolins isn't going to be saying anything good about Gibson if he thinks that piece of junk he bought really is a Gibson.

[Jim Broyles]

So is there a chance that these eBay Gibsons are higher quality than real Gibsons?:))

[MikeEdgerton]

So is there a chance that these eBay Gibsons are higher quality than real Gibsons?:))

This one? Not a chance.

[f5loar]

Just in case the Gibson guys have missed this thread I have emailed Dave Harvey the ebay item number. Maybe he will pass it on up the tall corporate ladder with genuine concern for this type of scam on their name.

[TomTyrrell]

Just in case the Gibson guys have missed this thread I have emailed Dave Harvey the ebay item number. Maybe he will pass it on up the tall corporate ladder with genuine concern for this type of scam on their name.

They have people who watch eBay for this stuff. Sometimes they let auctions run, sometimes they have them killed. Occasionally they win the auction just to get possession of the item. When that happens the seller will get a visit from a process server.

[45ACP-GDLF5]

It looks like it is either a Fender or a Gold Tone. Maybe a Johnson, but definitely not a Gibson.

[Mike Bromley]

91.7 % positive feedback for the seller, too.

If you read the reviews you can see a forensically-similar theme to them all. Guess what, this guy is a self-reviewer. Either that, or there are a bunch of smug nitwits running around thinking they have an Heirloom Kindling Mando...

:popcorn::mad:

[Darryl Wolfe]

I saw that this morning and I am not surprised to be the 24th or so poster on this thread. Looks like Eastern hemisphere, pressed arch, tailpiece cover will not stay on, economobile to me

[TomTyrrell]

If you read the reviews you can see a forensically-similar theme to them all. Guess what, this guy is a self-reviewer. Either that, or there are a bunch of smug nitwits running around thinking they have an Heirloom Kindling Mando...

:popcorn::mad:

Not sure where you get that. His feedback as a buyer looks pretty much like any other buyer's. Feedback as a seller is not all that great, certainly not self-posted. Nothing to make me think he's ever sold a mandolin on ebay before. Just a guy who let greed get the better of him.

[Steve Ostrander]

Great photo work. Makes you wonder if they are intentionally blurry.

[John Flynn]

There is another variation of counterfeiting that perhaps hasn't hit mandolins yet, but is rampant in other areas. I predict it will get to the mandolin market when the prices get up there on imports. Internal counterfeiting is when employees of the legitimate manufacturer/builder smuggle parts out of the factory and use their skills to build units in secret on their own time. Johnny Cash had a song about doing that with Caddilac parts, LOL! Unlike in the Cash song, though, the problem with this kind of fake is that it is materially the real thing, so it is indistinguishable as a fake, even by an expert, unless the company goes to an un-fake-able unit ID, like an RFID.

[f5loar]

Anybody who knows Gibson knows this ain't a Gibson. If the seller whether it be a pawn shop owner or just some guy off the street , they need to be educated before the sell goes down. I'm sure many have sent the fake message to them and they will continue to be in denial but if Gibson gets involved they will get a fast degree in the education of Gibson mandolins.

[Jim Broyles]

In any case, it's gone now. I emailed asking for a photo of the label. I doubt that had anything to do with getting it removed, but it ain't there no more!