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View Full Version : Fake Gibsons gone Electric!



f5loar
Apr-02-2009, 8:44pm
I know this seems like a broken record here when we bring up these fake Gibsons on ebay but when I saw this one being an A5 Electric Gibson complete with a little different logo then we've seen on other imports and the genuine Gibson fake label with serial no. and the fact that someone has already placed a $500 bid on this $85 mandolin I feel obligated to the cafe community to at least mention it here. I did report it to ebay as counterfit copyright infringement item so it may not last long. I sent the seller my thoughts and got a nice "thanks for the info" with no change to the ad. Here it is enjoy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170316888709&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

man dough nollij
Apr-02-2009, 8:48pm
Mmmmmm. Smell the Rich Corinthian Plywood! :cool:

allenhopkins
Apr-03-2009, 2:01pm
"Seller ended auction early due to error in the listing."

Honesty strikes again! There are probably quite a few honestly deceived sellers out there, who aren't trying to swindle anyone. Then there are others who know darn well that they're selling counterfeits, and don't care.

DerTiefster
Apr-03-2009, 9:50pm
For educational purposes, could you point us (meaning me) to examples of the same peghead and other details on an appropriate import? Thanks. I'm not in the market for an acoustic-electric (I think), but I'd like to be better educated about such counterfeits.

f5loar
Apr-03-2009, 9:54pm
The best way is just look online at the Gibson website and the photos of the mandolins they do make. If it don't look like that it's fake. Does Gibson even make an electric mandolin these days? The only 3 in the past was the EM150 which was the A50 in electric, the solid body EM200 and a few custom ordered F5s and maybe one or two custom made F12s. To me it's easy to spot those imported fakes...... the f holes are slanted:)

mrmando
Apr-04-2009, 1:43am
Gibson did have a new prototype electric at a NAMM show not long ago. Or was it a one-off?

Tiefster -- There are dozens of brand names being slapped on these import mandos. Bestler, New York Pro, Rogue, Santini, etc. Even Fender is importing them. Certain names are worth some extra coin: the Fender FM-52E and the Rogue FM-80E are the same doggone instrument, but the Fender sells for $90 more! (That's perfectly legit; Fender actually does license that instrument.) But some clever ####### said to himself, "If 'Fender' adds 90 bucks, how much would 'Gibson' add? Enough, I bet, to make it worth my tricking out some of these instruments with fake Gibson decals and labels and dropping them on unsuspecting pawnbrokers."

If you compared a real Gibson with any of these fakes side by side, the differences in quality of materials/construction would be quite obvious. Cyberspace is the perfect place to catch people who know that Gibson makes good mandolins but don't have a solid idea of what they look like.