Gibson Les Paul Custom... or is it a Chibson? Regardless, it's getting a Setup and some Upgrades!
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- Опубліковано 3 тра 2022
- This Guitar looks like a Gibson Les Paul Custom in black... however, upon closer inspection, it appears to be a replica or Chinese (Chibson) copy. The owner told me as much and was not hiding that fact at all. It is in the shop for some upgrades - Tuners, Pickups and Controls - as well as fret leveling and a Nut repair. This will be published in 3 or 4 parts to keep the video length shorter. Enjoy the video and make your comments below! Thanks.
-Steve
Manotick StringWorks
Ottawa, Ontario
sroyMSW@gmail.com
#gibson #chibson #lespaul #custom #guitar #guitars - Навчання та стиль
An acquaintance of mine gave me a Chibson LP standard as a gift 2 months ago. I swapped the cheapo Chinese pickups for a Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickup in the bridge and a Gibson 490R in the neck. After a set up and a bit of minor fret work It sounds and plays virtually identical to my Gibson LP standard that has the same bridge pickup!
That can be nice with a little work
Headstock gave it away and the gold pickup ring screws. Also the glassy poly finish. Just from a 5 second glance.
Absolutely a Chibson. Binding on the headstock a dead giveaway.
Giveaway is usually the size of the diamond in the headstock. The Gibson one looks bigger and fuller somehow.
1:48 seconds in and I’m calling it a Chibson. The bridge slotted screws gives it away immediately.
If you change to Tone pro bridge they have a slot, so have to dig further sometimes. This is a fake
Great delivery and excellent skills, my father was a watch repairman and jeweler. I grew up with proper tools and was taught to use them.
It has all the tell tale signs of a counterfit right off.
EXCELLENT video. what i can understand is why people buy them guitars at a price close to $400 dollars, then they buy all new parts for it, pay someone to install the parts, and make it playable. to have then invested over $1200.00+ in a cheap chipson, that's still worth maybe $300 dollars. you actually can buy a really good used Les Paul for that same money spent on a cheap chipson.
I think you are better off buying a nice Epiphone Les Paul and the upgrading pickup or tuners- you would also need less service work. Probably only cost about $800 total.
Yeah, you can never be sure what the body, and neck are made of, or if the wood was dried properly on a Chibson. I wouldn't want to put money into it. There are better Asian options.
Even when I get a Gibson I put my favorite pickups in it. I'm not a fan of Gibson pickups.
The edge of the "G" in the headstock logo should point down the neck not out towards the 3 way switch......that also has a "metric" bridge, lack of fret nibs ( this doesn't exclude it entirely as you are likely to often find a lack of nibs on guitars that have had a refret) and if you open up the electronics cavity on any chibson you will find the did the router work with some kind of small woodland animal
Usually a gopher does the routing on Chibsons
one thing when I saw the serial #, it looks like a standard Gibson USA serial, Custom Shop serials are different.
It’s not a Custom shop it’s a Custom, they are two different guitars.
I had one of these paid $209 to my door it was junk i traded it and another guitar for a Burny Les Paul Custom, man sm i impressed with the Burny its a 10 the chibson was a 1
I've seen so many people freak out over Chibsons and how people can't tell the real from the fakes and so they're being bought and then sold as real. I never understood how anyone could mistake these for the real. So many tells just at a glance. The horn shape is wrong, the bridge is wrong, no nibs, the nut, the truss rod cover is wrong and screws are usually not centered correctly, the diamond is a dead giveaway. Also the headstock isn't as pronounced as it should be as well as the binding around it. And only gold screws around the pups would be the adjustment screws, the ring screws are black on the read ones. And I believe the headstock logo on the real ones are a bit more slanted. Now all that out of the way, I do own a Chibson custom and there is absolutely NO denying that its a Chibson. But, I got it 8 years ago cause I was curious, and I knew it would need a lot of work, and I was wanting to learn how to solder in pups and do that kind of upgrade work and my only other guitar i had at the time was an Ibanez RG that I already paid 200.00 for a pro to upgrade it, set it up etc. So, I thought I can order a 200 guitar, learn how to do it myself so going forward I won't have to pay someone that much to do it. I learned a lot w/ it. And I still play it a lot. The build isn't bad the paint jobs/stain etc isn't bad on these.. it's the hardware and electronics that suck. But once you upgrade those, They pretty good guitars for a lot less. I guess nowadays you can request from the seller to have the headstock logo customized or not at all. I don't recall that being an option or knowing of it being one when I ordered mine. If I ever get another, it will have my own headstock logo for sure.
100% agreed. Like comparing apples and oranges!
Hard to find the videos to watch in order… the chipsons should be in a playlist so we can find them all!
good idea
Small diamond on the headstock is the Chibson giveaway. Cheap wiring too.
Absolutely
The binding transition from the neck to the headstock, around the nut, is a disaster.
yup
Chibson for certain.
Another huge sign of a Chibson is there are no custom shop markings or medallions
Thanks for the info
I knew that was a chibson immediately from looking at the bridge and the inlays being cheap mother of toilet seat
and not real MOP. From a distance these guitars are very deceptive but once close IF you know Gibson's
you can easily tell.
It’s a Custom not from the Custom shop, two different guitars. Still fake.
I’ve got a chibson standard from
2010 I’ve put on a set of 59s SD pickups and a tga guitar works 50s wiring! Also an abr1 style gotoh bridge and a tusk nut! Needless to say that she puts down authentic Gibsons by far!
That's great- I think they are good for mods and upgrades
No.
Pickup mounting ring screws would be black on a true Gibson - not gold. You see chrome or gold ring screws on Epi's and imports, I believe.
That's the thing that always stands out to me the most. I think black pickup ring screws looks so much better.
Have you looked at an IYV to compare to a Chibson? They don’t hold them out as real LP but a budget guitar.
I will check them.out
Is it an 01 or a 16 produced on the 171st day?
Fake number, either way...lol
Look at the binding on the headstock, its going under the fretboard, Gibson would never do that..
Correct
Aren't "Wilkinson" pickups are the same Inexpensive MIC pu's like the ones in the guitar originally.
Two seconds will reveal a Chibson
one look at the bridge post tell you all you need to know about that junk
Biggest red flag was the missing ebony fretboard
Ebony looks real good
The wide pickup rigs are a dead give away. Chinese built guitars always seem to have them. I never seen standard sized rings on a Chinese guitar.
I'd go ahead and change the nut, I mean with all the other work get a graphite or bone one. By the end of all that work, he's in it for a top of the line Epi. The pots, if they are USA style LP will have to be drilled, maybe the tuners too. The Chibsons are based on Epiphones, which use metric, if you buy things for a Gibson that is standard.
Everyone saying something about Custom Shop. There is a difference between a Custom and A Custom Shop. Most Customs have the split diamond on headstock.. A Custom Shop could be like a reissue of Greeny and will have CS in serial number but all Customs do not have CS in serial number. Research before to flame me.
I hear all the time no fret knibs horns a little off. Well Gibson has several different models with no fret knibs and many different horn shapes thru the years. I had a 76 Les paul that I could have picked a lock with the horn. But yes there are many other tell tale signs.
the series number and made in usa stamp so clean and sharp, i never seem a gibson series number that perfectly clean and sharp, a real gibson usually the paint and laque sink in make series number little uneven and less sharp,sometimes the paint too thick,make it hard to read the number, and the whole guitar paint finish looks not right,looks use different type of laque or something, so i guess not a real gibson.
The serial is too sharp for a real Gibson, I agree...
From the second the case opened, I could list several things that screamed "fake" from the wrong Gibson Font and placement to the truss rod cover being too big to the case being a fake (even if it was Gibson USA), to the inlays being toilet seat not abalone, to missing nibs... I didn't even need to see past the 2nd fret. This is a really poor attempt at fooling someone, but hey, it would fool someone who had never played or seen any number of Gibson Les Paul Customs of any era.
Chibson
The serial number stamp on the back of the headstock Is also etched too deep and clean.... fake
those tuners are gropers
Chibson Less Pall
You missed the 2 glaringly obvius fake red flags, the serial on the back of the headstock should be stamped in rather than engraved & the fretboard on that guitar is rosewood, no Custom ever had a rosewood fretboard, it should be ebony, or at worst Richlite.
There were lots of obvious differences
it's a Chinese knockoff guitar. Worked on enough to know
Yup, it is pretty easy to tell - the owner said as much when he dropped it off. Just want to point on some obvious things to people who might not know... keep the comments coming. Thanks.
For the money he spent on the guitar and the up grades,he could have bought a decent guitar
You can tell a knockoff solely by the open book cut. They never get it right.
Never perfect...you are right
its not a Chibson, its a Chisel it
LOL
Didn’t even have to open the case before I knew it was fake lol case isn’t good quality at all. Then everything that followed well, we all already know lol
a real Gibson would have a gold jack plate
well your buddy knew what he was getting or got screwed big time. id not want this guitar for free
Yeah it's not a Les Paul but they did a good job of faking it that's actually pretty awesome.
that's 100% a chibson
wow? look at the 13th fret wire at high E. it comes up short and doesn't go into binding like all the others? very poor craftsmanship. hopefully all your upgrades will make it play worthy.
What I don't get is why all these "My Chibson is better than your Gibson!! folk, HAVE, I repeat, HAVE to have the fake Gibson logo, left up there, on the headstock, intact? Seriously, where's the logic?
A chibson will never be as good as a quality Gibson- people just like to spend less money. I prefer modding a nice Epiphone for a better cost effective. result
First 3 seconds of the video I could tell it’s fake. The diamonds on the headstock are too small and gave it away.. then the truss rod cover is wrong, the logo…ect
Love it, guy buys a $200 Chibson, spends $$$$ to make it into a better Chibson that's still worth nothing. Should have just bought a Gibson from the start