Use Caution on Buying Gibson and Epiphone Les Pauls

Hello Everyone:
There is a new problem on okay with people selling illegal copies of Gibson Les Pauls and Epiphone Les Pauls.
a lot of these are popping up, and a lot of sellers are being dishonest for a quick buck on okay.
it is not easy to tell which is a forgery or a fake at times, but there is ways to tell.
Look at the bridge, on Gibsons there is no flat head screw posts to raise and lower the bridges, this is a tell tale sign on a fake, the stop bar tailpiece will have two large flat head screws, both the real deal and the fakes have this.
look at the back of the neck, Gibsons that have Kluson style tuning keys that say Gibson Deluxe on them, or they have Grover tuning keys that are stamped Grover.
Look at the jack plate on these guitars, Gibsons are usually plastic and perfectly square, if it is metal and rectangular, it is a fake, Gibson does use metal jack plates from time to time, but they would have the same appearance in shape and design as the plastic ones.
Also look at the features of the Gibson Les Pauls, Studios, Classics, Standards and Deluxes usually gee with Trapezoid Inlays and a rosewood fretboard, rosewood is a very dark brown color.
Les Paul supremes, catalinas, custom shops and customs usually have an ebony fretboard, it is almost black in color, the inlays on Customs should be pearl block inlays.
Now Gibson uses perloid and real pearl on their guitars, sometimes abalone and other fine inlays,
The knockoffs use white plastic or or poor quality pearloid.
another dead giveaway is the necks, if the neck has binding on it, the fret edges should have binding on them as well, the only way it would not if it has been refretted, and rarely does a newer gibson need refretting, this is a tell tale sign of a fake.
Signature model les pauls are being forged also, Ace Freley model, Peter Framptom Model, Zakk Wylde model and others.
there is more professional ways of telling, but you have to know about the headstock inlay , the angle of the neck, the woods the guitars are made of and more.
A good tell tale sign of a fake is the auction's starting bid, if it is too low to believe, it is probably a fake, especially if there is no reserve.
some honest sellers do start them low, but most of the time there is a reserve on the price.
if in doubt ask the seller for the serial number, then contact Gibson and ask them about the serial number, if it isn't legit report the auction immediately to okay, Gibson will let you know if the guitar is the real deal or not.
Now the same thing has been happening with Epiphone les pauls,
Most gemon ones are the Standards, Customs, and the Zakk Wylde models.
the dead giveaway is the back of the headstock, almost all of the epiphones are made in Korea or Japan, a lot of the fakes are stamped Made in the USA, which tells you it is a fake.
the Zakk Wylde ones are getting better making it harder to spot the fake,
they are making fake emg pickups for the guitar, basically a regular humbucker with a emg cover on it,
they are also making fake hang tags and paperwork for the guitar.
one giveaway is the serial number, a lot of the newer ones have the same serial number.
as in the same case before, contact Gibson or Epiphone if you feel suspicious and ask the seller for the serial number and if it is a fake pass on the information to gibson and notify okay.
most of these guitars are made in China, and then sold dirt cheap to the public, places like Muso Land and a few others are doing this.
a Les Paul is usually about $300.00 shipped roughly, and a lot of these sellers start the auction at $500.00 or so.
also a lot of these fakes have a plastic laminate on the pickups with Gibson USA or PAF and such on it, GIBSON does not do this on their guitars.
okay does not always catch these auctions, and the sad part a lot of people are getting screwed because of it.
Always use your best judgement, and avoid deals that appear too good to be true.
take care and thank you for looking at my guide.