Following my narrow escape from one fake Les Paul through Ebay, I thought I’d grab another bargain through Ebay. This time the Epiphone Zakk Wylde signature Les Paul. The listing indicated the guitar was 100% genuine and indeed from the listing pictures, the guitar looked legit. I emailed the seller to ask and he replied that indeed it it genuine.
The listing also indicated a collection option was possible so I though I’d buy it and reject if found to be a fake on collection.
A few days after buying and email the seller for a collection time and location I received a reply indicating that collection was NOT in fact possible but he’d ship the guitar to me for free.
Hmmm.
A few more days of chasing a delivery date and the guitar finally arrived in a parcel looking like this:
Horrible looking tape all around a polystyrene box which when opened revealed this box that looked like it had been damp at some point:
Needless to say that as soon as I opened the box I realised it was in fact another fake.
Giveaways include these volume and tone pots:
They should of course look like this:
Other giveaways include this pickup selector switch:
It should of course look like this (no surround):
I’m also quite doubtful about the back of the headstock. Here is the picture of the back of the guitar I received:
And the stock Epiphone photo looks like this – note the colour difference in the circular logo:
The neck to body join at the heel also looks awful:
When compared to this:
I have posted loads more pictures of the fake I have received here
And a few pictures of a genuine guitar taken from the Epiphone website here
I’m in the process of pursuing the seller through both EBay and PayPal. I have been asked by EBay to obtain independent expert confirmation of the guitar being a counterfeit.
So far Gibson have been quite helpful – they have asked for photographs of the guitar which I have now sent to them for confirmation.
I’ll update this post with progress and details as and when I get them
« HTC Hero on Amazon website – broken description Counterfeit confirmation from Andertons »
Hi there, can you let me know how you got on with this as i have recently bought off ebay a very similar guitar, probably the same seller by the looks of it.
Thanks matey
Jonathan
Sure,
I complained through Ebay and PayPal and got my money back – you’ll see from the blog post it took a bot of effort as I had to get written confirmation from an ‘expert’ that the guitar was counterfeit. In my case I got a letter from both Gibson Europe and from my local authorised Gibson dealer.
Good luck – be interested to hear how you got on. Do you have the Ebay sellers ID and item number to hand ?
Hi Ian -
I just bought & received an Epiphone Les Paul Custom off eBay that looked to be packaged identically to your Zakk Wylde. The tone & vol pots look wrong & the manual reads like it’s been scanned by a drunkard. Do you think it might be the same trader & I’ve got a fake?
Hope not but it’s looking that way
Regards,
Mike
I suspect so – do you have any pictures you can share ?
Was it a Zakk Wylde or a custom ? If teh former – have you checked out the other comparison pictures I have posted on this blog ?
I have seen loads of Zakk Wyldes, Customs, Black Beauty’s etc – all fake.
If the seller has others for sale – share his details with me and I’ll take a look.
Hello Ian. I know this is a little late. But I am 14 years old and my parents bought me this exact guitar (Of the seller) For Christmas 2009. It has all of the features pictured here, so it is indeed a fake. The only problem is, ”Musicshowgo’s” Profile no longer exists, is there any way to get my money back at all?
Hi – sorry to hear that your another victim of this guy.
I can only advise that you try and raise a claim through Ebay and/or PayPal.
If it was paid for using a credit card you may have some options thought your parents card company.
Best of luck and do let me know how you get on
I too believe I have been scammed. The guitar I have purchased (it is enroute as I am writing this) looks to have all the same components. I contacted the seller after I was tipped off and I have not received a reply since. His(Her?) ebay name is Hebei_man. Up until then, communication was great. When I questioned the authenticity of the guitar, I haven’t heard from him since. What does the guitar sound like?
Hi.
Sorry to hear about this, I hope you can resolve your issue with Ebay/PayPal as I did.
The guitar is nowhere near the quality of a genuine Gibson or Epiphone and I would class it in the category of a $100 beginner clone.
Did you have to send the guitar back when you claimed?
No.
See my other posts on the subject here
hi Ian thanks for your post you have just saved me buying my boy a fake for christmas they are still on sale on ebay the guy selling them want locking up or at least his fingers breaking,
regards
howling Andy
No problem Andy, glad the blog post helped.
I’d suggest reporting the post to Ebay if you can – they are normally pretty good at tearing down fake goods auctions.
penseiI bought this shit on ebay too, equal yours, i toutgh that it was real but when e recivied the package i saw that was a fake guitar, but what can i do about that, just use the guitar !
In my case the counterfeit guitar was so poorly made it was pretty much unplayable.