Fake Epiphone Les Paul Zakk Wylde on eBay?

[Dave2P]

Anyone want to grab a coffee and play spot-the-difference?

So, my GAS has been bad for the past month and I've been looking at the Epi Zakk Wylde LPs. Lots of tales of fakes around the forums, and a few kind people have written up how to spot them.

Now, I think one of these is counterfeit... anyone concur?

Epi LP A :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401407388526

Epi LP B :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zakk-wylde-epiphone-/182...

scroll down for this one, as the listing's ended


I can see about 7 differences between them - what do we reckon?

A - Fake or Real?
B - Fake or Real?

[Dave2P]

dojo said:

Why would anyone go to the bother of making a fake a epi? Surely you'd change the headstock and go for a Gibson version?

Because (most) people don't expect Epiphones to be fake, whereas pretty much everyone knows there are fake Gibsons.

Many Epi buyers will be buying their first or second guitars and won't have any idea they should be wary, but someone about to drop a few grand on a Gibson is (hopefully) going to be far more careful. So if you're a **** making a fake guitar, an Epi is a lot less effort to be convincing and much more likely to sell.

The link kuro kindly provided - http://www.mylespaul.com/threads/the-fake-epiphone... has 800 pages discussing and outing fake Epiphones. There are lots around, and particularly copied are the signature editions like the Zakk Wylde as a quick paint job lets you scam people for more cash.

And, yes, A looks odd ... check the pickups, knobs, position of the knobs, the serial number, position of the Epi logo, the neck/body joint, etc.

Edited by Dave2P on Friday 22 September 07:16

[Dave2P]

WhoKnows said:

I guess unless you work for epiphone directly there will be no way to confirm 100 % either way

Hi - I started this thread, as I'd been looking for a nice Bullseye for a few months.

You can get an opinion on your guitar directly from Epiphone/Gibson customer services by email at [e-mail] ; they should respond within a few days and I've found them very helpful.

Sorry that this is not what you want to hear, but this is what they wrote to me about Guitar A at the time :-

Gibson/Epiphone said:

This does not appear to be a genuine Epiphone guitar. We cannot go into details on why the guitar appears to be fake

It was also called out as "300% fake" on the MyLesPaul forum linked earlier in the thread.

I contacted the seller at the time, but he was rude and claimed to have a "letter of authenticity" so I left it at that... and bought Guitar B ... which is lovely to play (although the passive EMG PUPs are a bit "thin" sounding for my preferences, but I digress...).


If you like the way your guitar plays and sounds then keep it, or even re-paint it, but selling it on as genuine (unless Gibson change their mind) would suck... don't do that.

[Dave2P]

WhoKnows said:

I have seen serial numbers pre 2005, on the epiphone website the only information I can gain regarding earlier models is that they changed the pick ups from standard humbuckers to emgs in 2011. Suggesting that there were earlier models(with normal humbuckers consistent with guitar a).

Sorry, forgot to note this... mine dates from 2003 and has EMG-HZ (passive) pickups. I guess the change in 2011 you refer to was when they started using the EMG actives on the Bullseye? As far as I'm aware, ALL the Zakk Wylde models came with EMG pickups - but happy to be corrected if anyone knows different?