How to spot a FAKE Les Paul Supreme - Chinese Les Paul

A detailed overview of the differences that exist between the legitimate American made Gibson Les Paul guitars, and those made counterfeit in China. The copies are getting better, and look more and more like real Gibsons everyday. In this video I hope to go over the key differences that you can look for.
Private Message me with Questions.
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[@guitarman7169]

Les Paul Supremes have a Richlite Fretboard, not Ebony. Unless the information from Gibson is incorrect. I just read the specs again and I own a first year 2003 Heritage Cherry Sunburst Mint model. If the initial models 2003, etc. had ebony then I am even more ecstatic about my purchase. This baby screams and the AAAA top/back is absolutely stunning.

[@theo9952]

This is the information i found too. It seems it was ebony at first, which was replaced by richlite on the late models. But I wouldn't mind owing a USA made Supreme, even with a richlite fingerboard. They are so stunningly beautiful anyway and i am sure the richlite material which feels and looks very much like ebony, has no negative effect on the performace of the instrument.

[@thrithree]

Man thanks for posting this. Its a big help. people should appreciate the time and effort you put into informing other players. I know its been helpful to me.

[@kylejackson1616]

hey man I am looking towards buying a Les Paul standard but what you have shown me in this video really helps I feel confident now on how to spot a fake thanks alot man

[@mdhsabh]

One has to look very carefully to spot small differences in counterfeits, for instance, the inlays. While they may seem the same at first glance, there are a lot of significant differences. On the second guitar ("counterfeit"), the inlays at the 15th, 9th and 5th frets are essentially the same pattern, only wider/narrower, but on the first guitar ("real"), the three fret markers are different in design. Also, the 19th fret markers top and bottom are 3-sided on the first guitar, not 4-sided as on the second guitar. On the first guitar, fourth inlay from the pickup end (15th fret), the 4-sided diagonal on the first guitar does not go all the way to the top and bottom of the fret marker, but on the second guitar, the diagonal continues to the top of the inlay and is 6-sided, not 4-sided as on the first guitar. On the first guitar, 7th fret, the top triangle bottom goes all the way to the bottom of the logo, and on the bottom triangle, the tip at the top goes all the way to the top of the logo; not so on the second guitar. On the fifth fret, the diagonal is 4-sided on the first guitar; it's 6-sided on the second guitar. No doubt, the next generation of Chinese knock-offs will be harder to spot!

[@silverdragon0000120]

Looks good, but how does it play? Any extra stuff needed to be done to fretboard? Like sharp frets, terrible intonation?

[@kroggwaff]

are the bridge with flatheads on Epiphones? mine have one, not sure if I have an Epiphone copy. Also the head seems to be glued onto the neck, is that normal?

[@ChrisJohansonMusic]

Glad it worked for you. Let me know how that sale goes!

[@raggityman]

Real Gibson necks on all of their guitars are either one piece of mahogany with no "volute" or hump underneath the neck (the original vintage style) or a 3 piece maple neck (from the 70s Norlin Music era). The glue seams run the length of the neck and CONTINUE through the headstock. The headstock on these are 5 pieces. Usually fakes will have painted necks, but even if your real 70s Les Paul Custom's neck is painted, you can still see the seams under certain lights.

[@oscargoya]

Loved your informative video. Keep up the good work.

[@yoerc]

Sehr interessant. Hab' ich mal wieder was dazu gelernt. Danke. ♪♪

[@1111guitardude1111]

Where did you buy your fake les paul from? Website please. :)

[@VictorBlakerst]

Im pretty interested on buying a chibson les paul, could u guide me or make a tutorial? It would help me so much... Thank u Chris!

[@richyrich5049]

You can dip the pickups in wax to eliminate the microphone effect, but there is nothing wrong with replacing them.

[@guitarman7169]

Good luck with that due to no cavity access. You are going to need a luthier and it is going to cost you. And, where the heck do you find, buy a fake Supreme. If it is listed at any selling site/store and you know your guitars, the pics will give it away immediately. So, they can make a million of them and I will keep my "real" Supreme. If you buy one of these "copys", then tough luck Chuck!

[@richyrich5049]

@@guitarman7169 You finished being superior? Or is it Supreme?

[@guitarman7169]

@@richyrich5049 Yea. My bad. My 2003 does have Ebony. The later models had Richlite. Thank god I found this 03 in MINT/MINT condition. It was never played. Kept for investment. So in 2003 what did they cost? I "stole' mine for $3000. Wish I could post a pic here but alas, no!

[@speakonianjny5004]

very intelligent. thanks for the headsup

[@kimjongjose7410]

Why does the supreme not have washers?

[@Orzech55555]

thank you!!! i was very close to buy fake but your move save my money.

[@ChrisJohansonMusic]

Its pretty simple, I have to go to work, but if you private message me, I'll get back to you and give you the full rundown when I get the chance.

[@lukeguitar1]

Very helpful and thank you. As a person getting ready to buy a used 2006 Les Paul Supreme, I am convinced I am getting the real deal. Some of the differences you pointed out are obvious, but several are subtle and not as easy to spot. Great job and thanks again!!

[@theo9952]

Are you sure that the fingerboard on the USA supreme is ebony ? Because at least the late USA models are usually described as having a richlite fingerboad which looks and feels like ebony but it certainly is not.

[@louaguado995]

Don't know why people buy the fakes then complain about it, just get the real thing!

[@antropes1375]

great video Chris.....i have a genuine gibson les paul standard and 2 chinese copy les pauls an Ace Frehley model and a Steve jones model...both are pretty good copies....pickups are ordinary but im changing them.....otherwise all good....my two copies are mostly for display purpose,s....but they sound ok .....cheers

[@taurbaby]

Why would a chinese gibson copy be somewhat more acceptable to buy than a chinese made epiphone which i would assume would at least have stricter quality control.

[@dextervincent7994]

Thank you for your help but can i ask you something Gibson les paul vintage 2007 50´s style neck is this is real one too thank again

[@mjpugh123]

all chinese copies have the binding over the frets now, and the bridges are spot on now. you can't even tell the difference now between the copies and the real gibsons. they are REALLY good now.

[@avrilcadabra]

2 gibsons not 4. Would have been nice to say how they play. I got sold a fake epiphone as a real one and later bought a real gibson. At least on mine the gibson has more clarity, it has a 1 piece neck the fake had 3 piece, fakes seem to often have crooked grovers. drilled wrong. While the fake plays very well (better than any of the beginner guitars I had in the 80's) the gibson is easier to play. Most annoying thing is the fake goes out of tune a lot. New tusq nut would probably help there. The fake also weighs more as it has no weight relief.

[@ChrisJohansonMusic]

Haha thankfully my friend was able to supply the real one for comparison.

[@paulycook3234]

Thanks for the info ,very helpful!

[@guitarsofthegods]

yea, the "finish" on these chineese copys is fotoflame. basicly a sticker. the core of body is flakeboard :( electronics and hardware are junk. they will be set up like crap, occasionally the neck set will be crooked and you cant even set them up. great job on the video, im sure you have saved a few people from making a expensive mistake. with all counterfits bearing a brand name, at some point some jackass will try to sale as authentic.

[@panzerpanzerpanzer1]

Excellent work!

[@ltronbo]

Chris, I saw where you helped Victor with how to purchase a Chibson. If I could bother you to assist another, I'm about to take that plunge and I would really appreciate any assistance you could provide. You can reply by email if its not too much trouble. Thanks, RC

[@raggityman]

Not too long ago, a buddy of mine told me he order a white Gibson ES-335. As soon as I saw it, I could see it was a fake! the shape of that guitar is burnt on my psyche. It shape of the cutaways and the overall size of the head stock was off. I was even approached by a bail bond place to tell them if this Les Paul some jailbird's girlfriend gave them for collateral was real or fake. It was fake. The neck is always the dead giveaway.

[@icerider7601]

lookk buddy I left when you mistook South America for Africa

[@TelepathicTraffic]

Good video, I think you covered it all! And also .. almost no one around ever has a real Supreme, that would be the first clue ... haha, but ya same goes for all of em. Cheers.

[@fasteddie2013]

It is illegal to buy counterfeit items and if they find out they will take it. They may not prosecute you but you will lose your item.

[@raggityman]

Something about the shape of the headstock I can recognize by just looking at your vid tells me it is a fake. The cutaways are wrong, and the binding on a real Gibson headstock ends at the nut. It doesn't continue to some point between the nut and the first fret.

[@guitarman7169]

Touché!

[@topazio96]

Where i can find a chinese copy ? I don't have a lot of money to buy a gibson, but i like the inlays and the color of the guitar, that's all i want in the guitar, i can changue the pickups Greetings !

[@marcodari9393]

Thanks you Chris👍

[@davisdeen-ty4so]

THIS VIDEO IS 10 YRS OLD !! The Copies ARE REAL GOOD TODAY🎉🎉

[@Rock_N_Guitar]

Really awesome. Now i know i have a fake. Good thing i got it cheap

[@MrNobodysSanctuary]

liked your vid, the only thing is, it would have been fantastic to hear the difference between the real one and the nice china, just saying.

[@davisdeen-ty4so]

you have to pull the guitar apart to be sure my young friend! there getting good at the fakes

[@ScoutSniperTV]

Ah i like what you done there in point 2 ;)

[@hadtodoit2647]

I have one and had the world on Supreme done right

[@guitarjunkie7124]

Great video

[@MOAONAABE]

south america not africa

[@ChrisJohansonMusic]

I would absolutely buy it again. Over and over. I would rather have it than the real one sometimes because the real one (all decorations aside) is mostly hype, and doesn't sound any better. Just my opinions

[@OddTimeMan]

My friend has 2 Chinese Gibson LP's and they both have flame-maple veneers, not a photo-flame sticker. And there are MANY videos & pics of these fakes ALL OVER the Internet showing the same thing. "Flakeboard" core??? My friend's are both maple bodies & necks. And many videos & pics show that many are Asian mahogany (nato). Don't know where you're getting your info from, but it's wrong.

[@ricardoyo7662]

Africa and North America continents!! LOL Only in North America ...

[@ChrisJohansonMusic]

Theres a video on my channel of me playing it

[@lucaslois2453]

Its actually south America..... But yeah, definitely not Africa

[@ChrisJohansonMusic]

That would never happen because China hates everything that is media. I like the idea... but its just impossible

[@alexiszunigarodriguez]

Good video…

[@gsstrings]

4 Gibsons, no only 2!!!

[@canalteste562]

nice video and all but....when u talked about the supreme logo is not africa below the name its south america...

[@Squazzoo68]

The FRETBOARD IS EBONY, not the neck!

[@Jeronimo.67]

Those are real shitty copies, and you need a lot more info to spot a good copy.

[@tanpeke]

Africa? go to school

[@darrylbutt2570]

I would have thought Americans would know that South America is below North America.

[@saltwatermanten]

The chinese are now starting to put binding on the frets, no shit! lol... Type in guitar and fret binding in dhgate.

[@clowray2747]

Thanks. You just educated the fakers.

[@charliellorente]

Gibson lawsuited Ibanez in the 70´s for guitars that were´nt even replicas...what ´s going on with the chinese crap??? No lawsuits, WTF is going on ??????

[@Errosion16]

well its not a company thats making them and the people pretty much stay undercover most of the time and dont give away their identity, pretty hard to lawsuit someone who knows theyre doing something illegal and is hiding it rather than say Ibanez...

[@blackbearbear9313]

North America South America not Africa

[@RSJOHNSON1993]

Awesome video, but do you know where Africa is?

[@therealraceisms7696]

Guise? 😁

[@diegomoreno1029]

Come on boy!!! In minute 7:17 you say "you'll notice Africa down here" while pointing at South America!!! Have you been to school!???

[@JH-nl6bp]

Glad you don’t work at US Customs lol

[@ScottJoseph-c2o]

Bullshit,my chibson has nibs.

[@Rizzi17111]

That's not africa,it's Brazil .____. hahahahaha.But good video!!!! :D

[@philbrown6787]

Africa

[@splatchbanana]

aren't you made in china??

[@chilorization]

africa????

[@cdnpunk2270]

can't trust the opinions of a fella who confused Africa for South America.

[@chrisjohansonphotography2629]

Not sure if you're using a mobile version of KZbin or not, but I'm sure you CLEARLY missed the annotation that corrected that very simple mistake. Forgive a single slip of the tongue on a 12 minute UNCUT video.

[@cdnpunk2270]

I was on mobile, I'm so embarrassed. Forgive me.

[@guitarjunkie7124]

Wow. You missed the point of the video if you are bitchin about that