[HQ] Look Around Fake - Epiphone Les Paul Custom Black Beauty

[gazmozza]

Thanks for taking the time to review thos epiphone it has been very helpful as i am looking around for. also its nice to see someone taking the time to help others with such a detailed video. Thanks

[braddaz99]

@gazmozza thats fine! i just dont want it happening to more people, need to stop these fakes

[bassman1154]

One of my freinds bought a counterfeit epiphone les paul and his pickups do the same but not at first. he's had it for about a year now. he wants me to put in some decent pickups for him.

[HurricaneTBag]

Ugh, I got fucked on one of these recently. I bought one at Guitar Center used and went to trade it in for a seven string and they noticed it was fake, too much binding on the head stock.

[braddaz99]

@HurricaneTBag ahh that sucks!

someone may want it? try selling it as a fake, because some just like the fact its a nice guitar, and dont mind about that it isnt a fake

[EggiMcSpeck]

@braddaz99

i think i didn`t get it, is the guitar in the video a fake version of the Epiphone Les Paul Custom Black Beauty ?

i am planing to buy this guitar (not in ebay) so i just want to make sure that i won't waste my money

good video :)

[braddaz99]

@EggiMcSpeck yeah you got it, the guitar in the video is a fake version of the epiphone black beauty,

id advise getting it off a trusted business :)

[EggiMcSpeck]

@braddaz99

Okay, thank you :)

by the way, do you know "Thomann Cyberstore" in the usa? thats where i am going to buy the guitar

[braddaz99]

@EggiMcSpeck i don't, but i've had a quick look at the website, and they seem good to me :)

[EggiMcSpeck]

@braddaz99 thank you for your help :)

[pjguitar15]

You hate it? give it to me.

[braddaz99]

@pjguitar15 didnt say i hated it,

also it didnt even work when plugged into an amp, - i put this in the description.

if you're happy with having fake guitars that screech when played then alright... :P

[Dominik6641572]

hmm I bought an epiphone les paul black beauty, and it's crafted excellent, i once tried out a gibson lp black beauty, and there are not much differences, also gibson is the owner of epiphone^^

[braddaz99]

@Dominik6641572 yes it is, theyre great, youve miss understood,

im not saying epiphone are fake, im saying people make fake versions of epiphone

yes epiphone is owned my gibson

[lolley1100]

So do you have a real black beauty now?! I love mine, been having it for nearly 3 years, and will never get rid of it.

[braddaz99]

@lolley1100 no :( i only bought this fake one cos it was cheap and i couldnt afford the full price, so when i got my money back, i bought a standard les paul, i still love it though :) and also will never be getting rid of it!

[lolley1100]

@braddaz99 Ah...The only thing I dislike about it is that it's black, and it's the only guitar I have at the time. It's beautiful, but it looks nothing like a sunburst.

[braddaz99]

@lolley1100 yeah i totally agree

[Syncopator]

I'm dissapointed by real Epiphone quality. While trying to get an Epiphone semi-hollow, I went through about 4 guitars new from Guitar Center that were just crap-- a Dot had a warped neck, another had an incredible amount of string or bridge buzz that couldn't be adjusted out. I finally settled on a Sheraton, and while it's clearly the best of the lot it still seems like it's not quite right. And it's not due to Chinese made, I have other Chinese guitars that are excellent (Ibanez, Italia).

[braddaz99]

@Syncopator i think you may just have bad luck, i have 2 epiphones, and i know a few friends all with epiphones, and the quality is great, ive compared to gibsons in shops too etc, and its really not too bad,

sorry to hear that this is your opinion

[MrTomoti]

I bought a Epiphone les Paul standard from digital village for £300. The poster and the other accessories were the same as in the video, it says on the back of the guitar hand crafted in china. I spoke with some representative of music stores and they told me that Epiphone is certified by Gibson. Does this mean that my guitar is fake or real?

[braddaz99]

@MrTomoti i think your guitar is genuine

history of gibson and epiphone is that epiphone was bought buy the owners of gibson in the 50s because they were competitors

now gibson use epiphone to make nearly the same guitars but at a smaller budget for the people who cant afford gibson.

the accessories in the video are what you get with an epiphone, its just they were fake versions

your guitar is a real epiphone. epiphone arent fake versions of gibson, because they are made by the same people

[movingpictures998]

I bought my les Paul epiphone custom from musiciansfriends is that a good place? Is it gonna be real?

[braddaz99]

@movingpictures998 yeah id say its a trustworthy place

id have to see it to make sure, but im fairly sure :)

[notstupid12446]

Just wondering, did E-bay require you to return this item in order for you to get the refund?

[braddaz99]

@notstupid12446 i was lucky and didnt have to get ebay involved,

i first got a full refund, and then the seller sorted out and paid for the guitar to be picked up and delivered back to him

i think it was because i told him that id had it checked out by a big epiphone dealer and it may have scared him and therefore he didnt want to get caught

i bet its not that easy for alot of people though

[filder]

Can you tell me if this one is fake? I'm about to buy it. How can I send the link to you?

[braddaz99]

@filder hi!

i'll inbox message you my email, and then you can send it to that :)

[rockpark10]

@braddaz99 im about to get a epiphone les paul and it was hand crafted in china....... does that mean its fake?? =l

[braddaz99]

@rockpark10 no it doesnt :) epiphone do have factories in china,

where are you buying it from?

[rockpark10]

@braddaz99 ebay

[braddaz99]

@rockpark10 send me the link if you want, ill take a look as soon as i can,

id just advise to not get it if its ridiculously lower than what it should be, cos thats what the fakes are like, youre somtimes best to pay full price,

but send me the link and ill have a look

[wesleyprather91]

i bought an sg that had all the posters and manuals like the one u showed. duz that meen my sg was fake???D:

[braddaz99]

@wesleyprather91 no it doesnt dont worry, in my case they were using the posters and manuals to try and make it seem genuine, but they were photocopies

but theres no need to worry im sure yours is a genuine epiphone :)

[RyanMcMusic]

I've had the same fake epi for about 3 years, for £275 it's a perfectly good guitar, I changed out the pickups and all the other electrics for Gibson spec (had it done by a registered Epi/Gibson dealer, who was sure it was legit actually lol) and to be honest, it doesn't do a bad job standing up to my USA made PRS. Gig it all the time, I suppose it's just a matter of whether or not its origins bother you.

[braddaz99]

@RyanMcMusic yeah i agree, i considered keeping it, because it was a fairly nice guitar.. but it started squealing and screeching and i couldnt stop it, so this made my mind up and i got my money back

[tatethompson1234]

Faking Epiphones, pretty soon they will have fake First Acts lol

[TheCemgesx]

A little correction, " if you can't afford much"

[TheCemgesx]

I don't understand, epiphone is cheap copy of gibson, and this one is even cheaper fake copy? Or is that original epiphone? Well I would rather buy Ibanez instead of any epiphone guitar. If you wanna buy les paul, buy the cheapest one if you can afford much but please, buy an original Gibson, even cheapest Gibson les Paul is better then most expensive epiphone

[joebagley94]

@TheCemgesx Epiphone are not cheap gibsons they are different guitars, yes they are similar as epiphone are a sub company of gibson but for gutarist with less money available to them. The point of this video is to show that there are copies of epiphone les pauls to which aren't the same good quality epiphone are. Epiphone are a very good guitar company and you should consider buying one if you want a well made gt, the point of buying a gibson is for the handmade quality not the fact its a gibson

[braddaz99]

@joebagley94 @TheCemgesx

couldnt have put it better myself joe,

and 'TheCemgesx' - the cheapest gibson is not better than the most expensive epiphone, its not about price,

its about quality, and epiphone very nearly match gibson's quality,

my video is about epiphone guitars, and the fact that there are fakes out there,

and this just proves that epiphone are good guitars, because people are feeling the need to produce fakes, because they are good guitars which people want and buy

[jameslo93]

fuck china seriously

[sodiumhypochlorite]

I still own it (i can't really sell it on in good conscience). The hardware has begun to tarnish and rust. then again i hang it on the wall exposed and don't wipe sweat off after i finish playing. Haven't picked it up in a while though. It was too late to get a refund by the time i noticed the fake. and i'm not going to lament buying it since i got fairly lucky in its quality. just needed some fiddling. My suggestion: do research, play before you buy. Some of these counterfeits are shocking.

[sodiumhypochlorite]

I bought a fake Les Paul custom from eBay back in 2008. I did my research and a fake epiphone was unheard of at the time so i bought without hesitation. My findings; A tad noisy (poorly grounded i think). Pups were crunchy and bluesy. sounded like any other epiphone i had played. The only thing that triggered suspicion was the control knobs were not parallel to the neck and the cavity was painted and had sloppy wiring. frets were unlevel above the 15th fret. setup was poor. good for a project.

[MartynFolkSinger]

I bought a fake - didn't mean to but it looked good quality and I never imagined that anyone would try to fake a relatively budget brand. It's a good fake and I don't know what to do with it. I don't want to keep it, and I don't want to sell it as, even if I sold it cheap as a fake, someone could then try to pass it off as genuine. I'm seriously thinking of smashing it up.

[braddaz99]

@MartynFolkSinger maybe sell it to a friend as a fake? or you could use it as a project guitar to do up? just some ideas... i wouldnt smash it up though, just make sure you sell it to someone who wont sell it on

[mysticfluid]

Thanks bradda, this video adds up to my decision making in buying an epiphone copy. I'm not sure if this is true but they said that the ones made from korea and japan are much better than china's? I'm from Philippines and it's very hard to find a good copy of epiphone here. Only the best option would be ebay.

[braddaz99]

@mysticfluid not sure about the whole korea japan thing., yes if you really want a fake i suggest ebay.,., but i wouldnt recomend getting one

[Macsk8ing]

Well for 275Euros you only get a piece of shit.

[Xx3V0LUTI0NxX]

Real epiphone dosnt come with that owners manual they are a little bit different and the box come with the serial number of the guitar color and model in a sticker from store and the headstock angle are of 45 degrees

[Ozopzo]

The fakes reaching the US in ther summer of 2011 are MUCH better. i saw one a few days ago and could no longer tell. It was no more different from a real epiphone than two real Epiphones from each other.

[Nintendo129]

@Ozopzo If the one that you saw was a fake one , how do you know that it wasn't a real one?? lol?

[cal1roberts]

I ordered mine from amazon at a similar price, and it came with the posters/manual/lead, would you normally get these from a genuine epiphone or is it something they'd use to try and make it look authentic when its not?

[braddaz99]

@cal1roberts mine came with this too,

it is something they use to try and make you believe its genuine,

if its a black beauty at this sort of price,, -new., the chances are its a fake,

[cal1roberts]

@braddaz99

Mine was a custom and cost £300, so its not quite as dear as a black beauty anyway. The pickups all sound alright atm so i'm hoping its just a coincidence. :)

[braddaz99]

@cal1roberts ahh that prices sound okay then,,

does it have any of the features in the video?

[cal1roberts]

@braddaz99 It doesn't seem to have anything that stands out too much, like the knobs seem fine and the jack socket is in between the binding, so fingers crossed its alright. Cheers for the help anyway.

[Macsk8ing]

@braddaz99 Dude who gives a shit if it's not genuine for the price you paid.

[braddaz99]

@Macsk8ing i'd give a shit, being as it was unplayable because of the screeching noise i explained in the description..

[Macsk8ing]

@braddaz99 well in that case, FUCK THE SELLER.

[legendsveil]

@Macsk8ing then your not a good musician are you... your supposed to feel your guitar and bond with it, you dont want some cheap ugly guitar?and then it could just start failing on you or not get a good sweet sound. Not some crap you dont know about xD

[Macsk8ing]

@legendsveil Man what I mean is the genuine ones are worth more than 2x the fake, you could sell the fake to someone and buy another one, or maybe change pick ups or something like that, it's not like you paid the real price for the fake one.

[legendsveil]

@Macsk8ing sometimes they go for the same price haha

[Macsk8ing]

@legendsveil hahaha yeah I've seen cases, that must suck to know you bought a fake les paul for the real price and no refunds.

[legendsveil]

@Macsk8ing i didnt buy one?? I have one but its not fake??

[Macsk8ing]

@legendsveil No bro, I meant you in a ''anyones'' way not that actually your person bought a fake one.

[legendsveil]

@Macsk8ing that didnt make sence?? xD

[Macsk8ing]

@legendsveil Dammit, i've been so much time out of the US that I forgot how to write well.

[legendsveil]

@Macsk8ing it's okay mann xD

[davecoreproductions]

@cal1roberts I have an Epiphone SST Studio and it also came with a poster/manual/lead. I think this is standard. And I ordered my guitar from Thomann, the largest Music-Shop in Germany. It should be genuine. Amazon gets their stuff from sellers, and they normally name their sellers, you should check their page.

[braddaz99]

@davecoreproductions im not saying having these items makes it fake, i mean they include these to try and make you believe its genuine,

it was definately fake because i also got it checked out and confirmed by an epiphone dealer.

[cal1roberts]

@davecoreproductions Thanks, this has at least made me feel a bit more confident :D

[braddaz99]

@famousstacker1 hmm it was okay, not like a les paul,, but alright

apart from the veryveryy loud screeching noise which made it unplayable

but the actual feel of it wasnt too bad

[Nogert]

I got a fake one of these on ebay too, back then I didn't even know much about guitar and didn't realise it was fake, 3 years later I'm pretty pissed.

The electrics are starting to fuck up now.

[timj41]

great video man, my son bought an SG G400 from an authorised dealer, its great, who ever made your les paul went to a lot of trouble with the poster (my son's SG had one of these and the cheap cable) and the box etc. I thought that the binding was too thick also, we have a local trade site here in NZ and a dealer has an Epi BB King for sale for $300 less than normal retail, I would be suspicious of this I think. Hope you have better luck in the future, all the best

[braddaz99]

@timj41 thanks for the comment pal :)

[zorrocolorao]

@braddaz99

Awesome video dude!!

But what pisses me off is....I BOUGHT THE SAME GUITAR!!! Crap!! its exactly like the one on the video. Look greats though.

[Stratocaster21st1994]

@braddaz99 There is an epiphone black beauty selling on amazon for £260. I have emailed the dealer and he has told me it is a genuine epiphone. What are your thoughts?

[braddaz99]

@Stratocaster21st1994 i would stay away from it in my opinion. as if they are claiming it is brand new. epiphone dont even sell them to the dealers for this cheap

therefore its probably too good to be true

if you want to send me a link, then feel free, ill have a look, but i would leave it, and maybe go for a les paul standard, or plain top, from a more genuine place.

a good cheap place i found was 'Woodbrass' - google it, its in paris, but is very cheap and is where i got my les paul from

[Stratocaster21st1994]

@braddaz99 I think your right,the seller claims it is brand new for only £260 which just doesn't seem right.

I'll definatley take a look at Woodbrass, thanks for replying so fast.

[braddaz99]

@Stratocaster21st1994 thats a real bargain if its true, but i wouldnt risk it,

good, it's cheap and even though in paris, only took a coupl.e of weeks to arrive,

thats okay, glad to help

[bassshredder16]

its a lespaul custom

[GaeGela]

Lol guys... The headstock says "Les Paul - CUSTOM" BUT this is a Black Beauty!!!! XD

I have the BB the head stock should say "Les Paul - Black Beauty"

plus on the back of it that's not the real logo, oh well i mean it's not placed in the right damn place ^^

One last thing EBAY is horrible, fake is all u can get..

i'm Italian i got mine here in a shop.

Nice video man! ^^

[braddaz99]

@GaeGela yes you are right, i missed that. i meann... it is a Les Paul Custom Black Beauty... but the truss cover should say black beauty... and yes you're right with the logo on the back too..

Cheeers man :D

[bphatboyjohn123]

@braddaz99 hey i got a ephiphone les paul custom and the jack socket is out like this one, n also the screw is kinda out too on the guard. . is that a fake, i got it frm guitarcenter tho.......

[braddaz99]

@bphatboyjohn123 is it brand new? cos maybe someone replaced the screw?

with the unfinished plates., its sounds like it maybe fake..

i wouldnt know without a few pictures, you should get it checked out by an epiphone dealer

[bphatboyjohn123]

@braddaz99 just ordered it from them, came in new from the box, it can even be a fake if i buy it from guitarcenter too tho? but the headstock was cracked a lil by the neck, so i took it back, n im getting another one in the mail. . but the screw part, the jack socket, n the un finished plates, r what im worried about, cuz idk if that really means its a fake, but i don't think the new one is gonna be any different, ill see when i get it. n how do i do that anyways tho?

[braddaz99]

@bphatboyjohn123 im not sure., i highly doubt they'd give you a fake.

the headstock cracking is quite normal with epiphones..

yeahh,., ye well just see if its the same..

just take it to a big music store, [not guitar center] and ask whether they think its a fake.,

im sure theyd be happy to give you their opinion.

[bphatboyjohn123]

@braddaz99 alright thanks, ill tell u when i get it then too

[bphatboyjohn123]

@braddaz99 n on the back of the body the plates are not finished, r they suppose to be or what

[Clumpfy]

@GaeGela

Uhm no, the cover on mine says "Les Paul Custom" - and i have a original :) also is the plate under the jack made out of plastic and black, its only golden if u buy a Gibson BB for a shitload of money. I´m not sayin u lyin, but maybe u have an old model and some details changed. Mine is 2 years old now. Just sayin that not all things shown in the vid stand for a cheap copy! But one thing was proofing the fake: NO CERTIFICATE in the box! Mine has an certificate from Epiphone...

[Glockenator]

@GaeGela Any Black Les Paul Custom can be called a Black Beauty. And they don't all say Black Beauty

[braddaz99]

@Glockenator no they can't, the black beauty is a different model from the regular custom black, hence the 3 pickups etc.

[jasonhowells2004]

Brill video man , ive been after a black beauty now for months and every single one on ebay has all the fake features , some have them all some have just 1 small one, i have found out by looking that almost every fake one has the plastic jack surround and not the gold brass one ...if you want a genuine black beauty , pay the full price at a trusted guitar store :) atleast then if u still think that may be fake they will have a return policy . most ebay'ers will refuse a refund . be careful guys

[braddaz99]

@jasonhowells2004 thanks for your comment dude :)

[FreightlinerTrukinCl]

When I got mine came with the same stuff

[eggymoo]

WOW. Thanks for posting this. One of my guitar pupils turned up today with his new Epi Black beauty - it was exactly like the one you show! I was surprised how poorly finished it was, it took half an hour's tweaking to make it playable. I haven't seen too many Epi's recently, so it didn't occur to me at the time, but it's a fake for sure.

Now, do I tell him? Maybe his parents bought it on the cheap and don't really care?

He was so chuffed with it - do I burst his bubble?

[braddaz99]

@eggymoo i would say, tell him... because i got rid of mine and bought an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Black for the same price

if they were both epiphone then the standard wouldnt be as good,

but it's soooo much better than the fake! just the finish and everything,

the pickups are awesome... and it's just every little detail, that epiphone make pefect..

in my opinion mate, id tell him and see if he can get a Epi standard,

let me know what you do! :D

[eggymoo]

@braddaz99 Yep - I told him - he was already aware that fakes existed, but was still gutted. He thought it was ok because he bought it on Amazon!! A quick search will show that Amazon, like Ebay, is littered with fake Epis offered by 'third party sellers'. Clearly Ebay and Amazon don't care, so long as they get their commission. They are profiting from fraud, and should be be held equally accountable.

[Glockenator]

@eggymoo I'd tell his parents about it. He won't want to hear that it's fake, but his parents should know for sure

[xiaoyao3000]

Also looks like the volume and tone controls do not line up in a parallel line with the neck.  NIce job - thanks for the video!

[braddaz99]

@xiaoyao3000 yep thats true! i couldnt really think of a quick way to explain that in the vid without people asking questions so i left it out...

thanks, im glad its helped!

[braddaz99]

@IDaMieNxDMG i never once said epiphone were fake gibsons

this is a fake epiphone if you had watched the video

there are alot of things wrong with this guitar that a real epiphone does not have

its definately fake as in the end the seller admited it and gave me a full refund

these are fakes made in china illegally and then brought over

i will not delete this video as it is helping alot of people and it is correct

dont try and brag about your semi pro stuff and all your guitars cos you are wrong

[edith6363]

This is just a question out there, do they make fake Epiphone Les Paul's heritage cherry sunburst plain top because ive searched and could not find anything i can only find stuff for how to spot fake customs, zakk wylde guitars and so many others but not plain tops.

[braddaz99]

@edith6363 yeah they do... the main fake parts will be the same though...

like the machine heads, the angle of the neck, the knobs and switches, fret marks and fret inlays Etc, so just compare it with the videos you find..

send me some pictures if you want..?

[edith6363]

@braddaz99 thanks, i send an E-mail to Gibson and im still waiting for an answer. i have some pictures on

"My Les Paul forum" on page 221 my user name is Jdafool.

[braddaz99]

@edith6363 i cant find your forum thing... :/

and i wouldn't bet on a reply from gibson btw, they might just dimiss emails like that....

send me a link for them pictures if you want me to have a look...

[edith6363]

i cant put links here, it say error ill try to send u a message

[floridartist]

well, I to got the same this week, I could return it for a full refund, but will most likely lose on some shipping, at least I got a part refund, so total price paid out for my fake , $195, but I can never resell it as a true Les paul Black beauty 3, in the mean time, I would like the name of the song you have here, I think I want to learn it, has great feeling on this matter

thank you

[braddaz99]

@floridartist hi, thanks for your comment... if the guitar is okay, then you may aswell keep it for that price.. but with mine, it would squeal when you plug it into an amp, even on a clean channel.. so it had to go back.

the song is, Far From Home - Five Finger Death Punch

don't be put off by the name, listen to some others by them, they are a really amazing band :)

cheers :D

[razor197]

i think the cap on the input jack was good just the binding was too thick(as you stated)

[braddaz99]

@LesPaulWhat yepp really, look it up :P

[haloreachLtcolonel]

wow dude really sorry heres a joke lol r u the one selling the fake eppi's and just trying to cover your ass lol thats a funny joke but dude I hope mines not fake I just purchased one and it wasnt cheap though.

[braddaz99]

@haloreachLtcolonel ahahaa no i'm not dude xD i sent it back to Ebay and bought a real les paul now! :)

but haha ;)

well where did you get it from, and how does it compare with this vid?

[spenspuma]

Personally i dont think this is a copy at all.

I just think it is a factory second....one that has been rejected as a first and sold cheap as a second.

Epiphones quality control is known to be very poor - a lot have slipped through with really bad electrics and pickups not working.

Recently there has been a glut of Epiphone les pauls (NEW) for sale on ebay really cheap and i get the feeling Epiphone have somewhere sold all their les pauls off cheap (ones that are and arent seconds)

[braddaz99]

@spenspuma im 100% sure it was a copy there are too many diferences to a real

for example i compared the knobs with a real black beauty n they were a completly different design

screw and hole were compltly wrong on the scratch plate i dont see why epiphone wouldnt just whack a correct screw in it

why would the binding be twice as thick this cant be just a factory mistake

the cavity covers were real bad quality plastic epiphone would use the real stuff

think wat you want but im sure it was a fake

[braddaz99]

@LesPaulWhat No that's not right. Gibsons have only 2 screws whereas Epiphones have 3.

[iNtAlps]

how did it sound though???? did you plug it in?

[braddaz99]

@iNtAlps I put this in the description...

"when the guitar was plugged into an amp it made this horible screeching noise, when you played it went, then instantly when you stopped it came back, i guessed it was the pickups were bad? It even did this on a clean channel!"

[ltprssgguitar]

Song is...

[braddaz99]

@ltprssgguitar It 'Far From Home' by 'Five Finger Death Punch'

They are and awesome band look some of their other songs up! My Favourite Band! :D

[misterreality]

The contour of the body also gives it away as a copy. I bought a fake accidently last year, and literally had to threaten him to get my money back.

[braddaz99]

@misterreality What you mean like the bulge on the front? that contour?

And where did you buy the fake then?

[misterreality]

@braddaz99 Its narrower on the front.. My fake was purchased on Craigslist, I got as far home within 10 minutes before I noticed that the O in Epiphone on the neck (logo) was upside down, a little more investigating, I also noticed the wiring job was a mess. I couldn't believe people were making Epi copies. I used the My Les Paul webiste to get a good education. Great place to learn about Les Pauls.

[BrunoFariaTM]

i bought mine guitar on thomman

the box is the same but mine is real :D

[screwback72]

should try amazon lol

[braddaz99]

@screwback72 I tried amazon first but that turned out to be fakee...

Pretty much all cheap epiphones on amazon are fake.. :/

[BrunoFariaTM]

i dont know if this is fake

hum

[braddaz99]

@BrunoFariaTM It is, when i confronted the seller with all these things he admitted it and gave a full refund :D :P