So what's this then?

BigPaulie · May 2022

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125288797362?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=EiqxsyvNQ1-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=7UozzOPoQBO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Nothing to do with me, but it doesn't look quite right.

ICBM · May 2022

It's a steel stringed dreadnought acoustic guitar.

But not a Gibson.

bertie · May 2022

as a side note, I wonder what is the deciding factor for when a bridge has the narrow bit towards the sound hole and when its towards the end

Image: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4ae7b2d593010f2fa16c6aed25c14dfb-320-80.jpg

Tannin · May 2022

Surely this is a fraud in progress.

ICBM · May 2022

bertie said:

as a side note, I wonder what is the deciding factor for when a bridge has the narrow bit towards the sound hole and when its towards the end

From a physics point of view, the one that looks “odd” because it’s by far the less common way of doing it, is in fact better - it distributes the force more evenly across the top.

WezV · May 2022

ICBM said:

bertie said:

as a side note, I wonder what is the deciding factor for when a bridge has the narrow bit towards the sound hole and when its towards the end

From a physics point of view, the one that looks “odd” because it’s by far the less common way of doing it, is in fact better - it distributes the force more evenly across the top.

but it is also more likely to split along the pin holes

bertie · May 2022

WezV said:

ICBM said:

bertie said:

as a side note, I wonder what is the deciding factor for when a bridge has the narrow bit towards the sound hole and when its towards the end

From a physics point of view, the one that looks “odd” because it’s by far the less common way of doing it, is in fact better - it distributes the force more evenly across the top.

but it is also more likely to split along the pin holes

less wood "behind" them ?

drofluf · May 2022

bertie said:

as a side note, I wonder what is the deciding factor for when a bridge has the narrow bit towards the sound hole and when its towards the end

Think it depends on which side the slot for the saddle has been cut. My preference is for the slot to be closer to the sound hole.

HTH

DavidR · May 2022

Call me Mr. Stupid from Stupidville but why is this not a Hummingbird with no pickguard? Never owned a Hummingbird but have hankered after one and would be genuinely interested to know what gives this away as a fake. Only Gibson I have ever had was a Gibson Mark 35.

Give me a list, correct my cosmic ignorance, and make me clever - or I might turn into a pumpkin!

:-)

bertie · May 2022

due to the bridge being "reversed" - is this one a fake then ?
https://reverb.com/item/52629304-gibson-hummingbird-1974-natural?bk=

TheMadMick · May 2022

bertie said:

due to the bridge being "reversed" - is this one a fake then ?
https://reverb.com/item/52629304-gibson-hummingbird-1974-natural?bk=

Don't care. At £2899.00 it's not a bargain.

Mellish · May 2022

I've had two Hummingbirds, neither had that soundhole purfling IIRC or that binding around the edges.

I would also not expect to get a genuine 'Bird (Standard, Custom or Pro) for that price

Mellish · May 2022

@bertie ; Hummingbirds have a reversed bridge IIRC. I'm trying to remember back to the mid 70s when I had mine.

But you wouldn't get a Hummingbird for £155. Or if you could, it would have picked up some serious issues

bertie · May 2022

@mellish ; - yes mate, I meant "reversed from their normal" not "reversed from everyone elses normal"

- so its a fake ?

BigPaulie · May 2022

I don't know for sure, but the things that made me suspicious were the abalone rosette, number of binding plies, and what looks to be a scarfed headstock.

Mellish · May 2022

@BigPaulie ; yep, I don't recall abalone around the soundhole. I'm fairly sure it wasn't there. I'd honestly pass on it mate

Mellish · May 2022

@bertie ; I'd say you'd be unwise to buy it believing it's a Gibson, put it that way

bertie · May 2022

Mellish said:

@bertie ; I'd say you'd be unwise to buy it believing it's a Gibson, put it that way

Id be unwise cos its a Dread

LOL

DavidR · May 2022

Just done interweb trawl. Yep. Abalone around soundhole alone would be unique for a Gibson Hummingbird (without looking through all the images on Google anyway!). There are such Hummingbirds but they always seem to have abalone purfling too.

And then there's the cost too. Although people don't always know what they're doing. I don't. :-)

Interesting.

BigPaulie · May 2022

Also interesting is the fact that the guitar is not listed as a Gibson, and the word "Gibson" is conspicuously absent from the description.

Mellish · May 2022

The split parallelogram inlays might suggest Gibson to some, though that may not have been the intention of the builder.

In any event, it isn't

bugileman · May 2022

Chinese made acoustic. A few around, terrible build quality close up.

DavidR · May 2022

Is the Chinese economy still generating outright fake instruments? This one doesn't state age but has anyone come across any recent fakes?

Faking has been going on forever of course. There are even fake Spanish classicals made in the 19th century purporting to be from the top luthiers of the time.

A fake has to be a definite attempt to mislead of course by label, sale details, or in this case headstock. For anyone apart from Gibson to put a Gibson logo on a headstock is just criminality. Obviously.

ICBM · May 2022

So much wrong with it it's almost difficult to know where to start, but if I had to I would say that the scarf-jointed headstock is an instant giveaway - Gibson have never done that. (Although it's possibly arguable that they should! But not with the join there, either...)

A couple of other very obvious ones -

The pale non-mahogany or laminated maple neck, with a wrong-shaped volute and heel.

Bridge the wrong shape with the saddle set too far back.

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So what's this then?

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