Picked this up.

[Steve Jamo]

Hi all, I picked this up from a amateur guitar builder in Wales (UK). He said he picked the neck up off ebay and said that he was pretty sure it wasn't a real Gibson. The body is made out of Ash
and Maple, with Mahogany dividers. All the electronics and hardware are Gibson, except for the tuners which are Grovers. What do you think of it?

 

[pancake81]

I am sorry to say, but I believe this is a fake that someone swapped some parts on after it arrived from China.

interesting back story that he said it was a guitar builder.

hope you didn’t pay too much? Does it play descent?

 

[pancake81]

Also, I have yet to meet a guitar builder that buys a fake Gibson headstock off of eBay to top off all of their hard work...

 

[Norton]

by "builder" do you mean that the dude swapped pickups and hardware? It's a weird guitar. But weird isn't bad!

Strange that the chinese OEM maker would choose a short lived 70's body shape/style to use as a pattern.

digg it, play it, make some noise!

 

[laza616]

Few days ago, there was a Gibson SG 2006 faded for sale in Austria, for 350€. Few months ago SG standard 2005 for 500€. Also Gibson SG 70s tribute for 450€.
Buying a Chibson from Aliexpress makes no sense at all. Then selling it is really awkward.
I hope you didnt pay much.
If the guitar plays good and you like it, keep it, have fun with it
But if the guitar sounds bad and feels bad, ask for your money back
I hope you are happy with the guitar

 

[pancake81]

Perhaps not the OP, but I feel a lot of folks just like the idea of getting a guitar that looks like a Gibson and don’t care if it plays like sh1t. The fake Mona Lisa I suppose. If it plays descent they really feel like they won’t the lottery.

 

[ksaderfos]

well done! you like - you buy it!

 

[Bad Penguin]

Chinese fake, with someone adding the Gibson electronic board, and installing the neck pickup upside down... Not exactly the best "builder".

 

[DrBGood]

I don't think that is a Chinese Chibson. It's too off to be a fake, everything is wonky on the body. Looks like a first time builder with not much knowledge of the SG layout. Hope it was dirt, dirt ... did I say dirt ? Dirt cheap and plays well.

 

[Steve Jamo]

The builder was said he was fairly sure that it wasn't a real Gibson neck. I have turned the pickup back around the right way. The body is hand built and is quite heavy, no neck dive here! It plays well and I mostly bought it because it looks different enough to stand out, and I only paid £200 for it.

 

[Steve Jamo]

The pickups are a matching pair of 490R (860-31-461L), 490T (860-31-462L) dated 12/7/15. Lookikg online a pair of these new would cost the same as I paid for the guitar. So I recon that the parts, even second hand are wort more than what I paid, so I'm ok with taking the chance that I did. I also removed the poker chip, because where it was situated looked too cramped.

 

[Go Nigel Go]

The builder was said he was fairly sure that it wasn't a real Gibson neck. I have turned the pickup back around the right way. The body is hand built and is quite heavy, no neck dive here! It plays well and I mostly bought it because it looks different enough to stand out, and I only paid £200 for it.

At that kind of price I would have bought it too. Assuming it plays reasonably well, It's an interesting look sure to piss off some folks and delight others. To me it is a case of "better to be a bit controversial than ignored" when it comes to selecting a guitar destined to be played out and about. it has sort of an early 70's vibe that I can totally dig.

The builder should probably have marked it as a fake somewhere, or better still marked it with his/her own logo on the headstock. Never understood folks who could do even halfway decent work using "fake logos". Either it doesn't "pass" and you get "busted", or else it does pass, in which case why would you want someone else to get the credit? Just put your name on it for crying out loud, it's not like you are going to get rich selling knock-offs.

 

[laza616]

In case you get Gibson 490 pups, the price was reasonable
I would put a masking tape over that off set Gibson logo on the headstock.
Rock that SG!

 

[Steve Jamo]

The logo is actually perloid/mother of pearl, and is not a transfer, he bought it in this condition, though he did say it was cherry red when he got it, so it could be of a Chibson.

 

[Steve Jamo]

Looking at the neck it looks like maple as the is a fair bit of 'flaming' on the back

 

[Von Trapp]

Didn't like it at first but it grows on you. Looks like he did a good job although beats me why he didn't put the jack on the side and it looks a bit crowded in the pot area. Perhaps lose the switch surround or whatever that's called again. 200 sounds fair enough. Great pickups.

 

[Bad Penguin]

I've just noticed something, that make me think we are being played. Front and sides of this "thing" are maple/ash, but the back, with the pics of the electronic cavity and circuit boards, all being cherry red mahogany. And what's with the caption on the pics about reversing red and white wires??? Wait, really? I feel like an idiot for not noticing before. Ain't nothing on that guitar that says Gibson, other then the cheap misplaced logo. So therefore, I call BULLSHIT.

 

[Von Trapp]

I've just noticed something, that make me think we are being played. Front and sides of this "thing" are maple/ash, but the back, with the pics of the electronic cavity and circuit boards, all being cherry red mahogany. And what's with the caption on the pics about reversing red and white wires??? Wait, really? I feel like an idiot for not noticing before. Ain't nothing on that guitar that says Gibson, other then the cheap misplaced logo. So therefore, I call BULLSHIT.

I didn't look too close since I figured he uploaded the wrong pics but if not; played? And why? A mystery indeed...

 

[Go Nigel Go]

I've seen those pictures of the electronics show up previously in other unrelated threads as well, so they were uploaded some time ago. Obviously not part of the subject guitar so I just ignored them as some sort of error somewhere. I can't imagine how it could be anything nefarious at this point, just odd but not without precedent.

It is a cool example of the amateur/parts builder's art (as the OP stated). Purists need not apply, these are evaluated strictly on an individual basis for looks, inventiveness, and playability. This one certainly has some cool and interesting features.

 

[Steve Jamo]

View attachment 44629 this is the actual control cavity. As you can see the switch is fitted the wrong way round.