Well well well...
So I replied again this morning using a friend's email, and a different tone to the email ie WHEN CAN I COME PICK IT UP rather than 'I want to determine exactly what guitar this is'
get a reply:
yes, I still have it. Unfortunatly I sell the guitar + Amp together.
Now... what to do?
The guy didn't want someone knowledgeable to have a good look at the guitar. So I'm assuming that a) the guitar is stolen or b) it's a fake. I don't want a guitar with bad karma attached to it (although I guess it might be good for the blues?), and my intention is to find the original owner if it really is a Gibson. How could I go about this? Not amped about giving it in at a police station just on the suspicion.
Then, secondly, I don't know that much about LP's, so I might not be able to tell if it's a fake. So far I got:
Measure the guitar to check that it’s not undersized. Correct measurements can be found on www.Gibson.com.
Examine headstock and headstock logo to determine that they match those of authentic Gibson guitars.
Check to see that all pearl is inlaid.
Check that Les Paul model script is always in cursive.
Verify that there’s not a three-screw truss rod cover.
Check the control and pickup cavities for sloppy routing or wiring.
Make sure the pickup cavity is not painted black inside.
Always ask for the Gibson Owner’s Manual and Gibson Warranty Inspection card.
Check the wiring. If it’s plastic it isn’t a true Gibson.
from the Gibson website.
and then thirdly, obviously, there's the possibility that the seller is just a massive moron selling a no-name LP lookalike at the appropriate price, in which case i'm wasting my time. But even a epiphone special with a crappy 50w peavey should be going for more than 3.5k?
I'm arranging a viewing - don't want to ask for too much info beforehand at the risk of spooking the seller again.
BTW: if there's someone here, who knows LP's, and who also thinks little detective missions like this are fun, from stellenbosch who wants to go along when I view, speak up ?
