Just to mention, because it's not in the video. Glen did specifically ask when ordering for it not to have the Gibson logo on the headstock. They agreed but sent it with the logo anyway.
The fan factor is real with Glen. Mad respect for buying a guitar he wanted but couldn't afford and modding it as close as possible to the real thing. Major points for dedication. I've just bought a Squier sonic series telecaster I'm going to try to make as close as possible to Keith Richards' Micawber. Got a long way to go.
I just recently picked up a bullet mustang for modding. It's been a ton of fun seeing just how nice a budget guitar can get with a bit of love and the right pickups. Hope the tele works out for you!
For what I could try, Squier bullet and friends are actually decent guitars. They are playable "out of the box" with little effort. I would say excellent value for money.
as a borderline Gibson snob, that guitar sounded solid and great at the beginning, especially with that great playing there. you do NOT need the Gibson to get the sound. Those forum people only swear by the gear they own and think that paying 8K plus is "better". I love my custom shop gibson but my epi's also got me there at only $250
yeah, I feel the same. Former Gibson taliban myself, had to admit it's not worth it anymore, I love to play the instrument, I'm not looking for a precious object I would expose behind a glass door waiting for a sky-rocketing price increase before reselling it, I would never ever again spend 2 or 3 monthes of wages buying a LP. I'd rather go to a local luthier and have him build sthg matching my specs.
Yeah, I've got to agree. I own a Gibson, and my 2nd guitar was one, too. Not so much for the quality (although the quality was there), but just because I HAD to own one.
I own 5 Les Pauls, NONE Gibson, although I have owned good Gibson's. I have 2 Tokai's over 20 years old and beautifully built, A Bacchus, And 2 cream LP custom Randy Rhoads models, One Burny and my awesome early 1980's Greco, fantastic guitars and keepers. My first Japanese guitar was way back in the early 1980's, It was a red Ibanez Flying Vee, and again, beautifully made and sounded great... There are plenty of high quality copies if you know what you're looking at , even in China....
For a Les Paul there are great alternatives. For an SG less so. Love ESP build quality and the Viper is a very nice instrument. It is a bit of its own thing though. Epiphone makes some great instruments too. Their pickups are just there. They aren't bad, they aren't special, they just leave you wanting something. I have an used SG Standard with 57 Classic pickups. The pickups really do sound fantastic.
This is a super simple fix. The bridge posts and bridge don't match! Prob an Epi/Gibson mix. Replace one part with the correct size and you're good to go! Part Two please :)
@@mathewfoley1531 unless you know it's not a real one or REALLY know a Gibson Les Paul, from 5' away, you wouldn't know the difference, especially after replacing the pickups.
There are Epiphone to ABR-1 conversion posts that work well. You need an ABR-1 with #6 screw holes, not the Nashville bridge with 4mm holes. The Gotoh ABR aftermarket bridge is very high quality and relatively inexpensive. I own a couple Gibson Custom guitars. They are too dang expensive! KDH is right, how it’s made is more important than where it’s made.
So, googled the serial number, seems to be one used on many guitars, prompting this comment on a Gibson forum "That serial number has been seen on ugly wood more times than a Kardashian."
I actually bought one of these guitars in 2017 and at first I thought it was the exact same chibson as this one. Even the serial number was basically the same with one digit different. Then I did notice a few variations. Mine actually does have a maple top and "ebony" fretboard. I also got the fret nibs on the neck binding. Maybe I ordered the "premium" chibson? Anyway, I knew it was a fake, didn't like the pups or electronics so I gutted it and replaced it all with a top quality wiring harness using CTS components, treble bleed caps etc. Had to redrill the pot holes for the CTS pots and I put in a set of Irongear Hot Slag pickups. Left the middle pup as a dummy, for looks. The frets did need a quick leveling but are excellent compared to this one shown. I could intonate the guitar right out the box.After about 2 or 3 hours work and an extra $200 I'm really happy with mine but now I'm thinking I might have been very lucky. Not gonna push my luck by buying another chibson or a chender!
No, you haven't been lucky quality wise, you were lucky to buy from a good builder, there are some great guitar builders in China, you just have to know where to look...
That is my #1 most desired Les Paul. And I'm not really much of a KISS fan, my kids are though. It's just a really cool LP, especially with the triple DiMarzio super distortions. I'm talking about the introductory real Gibsons, not Chibson. Does Epiphone make an affordable version of the Ace Frehley LP? ( that might be in my world of possible acquisition) There are different " tier" versions of the Gibson, 10 years ago there was one for under 2k American, and then there was the higher end limited version up around 4k I believe? Super cool guitars, if only I had the capitol...
Been there, traded my ps3 and a cheap 5 string Ibanez bass with a few minor issues for a silverburst chibson back in the day, and Tool is my favorite band so that was huge to have a guitar that looked similar. But as much as I loved the silverburst my modded beginner guitar was leagues ahead in every way except looks, so I eventually traded the silverburst off. Plus you can get so many cool guitars if you just don't get one expensive Gibson. There's legit too much competition for it to be justifiable these days unless you're just really sold on the look, even with Epiphones high end stuff now. As much as I want one of those Adam Jones art collection Epiphones $1300 is a HAAARRD ask, plus them making each version so limited was scummy
I don’t get why they haven’t just done one without the art that isn’t a limited edition. They’d sell so many. I’m tempted to get the Cantrell but I’m holding out hope for a “normal” Adam Jones one.
I'm very tempted for the Viv Campbell "outfit" Les Paul with DiMarzio's. It wasnt production so much as limited to who knows how many, so I bet the prices are well up and out of sight.
I had a lawsuit era Ibanez SG, many years ago, the version with the Bigsby. It's the one guitar I regret selling... People get too snobby about replicas.. I hope Glen gets that one set up, it already sounds great as is...
I had a Ibanez les paul copy back then, the body was thinner, it was all maple with lots of curl. Fret board was wild curly maple. Bolt on neck. Very different from gibson. I loved that guitar. I was young, traded it for a late 70s Dean Cadillac that was also just incredible. I miss that Ibanez to this day almost 50 years later. I have been really looking for it for decades. Today, those old so called copys are very expensive
A Chibson can be a true TRAIN WRECK of a guitar. Usually they will be just that. I hesitate to use the word ‘instrument’ as that requires a level of precision. But… if you’re interested in learning to work on guitars, and I mean the smaller ‘setup’ level tasks as well as truly getting your hands dirty by major ‘surgery’, they CAN be pretty useful. As long as… you do NOT allow yourself to go down the expense rabbit hole. You could spend twice (or more) the entire retail price of a nice LP, just trying to bring your Chibson to a respectful level. You can though learn some really great lessons & build a few skills along the way to help you feel confident about doing any work to your ‘real’ guitars. Just know that going in.
It can be fixed, a proper bridge can be installed by luthier or a carpenter who can Google the dimensions. It looks like it’s mahogany so although no maple cap mahogany is great for guitar bodies. You’ve already replaced the expensive bits
I have a Chibson Les Paul Custom, but I bought it specifically to be a wall ornament (because it looks incredibly nice). I die stamped "FAKE" on the back of the headstock, but I don't really plan on selling it.
Great stuff as per usual! I find with cheap guitars that, since there is no QC (not that Gibsons QC is any good for that matter), its a lottery. Sometimes the parts match, whoever assembled it was well rested and did a good job, wired everything properly and you get a real bargain, most of the time, the parts dont match, and there are a lot of too expensive to fix issues. So... if you go to a store and test a guitar, and you like the way it plays, you like the way it sounds and the price is good, there you go. If you're buying it online, then unless you're using it as a project guitar, or maybe a piece of decoration, its hard to justify. Glens case, as this is a fan piece, it is also a fun piece to have. You are not gonna record your next album playing it, but it looks damn good on the display, and, for the price of a couple of pints (....or just 5 of them in temple bar), you get a 3d painting of a famous guitar.
I completely agree with you about Chibson guitars, but not all cheap guitars. There are some cheap guitar sellers that sell some great instruments, while also having a fantastic returns policy to cover the couple that might fall through the, admittedly, wider QC cracks that exist. I've got a couple of Harley Benton guitars that are flawless. Actually, one is a B-stock and after some examination, I found that one of the truss rod cover screws wasn't screwed in perpendicular to the face of the headstock. It's on a slight angle. Bugger! I've also got a few Artist guitars (6 in all!-I think my wife is justified in complaining) and there's not a bad one among them. Wilkinson pickups, Wilkinson bridges, bone nuts, Alnico pickups etc. These are cheap guitars that stand up to some American and Japanese guitars I've also got sitting right next to them. I've become pretty good at adjusting truss rods, filing nut slots and general action adjustments (thanks heaps to Dave's World of Fun Stuff LOL) but right now, it's an Ibanez Prestige that requires some attention around the 19th fret, not a sub-$300 Chinese guitar.
I have 2 of them and paid 200 each. I put iron clad pickups in them. I set them up myself. I have 2 gibson l.p. standards one from the custom shop. I've been playing a long time. I've had friends family and other guitarist watch me play the four. Not one of them could tell the difference. One of the chibson is my number 1
GLEN!! Easiest way to get those frets sorted for cheap is to buy a cheap sharpening stone from either screwfix etc or a car boot (make sure its flat with a straight edge and just carefully dress them (you can do 12 at a time with an 8'' stone) and you'll have that buzz sorted in no time ( go slowly at it and within in an hour you can have a pretty competent fix) you've got nothing to lose give it a go, you did the rest of it...;D
Chibsons are weird. Sometimes you can get the bones of a decent guitar but you need to put a lot of work in to get it playing/working well. I recently picked up a "chickenbacker" 4001 bass, luckily the previous owner took it upon himself to get it set up and get some better pickups/more accurate parts on it. You know its not really a rick but its still a solid bass! Also, RE: getting Glenn a guitar, there's an Aria PE model that has the same specs as an Ace Les Paul, dunno if you'll be able to find one in Ireland but that could be a shout!
I could be wrong, but it seems like those adapters are Epiphone Tune-O-Matic to Gibson ABR-1 bridge adapters. Both bridges function the same but they mount differently. The ABR-1 has much narrower mounting holes compared to a TOM (also referred to as a Nashville style bridge) which is most likely why the bridge is floating around the mounting screws. You could get proper Nashville style adapters or an ABR-1 bridge. The adapters that I found are called M8 to smooth 4mm posts for Epiphone. Hope this helps!
I'm on the fence about Chibsons, a mate got a fake Slash sig knowing full well it might be a decorative wall hanger and when it turned up it was playable while looking the part. Has a slight hump on the fretboard so the radius wasn't done properly before fretting but plays ok with a medium action and with new strings even sounds decent. He hasn't pumped any more money into it though, just hangs on the wall looking nice and gets played every now and then.
Glenn’s Chibson does have one major plus: it has a truss rod! @ThreeChordDave once got a Chibson that didn’t even come with a truss rod. It eventually became wall art. It’s on one of his old TH-cams. Chibson are a hilarious waste of money and a lesson to be learned, but some people get lucky and get good mod platforms if they don’t mind dumping more into them. Still, it’s not cool to rip off a brand - lots of people ask for them with a blank headstock or another logo (like he apparently did), but as you can see, they don’t seem to care. From what I’ve also heard, there’s also a huge risk that the guitar might get stopped at the border and get confiscated if border control realizes any obvious signs that it’s a fake. Then you’ve probably lost your money unless the company you order from guarantees you’ll receive a replacement if it never arrives (which I wouldn’t count on). If you’re gonna do this, make sure you put it on a credit card or PayPal so you can get you money back. Honestly, you’re better off buying an Epiphone.
I wouldn't count on getting reimbursed by PayPal or your credit card company if it's confiscated by customs. That falls outside the definition of "non receipt of goods," so, unless you're prepared to lie (which is fraud) to PayPal, you might have to "eat" the loss yourself. I'd be checking with PayPal before you buy, just to be sure.
My friend bought one of these but he bought it brand new. It had one knob that was different from the others and the body was sandwiched with a veneer on top and one on the back. You could see the wood in the middle was glued in three pieces and the seam wasn't aligned with the end pin or strap button. It was at an angle to the body. He too replaced the shitty pickups in it but only bought the DiMarzio Super Distortion for the bridge and the other two were an aftermarket manufacturer. Otherwise it's still stock. Not a bad guitar and it plays perfectly with no problems. But of course it was $300.00 U.S. Dollars and came ready to play. Thank you for sharing this with us. It was very entertaining and enlightening.
Here in Brazil, it's the only way to hang a replica on the wall because the price of an original Ace Frehley can cost more than 25 times more than for a North American. Changing the bridge pickup (as Ace only used 1), changing hardware and tuners, tidying up the electrical part and still, it's super affordable to make a sound with each pass of the Haley Comet.
HOLD UP ! He put THREE DUNCAN DISTORTIONS. In this guitar. And then intentionally Wired it up so only one of them works. WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE FUCK? Glen is genuinely a super nice guy and this leaves me absolutely gobsmacked. Lol
@KDH, you and Glen both are hilarious. I didn’t go that far off with a Chibson as Glen did. I understand why he did it. I didn’t buy myself a $5000+ Gibson Custom Shop, either. Although, I still have my first electric: a 1980s Hondo Sonex 180 clone. It doesn’t even have all of the stuff a Sonex would come with. I did change up the bridge pickup for a Trembucker. Though, when I bought the pickup, the shop didn’t have one with cream bobbins to match the rest of the guitar.
No one mentioned that the guitar sounds really good, to me anyways. After all that he has done to get it where it is now it would be worth it (to me) to get the frets leveled to make it a playable instrument. Good luck!🤞🏻👍🏻
I can see why Glen did this. I was (repeat was) a huge Kiss fan. One recommendation is that Greco Japan makes a 3 pickup sunburst custom. It does have the lighting bolts but it will be closer to Ace's . Ha ha ha love you show!!!
Agreed you can't knock the music they made, kiss and 70's rock is inseparable, its just assholes that particularly Paul and Gene have been since that point is the problem.
If you're not trying to resell it as authentic and make loads of money, there's no problem with buying one unless your scruples get in the way. For under $300 vs. over $5000, you can fix ANY problem it has for your personal playing for a few hundred bucks.
@@nonsuch ...Why wouldn't it be??? You're dumping money into a fake crapshoot "guitar" when you could have gotten an actual quality instrument for the same money.
Once upon a time I had a few fake Gibbos LPs. None of them are playable out of the box. I was able to intonate 2 and other stuff. The fake Ace major fret buzz. In order to remedy the problem raise the bridge, the nut and adjust the truss rod. Unfortunately that did not work so I'm going to try fret leveling if that don't work it will have to be refretted which will cost a lot of money. No more fakes for me.
But But But this one guy on youtube said his was perfect and his pro musician friends with Gibsons couldn't believe it was fake! Your experience is exactly what all these ali express trolls never mention, just how much luck and effort it takes into getting one of these things playable.
I've had one. It was better than any gibson I've ever played. I think it was made in the now fugi gen ibanez factory or something? I could be totally wrong though.
I got a chibson from a friend of mine for $250 and replaced the electronics and pickups with Pariah Celebrations Honestly? That guitar feels and sounds better than my two Epiphones (only other LP style guitars I have). I don't know where he got it from, and I wouldn't buy one sight unseen, but sometimes guitars turn out pretty good. The only thing keeping me from playing it is that I just don't like Les Pauls LOL
I bought a £2.5k Gibson Supreme that the bridge was off to the treble side and the nut was badly cut so that when you played the high e string it was very easy to pull it off the fretboard. I cut a new nut and replaced the tunomatic bridge with a Shaller roller bridge with side to side adjustment on the roller saddles. Its fine now but should never have left the factory.......only reason it didn't go back was that I got a good price on it and the rest of the guitar is stunning.
I have a "Chibson" Les Paul Junior DC in TV yellow w/P90 that I got cheap. I got it because Johnny Thunders played the Gibson one. It's a fine player with a thick late 50's neck profile. The P90 sounds great!
Run your gopro off a separate battery pack through the usbc and take the battery out of the gopro and remove the door. It won't overheat after that. Mine dont over heat since the last update I did. But ya just get rid of the battery and door si it can breathe. I use to have a cpu heat sink stuck to the bottom of mine lol
Reminds me, when I bought a cheap Fokus guitar with licensed Floyd Rose bridge😅 I noticed, that I can pull up with the bar only by a semitone, due to trem block being slanted🙃 It was a simple fix after all, I also changed pickups and it playes like a dream now🤌
I’m a fan of saving a few bucks but I’m not a fan of a guitar that says something on the headstock when it wasn’t produced by said brand. Throw anything other than Gibson on the headstock and I’d buy one at 160.
I bought a Chibson Les Paul Custom about 10 years ago, just for giggles - and it's obviously not a real Gibson. Not because it doesn't play well (as it *does* after I set it up properly & swapped the tuneomatic and pickups) but it's obviously not "authentic" as it has a visible scarf joint at the headstock - so it's basically an improvement over Gibson's way of doing things 🤣🤣🤣🤣 In short, I'm still quite happy with it - and yes, I did own 2 real Gibsons: and late 90s LP Studio and a fairly rare (but rubbish) '85 XPL-V... From what I've seen and heard Chibsons have gotten worse the last few years, probably due to (even) more cost-cutting...
Nice modding and relic on it by Glen though .Just stick a metric gotho or tone pros back on it to sort intonation or you can buy proper conversion stew mac or something also. I think chibson had a good run back in early 2000 ,the ones you get now are more ornamental and i think you be better buying a epiphone custom korean and doing a few upgrades . Also the Ace epiphones have increased a lot in price and are only a good as standard epiphones anyways .
Unless they set the neck at the wrong angle which doesn’t seem to be the case the nut is cut wrong and the bridge posts and bushings need replaced and raised
The fretting out is the most authentic Gibson thing about it- I've seen a metric crap-ton of Gibsons with the fretboard ski-jumping as you near the end of the board and/or the dreaded hump where the neck joins the body. Just need to level the frets. The bridge can be replaced with an ABR type to fit the posts or you can put shrink wrap on the posts to fit the Nashville style on there. Unless he's willing to pull the inserts, in which case just replace the entire assembly. And, if the bridge isn't TOO misplaced you can flip the saddles to get a bit more travel out of them (another thing you often have to do on the authentic Gibsons).
I have owned a couple of Gibson Les Pauls for some decades now... A beautiful 1962 and a well used but very cherished 1971 as well... 2 years ago, I bought a Chibson Les Paul brand new from china.... Tabacco sunburst (like my 1962) and very, very surprisingly finished out... MUCH nicer than I would have ever expected for the money.... I had a fret job done, Gibson oem pods, pickups and tuners, and set up done... I have just under $600 in it and I defy ANYone with a blindfold on to tell the difference between the Gib and the Chib.... I did not buy it to fool anyone or cheat anyone (although it would fool most people), but I like guitars period... But I had been researching these for awhile, and the playability and fit and finish on the vast majority of reports and videos and those I'd seen in person, I thought it'd be worth taking a chance on buying one and souping it up,,,,, and it absolutely was worth it... I have several guitar player friends and those that have seen and played it cannot believe it... I mean they DO, but... Yeah.... I went to put money down on a new Les Paul in 1982.. One of the guys I knew at that store brings out a case with a used LP Copy... A Lawsuit Jap copy... weighed 2oz. less than the Gib I was buying... Same identical guitar except the headstock said "Vantage" as was on the case, and all gold hardware instead of chrome or nickel.... It was winter, I had a stocking cap on and he wanted me to do a blind test with the guitars through the same chords through the same amp at the same setting (as HE had done to him the day prior).... I could not tell the difference and ended up buying IT and the case for what I was going to put down on the Gibson... But THAT'S why they were called "Lawsuit" guitars... They were making Japanese copies of American guitars every bit as good and in many cases better quality instruments than the American companies were making themselves for less than 1/2 the price... So American companies sued and got it stopped... Fast forward to the last say 10 years and the chinese are doing it but putting Gibson on the headstock... I myself call them replicas... Japanese never did this.... and THEIR guitars needed NOTHING to make them better because they were already the highest of quality, which the chinese are NOT yet... So MY Chibson is now a great guitar that plays like butter for many, many $$$ less.... So in Les Pauls, I have 2 real deals and 2 not...
You could totally do the work yourself to fix the saddle and level the frets! Id say less than 100 bucks for parts and tools most people may not have. a 2 foot level works great with some sand paper strips spray glued to it. you can pick one up super cheap id recommend a new one to ensure it has no bends. fret crowning files are available for like 30 bucks for a cheapish decent one and will last for a long time. Harbor freight or the irish equivelent should sell a super cheap dremel style rotary tool to polish the frets like glass. and an old credit card for a fret rocker or even a cheap amazon one. some wooden dowels glued into the old holes for the bridge posts and a NON cheap Forstner drill bit and masking tape to put the holes in the correct spot. Same dowel thing for the pickup ring holes will make them tighter than a frogs butthole. i think like 2 0r 3mm shoiuld work. new nut coudnt hurt preslotted ones are cheap and a torch cleaning kit make great cheap fret files. I dont mean to sound like a know it all but if you wanted i would love to help with any questions i think it would make a great video for you. More people should know that theyre capable with a little guidance and confidence. i built 7 guitars now with no prior knowledge just youtube videos and people are impressed with them. email me or hit me up in a reply i would love to help and no i dont want anything in return. If you want to see KDH do this like my comment so he sees it! even without my help yall could do it i know because i do it and i am not special
Could you just raise the bridge up a bit to stop the buzz at the high frets? Maybe it's already high enough lol I guess. I like jazzmasters though, so it's cool to see some bridge movement in a guitar like this!! love it.
I haven't finished watching the video, so no idea how it ends with the bridge thing. I'm sure it can be solved 100% by replacing it with a harmonica style bridge, since those have a huge amount of room to move the saddles. Of course the looks would be kinda ruined, but it would solve the issue
well its either a wall hanger or you could use wood filler, fill up the holes and let it harden then move drill different holes and put the bridge in the right place. I've owned several chibsons and there are some good ones
The bridge Glenn has is an ABR type bridge while the posts are for a Nashville bridge. Replace the pins with ABR pins or get a Nashville bridge and it's fixed
Meh, I wouldn't worry about the fret choke: all it'll need is an $800 neck reset and you're good. 👍 Or can always do what he asshole I bought an 08 Eric Johnson did. Just pay $250 to get the frets plekd with the most insane fallaway I've ev I've ever seen. The first fret is only slightly lower than it would be new, then they gradually get lower until the last several that are literally down to lacquer. No exaggerating: 25+ years of regular playing worth of fret wear, when you could spent have $5 on a proper full neck pocket shim and been done with it*. Then have to sell it for a $500-600 hit compared to others around the same age. It was THE biggest nightmare refret I've ever done. I used to think refretting guitars with no truss rods and a bowed neck sucked, because you have to actually straighten it with the frets. This was worse. I've done refrets on 70s LP custom fretless wonders, and they were a walk in the park compared to this damn thing. Then a couple years later I ended up just buying a rosewood EJ neck and put the maple on a thinline body. *If you need to shim your neck; for the love of God, just use an actual neck shim. They're $15 for a pack of 3: a . 25⁰/.50⁰/1⁰. You don't have to spend $40 on Stew Mac, it's the same thing as the rest: a rectangular piece of maple. Don't stick business/credit cards, popsicle sticks or any of that bullshit. It not only kills your tone, resonance and sustain, but it ends up indenting the wood of both the neck and the neck pocket. And if you have a 70's with the micro-tilt, DEFINITELY use a real shim. Nothing helps the sound more than just having the surface area of the neck joint encompassing the circumference of a screw. 🙄
If he's a Gibson fan get him the new stratosonic from the squier paranormal line. It's cheap but it's actually awesome! It literally plays like someone bred a melody maker and a strat and it's incredible. It's got the Gibson scale, dual p90s, wrap around bridge, side input jack so no lipstick plate and it's lightweight! For $400 it's a steal and I'm just waiting to hear if Gibson will sue over it lol
I've been really curious about these. I'm hankering for a P90 guitar and considered the Fender Player Mustang 90, the Yamaha Revstar, and the Epiphone LP Special. But I might toss the Stratosonic into the list too so I can try them all out. It looks great
@grawman67 they're fun man. Both pots are push/pull for tons of tone options and they're crazy lightweight! Mine is only 7lbs! They're really simple but highly playable, super punchy in the neck settings very strat-esque and for $400 it's a steal
You are right the bridge is too close. Mine is a half a inch closer then it should be. With all the work done. He might as well pull the bridge and studs out. Pound some wood in the holes and drill where the bridge should be. He might be able to fret level to kill the buzz otherwise refret it $$$
ive seen some chibsons that had fret nibs! those wer running around 300$ and some sellers let you order upgrades like a one peace neck and a solid flame top and fret nibs. so i can understand why some people have taken the gamble. ide assume all the hardware and electronics would need replaced. and you could never sell it..but if you need something to practice repairs on im pretty sure you would need to fix a few problems right out the box. i want a les paul custom with the p90 -alnico set up like a 54custom re-issue..but they cost 6-7k wen you can find one and Gibson only makes re-issues. but chibson makes a p90 les paul custom for 300$ lol
I want one but not labeled gibson. I want the diamond not Aces face I want block inlay. And Ace Frehley signature in abalone for the label. Correct size bridge. Full 43 mm nut. 3 pickup 3 switch between all 3 pickups
What a coincidence you posted this , I just dropped off the same guitar to a luthier I go to here in Michigan , He used to work for Gibson years ago . Lets just say he was not impressed , However he is going to get the guitar in a playable condition as the frets were terribly installed , Also I would like to mention the guitar belongs to a friend ...
I own a fake Gibson Les Paul . A Pawn Shop owner offered me $2000. 00 for it. He said really wanted it because it belong to the "Cease and Deceits Copy Era" and he just had to have it. Since I was just going to pawn it for $50 bucks I say sure. Took my Wife on a nice week vacation.
Give it a good fret level job. That should help emencily! A friend of mine bought a Chibson Dave Grohl, ES guitar. Like with your friend, I understand why he bought it. I wouldn't let him buy a Gibson guitar anyway. We all know that they are a sue happy company that has major quality, morality and over pricing issues. The suing is why I say "morality" issues. However, after installing all new, quality electronics, new, quality hardware and Gibson Classic 57 and 57+ pickups, the guitar wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. However, after checking everything out, there were dead and buzzing frets. I leveled the frets and the guitar surprised both of us. I found all the parts used so the prices weren't that bad. Time spent, so what! He's a great friend. It was the least I could do. Also, I taught him how to do some of the work so he can keep up with it. I told him, that was his freebie. So if he buys another one like it, he will have to do it by himself. However, the guitar looks nice, sounds great and plays nicely. So maybe a fret level job on that Les Paul just might do the trick! Have a great day guys!
I purposely bought a chibson know full well I’d be in for a lot of work. I got lucky and got one with a good neck and a decent fret job. The body is made of mahogany but it has a very thin veneer on top. I replaced the tuners, the nut, as well as everything electronic. So new pots, 3 way switch, pickups (I put in a pair of pearly gates) and output jack. All in it cost me 875.00. So it’s not “Authentic” but I easily saved over 4 thousand and I have a nice looking, great playing and sounding guitar. I’ve also built my own guitar 100% from scratch so I know the costs involved to build a guitar. Not to mention the specialized tools a person needs to do it properly. With all the buying power Gibson has as well as automated tooling abilities there’s no way to justify the costs of new Les Pauls. Clearly Gibson does not care about the new players or people who struggle through life to afford nice things. Their market is for the doctors, lawyers, and collectors. And to be honest for a lot less money a person can get into a very nice PRS that would be just as good if not better than what Gibson pumps out. I went the route I did because I like the looks of a Les Paul and that’s it. And watching Gibson’s quickness to shut down other companies with lawsuits I think their money would be better spent on QC rather than lawyers. PS love your channel KDH
The question it seems, is not when Chibson quality raises to that of a real Gibson, but when Gibson's quality falls below that of a Chibson. Unfortunately, this is the reality of things.
I have 3 Gibson’s. All play well and have no issues. And I don’t say that as a Gibson fan boy. I also have 3 ESP guitars and they are outstanding. Along with Charvel, Ibanez, Fender, Schecter, and a couple of LTD’s. I don’t understand the Gibson hate mentality. Especially the guy that says “I’ve had 5 Gibson’s and they all sucked!” Really? Why would you spend 10-15k on guitars that suck? 😂 Ridiculous.
@@Witheld well, why would you buy a guitar if you’re not happy with the fit and finish? Makes no sense. People just enjoy hating on Gibson because it’s trendy I guess. I’ve never had a problem with any of mine. And I own a lot of other brands. I’m not a Gibson beard stroker. But they wouldn’t sell for thousands of dollars if they were garbage.
The best thing you can do is buy a completely broken-off headstock epiphone Les Paul for about $100-$200. Glue or epoxy the headstock back on the neck. Route off the epiphone veneer, buy a real Gibson veneer then add more wood to the epiphone headstock. Glue the Gibson veneer to the headstock. Then rout the headstock to match the shape of the real Gibson veneer. Repaint and finish the entire guitar yourself or take it to a paint pro. You now have a literal identical Gibson guitar designed by Gibson. Same hardware specs approved by Gibson, not chibson. Of course replace the hardware to good hardware you want. This project will cost you $500-$900.
I have a 1954 Jeff Beck style chibson with a wraptail, and mine is surprisingly decent … it’s basically just an epiphone jeff beck reissue with seymour duncan jbs , it plays beautifully 🤷♂️🤷♂️ there are definitely decent chibsons that exist..ive seen countless examples
I recently bought a fake Washburn PS1212, called "Rare" instead of Washburn. It doesn't sound too good, but it became my main guitar, because I never felt so comfy on a guitar. It's beating anything I got: 1992 Gibson Studio Lite, 1993 Flying V, Paul Reed Smith SC 250, ... The best I could do was to buy it on the net.
I had a chibson years ago and it was horrible in every way possible. The parts were junk, especially the pickups, the neck was not nice to play and the frets were terrible even after i levelled them. The necks are not properly seasoned and shift too much ruining the action and leading to intonation problems and buzzing. You would think a les paul neck which joins at the 17th fret would be stable but they have somehow managed to cock that up.
I bought a Chibson Slash copy as my first guitar but never play it It's just a wall hanger..I bought a Jet JT 350 Tele and it's just amazing to play and unbeatable value
I came across a guitar that had no name on the head recently. The guy selling it had a few guitars at a flea market. Bc. Rich warlock. A squire strat. Some cheaper guitars then in back a les paul, black. Looked 70s. Band was ivory color around body. I was drawn to it. He said it was a "korean" les paul knock off from 70s. I was curious if these guitars are even a fraction as good as an older gibson, it could be a fun cheap guitar that plays nice. ? Or are they trash?
Funny story I live in Atlanta and I wen't to sell a SG that I bought a few years ago. The kid behind the counter about 20 said nahh, this is fake they dont have black pick guards on it. It was SG Naked Sg with P90's and I just had a pick guard on it. I had the case and everything. After he refused. So I had a really bad faked Les Paul not quite like the one in the video, but the numbers where way off hell the Gibson Logo was off too. It looked like someone bought a kit online and tried to painted up like a real one. It was also very light like mention in the video. So I took it in a few weeks later and it was the same kid and he looked at it and said you wanna sell or trade, and I said well its not worth that much and he grabbed it typed it on his computer and about 30 minutes later I got a really nice Hagstrom fantomen. I felt kinda bad but hell they didn't give a damn.
Just to mention, because it's not in the video. Glen did specifically ask when ordering for it not to have the Gibson logo on the headstock. They agreed but sent it with the logo anyway.
Tossers!
considering its a popular guitar that gets replicated, its probably not a custom job (if he thought it was)
Hey he put Gibson Nashville bridge on Abr studs he can order the correct studs and probably intonate it
Oh damn for a second I thought the logo said "Glen" in a Gibson font 🤣
Love ya man but this will sell more of these than it will discourage. ML&R
The lesson i learned here is that Glenn's laid back attitude is probably going to add decades to his life span. I like your guitar, Glenn.
I love how you have this calm English dude named Glenn then you have the angry Canadian Glenn fricker
@@chetwilsonEnglish eh?
@@Lomoholga2 I know I meant Irish
The fan factor is real with Glen. Mad respect for buying a guitar he wanted but couldn't afford and modding it as close as possible to the real thing. Major points for dedication. I've just bought a Squier sonic series telecaster I'm going to try to make as close as possible to Keith Richards' Micawber. Got a long way to go.
I just recently picked up a bullet mustang for modding.
It's been a ton of fun seeing just how nice a budget guitar can get with a bit of love and the right pickups.
Hope the tele works out for you!
For what I could try, Squier bullet and friends are actually decent guitars. They are playable "out of the box" with little effort. I would say excellent value for money.
as a borderline Gibson snob, that guitar sounded solid and great at the beginning, especially with that great playing there. you do NOT need the Gibson to get the sound. Those forum people only swear by the gear they own and think that paying 8K plus is "better". I love my custom shop gibson but my epi's also got me there at only $250
yeah, I feel the same. Former Gibson taliban myself, had to admit it's not worth it anymore, I love to play the instrument, I'm not looking for a precious object I would expose behind a glass door waiting for a sky-rocketing price increase before reselling it, I would never ever again spend 2 or 3 monthes of wages buying a LP. I'd rather go to a local luthier and have him build sthg matching my specs.
Yeah, I've got to agree. I own a Gibson, and my 2nd guitar was one, too. Not so much for the quality (although the quality was there), but just because I HAD to own one.
I own 5 Les Pauls, NONE Gibson, although I have owned good Gibson's. I have 2 Tokai's over 20 years old and beautifully built, A Bacchus, And 2 cream LP custom Randy Rhoads models, One Burny and my awesome early 1980's Greco, fantastic guitars and keepers. My first Japanese guitar was way back in the early 1980's, It was a red Ibanez Flying Vee, and again, beautifully made and sounded great... There are plenty of high quality copies if you know what you're looking at , even in China....
For a Les Paul there are great alternatives. For an SG less so. Love ESP build quality and the Viper is a very nice instrument. It is a bit of its own thing though. Epiphone makes some great instruments too. Their pickups are just there. They aren't bad, they aren't special, they just leave you wanting something. I have an used SG Standard with 57 Classic pickups. The pickups really do sound fantastic.
This is a super simple fix. The bridge posts and bridge don't match! Prob an Epi/Gibson mix. Replace one part with the correct size and you're good to go! Part Two please :)
I agree. Any video with Glenn is awesome, would love to see them try and fix it themselves.
I bought one 3 years ago. Slapped a Dragon Fire pick-up in it ($35)and been playing it out ever since. No complaints.
Looks great, sounds great.
Are they good for les paul copy
@@mathewfoley1531 unless you know it's not a real one or REALLY know a Gibson Les Paul, from 5' away, you wouldn't know the difference, especially after replacing the pickups.
The Gibson ABR-1 Bridge is different than the Gibson Nashville Bridge. They look the same but the stud's and stud holes are different.
they don't look the same, ABR1 is smaller and the intonation screws face the pickups. the screws on a Nashville point down towards the tailpiece
There are Epiphone to ABR-1 conversion posts that work well. You need an ABR-1 with #6 screw holes, not the Nashville bridge with 4mm holes. The Gotoh ABR aftermarket bridge is very high quality and relatively inexpensive.
I own a couple Gibson Custom guitars. They are too dang expensive! KDH is right, how it’s made is more important than where it’s made.
What a treat to see You and Glen together for restring sunday :)
So, googled the serial number, seems to be one used on many guitars, prompting this comment on a Gibson forum
"That serial number has been seen on ugly wood more times than a Kardashian."
The "Glen's Guitars" arc never fails. We had the Harley Benton microphone, and now the Jibson. Can't wait to see what comes next.
Chibson=Chinese Gibson.
Jibsons are awesome. Chibsons not so much
I actually bought one of these guitars in 2017 and at first I thought it was the exact same chibson as this one. Even the serial number was basically the same with one digit different. Then I did notice a few variations. Mine actually does have a maple top and "ebony" fretboard. I also got the fret nibs on the neck binding. Maybe I ordered the "premium" chibson? Anyway, I knew it was a fake, didn't like the pups or electronics so I gutted it and replaced it all with a top quality wiring harness using CTS components, treble bleed caps etc. Had to redrill the pot holes for the CTS pots and I put in a set of Irongear Hot Slag pickups. Left the middle pup as a dummy, for looks. The frets did need a quick leveling but are excellent compared to this one shown. I could intonate the guitar right out the box.After about 2 or 3 hours work and an extra $200 I'm really happy with mine but now I'm thinking I might have been very lucky. Not gonna push my luck by buying another chibson or a chender!
No, you haven't been lucky quality wise, you were lucky to buy from a good builder, there are some great guitar builders in China, you just have to know where to look...
That is my #1 most desired Les Paul.
And I'm not really much of a KISS fan, my kids are though.
It's just a really cool LP, especially with the triple DiMarzio super distortions.
I'm talking about the introductory real Gibsons, not Chibson.
Does Epiphone make an affordable version of the Ace Frehley LP?
( that might be in my world of possible acquisition)
There are different " tier" versions of the Gibson, 10 years ago there was one for under 2k American, and then there was the higher end limited version up around 4k I believe?
Super cool guitars, if only I had the capitol...
Epiphone does have a version that usually goes for 1200-1500 on reverb.
@@shatiquego9876 A Tommy version as well!
Been there, traded my ps3 and a cheap 5 string Ibanez bass with a few minor issues for a silverburst chibson back in the day, and Tool is my favorite band so that was huge to have a guitar that looked similar. But as much as I loved the silverburst my modded beginner guitar was leagues ahead in every way except looks, so I eventually traded the silverburst off. Plus you can get so many cool guitars if you just don't get one expensive Gibson. There's legit too much competition for it to be justifiable these days unless you're just really sold on the look, even with Epiphones high end stuff now. As much as I want one of those Adam Jones art collection Epiphones $1300 is a HAAARRD ask, plus them making each version so limited was scummy
I don’t get why they haven’t just done one without the art that isn’t a limited edition. They’d sell so many.
I’m tempted to get the Cantrell but I’m holding out hope for a “normal” Adam Jones one.
I'm very tempted for the Viv Campbell "outfit" Les Paul with DiMarzio's. It wasnt production so much as limited to who knows how many, so I bet the prices are well up and out of sight.
I had a lawsuit era Ibanez SG, many years ago, the version with the Bigsby. It's the one guitar I regret selling... People get too snobby about replicas.. I hope Glen gets that one set up, it already sounds great as is...
Replicas are fine. Japan has made incredible LP style guitars for decades.
These bogus counterfeits aren't even worth the cost of shipping...
I had a Ibanez les paul copy back then, the body was thinner, it was all maple with lots of curl. Fret board was wild curly maple. Bolt on neck. Very different from gibson. I loved that guitar. I was young, traded it for a late 70s Dean Cadillac that was also just incredible. I miss that Ibanez to this day almost 50 years later. I have been really looking for it for decades. Today, those old so called copys are very expensive
A Chibson can be a true TRAIN WRECK of a guitar. Usually they will be just that. I hesitate to use the word ‘instrument’ as that requires a level of precision. But… if you’re interested in learning to work on guitars, and I mean the smaller ‘setup’ level tasks as well as truly getting your hands dirty by major ‘surgery’, they CAN be pretty useful.
As long as… you do NOT allow yourself to go down the expense rabbit hole. You could spend twice (or more) the entire retail price of a nice LP, just trying to bring your Chibson to a respectful level. You can though learn some really great lessons & build a few skills along the way to help you feel confident about doing any work to your ‘real’ guitars.
Just know that going in.
Glen being unaware that that blue sparkle Ace frehley was also a chibson is priceless.
Your mate with the Ship of Theseus over here.
Axe!
I thought it was Taven from Mortal Kombat
The Chib of Theseus
It can be fixed, a proper bridge can be installed by luthier or a carpenter who can Google the dimensions. It looks like it’s mahogany so although no maple cap mahogany is great for guitar bodies. You’ve already replaced the expensive bits
I have a Chibson Les Paul Custom, but I bought it specifically to be a wall ornament (because it looks incredibly nice). I die stamped "FAKE" on the back of the headstock, but I don't really plan on selling it.
this is how every chibson (or any other fake guitar) should do
Great stuff as per usual! I find with cheap guitars that, since there is no QC (not that Gibsons QC is any good for that matter), its a lottery. Sometimes the parts match, whoever assembled it was well rested and did a good job, wired everything properly and you get a real bargain, most of the time, the parts dont match, and there are a lot of too expensive to fix issues. So... if you go to a store and test a guitar, and you like the way it plays, you like the way it sounds and the price is good, there you go. If you're buying it online, then unless you're using it as a project guitar, or maybe a piece of decoration, its hard to justify. Glens case, as this is a fan piece, it is also a fun piece to have. You are not gonna record your next album playing it, but it looks damn good on the display, and, for the price of a couple of pints (....or just 5 of them in temple bar), you get a 3d painting of a famous guitar.
I completely agree with you about Chibson guitars, but not all cheap guitars. There are some cheap guitar sellers that sell some great instruments, while also having a fantastic returns policy to cover the couple that might fall through the, admittedly, wider QC cracks that exist. I've got a couple of Harley Benton guitars that are flawless. Actually, one is a B-stock and after some examination, I found that one of the truss rod cover screws wasn't screwed in perpendicular to the face of the headstock. It's on a slight angle. Bugger! I've also got a few Artist guitars (6 in all!-I think my wife is justified in complaining) and there's not a bad one among them. Wilkinson pickups, Wilkinson bridges, bone nuts, Alnico pickups etc. These are cheap guitars that stand up to some American and Japanese guitars I've also got sitting right next to them. I've become pretty good at adjusting truss rods, filing nut slots and general action adjustments (thanks heaps to Dave's World of Fun Stuff LOL) but right now, it's an Ibanez Prestige that requires some attention around the 19th fret, not a sub-$300 Chinese guitar.
I have 2 of them and paid 200 each. I put iron clad pickups in them. I set them up myself. I have 2 gibson l.p. standards one from the custom shop. I've been playing a long time. I've had friends family and other guitarist watch me play the four. Not one of them could tell the difference. One of the chibson is my number 1
GLEN!! Easiest way to get those frets sorted for cheap is to buy a cheap sharpening stone from either screwfix etc or a car boot (make sure its flat with a straight edge and just carefully dress them (you can do 12 at a time with an 8'' stone) and you'll have that buzz sorted in no time ( go slowly at it and within in an hour you can have a pretty competent fix) you've got nothing to lose give it a go, you did the rest of it...;D
I like the "authentic" army ammo box in the back there, Ive considered buying one for a diy ammo stove considering how heating prices are exploding
I see KDH’s hair is even longer! The transition is going well
He borrowed it from an Afghan Hound.
He's going for the Crystal Gayle look.
Chibsons are weird. Sometimes you can get the bones of a decent guitar but you need to put a lot of work in to get it playing/working well. I recently picked up a "chickenbacker" 4001 bass, luckily the previous owner took it upon himself to get it set up and get some better pickups/more accurate parts on it. You know its not really a rick but its still a solid bass!
Also, RE: getting Glenn a guitar, there's an Aria PE model that has the same specs as an Ace Les Paul, dunno if you'll be able to find one in Ireland but that could be a shout!
I could be wrong, but it seems like those adapters are Epiphone Tune-O-Matic to Gibson ABR-1 bridge adapters. Both bridges function the same but they mount differently. The ABR-1 has much narrower mounting holes compared to a TOM (also referred to as a Nashville style bridge) which is most likely why the bridge is floating around the mounting screws. You could get proper Nashville style adapters or an ABR-1 bridge. The adapters that I found are called M8 to smooth 4mm posts for Epiphone. Hope this helps!
This is correct.
I'm on the fence about Chibsons, a mate got a fake Slash sig knowing full well it might be a decorative wall hanger and when it turned up it was playable while looking the part. Has a slight hump on the fretboard so the radius wasn't done properly before fretting but plays ok with a medium action and with new strings even sounds decent. He hasn't pumped any more money into it though, just hangs on the wall looking nice and gets played every now and then.
Glenn’s Chibson does have one major plus: it has a truss rod! @ThreeChordDave once got a Chibson that didn’t even come with a truss rod. It eventually became wall art. It’s on one of his old TH-cams. Chibson are a hilarious waste of money and a lesson to be learned, but some people get lucky and get good mod platforms if they don’t mind dumping more into them. Still, it’s not cool to rip off a brand - lots of people ask for them with a blank headstock or another logo (like he apparently did), but as you can see, they don’t seem to care.
From what I’ve also heard, there’s also a huge risk that the guitar might get stopped at the border and get confiscated if border control realizes any obvious signs that it’s a fake. Then you’ve probably lost your money unless the company you order from guarantees you’ll receive a replacement if it never arrives (which I wouldn’t count on). If you’re gonna do this, make sure you put it on a credit card or PayPal so you can get you money back.
Honestly, you’re better off buying an Epiphone.
You've convinced me to buy a Chibson.
I wouldn't count on getting reimbursed by PayPal or your credit card company if it's confiscated by customs. That falls outside the definition of "non receipt of goods," so, unless you're prepared to lie (which is fraud) to PayPal, you might have to "eat" the loss yourself.
I'd be checking with PayPal before you buy, just to be sure.
My friend bought one of these but he bought it brand new. It had one knob that was different from the others and the body was sandwiched with a veneer on top and one on the back. You could see the wood in the middle was glued in three pieces and the seam wasn't aligned with the end pin or strap button. It was at an angle to the body. He too replaced the shitty pickups in it but only bought the DiMarzio Super Distortion for the bridge and the other two were an aftermarket manufacturer. Otherwise it's still stock. Not a bad guitar and it plays perfectly with no problems. But of course it was $300.00 U.S. Dollars and came ready to play. Thank you for sharing this with us. It was very entertaining and enlightening.
Here in Brazil, it's the only way to hang a replica on the wall because the price of an original Ace Frehley can cost more than 25 times more than for a North American.
Changing the bridge pickup (as Ace only used 1), changing hardware and tuners, tidying up the electrical part and still, it's super affordable to make a sound with each pass of the Haley Comet.
HOLD UP !
He put
THREE
DUNCAN DISTORTIONS. In this guitar.
And then intentionally Wired it up so only one of them works.
WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE FUCK?
Glen is genuinely a super nice guy and this leaves me absolutely gobsmacked.
Lol
Dimarzio super distortions, I think 😉
It's a replica of Ace's smoke bomb guitar. On the original only the bridge pickup is wired up because smoke bombs.
That's wh😱at I thought. Dimarzio's are really good, crisp and clear, what a waste!! 😁
all of Ace Frehley's guitars only have the bridge pickup wired.
@KDH, you and Glen both are hilarious. I didn’t go that far off with a Chibson as Glen did. I understand why he did it. I didn’t buy myself a $5000+ Gibson Custom Shop, either. Although, I still have my first electric: a 1980s Hondo Sonex 180 clone. It doesn’t even have all of the stuff a Sonex would come with. I did change up the bridge pickup for a Trembucker. Though, when I bought the pickup, the shop didn’t have one with cream bobbins to match the rest of the guitar.
every vid with Glen is a lil treat
No one mentioned that the guitar sounds really good, to me anyways. After all that he has done to get it where it is now it would be worth it (to me) to get the frets leveled to make it a playable instrument. Good luck!🤞🏻👍🏻
Because there’s Seymour Duncan’s in it, the ones that would have came with it would have been super microphonic.
@@gamjammerDimarzio
@@i.m.22 Oh....thought he said Duncan's but either way, quality pickups
I can see why Glen did this. I was (repeat was) a huge Kiss fan. One recommendation is that Greco Japan makes a 3 pickup sunburst custom. It does have the lighting bolts but it will be closer to Ace's . Ha ha ha love you show!!!
A lot of people were huge kiss fans...then they turn 14.
Ace was fuckin untouchable in the 70s. Back then? He really was a great player. Now?.... the last 15 years? Different story
Agreed you can't knock the music they made, kiss and 70's rock is inseparable, its just assholes that particularly Paul and Gene have been since that point is the problem.
@@jimmypenrose1401 wow what a big mature adult you are. You're a big boy now aren't you!
@@soeffingwhat apparently more so than you, huh?
he has a gibson nashville bridge on conversion studs that are metric thread but upper posts for an ABR1 bridge
At least the headatock probably won't snap off and probably holds better tune than a real Gibson once you upgrade nut and hardware
If you're not trying to resell it as authentic and make loads of money, there's no problem with buying one unless your scruples get in the way. For under $300 vs. over $5000, you can fix ANY problem it has for your personal playing for a few hundred bucks.
Sure. Its still an absolute waste of money over modifying an Epi or buying an Edwards...
@@trevor4533 Why would it be a waste of money?
@@nonsuch ...Why wouldn't it be???
You're dumping money into a fake crapshoot "guitar" when you could have gotten an actual quality instrument for the same money.
Glen, check out the "Edwards E-LP-115C/3H Ace Frehley Budokan". It used to be under 1k (10years ago) and it's a pretty good guitar. Doesn't need mods.
I got a slash chibson years ago and every single thing was wrong with it
Once upon a time I had a few fake Gibbos LPs. None of them are playable out of the box. I was able to intonate 2 and other stuff. The fake Ace major fret buzz. In order to remedy the problem raise the bridge, the nut and adjust the truss rod. Unfortunately that did not work so I'm going to try fret leveling if that don't work it will have to be refretted which will cost a lot of money. No more fakes for me.
But But But this one guy on youtube said his was perfect and his pro musician friends with Gibsons couldn't believe it was fake!
Your experience is exactly what all these ali express trolls never mention, just how much luck and effort it takes into getting one of these things playable.
You can find decently priced copies from Greco/Burny out there. If you're familiar with Japanese craftsmanship you know these can't be too bad... 🤔
I've had one. It was better than any gibson I've ever played. I think it was made in the now fugi gen ibanez factory or something? I could be totally wrong though.
I got a chibson from a friend of mine for $250 and replaced the electronics and pickups with Pariah Celebrations Honestly? That guitar feels and sounds better than my two Epiphones (only other LP style guitars I have).
I don't know where he got it from, and I wouldn't buy one sight unseen, but sometimes guitars turn out pretty good. The only thing keeping me from playing it is that I just don't like Les Pauls LOL
Agree with previous comments. Glen is so chill, and is just a guitar lover who loves what he’s done. My kinda guy.
I bought a £2.5k Gibson Supreme that the bridge was off to the treble side and the nut was badly cut so that when you played the high e string it was very easy to pull it off the fretboard. I cut a new nut and replaced the tunomatic bridge with a Shaller roller bridge with side to side adjustment on the roller saddles. Its fine now but should never have left the factory.......only reason it didn't go back was that I got a good price on it and the rest of the guitar is stunning.
I have a "Chibson" Les Paul Junior DC in TV yellow w/P90 that I got cheap. I got it because Johnny Thunders played the Gibson one. It's a fine player with a thick late 50's neck profile. The P90 sounds great!
Given the state of Gibson's quality control these days, the counterfeit Chibsons are probably better instruments than the "authentic" guitars.
Run your gopro off a separate battery pack through the usbc and take the battery out of the gopro and remove the door. It won't overheat after that. Mine dont over heat since the last update I did. But ya just get rid of the battery and door si it can breathe. I use to have a cpu heat sink stuck to the bottom of mine lol
Someone get this man a real one, before he puts too much money into this guitar.
I am super stoked with my Chinese made Epi Korina. Extraordinary guitar
Reminds me, when I bought a cheap Fokus guitar with licensed Floyd Rose bridge😅 I noticed, that I can pull up with the bar only by a semitone, due to trem block being slanted🙃 It was a simple fix after all, I also changed pickups and it playes like a dream now🤌
Very cool! This is one of my favorite series on YT.
I've got 3 replicas in my collection (2 Frehleys and a Frampton) and I love them. They look and play fantastic. Love your guitar, Glen!
I’m a fan of saving a few bucks but I’m not a fan of a guitar that says something on the headstock when it wasn’t produced by said brand. Throw anything other than Gibson on the headstock and I’d buy one at 160.
You can get a harley benton fusion for less than a chibson...
I bought a Chibson Les Paul Custom about 10 years ago, just for giggles - and it's obviously not a real Gibson.
Not because it doesn't play well (as it *does* after I set it up properly & swapped the tuneomatic and pickups) but it's obviously not "authentic" as it has a visible scarf joint at the headstock - so it's basically an improvement over Gibson's way of doing things 🤣🤣🤣🤣
In short, I'm still quite happy with it - and yes, I did own 2 real Gibsons: and late 90s LP Studio and a fairly rare (but rubbish) '85 XPL-V...
From what I've seen and heard Chibsons have gotten worse the last few years, probably due to (even) more cost-cutting...
Nice modding and relic on it by Glen though .Just stick a metric gotho or tone pros back on it to sort intonation or you can buy proper conversion stew mac or something also.
I think chibson had a good run back in early 2000 ,the ones you get now are more ornamental and i think you be better buying a epiphone custom korean and doing a few upgrades . Also the Ace epiphones have increased a lot in price and are only a good as standard epiphones anyways .
Since Glen has put that much money into that guitar, I wouldn't give up on it until it has had the bridge fixed and a fret job.
Unless they set the neck at the wrong angle which doesn’t seem to be the case the nut is cut wrong and the bridge posts and bushings need replaced and raised
The fretting out is the most authentic Gibson thing about it- I've seen a metric crap-ton of Gibsons with the fretboard ski-jumping as you near the end of the board and/or the dreaded hump where the neck joins the body. Just need to level the frets. The bridge can be replaced with an ABR type to fit the posts or you can put shrink wrap on the posts to fit the Nashville style on there. Unless he's willing to pull the inserts, in which case just replace the entire assembly. And, if the bridge isn't TOO misplaced you can flip the saddles to get a bit more travel out of them (another thing you often have to do on the authentic Gibsons).
I have owned a couple of Gibson Les Pauls for some decades now... A beautiful 1962 and a well used but very cherished 1971 as well... 2 years ago, I bought a Chibson Les Paul brand new from china.... Tabacco sunburst (like my 1962) and very, very surprisingly finished out... MUCH nicer than I would have ever expected for the money.... I had a fret job done, Gibson oem pods, pickups and tuners, and set up done... I have just under $600 in it and I defy ANYone with a blindfold on to tell the difference between the Gib and the Chib.... I did not buy it to fool anyone or cheat anyone (although it would fool most people), but I like guitars period... But I had been researching these for awhile, and the playability and fit and finish on the vast majority of reports and videos and those I'd seen in person, I thought it'd be worth taking a chance on buying one and souping it up,,,,, and it absolutely was worth it... I have several guitar player friends and those that have seen and played it cannot believe it... I mean they DO, but... Yeah.... I went to put money down on a new Les Paul in 1982.. One of the guys I knew at that store brings out a case with a used LP Copy... A Lawsuit Jap copy... weighed 2oz. less than the Gib I was buying... Same identical guitar except the headstock said "Vantage" as was on the case, and all gold hardware instead of chrome or nickel.... It was winter, I had a stocking cap on and he wanted me to do a blind test with the guitars through the same chords through the same amp at the same setting (as HE had done to him the day prior).... I could not tell the difference and ended up buying IT and the case for what I was going to put down on the Gibson... But THAT'S why they were called "Lawsuit" guitars... They were making Japanese copies of American guitars every bit as good and in many cases better quality instruments than the American companies were making themselves for less than 1/2 the price... So American companies sued and got it stopped... Fast forward to the last say 10 years and the chinese are doing it but putting Gibson on the headstock... I myself call them replicas... Japanese never did this.... and THEIR guitars needed NOTHING to make them better because they were already the highest of quality, which the chinese are NOT yet... So MY Chibson is now a great guitar that plays like butter for many, many $$$ less.... So in Les Pauls, I have 2 real deals and 2 not...
For the fret out I usually start at the last fret 99 times and work back down the neck with some emory cloth
You could totally do the work yourself to fix the saddle and level the frets! Id say less than 100 bucks for parts and tools most people may not have. a 2 foot level works great with some sand paper strips spray glued to it. you can pick one up super cheap id recommend a new one to ensure it has no bends. fret crowning files are available for like 30 bucks for a cheapish decent one and will last for a long time. Harbor freight or the irish equivelent should sell a super cheap dremel style rotary tool to polish the frets like glass. and an old credit card for a fret rocker or even a cheap amazon one. some wooden dowels glued into the old holes for the bridge posts and a NON cheap Forstner drill bit and masking tape to put the holes in the correct spot. Same dowel thing for the pickup ring holes will make them tighter than a frogs butthole. i think like 2 0r 3mm shoiuld work. new nut coudnt hurt preslotted ones are cheap and a torch cleaning kit make great cheap fret files.
I dont mean to sound like a know it all but if you wanted i would love to help with any questions i think it would make a great video for you. More people should know that theyre capable with a little guidance and confidence. i built 7 guitars now with no prior knowledge just youtube videos and people are impressed with them. email me or hit me up in a reply i would love to help and no i dont want anything in return.
If you want to see KDH do this like my comment so he sees it! even without my help yall could do it i know because i do it and i am not special
Could you just raise the bridge up a bit to stop the buzz at the high frets? Maybe it's already high enough lol I guess.
I like jazzmasters though, so it's cool to see some bridge movement in a guitar like this!! love it.
"They're gonna start puttin' hairs in them." Lol!
I haven't finished watching the video, so no idea how it ends with the bridge thing. I'm sure it can be solved 100% by replacing it with a harmonica style bridge, since those have a huge amount of room to move the saddles. Of course the looks would be kinda ruined, but it would solve the issue
I decline to even work on any fakes, on the occasions when customers bring fakes to the shop.
i like the dynamic when Glenn pops in!!👍👍👍
well its either a wall hanger or you could use wood filler, fill up the holes and let it harden then move drill different holes and put the bridge in the right place. I've owned several chibsons and there are some good ones
Everything you mentioned wrong with this is also a problem with originals except for the weight and that could be a plus for some.
The bridge Glenn has is an ABR type bridge while the posts are for a Nashville bridge. Replace the pins with ABR pins or get a Nashville bridge and it's fixed
Meh, I wouldn't worry about the fret choke: all it'll need is an $800 neck reset and you're good. 👍
Or can always do what he asshole I bought an 08 Eric Johnson did. Just pay $250 to get the frets plekd with the most insane fallaway I've ev
I've ever seen. The first fret is only slightly lower than it would be new, then they gradually get lower until the last several that are literally down to lacquer. No exaggerating: 25+ years of regular playing worth of fret wear, when you could spent have $5 on a proper full neck pocket shim and been done with it*. Then have to sell it for a $500-600 hit compared to others around the same age. It was THE biggest nightmare refret I've ever done. I used to think refretting guitars with no truss rods and a bowed neck sucked, because you have to actually straighten it with the frets. This was worse. I've done refrets on 70s LP custom fretless wonders, and they were a walk in the park compared to this damn thing. Then a couple years later I ended up just buying a rosewood EJ neck and put the maple on a thinline body.
*If you need to shim your neck; for the love of God, just use an actual neck shim. They're $15 for a pack of 3: a . 25⁰/.50⁰/1⁰. You don't have to spend $40 on Stew Mac, it's the same thing as the rest: a rectangular piece of maple. Don't stick business/credit cards, popsicle sticks or any of that bullshit. It not only kills your tone, resonance and sustain, but it ends up indenting the wood of both the neck and the neck pocket. And if you have a 70's with the micro-tilt, DEFINITELY use a real shim. Nothing helps the sound more than just having the surface area of the neck joint encompassing the circumference of a screw. 🙄
@KDH very curious, what wireless mic are you using in this case? I've noticed it on other episodes too. Sounds very good.
If he's a Gibson fan get him the new stratosonic from the squier paranormal line. It's cheap but it's actually awesome! It literally plays like someone bred a melody maker and a strat and it's incredible. It's got the Gibson scale, dual p90s, wrap around bridge, side input jack so no lipstick plate and it's lightweight! For $400 it's a steal and I'm just waiting to hear if Gibson will sue over it lol
I've been really curious about these. I'm hankering for a P90 guitar and considered the Fender Player Mustang 90, the Yamaha Revstar, and the Epiphone LP Special. But I might toss the Stratosonic into the list too so I can try them all out. It looks great
@grawman67 they're fun man. Both pots are push/pull for tons of tone options and they're crazy lightweight! Mine is only 7lbs! They're really simple but highly playable, super punchy in the neck settings very strat-esque and for $400 it's a steal
You are right the bridge is too close. Mine is a half a inch closer then it should be. With all the work done. He might as well pull the bridge and studs out. Pound some wood in the holes and drill where the bridge should be. He might be able to fret level to kill the buzz otherwise refret it $$$
Clip on mics.
Who invented Chibsons?
Gibson did when they re-made the Slash AFD LP.
Not Authentic.
honestly the people who buy these probably dont care about how it plays lol, they care about being seen playing it
Like MOST American guitarists! Brand before quality/playability! 'Oh it HAS to be Gibson/Fender/Rick etc!'
For the Aussies here; in Ireland, when it’s too hot it is reaching 30 degrees Celsius.
ive seen some chibsons that had fret nibs! those wer running around 300$ and some sellers let you order upgrades like a one peace neck and a solid flame top and fret nibs. so i can understand why some people have taken the gamble. ide assume all the hardware and electronics would need replaced. and you could never sell it..but if you need something to practice repairs on im pretty sure you would need to fix a few problems right out the box. i want a les paul custom with the p90 -alnico set up like a 54custom re-issue..but they cost 6-7k wen you can find one and Gibson only makes re-issues. but chibson makes a p90 les paul custom for 300$ lol
You could do all those mods to an nice epiphone and have a better guitar for the same price…. IN MY OPINION
Plug the bridge insert hole and redrill in the correct postion for intonation.
I want one but not labeled gibson. I want the diamond not Aces face I want block inlay. And Ace Frehley signature in abalone for the label. Correct size bridge. Full 43 mm nut. 3 pickup 3 switch between all 3 pickups
What a coincidence you posted this , I just dropped off the same guitar to a luthier I go to here in Michigan , He used to work for Gibson years ago . Lets just say he was not impressed , However he is going to get the guitar in a playable condition as the frets were terribly installed , Also I would like to mention the guitar belongs to a friend ...
I own a fake Gibson Les Paul . A Pawn Shop owner offered me $2000. 00 for it. He said really wanted it because it belong to the "Cease and Deceits Copy Era" and he just had to have it. Since I was just going to pawn it for $50 bucks I say sure. Took my Wife on a nice week vacation.
New Frets/level/crown/proper nut cut a better fitting bridge and set up it would be a great guitar. Still thousands less than a Gibson. Looks great!
Give it a good fret level job. That should help emencily! A friend of mine bought a Chibson Dave Grohl, ES guitar. Like with your friend, I understand why he bought it. I wouldn't let him buy a Gibson guitar anyway. We all know that they are a sue happy company that has major quality, morality and over pricing issues. The suing is why I say "morality" issues. However, after installing all new, quality electronics, new, quality hardware and Gibson Classic 57 and 57+ pickups, the guitar wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. However, after checking everything out, there were dead and buzzing frets. I leveled the frets and the guitar surprised both of us. I found all the parts used so the prices weren't that bad. Time spent, so what! He's a great friend. It was the least I could do. Also, I taught him how to do some of the work so he can keep up with it. I told him, that was his freebie. So if he buys another one like it, he will have to do it by himself. However, the guitar looks nice, sounds great and plays nicely. So maybe a fret level job on that Les Paul just might do the trick! Have a great day guys!
let just call it a fake replica, best of both worlds 🤣🎸
a replica is an exact copy in both materials and quality.This thing just isn't. You can call it a really crappy attempt at a replica
The Reckless Love riff at about 3:11 was much appreciated
I purposely bought a chibson know full well I’d be in for a lot of work. I got lucky and got one with a good neck and a decent fret job. The body is made of mahogany but it has a very thin veneer on top. I replaced the tuners, the nut, as well as everything electronic. So new pots, 3 way switch, pickups (I put in a pair of pearly gates) and output jack. All in it cost me 875.00. So it’s not “Authentic” but I easily saved over 4 thousand and I have a nice looking, great playing and sounding guitar. I’ve also built my own guitar 100% from scratch so I know the costs involved to build a guitar. Not to mention the specialized tools a person needs to do it properly. With all the buying power Gibson has as well as automated tooling abilities there’s no way to justify the costs of new Les Pauls. Clearly Gibson does not care about the new players or people who struggle through life to afford nice things. Their market is for the doctors, lawyers, and collectors. And to be honest for a lot less money a person can get into a very nice PRS that would be just as good if not better than what Gibson pumps out. I went the route I did because I like the looks of a Les Paul and that’s it. And watching Gibson’s quickness to shut down other companies with lawsuits I think their money would be better spent on QC rather than lawyers.
PS love your channel KDH
The question it seems, is not when Chibson quality raises to that of a real Gibson, but when Gibson's quality falls below that of a Chibson. Unfortunately, this is the reality of things.
I have 3 Gibson’s. All play well and have no issues. And I don’t say that as a Gibson fan boy. I also have 3 ESP guitars and they are outstanding. Along with Charvel, Ibanez, Fender, Schecter, and a couple of LTD’s. I don’t understand the Gibson hate mentality. Especially the guy that says “I’ve had 5 Gibson’s and they all sucked!” Really? Why would you spend 10-15k on guitars that suck? 😂
Ridiculous.
@@Wargasm54 It's not that they suck, it's the lack of quality control and finish checking
@@Witheld well, why would you buy a guitar if you’re not happy with the fit and finish? Makes no sense. People just enjoy hating on Gibson because it’s trendy I guess. I’ve never had a problem with any of mine. And I own a lot of other brands. I’m not a Gibson beard stroker. But they wouldn’t sell for thousands of dollars if they were garbage.
The bridge is decked. Smfh. Have you never set up a stop tailpiece & bridge?
The best thing you can do is buy a completely broken-off headstock epiphone Les Paul for about $100-$200. Glue or epoxy the headstock back on the neck. Route off the epiphone veneer, buy a real Gibson veneer then add more wood to the epiphone headstock. Glue the Gibson veneer to the headstock. Then rout the headstock to match the shape of the real Gibson veneer. Repaint and finish the entire guitar yourself or take it to a paint pro.
You now have a literal identical Gibson guitar designed by Gibson. Same hardware specs approved by Gibson, not chibson. Of course replace the hardware to good hardware you want. This project will cost you $500-$900.
Big up the Reckless Love riff you played! @KDH
I have a 1954 Jeff Beck style chibson with a wraptail, and mine is surprisingly decent … it’s basically just an epiphone jeff beck reissue with seymour duncan jbs , it plays beautifully 🤷♂️🤷♂️ there are definitely decent chibsons that exist..ive seen countless examples
I recently bought a fake Washburn PS1212, called "Rare" instead of Washburn.
It doesn't sound too good, but it became my main guitar, because I never felt so comfy on a guitar. It's beating anything I got: 1992 Gibson Studio Lite, 1993 Flying V, Paul Reed Smith SC 250, ... The best I could do was to buy it on the net.
I had a chibson years ago and it was horrible in every way possible. The parts were junk, especially the pickups, the neck was not nice to play and the frets were terrible even after i levelled them. The necks are not properly seasoned and shift too much ruining the action and leading to intonation problems and buzzing. You would think a les paul neck which joins at the 17th fret would be stable but they have somehow managed to cock that up.
I bought a Chibson Slash copy as my first guitar but never play it It's just a wall hanger..I bought a Jet JT 350 Tele and it's just amazing to play and unbeatable value
I came across a guitar that had no name on the head recently. The guy selling it had a few guitars at a flea market. Bc. Rich warlock. A squire strat. Some cheaper guitars then in back a les paul, black. Looked 70s. Band was ivory color around body. I was drawn to it. He said it was a "korean" les paul knock off from 70s. I was curious if these guitars are even a fraction as good as an older gibson, it could be a fun cheap guitar that plays nice. ? Or are they trash?
Funny story I live in Atlanta and I wen't to sell a SG that I bought a few years ago. The kid behind the counter about 20 said nahh, this is fake they dont have black pick guards on it. It was SG Naked Sg with P90's and I just had a pick guard on it. I had the case and everything. After he refused. So I had a really bad faked Les Paul not quite like the one in the video, but the numbers where way off hell the Gibson Logo was off too. It looked like someone bought a kit online and tried to painted up like a real one. It was also very light like mention in the video. So I took it in a few weeks later and it was the same kid and he looked at it and said you wanna sell or trade, and I said well its not worth that much and he grabbed it typed it on his computer and about 30 minutes later I got a really nice Hagstrom fantomen. I felt kinda bad but hell they didn't give a damn.