Outright fakes get the headlines. The more common trouble is a real guitar that's been changed. As es-335.com puts it, every guitar seems to be all original except for something somebody did to it along the way. Someone refinished it, swapped the pickups or tuners, glued a broken headstock, converted it into a more valuable model, or it's a later reissue described as an original. None of that makes it a bad guitar, but collectors pay more for one nobody has touched. Here's how to spot each problem, mostly from the photos.
Refinishes
Dealers treat a refinish as a big hit to value, even when the work is good. The dealer behind es-335.com, who deals mostly in vintage Gibson semi-hollows, starts with a blacklight. The whole guitar should glow evenly, and any patch that looks different has been touched up. A fresh refinish barely glows, but an old one done over the whole guitar can look just like factory finish under it.
So look where refinishers get lazy. Old finish is hard to remove from the deep corners of pickup routs and the holes for the pots, so ask for photos with the pickups out and look for a second color. On an ES model there's never color inside the f-holes. The same dealer calls the binding test close to foolproof on a 335, 345 or 355. Gibson sprayed over the binding and scraped it clean, which leaves the body rim slightly proud of the binding. If the joint feels perfectly smooth under a fingernail, the guitar was sanded and refinished. You can only feel that in hand, so make it your first check on arrival.
On Fenders, the factory sometimes sprayed custom colors over sunburst bodies and those still count as original, so a trace of sunburst under a custom color doesn't prove a refinish by itself.
Pickups, pots, tuners and bridges
Gibson's PAF humbuckers carry a small black decal reading Patent Applied For on the bottom, and guitarhq says fake PAFs and fake decals are both common. Originals have a clear border that yellows with age, while many fakes have a gold border and different lettering. es-335.com adds that a real decal glows a flat, even green under blacklight, and a fake glows blue and patchy or not at all. The earliest 1957 PAFs had no decal, so a bare base on a 1957 guitar isn't a problem. Ask for photos of the pickup bottoms with the solder joints showing. Untouched factory solder is a good sign. Don't ask anyone to pull a cover, since an opened cover counts against originality.
Pots are the easiest date check. guitarhq says 1960s Fenders mostly use CTS pots, stamped 137 followed by the year and week, so 1376344 is the 44th week of 1963. A pot dated after the guitar was built has been replaced. Fender bought a big stock of CTS pots in 1966, so 1966 pots in a late-1960s Fender are normal.
Tuners get swapped more than anything else. Plenty of 1960s players changed Klusons for Grovers, and es-335.com recalls an eBay seller who had no idea the twelve extra holes in the back of his guitar weren't factory. Look at the back of the headstock for extra or filled holes. On a Stratocaster, the original 1954–1971 saddles are stamped FENDER PAT. PEND., reissue saddles look the same but say FENDER FENDER, and guitarhq warns that bogus saddles get passed off as originals.
Broken headstocks and neck repairs
Gibson's angled headstock is the classic break point. In the Norlin years Gibson added a volute, a thick ridge behind the nut, to reduce headstock breaks, and earlier guitars don't have one. es-335.com says a properly repaired break can stay stable for years, but the guitar is harder to resell and some repairs let go at the old glue line. Ask when it was repaired and by whom, and ask for close photos of the back of the headstock in angled light, where a glue line or touched-up finish shows.
On slim ES necks, especially from late 1960 to mid 1962, an overtightened truss rod can crack the back of the neck lengthwise, usually starting near the third fret. Sellers call it a check or a scratch. It's a crack, mostly cosmetic once the rod is eased off, and it should be disclosed. Some guitars have a whole new neck, and es-335.com says a good reneck can be hard to spot unless the seller tells you.
Conversions and extra routing
A Les Paul conversion turns a cheaper Les Paul into a sunburst Standard lookalike. Most start as a 1952–1956 P-90 Goldtop that's stripped and rerouted for humbuckers. Others are a Les Paul Special or Junior with a maple cap glued on. A good conversion from a known builder is a fine guitar when it's sold as one. The red flag is a conversion described as a real burst. P-90 routs are a different shape from humbucker routs, so the work leaves filled areas around the cavities, and early Goldtops with the wraparound tailpiece need their stud holes filled and redrilled. Any extra cavity, or holes in the top that the model never had, means a modified guitar.
Dates that don't agree
Fenders bolt together, so a neck and body from different years are easy to mix. guitarhq says Fender penciled neck dates on the heel until March 1962, then stamped them in ink. Body dates moved around the cavities and were rarely used after 1963 or 1964. Ask for photos with the neck off and the pickguard lifted, then check that the neck, body, pots and pickups tell the same story. Our pre-CBS Stratocaster guide covers the Strat details.
Gibson serials are less help than they look. guitarhq says the same number could turn up in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and es-335.com says late-1960s numbers were reused as many as four times, so sellers tend to pick the earliest year on the chart. Date a 1960s Gibson by its features as well. A serial with MADE IN USA stamped under it dates from 1969 or later.
Reissues and copies sold as originals
Fender has made vintage reissues since the 1980s, and guitarhq notes they carry the old style of neck date, so a period-looking date alone proves nothing. Fender Japan started in 1982 and Fender's factory in Ensenada, Mexico, opened in 1987, so check the country of origin on any Strat or Tele that claims to be old.
Gibson brought the Les Paul back in 1968. guitarhq says a 1968 Goldtop has its serial stamped into the back of the headstock, a 14-degree headstock pitch instead of 17, and an Indian rosewood board, so a listing calling one a 1956 is easy to check. See our 1968 Les Paul page and the PAF-era Les Paul vs reissue guide. From the late 1970s, Japanese makers like Tokai and Greco built close Les Paul copies, and Gibson's own Orville line was sold in Japan from 1988 to 1998.
Counterfeits exist too. Rickenbacker says copy guitars have turned up wearing genuine Rickenbacker nameplates and R tailpieces. Its site has a serial decoder, and a 360 whose serial doesn't decode to its features needs a closer look.
What to check in a listing
- Finish. Ask for photos in the pickup routs and pot holes. One color everywhere and no overspray is what you want.
- Pickups. Ask for the pickup bottoms with the solder showing. Decals and joints should look untouched.
- Pots. Ask for the pot codes. They should date from just before the guitar was built.
- Headstock. Look at the back of the headstock in angled light. You want no glue line and no extra holes.
- Neck and body dates. On a Fender, ask for photos with the neck off and the guard lifted. The dates should agree with each other and the serial.
- Origin. Check the serial and country of origin in the photos. They should match the year the listing claims.
- Disclosure. Ask the seller to list every repair and replaced part in writing. A clear answer is a good sign.
Ready to look? Browse the guitars we track, or start with every Gibson in one place. Buying from overseas? Read our CITES and Brazilian rosewood guide first.
