There seems to be a lot of Fake copies of Gibson guitars turning up on the internet, they look exactly the same as the real deal but there are 2 things that can help you spot the fake. All Gibson guitars have a 2 screw truss rod cover, some fakes have 3 screws. The copy manufacturers are now starting to use 2 screw truss rod covers and the only thing left to tell that they are fake is the truss rod itself. You will need to compare the truss rod end with that of an original Gibson, they should look exactly the same. If not its a fake. The copy guitars even have correct serial numbers on the back of the headstock so be very careful with what you buy. A freind of mine bought a Les Paul custom from a well known music store a couple of years ago and he has just found out that his guitar is a Chinese fake! He paid $8500 for the guitar and now the value has sunk to the floor.