“It’s just heartbreaking to see someone spend so much money on something that is fake”: YouTuber assembles team of guitar experts including Joe Bonamassa and Gibson's Tom Murphy to show you how to spot a fake Les Paul

Joe Bonamassa, Tom Murphy and others examine a fake Les Paul.

Could you spot a fake Gibson Les Paul? We would all like to think so. But given that fakes bearing the Gibson logo on the headstock are still circulating, with some $18 million of fake Gibson electric guitars seized by US Customs and Border Protection officers only last November, clearly some can’t.

There is a market for this garbage. People can get hoodwinked – especially when many sales are online. A friend of YouTuber Robert Baker bought a fake Les Paul and Baker decided that this would be a good time to put together a PSA of what to look for.