Lately I herd about a guy who got fooled into spending a few grand on a imitation gibson . to help other people i just thought i would share some info that might help you .

1) Gibsons DO NOT have bolt on necks , they have "set necks" so if you see screws or a plate on the back holding the neck on be careful

2)Gibsons STANDARDS only have "single ply binding" meaning the white stripe that outlines the guitar should be white , if the binding is white with a black stripe it is either a LES PAUL CUSTOM or a copy  This also applies to the headstock , A real Gibson STANDARD will say "les paul model" , while the CUSTOM will have the "split diamond" . buy knowing which model you are purchasing is very important

3) Stock Gibson tuners are called "Gibson Deluxe" tuners , they look like a little silver box . Tuners can be changed to different brands but when you are looking see what brand the tuners are , if you cant see a name , or there is no logo on the tuners be careful .

4) Gibson truss rod covers have 2 screws NOT 3 . if there are 3 screws , IT IS A COPY NO EXCEPTIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5) very often copies will use non gibson parts on their non gibson guitar (lol no really) the biggest example are the plates on the back that house the pots , or toggle switches . on a "sunburst" the plate will be either black or dark red (depending on the darkness of the stain on the back ) if the backplate is WHITE then it is most likely a copy , honestly im not sure about white gibsons , so ask someone else.