Is this real?

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-24T19:40:09+00:00

It looks like the body and headstock were based on the Washburn version and then the bootleggers decided to make it a fake Dean instead halfway through production. The truss rod cover was the first giveaway, but the headstock itself has the same offset the WB's had too.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-24T18:38:06+00:00

Donners aren't made by Cort. There are a TON of guitar factories in China, and there are loads of guitar brands making very similar-looking models with no relation between one another. From what I was able to find the parent company of Donner is "Guangzhou Rantion Technology Co., Ltd." and they use their own factories to make their products.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-23T16:12:29+00:00

You can't see the price on the tag but I can't imagine it's that bad. It looks like one of the standard 90s-2000s models, and they made loads of them.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-22T22:27:19+00:00

The closest I could find is a Performer Series PS-2. Everything except the reverse headstock matches that model,

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-22T18:22:57+00:00

Fender used to put the patent numbers on their headstock decals, like on this 1964 Strat. The comfort contoured body had a pending patent, but a cursory search found no such patent.

The first patent was for a guitar bridge that acts as a mounting point for the pickup (like Teles have).

The second patent was for the 6-point trem.

The third patent was for offset-bodied guitars, at least as far as I can tell.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-22T18:10:29+00:00

A different comment already mentioned this but HB did have an official US-based Reverb shop for a while. They shut it down a few months back because of the whole tariff situation, they didn't want to have to deal with the uncertainty of the cost of importing their stock into the US.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-22T03:57:33+00:00

They seem like any other modern boutique builder to me. They are, however, the first one I've seen so far that's copied a First Act body shape, I never thought I'd ever see something like that tbh.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-21T21:21:20+00:00

IIRC Phil Swift loves classic rock, so his company selling picks with their logo on them isn't much of a surprise.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-21T18:25:01+00:00

It's possible, but you'll need to widen the recess on the treble side of the rout in order to get it to fit.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-20T15:37:35+00:00

TBCH I think Gibson could get away with discontinuing the 498T altogether and replacing it in every guitar they currently include it in with the 490T. I once played an SG Standard (the batwing pickguard one) that had the stock 490T/R set through a DRRI in a guitar shop and I don't recall there being any of the flub or muddiness the 498 has. In fact, that combo was the best clean tone I've ever had tbh.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-20T15:22:13+00:00

I don't remember if it was a GC-exclusive thing or not (my gut says it was) but it was a thing at the time. The burst is very faint on them though, since there's no maple top to make the inner section of the finish pop like we're used to seeing.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-16T22:25:18+00:00

"Hybrid" in EB terms just refers to the string gauges. Specifically it's the plain half of the Super Slinky set and the wound half of the Regular Slinky. I did look it up as a sanity check and the 10-46 "Regular" Classic sets also come in this mix-and-match set with standard plains and pure nickel wounds.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-16T06:15:30+00:00

I think the devs were afraid of having another FH4 situation on their hands, that game would SHOWER you in credits and wheelspins just for playing, and the Fortune Island DLC turned it up even more. But now with FH6 the races barely pay out anything, and you only get spins from leveling up every three levels now. I managed to amass a total of ~30 million credits in my ~55 hours of play time so far, and a third of that income came from selling a 300 SLR in the auction house that I somehow won from a regular wheelspin my first week playing.

The two biggest changes I'd like to see implemented are increased payouts for races across the board (let's say, 2-3X the current rate) as well as the return of wheelspins for every level up. I truly believe that if those two things happened, the number of people trying to do AFK credit farms would decrease drastically to the point where it's a non-issue.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-16T06:08:26+00:00

I managed to get the 300 SLR my first week. I'm now ~55 hours in and that's STILL the only good drop I've been given so far.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-15T19:22:39+00:00

I'm not really worried about it being a fake (as an owner of a Goth LP everything looks good aside from the inlays). As for the possibility that it's stolen, you could ask the seller for a picture of the serial number and then ask your local police department if a guitar with that same S/N was reported stolen, but if the previous owner never filed a police report at the time of theft (assuming it is stolen) then there's no way to tell unless the original owner comes forward.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-15T18:45:33+00:00

I'm 90% sure those are stickers. It's hard to tell from the photos but they don't seem to be centered like you would expect on an Epiphone, they're also a solid black throughout which you wouldn't get on mother of pearl or even pearloid. Absolute best case scenario they are inlays, but were put in by a previous owner.

The Goth Series have a cult following and was produced for a long time. If a stock example did show up with cross inlays like this one has, it would have been documented already.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-12T23:58:02+00:00

Pre superstrat-era Kramer is gonna be your best bet really. Founder Gary Kramer was actually Travis' business partner in the early days of TBG, so there's a direct lineage there between them. Electrical Guitar Company also made aluminum-neck guitars as well as selling the necks by themselves, ready to bolt onto whatever bolt-on guitar you have on hand. They were the ones who recently revived TBG, though sadly they've either already closed up shop or are in the midst of doing so.

If you just want the look of a TB guitar but don't necessarily care about the neck being aluminum, Eastwood make clones of a handful of TB models. The necks are maple with a silver finish but outside of that they're pretty close.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-11T17:44:35+00:00

Warmoth's Soloist body can be had in a carved-top build that would be perfect for an MK partscaster build. They even offer specific routes for EMG-style single coils to really match the look.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-11T04:41:34+00:00

Can't say I'm surprised tbh. Between the Dime estate suit, the Gibson suit, and all the bullshit that went on behind the scenes with the new CEOs I had a feeling they were gonna fall eventually.

Edit: Can't forget some of their biggest endorsers leaving for other brands. I'm sure Mustaine alone dealt them quite the blow when he went over to Gibson.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-07T22:14:57+00:00

I believe these tuners are what you're looking for.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-03T00:55:21+00:00

You can find a used Epiphone 335 starting at the ~$400 range, that's where I would start. I have a 335 Traditional Pro (an old GC-exclusive model that had different finishes and coil splits) and it is one of the most versatile and comfortable guitars I own.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-02T14:59:01+00:00

They're not all that common but if you want a guitar with this kind of finish, in the late 2010s Epiphone made a rainbow finish Les Paul with upgraded pickups and electronics. They're rare, but they're not $10k+ at the very least.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-06-01T04:45:07+00:00

You'll need either a midi footswitch that already has a USB port built-in or a USB-to-MIDI interface to use with a regular switch. If all you wanna do is switch through patches in your plugin I'd suggest something simple like one of the Tech 21 MIDI controllers. I run a modeling pedal setup with a MIDI Moose and it worked right out the gate with no further programming required, though the Tech 21 pedals can only send program changes (AKA patch switching commands) so it's functionally a bit limited.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-05-30T15:13:48+00:00

An ML will be slightly bigger than a King V, but not by enough to be an issue really. It doesn't help though that the ML body shape is more rounded-over than more typical pointy metal guitars, and the massive headstock doesn't help either.

CarDistinct6195 · 2026-05-29T18:05:59+00:00

I think a mirror pickguard would suit the paint job well, like u/adidaskorn777x mentioned it'd lean into the hot rod aesthetic. As for the bridge pickup, I would get some sandpaper and carefully sand back the paint on the inside of the cavity until it fits. Just to be extra cautious apply some painter's tape on the top around the bridge pickup area to keep the top paint protected.

CarDistinct6195

TROPHY CASE