Chibson Fake Counterfeit Gibson Explorer How To Tell Real vs Fake. An artist brought this fake Gibson Explorer to our studio not knowing it was a Chinese copy. He bought it used after being told it was a "1 of 1 Custom Shop Lefty from the Gibson Custom Shop." It has real Gibson parts, pickups and pots but these were added to the fake guitar later. This is becoming more and more common as guitar values continue to rise and Chinese factory continue to mass produce fakes at bargain prices of around $170 delivered!