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You know what they say, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. That proved true yesterday for me.

I found myself in a Pawn Shop looking at what appeared to be a Martin D-28. The price was incredible $750 for this fifteen year old instrument.

On the phone a couple of things didn't click. The case interior wasn't the right color, but I quickly shrugged that off. Secondly, when he read me the serial number, it was off the lable? Shrugged that off too.

Well, upon arrival, I took a quick look and it was the worst Martin guitar I'd ever seen. Nothing seemed right. The woods, the finish, the headstock Martin logo, the paper lable inside, the screwed in guitar strap, and no D-28 stamp on the neck block. Instead there was a smudged black ink rubber stamped number that was illegible.

That guitar was a complete forgery. I didn't say a word to the proprietor, just looked around and left. Maybe the owner didn't know? How could he not know?

He showed me an old Gibson Les Paul that was entirely authentic. Maybe he just got snowed on the D-28, if so, he may perpetuate the lie unknowingly to an unsuspecting customer. What a sad state of affairs.

Just wondering if any of you guys who buy and sell, have run across a FAKE Martin acoustic guitar?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I haven't yet, but I did run across one that claimed they got a factory defect that therefore it should be worth more on trade in. It was a little martin with a white pickguard on it. Little Martins don't come with pickguards and since he ordered it from the factory, it was a defect. the pickguard was poorly applied and had a corner coming offer. As far as I know, Martin sends all factory placed orders through a dealer. I passed on the deal.

I did see a Gibson that I wished were a fake, but it was a licensed product. It had sharp, as in cut you, frets, a fretboard cracked in three distinct lines, nearly ruster through strings, and very warped pickup enclosures. It was new and in the box. I can't believe Gibson would let someone produce such a junker in their name.

    When I first started in the business I was out at Martin for some training and Jim Trach was called out to the prep room they had out in the lobby for when customers brought in a guitar.
     A man brought in his "martin" for repair work. The guitar was a fake and you could see it right off. Jim felt bad for the guy and explained that he was scammed. Nazareth was spelled Nazarath and he pointed out other details.
    Jim put new strings on it and sent him on his way. That was my first experience with a fake martin.

Bruce, Don't you think it would be a good idea to let the pawn shop owner know it's a fake so he won't unknowingly pass it off as a martin?

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I saw a purple Martin once...

but it flew away!

Its quite possible that the pawn shop owner was oblivious... just because someone owns a pawnshop doesnt make them an expert in guitar history and values... alot of these guys figure they are experts on account of thier "blue books"!
Unless someone is an afficianado, or truly loves guitars,, its prolly quite easy to get taken sometimes... not all fakes are as horribly made as the ones that have been discussed so far.. Many are even more well made that thier original counterparts,,,
There is a fellow in LA who makes Les Paul knockoffs that are truly amazing, indistinguishable some would say without date testing!
Slash's favourite Les is one of these creations and not an authentic Les Paul at all..
Cheers
Charlie

I saw a fake Gibson in a music store last summer. I'm not an expert on Gibson's but I've played a few and know enough to say it was an imposter. For one thing the "logo" on the headstock was painted on way off center. (has Gibson ever painted on their logo's?) and there was no sticker on the inside. But the biggest thing was the quality was horrible. I too didn't say anything. Mostly because I didn't want to interrupt the the teenaged salesman who was in the middle of a sale at the time and I didn't want to make my wife and kids wait out in the lot just so I could tell him that his boss was asking about $950.00 too much for a fake.

The one consolation I felt  when walking out was that nobody who actually played it would buy it. The action was so high that it was almost impossible to get a clear chord out of it.

J.R.

 

 

[QUOTE=Dave Rickard] Bruce, Don't you think it would be a good idea to let the pawn shop owner know it's a fake so he won't unknowingly pass it off as a martin?[/QUOTE]
That's what I was thinking also.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Man it's stuff like this that could give pawn shops a bad reputation........

Yeah, I know.  I'm gonna have to change where I shop for Christmas presents now. 

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I have never trusted pawn shops. The way i see it is this is a business that makes it money at the hands of desperate people. Drug addicts, thiefs and gamblers. The owner probably knows its a fake and he's just trying to unload it to a sucker. Yuo should be thankful you know something about guitars and seen all the false signs.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

[QUOTE=Dave Rickard] Bruce, Don't you think it would be a good idea to let the pawn shop owner know it's a fake so he won't unknowingly pass it off as a martin?[/QUOTE]

Dave, I'm older and a few pounds overweight but I can still run fast if necessary. I had my 80 year-old Mom and her pooch with me on this trip. Yeah, it occurred to me I should say something, but kept silent for one reason. He had twenty pistols on his side of the counter. I didn't want to find out if any were loaded. Mom wouldn't have stood a chance! I might have gotten out the door.

Actually it was quite humorous all those little thoughts going through my brain. In the end, if we rid the world of this one fake, how many will take it's place tomorrow? Let the buyer beware.

I'm glad the college student who told me about this guitar had no funds.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh]Man it's stuff like this that could give pawn shops a bad reputation........ [/QUOTE]

Ha! I laughed out loud ad that one Hesh. You should be writing for Letterman!      

Then he would have to be on strike right now, and he couldn't share his nuggets of humor with us. 

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Bruce on a serious note I don't blame you for not letting the guy know his guitar was a fake.  If he is in on it, and he very well may be, that would be threatening to him as you suspected......

You know what you might do is call Martin in PA and tell them what you saw.  Companies often do have very active, and expensive, programs to stamp out counterfeit goods.   Although to us this may be one fake to Martin this might be an important lead to who is producing these things.  I would suspect that they would be very grateful as well for your brand loyalty and concern.  Might be a good idea if you own a Taylor instead to not mention that.....

Why didn't I take my camera along?

I wonder if anyone ever bought a German violin with the name Stradavarius inside? Thinking it was the real thing?   

This thing was just an outright forgery, I wish I'd had a camera.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com