I've learned about vintage Les Pauls, and how to authenticate them. It seams practically fullproof. But, with the bolt on neck and seemingly more production line manufature, it seems that the fender vintage guitars are more easily faked. How hard is it to fake a vintage 50 or 60's fender?
One way to tell is the routes. Orig Fenders are hogged on a pin router and they are a bit rough. Most guys dupe a body don't catch that.
It is hard. alot of refins are fakes. I see alot of it trying to be passed off as original. Your best bet is to find a pro who really knows his business to verify the guitar there are alot of fakes out there!!
That's the best advise.Originally posted by Tonefiend
Your best bet is to find a pro who really knows his business to verify the guitar there are alot of fakes out there!!
X - George Gruhn addresses this very issue in a recent Vintage Guitar magazine.
hank
.......... from the Land of Gibson
I'm sure you guys have read George Gruhn's article in the latest VintageGuitar magazine. He addresses this as a major concern.
Good read.
Jason
The Bear Guy
Pin router holes???? Things are way beyond that. One problem is the amount of detailed information on discussion groups pointing out fakes on EBay. This is usually in the form of "a real one should be like this". Poor Tadeo Gomez must have worked 24/8! A forger better have his initials right and the shape and diameter of the fillister head screws correct too. The forgers use very carefully worded ads on EBay and EBay doesn't prosecute fraud or even pull ads despite what they claim. In some cases a forger or dealer will threaten to sue for liable. IMO some dealers get duped too. They can't possibly know the minutest details of all the different guitars they encounter.
Hi XO, Once you have seen a bunch of original ones it's easy to tell : Refins, doped soder , overspray , pup rewinds even changed parts if your eye is sharp enough. I have been around the Fender block once or twice and almost everything has some kind of issue. If a Fender is totally 100% original and in great shape the price will reflect that. If you see a "too good to be true" price that is all original it's beat to shit and needs works to make it playable , ie a fret job at least. With the prices so high it's a much bigger deal, I'v been burned by the big boys too. I personally wouldn't want to have to buy a 1953 telecaster or 1957 strat without going over it with a fine tooth comb before any $$ came out. The dealers are all crooked now and will fudge a Fender to sell it . Face it there are very few clean original vintage guitars out on the market for a bargan price that collectors/ players want. Strats, Teles and Les Pauls from the 1950's are gone for the most part ,when nice examples surface they are very $$$ and sell faster than the beater bull shit vintage guitar market that exists today. I could go on and on but....:blah :edr
There's more fakes than originals.
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