With authenticity, legitimacy and a wide range of options come ripoffs and counterfeit products. This mantra is even true in the world of guitars. Thirty-six fake guitars shipped from China were seized at Dulles Airport.
With legendary guitars being auctioned off at unscrupulous rates, such as Jimi Hendrix’s guitar auctioned for$216,000in New York City, the presence of faux guitars and the fear of being ripped off can keepa lot of people from investing in such a musical instrument.
It’s very easy to get ripped off when going to a guitar shop and not knowing much about spotting a fake.
Here are some things to look out for to stop a faux guitar:
Differences in Brand Logo
The brand logo is the crux of every worthy guitar. From Fender Stratocasters to Gibson Les Pauls, the options for guitars are vast. Carefully study the brand logo to look out for differences in size, text, font, and other flaws.
Differences in Wood Types
Faux guitars are usually much lighter than their authentic counterparts. This usually attributes to differences in the quality of wood used for these guitars. Veneer guitars are a material that is commonly used to give off an authentic and rich look at a much lower cost.
Some guitar manufacturers even go so far as to stick a picture that gives off a finished authentic guitar look. This method is usually termed as “photo finish” and has a blown-up rich quality picture stuck on to show a wood-grain finish. It can also be painted on and so makes it extremely hard to spot.
The Finishing
Keep an eye out for the overall look of the guitar. Instead of a reductionist approach, be sure to gather a holistic view of all the guitar features in tandem. From the neck to the headstock, examine each area of the guitar’s body.
If a specific feature is positioned even a millimeter or centimeter incorrectly, you know something is up.
The Authenticity of the Serial Number
A plethora of online databases contains serial numbers to check the authenticity of the guitar. These serial numbers are in correlation and assigned to the year the guitar was made. If it is claimed to be an old guitar but has a relatively recent serial number, then you know it has high chances of being a faux guitar.
Issues in Functioning
The most prominent ways of spotting a faux are by playing and tuning it to check the sound quality and performance abilities.
Faux guitars have differences in tone and the sound they give off. If you’re a novel player and don’t know much about the differences in sound between authentic and faux guitars, be sure to take an experienced guitar player with you to detect this.
Some believe that the problem can be solved by fixing and tuning certain features, but if the issue is internal with the hardware or the pickup system, no changes can fix the tune.
Looking for authentic and reliable high performance guitars online? You’ve come to the perfect place.
At Rock Guitars, we offer high quality guitars online. Our range of guitars is custom made and tailored as per our customer’s orders. Eddie A personally makes these guitars with a combination of artistic skill and high performance features in the guitar.
Get in touch with us to buy the best rock guitars online.
