Help identifying an instrument

Fake or Real?


  • Total voters
    15

fallibleletters

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Mar 23, 2018
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17
Hey guys I'm new to this forum and came here to ask this very question. I recently acquired a guitar for a cheap price as a random PRS that the previous owner said was a refinished S2 standard. I'm not an expert but this looks like a custom 24 and not an S2. This thing has been brutalized and I don't think it has many original parts left. I looked up the serial on the headstock and it pointed toward a 2003 Custom 24 set neck. My current concern is how to discern whether or not this instrument is a knockoff PRS or the real deal. An old acquaintance showed pictures of this instrument to his friend who apparently knows Paul and here's why he thought it was a knockoff.

"Hey, I talked to and showed photos to my buddy who's a prs expert, he has owned dozens and dozens and is close personal friends paul reed smith himself. You should take that guitar back if you can. He's confident it's a fake. A pretty good fake, but almost definitely a fake. The logo is off, the tuners shouldn't be angled. Also, no one replaces pickups or hardware on a prs, and no one refinishes them badly. I'm sorry for the bad news my man. I'm sure prs will be telling you the same thing when they get back to you though."

"The logo is tilted and he said the color is wrong. But it's also a matter of, nobody in their right mind destroys a prs like that one has been. No one replaces prs phase II locking tuners for a $35 set of grovers."


So the main points seem to be that the tuners shouldn't be angled and that the logo is off. Aside from that it seems like he's saying it has to be fake because nobody would mess up an official PRS this badly (which is fair). The tuners are currently set at an angle but the original screw holes can be seen and the previous tuners seemed to be installed straight.

Sorry this is so long-winded, I've linked an imgur album of a few shots of it and if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.
https://imgur.com/a/dW6DV


EDIT: https://imgur.com/a/xVHMN
Heard back from PRS and even though the overwhelming majority here said it was fake, it's real. Completely mangled condition, I'm not claiming to have a minty PRS just that the body is legit.
 
Last edited:
Nope...
Tuners are all wrong, headstock cut looks wrong

Sorry but what about the tuners and headstock cut look wrong? Like I said the tuners aren't original and they're mounted at a different angle than the original ones were. Is it just where the holes are placed that's wrong?
 
Ummm... Not looking good...

The curve at the top of the headstock is off, the tuners are installed all FUBAR...

The serial # is off, the neck heel is a mess... The dish outs for the controls are also wrong...
 
I’m going fake.

First off it’s not an S2, and there are many tells that say not real.

What signs specifically though? I know it's 1000% not an S2 and like I said my best guess is a custom 24 and the serial points to '03. What else am I missing that's a telltale sign?
 
Writing is off on the front and back of the headstock. Headstock carve looks janky at best. Lower horn looks poorly carved.

I had a Standard 24 and this one is close but definitely doesn’t look like it.
 
What signs specifically though? I know it's 1000% not an S2 and like I said my best guess is a custom 24 and the serial points to '03. What else am I missing that's a telltale sign?

Nothing about this guitar is right. We try not to give too much detail about how we know because people read it and improve the fakes.

But what @JMintzer said should be enough.
 
Nothing about this guitar is right. We try not to give too much detail about how we know because people read it and improve the fakes.

But what @JMintzer said should be enough.

Ah that's bizarre but makes sense. This guitar was refinished by someone who had little to no experience, is it possible they butchered the curves this much? If it's a fake, is it just some rando noname company that does this kind of thing?

Bowtiefanatic the inlays look like abalone/pearloid moons, is that what you mean? Or do you mean like carved out crescent moons without being full circles?
 
Anything’s possible. But there’s about .001% chance that’s what happened.

I hope you didn’t pay too much for it. Try to enjoy it as best you can. Maybe test out some mods on it.
 
Its not a Custom for sure with dots not moons and the body carve is wrong I suppose it it could be an S2 or a SE that has been abused because the bridge looks right
 
Anything’s possible. But there’s about .001% chance that’s what happened.

I hope you didn’t pay too much for it. Try to enjoy it as best you can. Maybe test out some mods on it.

Yea I got it for a little more than the cost of the pickups so I'm not too torn up about it, I'll just keep it as a player and try to get it playing as good as possible.
 
Cosmetically, a refinish and different pickups rings could make it look pretty good IMO. There would still be queues to tell it wasn’t made by PRS but it could look good at least.
 
I think the trem is real...
does look like moon inlays, but headstock top curve and neck heel are real bad. decent attempt on the body.
 
Elliot thanks but I like the old chair look it has going on... On a serious note I'll just end up drawing on it after I double check with customer service in the morning.

Michael I can see now the angular look the headstock has and what's wrong there, but what should I be looking at with the heel?
 
Elliot thanks but I like the old chair look it has going on... On a serious note I'll just end up drawing on it after I double check with customer service in the morning.

Michael I can see now the angular look the headstock has and what's wrong there, but what should I be looking at with the heel?

The way it rounds off from the flat surface to the neck. It's not even smoothly round, besides the shape being off...
also, looking at the cover plates on the back they look out of place too.
 
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