PLEASE HELP IDENTIFYING MY PRS

[wpoff]

Ok, I know this type of question comes up all the time. So, I apologize for being that guy. But I purchased this guitar at an auction for $375. I felt that even if it turned out to be something not worth much, $375 is still fine to spend for nice guitar.
I noticed immediately that the logo had mostly faded, but was still obviously a PRS. Or at least trying to look like it. After a lot of digging I found as much as I could about it. It has a maple top and it's a 22. It appears to be a 1992 model (judging by the prefix (2) and the number after, which is in the 15,000 range. However, the number is at the high end of the 15s. And with the prefix being a 2 I am trying to make sure everything is legit. I mean, the 22s (other than the dragon ones) didn't come out till 1993.
Can someone help me determine if everything is on the up and up with this guitar?

https://imgur.com/a/Kvmboz5

https://imgur.com/a/WvfPWaF

https://imgur.com/a/cl2RAdP

 

[Birdsofprey]

It’s fake a counterfeit , and I won’t say why because that will accelerate people trying to perfect copies. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

 

[wpoff]

Ok…
Thanks for the response…and I understand your desire to not perpetuate fakes, but I really could use more info. I can’t imagine your telling me why you believe it’s a fake somehow inspiring people to make more.

 

[JasonE]

Ok…
Thanks for the response…and I understand your desire to not perpetuate fakes, but I really could use more info. I can’t imagine your telling me why you believe it’s a fake somehow inspiring people to make more.

People that make the fakes peruse the internet looking for information on what people spot that shows it is a fake and they take that information to make the fake look more real as they make them. It happens with all of the high dollar brands. You never see them try to fake a cheaper guitar like and SE. It is always a core model because they can get a lot more money for them. The same thing happens for the other brands they knock off too.

One dead give away I will tell you is they got he headstock shape really wrong. Just compare that to a real PRS headstock. That one should be pretty obvious to anyone that sees the two together.

 

[wpoff]

Well, thanks. That's why I was wanting to check with you guys. I figured you would know. It's a bummer. But I should have done my homework before bidding. I had stars in my eyes. Haha.

 

[garrett]

This is probably the most common style of fake; been around for years.

I have no problem telling you how I knew: Soley based on these three pictures, to the trained (PRS nerd) eye, nearly every detail is wrong. Headstock, body shape, body carves, bridge. Other hardware does not match to a factory PRS, and while that doesn't necessarily mean a fake, when added to the other evidence it helps drive the point home.

 

[wpoff]

I guess the next time one comes up I'll be on guard more. Funny thing is, it seems like a pretty good guitar. Haha.

 

[DISTORT6]

This is probably the most common style of fake; been around for years.

I have no problem telling you how I knew: <snip>

We have a long standing tradition of not going into details on what does or doesn’t make a guitar a fake.
It goes all the way back to 1999 and the ORIGINAL PRS Forum.

 

[wpoff]

Well, it might be a decent idea to rethink that. The negative that you think will come from saying what is wrong with them I think would probably be outweighed by the help that it would provide people trying to make purchases. Or God forbid reselling this stuff.

 

[DISTORT6]

Well, it might be a decent idea to rethink that. The negative that you think will come from saying what is wrong with them I think would probably be outweighed by the help that it would provide people trying to make purchases. Or God forbid reselling this stuff.

A yes or no is all you need.

 

[wpoff]

Haha… unless I had something else to say. I just kind of think that that type of mentality of not giving people details about why certain things should be questioned, as good of intentioned as that might have originally been, at this point it seems a little condescending. Which is very similar to many forums.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Try a real PRS side by side and you will feel the difference.

 

[garrett]

We have a long standing tradition of not going into details on what does or doesn’t make a guitar a fake.
It goes all the way back to 1999 and the ORIGINAL PRS Forum.

I am well aware some people feel this way, with my PRS-related forum nerd-dom dating back to 2002. Yet the fakers NEVER get the details right. There are so many proprietary and intricate elements to a PRS, including SE, that making a convincing fake would take more time, effort, and money than it's worth.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I should add, try a real PRS SE as well and you will also see a huge difference.

 

[JasonE]

There is a real downside to posting the details of how you can tell it is a fake. I have seen many detailed posts on how to tell that a Les Paul is a fake. Have you seen any of the current Les Paul fakes? They have learned from the pictures and posts out there and some of them are difficult to tell the difference now. I can tell you that most guitar manufacturers are concerned with this. I custom ordered a guitar from a major manufacturer and I paid extra to be able to choose the wood for the top. They refused to draw the shape of the body on it and wet it then take a picture for me to see how it was going to look. The reason they gave me is they didn't want pictures of their body shapes floating around for counterfeiters to get their hands on. We ended up doing a face time and they showed it to me over video. I am not trying to be a jerk about this. I am just trying to explain why we don't give the details. That is actually a rule on a lot of forums. This is also something that has been asked for people to not do from the manufacturers.

 

[GuitarJammin]

Haha… unless I had something else to say. I just kind of think that that type of mentality of not giving people details about why certain things should be questioned, as good of intentioned as that might have originally been, at this point it seems a little condescending. Which is very similar to many forums.

If you just spend time looking at real ones on reverb if you can't play/own a real one. The differences are night and day. So easy to tell from far away. If someone wants to know they will learn. No one has ever taught me anything and I can spot fakes really fast from numerous brands.

I actually think it's condescending to think you are "owed" an explanation, when you came here for information that you were given freely. Do your own homework it won't take you long to see that it's not even up to par with the SE import PRS guitars.