New to PRS, need help! Don't want to get ripped off.

[woodstock1975]

Hi guys, or girls!

I'm looking at buying a used PRS, but i'm so leery about buying a fake. Someone is trying to sell me a 2011 custom 24. I put a small down payment on it already to hold it. The serial number seems to check out at 11 177792. But this 2011 doesn't have a "blade switch". And the "custom" rod cover seems different from what i've seen online. Here's the link to the add. Let me know your thoughts.

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-...ustom-24-Guitar-Half-Price-W0QQAdIdZ412499313

I'd have to drive 4 hours to pick it up, so obviously i don't want to waste my time.

Thx for checking this out!

Al

 

[JMintzer]

Tuners are wrong, case is wrong, truss rod cover is wrong. With that inlay signature, it should be an artist Package, but it doesn't look like one...

No me gusto...


Jamie

 

[upl8tr]

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination but that whole guitar looks "wrong" to me; I'd avoid. (Sorry )

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Almost certainly a Chinese fake, bought for no more than $300 - 400 and sold to you at 'Half Price'. Don't buy it!!!

Plenty things look wrong as mentioned. Knobs aren't quite in the right position. The recess for the selector switch is wonky, etc... Plus the price... 'Too good to be true'...

Had a quick search on Google and it's easy to find PRS fakes from China. Found this one which isn't a million miles away from the one in the ad save a couple of things.

Don't waste your time on this as you'll get your fingers burned.

 

[woodstock1975]

Thanks!!

Almost certainly a Chinese fake, bought for no more than $300 - 400 and sold to you at 'Half Price'. Don't buy it!!!

Plenty things look wrong as mentioned. Knobs aren't quite in the right position. The recess for the selector switch is wonky, etc... Plus the price... 'Too good to be true'...

Had a quick search on Google and it's easy to find PRS fakes from China. Found this one which isn't a million miles away from the one in the ad save a couple of things.

Don't waste your time on this as you'll get your fingers burned.

Guys! I can't thank you enough! I'll save my money a bit longer and pick up a real one! Thx a million guys!!

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

Little by little, were teaching the builders of these fakes how we know. We're telling them what to fix.

 

[andy474x]

Anyone?

This would be a big red flag for me at the price of a PRS (even at half price). Could be time/date set wrong on the camera, but still, shady.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Anyone?

This would be a big red flag for me at the price of a PRS (even at half price). Could be time/date set wrong on the camera, but still, shady.

Could be... I never bother with the date & time on my cam so it's always 2010 in the file data, though I never have the date appearing in the pic. I bet the cam used is a cheap knockoff too!

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

I hear what you're saying Hans.

If we don't pass on the knowledge to folks about what red flags to watch for there's a danger they spend their hard earned cash on a fake.

But, as you say, we're letting the 'builders' know what to improve to make the fakes more convincing. The danger is someone's going to spend their money on a copy because they couldn't tell it was a fake - it was too convincing.

Bit of a conundrum in some respects.

The old adage holds true, If it looks too good to be true it probably is.

 

[andy474x]

Does PRS confirm serial numbers and keep record of specs the guitar had? I heard Fender does, maybe it's a popular thing I don't know. But if they do and I was spending that kind of $$$ on a guitar, I would get it confirmed. Not that it's necessary in this case, pretty clear fake.

 

[Artist]

I see what Hans is saying. Maybe the forum users could just specify wether they believe it is real or fake and send any details via PM to the requestor.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

But what's to stop them analysing all these juicy hi res shots of the guitars we post here and elsewhere and figuring out from those where they're making the mistakes? If we say "they got the logo wrong on guitar X" and then say we shouldn't post that info publicly, what's to stop them finding some good pics and figuring that out anyway?

Just thinking out loud...

 

[sleary]

I actually spotted a fake Prs two weeks ago. Something didn't seem right with it. I posted two pics of it and also sent pics to CS at Prs. When Prs says " IT appears to be ... , pull the neck pickup and look", that sends a huge red flag to me. After I posted pics here, the guy told me that he was going to keep it. He may have been trolling this

forum or just a fluke of timing.

That is a huge scam in Toronto right now. Estate sales and I've even saw where they want you to live in a house for.next to nothing. Write them a cheque for two months rent lol

My rule of thumb is, send.pics.to cs at Prs. Something I learned from the Gibson forums.