Fake Fender Stratocasters

kp247 · 2011-10-13T13:25:41+00:00

Just throwing something at you here. I've recently played some oke's Fender Strat when I was down in CT and it was a truly great guitar and I took it for a...

Fake Fender Stratocasters

mity88

yeah, like Ray said, the chance that you can make a quality guitar and had have it assembled by a pro from Warmoth parts for less than a real Fender...not likely me thinks

MikeM

Contact the custom shop with the serial number and confirm? You gotta get up pretty damn early in the morning to pull off a proper fake custom shop, and in all honesty, if it's good enough to fool you/fender/a tech, then it's good enough to be classified a custom shop ? But there are things like the correct switches, pots, markings on the parts, serials etc that could authenticate it. That's why you should do some research if you're going to plonk a decent amount of dosch on a guitar.

Ray

But listen, if you buy a Fender guitar for any "real" money, then you are going to check the serial number and double check it and maybe make a few calls and pop a few mails no?
But I must say if I did buy something like this and it turned out to be some oke's project or the thing he does to get things sold, it would enter his digestive system from the wrong side I swear. Quite recently I bought a USA P-bass from someone and did the checkings. Not that I didnt trust him, he comes from this very house, but it just keeps everyone happy ne.

nicovlogg

On a technical level, I think it's OK to put a fender logo on a neck that's Fender spec from an official Fender replacement company. But to go and put Custom shop decals on... well.. why? Unless you WANT to scam someone.

selbydoodl

nethen kp247 here's a thought for you.

If you were so impressed with the sound and playability of y our mate's guitar did all that dissapear whn you knew it wasnt the real thing?

Be you'd rather have that than a crap sounding Real Fender!

singemonkey

A lot of replica builders think it's ok to put the original designer's logo on their guitars. Or their customers demand it. I think it's wrong. It could lead to very bad feeling down the line - especially in the unlikely situation it's sold as a genuine vintage original (and some replicas I've seen could pass but for serious chemical and DNA finger-printing).

The flip side is that it's not typically as bad as a cheap fake - in that the instrument might very easily be better than the best quality offered by the manufacturer. If I thought I'd bought a Gibson R9 and then found out it was an expert made replica of a '59 LP, I'd be thrilled (although I'd change the logo). But it's still wrong and could potentially lead to someone ended up way out of pocket.

Put your own damn name on it and be proud.

StephenG

singemonkey wrote: A lot of replica builders think it's ok to put the original designer's logo on their guitars. Or their customers demand it. I think it's wrong. It could lead to very bad feeling down the line - especially in the unlikely situation it's sold as a genuine vintage original (and some replicas I've seen could pass but for serious chemical and DNA finger-printing).

The flip side is that it's not typically as bad as a cheap fake - in that the instrument might very easily be better than the best quality offered by the manufacturer. If I thought I'd bought a Gibson R9 and then found out it was an expert made replica of a '59 LP, I'd be thrilled (although I'd change the logo). But it's still wrong and could potentially lead to someone ended up way out of pocket.

Put your own damn name on it and be proud.

+100000

funny enough i had this very conversation last week with a renowed cape town builder / repairman..

I did voice that I thought it was both morally and ethicaly wrong to create a fake no matter how good. whilst he may rely on the honesty and integrity of the customer requesting it, there will never be a guarantee that it wont be sold off later as the real deal.

I did suggest, as a way of compromise, that no serial numbers be put on the guitars at all, that way, if anyone is forking the kind of money a 'custom" guitar will go for, it may raise the buyers eyebrow if the guitar has no serial number.

vic

selbydoodl wrote: nethen kp247 here's a thought for you.

If you were so impressed with the sound and playability of y our mate's guitar did all that dissapear whn you knew it wasnt the real thing?

Be you'd rather have that than a crap sounding Real Fender!

I think kp247's point is that he could have been fooled by it...?
No matter the quality or tone of the "fake"...... it should not have a Fender logo anywhere on it....it's fraud.

Gearhead

Okay so I built a Strat from a Fender neck (know it was genuine since I bought it from the Dutch importer), some aftermarket hardware, Fender CS pups and the rest from scratch. If this should bear my name, I have to take off the Fender logo?! Not going to do that eh ?

Attila

I'm with selbydoodl ..... It is bound to happen in this brand crazed world we live in, Q: do buyer want a Strat, tele, LP ect. type for its sound or head stock logos ?

We get fooled into thinking that buying a Fender SRV Strat for 15 or 20 K will make you sounding like SRV, when his entire rig is most probably a few 100k and nothing is standard and off the shelf. - The USA marketing engine makes me die- moer- in >☹

I have expressed my thoughts previously on the forum about every SA Guitarist making a commitment owning at least 1 SA produced instrument or amp, be it by a pro-builder or by your own hand,

There is just nothing like a personalised, 1-off instrument or amp that you have had a hand in creating, you'll never look back .....(I did not say anything about price)

Ask anyone that has walked this path - go-on I dare you ?

vic

Gearhead wrote: Okay so I built a Strat from a Fender neck (know it was genuine since I bought it from the Dutch importer), some aftermarket hardware, Fender CS pups and the rest from scratch. If this should bear my name, I have to take off the Fender logo?! Not going to do that eh ?

By "rest from scratch" I presume you mean the whole body, and routing, etc.....? Yes you should remove the Fender logo. What you are building is a relic that does not have 100% Fender content. The only way you may leave the logo on is when you substitute the neck of a Fender factory built guitar with the imported neck which I also presume has a Fender logo on its headstock .
Other than that you should mark this guitar as a "Gearhead inspired by Fender" guitar ?

MikeM

Vic wrote: By "rest from scratch" I presume you mean the whole body, and routing, etc.....? Yes you should remove the Fender logo. What you are building is a relic that does not have 100% Fender content. The only way you may leave the logo on is when you substitute the neck of the original guitar with the imported neck which I also presume has a Fender logo on its headstock .
Other than that you should mark this guitar as a "Gearhead inspired by Fender" guitar ?

Maybe my ethics are skewed but that's ridiculous :\ It's a Fender neck.

I personally think there's nothing wrong with having a Fender logo on a non-factory guitar, but don't put a serial number on, leave some kind of signature/message on bottom of the neck, or inside the trem cavity, or under the tele pickguard that shows it's not an authentic Fender. I HATE the look of non-fender headstocks/decals.

vic

MikeM wrote:
Vic wrote: By "rest from scratch" I presume you mean the whole body, and routing, etc.....? Yes you should remove the Fender logo. What you are building is a relic that does not have 100% Fender content. The only way you may leave the logo on is when you substitute the neck of the original guitar with the imported neck which I also presume has a Fender logo on its headstock .
Other than that you should mark this guitar as a "Gearhead inspired by Fender" guitar ?
Maybe my ethics are skewed but that's ridiculous :\ It's a Fender neck.
I personally think there's nothing wrong with having a Fender logo on a non-factory guitar, but don't put a serial number on, leave some kind of signature/message on bottom of the neck, or inside the trem cavity, or under the tele pickguard that shows it's not an authentic Fender. I HATE the look of non-fender headstocks/decals.

Those Fender necks are suppose to be substitutes for eg. broken necks of Fender factory built instruments or as upgrades etc. . Underneath the logo there are also inscriptions eg "made in mexico/usa/..." and "original body contour" etc. Now clearly that indicates, or is understood, that the whole guitar was assembled in Mexico/USA/ ?

Gearhead

Said neck was a warranty case where the importer replaced the original neck with an upgrade since the first owner complained about the skunk stripe coming loose. The importer wanted to recover his cost for getting a new neck from the States, repaired the skunk with thin epoxy and sold it to me. I was not happy with the feel of the skunk stripe, sanded it flat and refinished the back of the neck. It is as far as I am concerned an original Fender neck although the serial also refers to another Fender guitar. Stuff happens.

Back OT: I will never sell this guitar without telling the whole story behind its origin. To me, that is more important than headstock logos. If the new owner should want to sell, caveat emptor. Though the body will not really pass for factory built...

vic

Gearhead wrote: Said neck was a warranty case where the importer replaced the original neck with an upgrade since the first owner complained about the skunk stripe coming loose. The importer wanted to recover his cost for getting a new neck from the States, repaired the skunk with thin epoxy and sold it to me. I was not happy with the feel of the skunk stripe, sanded it flat and refinished the back of the neck. It is as far as I am concerned an original Fender neck although the serial also refers to on another Fender guitar. Stuff happens.

Back OT: I will never sell this guitar without telling the whole story behind its origin. To me, that is more important than headstock logos. If the new owner should want to sell, caveat emptor. Though the body will not really pass for factory built...

That's fine.....you are not gonna con someone into believing he's buying a fully fledged Fender.
EDIT: However, in general, it would be better and safer to remove the Fender logo if you sell the instrument.....because the buyer may want to sell it as the real deal, and should the s%&% hits the fan later, it will be traced back to Gearhead who will then be regarded as a faker ?

Keira-WitherKay

hey clapton and many other top /famous muso's played on partcasters made up of various parts...... most people change pups or hardware so where do you draw the line?

i'm cool with a partcaster having an original fender neck and say a wammoth strat body and kinsman pups and gotoh tuners....... really who cares ...... and as many have said if they selling it for big bucks do the checking ....... and if it's a genuine fender custom shop ........... they keep records of that and they more easily traced than say a factory made fender ....... and anyway custom shop issue certificates with each guitars pedigree and build which is not the sort of thing someone wh owns one will "throws out" so if thats missing check it well

Gearhead

Thanks to GFSA and this thread, I now have proof that I never made a secret of the guit's origin - safe to sell as is ?

Tokai-SA

The OP doesn't mention whether the guitar had a serial number on it, so I'm assuming it doesn't.

If that's the case then it cant even be passed off as a MIM Fender let alone a Fender Custom Shop model.

IMO, if the guitar isn't made by Fender then it shouldn't have a Fender decal on the headstock, end of story.

StephenG

Keira WitherKay wrote: hey clapton and many other top /famous muso's played on partcasters made up of various parts...... most people change pups or hardware so where do you draw the line?

this was the topis of the next conversation I had - whether the serial number belongs to the body or the neck or the whole guitar, or only a certain combination of parts etc etc...

as for the claptons of this this, from all I have read on it, their partcasters where put together from genuine fender parts from various genuine fender guitars, so I would argue they are still fenders... BUT, as mentioned above, does the serial number still apply??

could be a genuine Fender '63 neck with serial number indicating '63 year, but the body is a '72.. and the pickups come off a little beauty he found in a pawn shop while on holiday with the family at Alton Towers, off a '76...

dee

Keira WitherKay wrote: most people change pups or hardware so where do you draw the line?

Exactly! At what point are the serial numbers still valid?

If I replace the pickups, bridge, electronics, scratchplate, tuners, nut and string trees, do I need to remove the serial number? It is obviously no longer a reflection of the original guitar...