Pawn Star Gets Burned by Fake Gibson
JimLowther
(History Channel) show called Pawn Stars. It features a pawn shop in
Las Vegas run by three generations of the same family. The
grandfather, son, and grandson are the heavies, along with a slow
witted friend of the grandson's named Chumlee. Chumlee seems to be
the fall guy for whatever is not right around the shop, and it is
usually deserved. Recently, while left alone at the counter, Chumlee
was offered a "Gibson" mandolin. Now, I could tell right off this
wasn't a real Gibson. It was an A-model with "The Gibson" on the
headstock in the old script (with theedges of a waterslide decal quite
visible), and a stamped modern script Gibson logo visible through one
of the f-holes. Beyond that, it just didn't look right. I think
Chumlee bought it for $1400 or $1500. It was appraised by a music
shop friend later in the show at $100. Poor Chumlee!
So what do you do if you unwittingly buy an instrument that is a
counterfeit? You would be morally and ethically obliged not to pass
it off to someone else certainly. But can you even sell it or possess
it legally? Do you have to remove any offending logos so that it
could not be mistaken as genuine?
Best wishes,
Dr. Jim Lowther
hank alrich
About twenty ears ago I walked into a pawn shop in Quincy CA and the guy
had a "Gibson" for sale for a silly price. Anybody who knew anything
about guitars would have instnatly seen that this wasn't a Gibson. It
had a black LP body shape with two rotting gold plated pickups and a
couple of dozen pushbuttons. It didn't even say "Gibson" on the
headstock.
I told him that nobody who knew anything was going to fall for it, but
that if someone who was ignorant bought it thinking it was a vintage
Gibson he could find himself liable for fraud.
He took the Gibson name off of the tag, but kept the price stupid for a
long time. I don't think he ever sold it.
OTOH, this is the shop where I bought a Somogyi classical for $300 that
I eventually sold for $3K. I talked him down from $350.
--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpqXcV9DYAc
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
Dwight
Sorry, thought this was a post about Tiger Woods or Charlie Sheen play
with a Gibson and a Porn Star.
Dwight (my bad)
dsi1
In the 70's I bought a "Fender" guitar at a swap meet. It had a skinny
but thick figured maple neck and what appeared to be an ebony fretboard.
The Fender name was on a big embossed fake pearl truss rod cover. It had
a Jaguar locking bridge and four single coil pickups. The pickups had
sliding 3 position switches just like on a Mustang. The strangest part
was that the pickups had a large curved magnet that bridged the first 2
pickups. The back 2 pickups had a similar setup. It's an interesting
design that I've never seen anywhere. The guy assured me that it was a
Fender but I had my doubts. No matter, it was going for $30. :-)
don j
Pictures?
dsi1
>>
>> In the 70's I bought a "Fender" guitar at a swap meet. It had a skinny
>> but thick figured maple neck and what appeared to be an ebony fretboard.
>> The Fender name was on a big embossed fake pearl truss rod cover. It had
>> a Jaguar locking bridge and four single coil pickups. The pickups had
>> sliding 3 position switches just like on a Mustang. The strangest part
>> was that the pickups had a large curved magnet that bridged the first 2
>> pickups. The back 2 pickups had a similar setup. It's an interesting
>> design that I've never seen anywhere. The guy assured me that it was a
>> Fender but I had my doubts. No matter, it was going for $30. :-)
>
> Pictures?
No pictures nor am I sure what happened to the guitar. My guess is that
it was made in the Philippines although it appeared to be made in a
factory, not hand made. It had skinny brass frets which might give a
clue to it's origin.
Tom from Texas
They usually have cameras filming everything in the place so I could
imagine the family owners finding the guy and making him pay
"restitution" in the manner of body parts.
Tom from Texas
David Hajicek
I hate that show. 90% of what they buy is total junk. They have a pole
barn full of junk. I would be very suspicious of any kind of instrument
"find" at these flea markets - they are trolling for suckers. Then these
guys want to find an even bigger sucker to take it off their hands.
Yeah, like I really need to pay $200 for a rusty highway sign full of bullet
holes.
It just make no sense to me. They must be independently wealthy, cause they
sure can't make money that way.
If you don't know what you are buying off the back of some pickup truck -
maybe you shouldn't be buying it?
You take the instrument and mount it on the wall in your office with a sign
to remind yourself what a stupid fool you can be when you get greedy.
"August 2011, head up my ass - again."
Dave H
Mike Brown
"David Hajicek" <haj...@skypoint.com> wrote:
Hmmmm.
No such thing as a free lunch.
MJRB
