Real or fake?

[Trogdor69]

This Telecaster showed up at my local pawn shop. It purports to be a 2018 USA-made, double-bound Fender with arm rest and Bigsby. The hardware is all correct, with Fender tuners and Corona, Ca neckplate, etc. but there are several things that lead me to believe this one’s not quite authentic.

First, the pickup selector is a 4-position (?). Also the printing on the headstock, while not waterslide decals, also isn’t perfect. There’s some bleed on the lettering and it’s not as precise as what I’ve seen on Fenders in the past. Also the binding doesn’t seem to be actual binding, it’s just paint stripes and they’re not terribly straight or regular. Everything just looks a little…off.

I tried to get some shots of my areas of concern. Please let me know what you think. There’s a pretty big gouge on the back down near the input jack (looks like it was dropped), but at $799 I can forgive that. IF, that is, it’s authentic.

Thanks for your input!

 

[badinfinities]

Not a Fender. I'm guessing it's Chinese. The serial number is bogus.

 

[RodeoTex]

I'm thinking no.
That body is so bad.

 

[papa32203]

That "binding" is not binding- not on the guitar, not in court...

 

[Trogdor69]

Not a Fender. I'm guessing it's Chinese. The serial number is bogus.

So what should I do? Selling counterfeits is illegal. Should I try to talk to their manager about it or what?

 

[papa32203]

So what should I do? Selling counterfeits is illegal. Should I try to talk to their manager about it or what?

What skin do you have in the game?

 

[widefault]

Tell the manager so someone else doesn't get ripped off.

 

[Killing Floor]

It looks super cool anyhow. 4 way switch is a good choice.

 

[Trogdor69]

What skin do you have in the game?

In a practical sense, none. I mean I don’t have any money invested. In a larger sense, I hate the idea that someone is openly breaking the law by selling counterfeit guitars. Some poor sap who doesn’t know his stuff is going to get taken to the tune of $800 because a pawn shop is acting unethically. I realize I’m not going to stop counterfeiting, but if I can help ly fellow, local player I’d like to.

 

[Dostradamas]

So what should I do? Selling counterfeits is illegal. Should I try to talk to their manager about it or what?

My experience with pawn shop owners says if you want to pawn stuff there in the future I would keep my mouth shut, if not I still would because


Never fight a battle you cannot win

 

[Trogdor69]

My experience with pawn shop owners says if you want to pawn stuff there in the future I would keep my mouth shut, if not I still would because


Never fight a battle you cannot win

I never pawn anything. Those numbers simply never work in your favor. I used to work for this chain…I know.

 

[teletail]

Either he knows and doesn’t care or doesn’t want to know. A stranger walks into the shop and tells him that the guitar is worth about 25% of what he’s asking for it. From his point of view, what are your credentials and why should he believe you?If he does believe you, he has to reprice the guitar and will likely lose money, so he has every incentive to not believe you. Do you think he’ll thank you and be grateful?

No way this ends well.

 

[Trogdor69]

Yeah, but I don’t care if they get pissed at me. It’s a chain - chances are they won’t care. But I’m also not above getting the cops involved.

Either he knows and doesn’t care or doesn’t want to know. A stranger walks into the shop and tells him that the guitar is worth about 25% of what he’s asking for it. From his point of view, what are your credentials and why should he believe you?If he does believe you, he has to reprice the guitar and will likely lose money, so he has every incentive to not believe you. Do you think he’ll thank you and be grateful?

No way this ends well.

 

[MelodicBend]

No Custom Shop logo ordered from Esty on the back of the headstock???????
I'm INSULTED! I demand a little more fakery on my fakes. This assembler didn't even try!

The serial number is a nice touch, but tuners are wrong for a 201x USA Fender and nothing matches any Tele model that I know of from this era.

Good on you to recognize it's not genuine. I'd definitely bring it to their attention at the very least. I'm sure the shop expects a loss every now and then on some items. If they are a 1 star operation willing to deliberately sell a counterfeit though, you can willfully teach them a lesson if you so choose to invest your time and effort. I'm not above taking on a petty revenge project. Very understandable and you have my support if you decide to do it.

 

[corliss1]

I like how everyone is like "the body is a disaster," which it is, but I didn't even need to get past the logo. That thick "Telecaster" font is always a dead giveaway.

And yes, that body needs to be burned or something.

 

[papa32203]

I like how everyone is like "the body is a disaster," which it is, but I didn't even need to get past the logo. That thick "Telecaster" font is always a dead giveaway.

And yes, that body needs to be burned or something.

Congrats. You win.

 

[corliss1]

I don't think anyone wins with this one.

 

[Randy07ACV6]

Just to add to the info pool, Fender made at least one model of Tele that had a 4-way switch from the factory, the Baja I think, but it was MIM?
Isn't there a current model also?

 

[Peegoo]

@Trogdor69

Sure, you could tell the shop owner, but they probably already know it's fake. Pawn shop proprietors do have skin in the game and they know this stuff.

The problem is there are plenty of counterfeit products in the market, and it's not going to change anytime soon. There are some fake Fenders that are so good, sometimes a guitar dealer gets fooled. And these fakes are sometimes created in the US. It's not exclusively a China thing.

The best thing to do is educate yourself so you don't get swindled. A lot of people do. There's a reason for the "buyer beware" thing.

 

[Blue Bill]

Phony baloney. In addition to what others pointed out, the pickguard and body contour don't match, the "telecaster" logo looks ersatz, the headstock shape and finish look off. What is that, white tape pretending to be binding? What's with the weird shape of the bridge? I don't think I've ever seen that. I wouldn't take it for $100.

I wouldn't get into a pissing match with the store, just say, out loud, that it's an obvious fake, and you pity the fool that buys it.