So today I ventured off pursuing an ad for an electric guitar for sale, an Epiphone Les Paul in fact. But the seller also pitched another guitar, for a third of the price of the other one. Trying them out I actually far preferred this little "Fender" to the beast that is the LP. It had great sound, nice action and everything looked pretty good on it. Now, I have never owned an electric guitar and of course didn't know very much about them. This Fender was offered and sold to me for $100 (With a case and guitar cable). It wasn't until I got home and realized that this guitar wasn't anywhere on Fender's site and then noticed the distinct lack of trademark symbols on the headstock that I realized it was a fake. I used the fake fender thread here to further prove to myself that it was. That being said, I think it sounds great. It feels nice and it's a nice looking guitar, so I have no problem toting around a fake Strat for what I paid.







What do you guys think? Was I had?

-Paul

Hmmm...

No serial number.
Interesting logo.
Wannabe 70's headstock...but not quite.

And, when will the counterfitters realize the two screws on the middle of the back cover need to be offset?

...not real...perhaps some real-ish parts...and probably a nice, inexpensive first guitar...but not real.

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1967 Epiphone Madrid EC-30
1975 Fender Stratocaster
1981 Rickenbacker 360
2002 BC Rich Bich
2007 Fender Standard Stratocaster
2012 Taylor GA3-12
2012 Squier Telecaster
2017 Les Paul Kit


"Make every song you sing your favorite tune."

Yeah I know it isn't real

Like I said, I went into it very unprepared to buy a "Fender". I don't regret it though, I think she's pretty. Plus, my friends will never know she's fake

That is a nice looking guitar. But, one thing i would do if i owned it would be to get rid of that awful logo job on the headstock....just my 2 cents..

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2009 american deluxe ash stratocaster

2009 epiphone es-335 dot.
2009 65 drri amp
2009 fender vibro champ-xD amp.
2009 takamine g-4400 acoustic/electric guitar

1980 fender harvard reverb 1 amp

Oh dear....

_________________

What a travesty.

There's good fake and bad fake.


Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

If you're happy with it, and you seem to be, that's what matters.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

You're right, it's a fake, but if you're happy with it I say, "what the Hell!"

I own two fake Fender's, I had built, myself and I love them. They are a mix of Fender and non-Fender parts. They look and play wondefully.

http://s1068.photobucket.com/albums/u45 ... C_0013.jpg

http://s1068.photobucket.com/albums/u45 ... T-bone.jpg

The Tele has one of Sentinel's water slide logos.

Good luck with the new guitar!

Congrats on supporting an illegal enterprise that counterfeits American products! Yeah, your friends will never know, unless you have a friend that has an actual Fender and knows his %$$ from a hole in the ground.
This is a first, in that most morons that don't know enough to do checking BEFORE buying a $100 'Fender" off craigslist usually cower in shame for being so easily taken, but you put it out there with pride. Enjoy your $100 piece of firewood.

I'd say you got a pretty good deal. It appears to be an older Squier style neck, Ash Body. Your doing fine. I can't see why people are jumping all over you for buying it.

The screw pattern on the back cover is definitely Squier.
Yeah, it does seem to have that Squier-ish rounded top headstock.
I have one of those on my Parts-o-caster,
but I wouldn't feel right trying to pass it off as a real Strat, so I never did put a decal on it.
But come to thnk of it, if it's all 100% Fender parts, is there anything wrong with putting a Fender logo on it?
(for a nother thread, just thinking out loud)

Nice-lookin' grain though, for sure!
For a hundred bucks...how does it sound?

for $100 it doesn't look to shabby. Even a genuine Fender for $100 would have pretty low expectations. It's definately fake. No serial number, no trademark symbols anywhere, no brand name of any type appearing on the back of the tuners or the neck plate. The location of the screws on the spring cavity cover are not in the right place. The headstock shape is not exactly correct either.

You clearly stated that you only suspected it was fake after you got home with it. I don't see the big deal people are making if you only realized after the fact. Yes, technically you got ripped off because this guitar was presented as a "Fender" when it isn't; but at the same time, a non-Fender copy that most would buy their kids as a starter guitar costs about the same. It's not like you paid custom shop prices for Walmart quality. Just make sure if you ever sell it to make potential buyers aware that it is a fake and ask no more than you paid for it. Don't let them walk away thinking they got a real Fender like the seller who duped you.

Well alright, you can jump on me, that's your right. But I bought it third hand without the intention of getting a Fender at all, I was more interested in the Epiphone. Supporting the illegal market? Eh, something tells me this guitar is worth more than I paid. Before buying it I didn't even know what a Fender was, didn't really care what the brand was. The fact was it looked good, played well and had a nice sound. For 100 bucks I couldn't go wrong. And the friends never knowing was a joke, clearly I am not trying to pass this off as the real deal. Enjoy your anger management problems.

As for what others have said, I also am not a huge fan of the Fender logo job on it. And it does make me feel a little uneasy walking around with false advertising on it. Clearly Fender-minded people could spot the fakeness quite easily. I have no intentions of selling it, let alone trying to rip anyone off. I don't actually know if the person who sold it to me was trying to pass it off as real or not, he never actually called it a Fender (and it wasn't the ad I was responding to)

dfrain - I think it sounds pretty great actually. Has a better sound for me than the Les Paul I tried out. But really, 100 bucks is chump change. Maybe my next one will be a real one?

Paul

One question though, to anyone reading. You guys have mentioned that this guitar may have Squier parts, I'm wondering if there's any way I can open her up and figure out just what she might be made out of? I find it difficult to believe such a nice looking and sounding guitar would be made out of junk.

You might pull the pickguard off and take a look at the pickup and control-cavity routs for any tell-tale bar code stickers that may indicate the guitar's pedigree. I'm betting it's a Squier and as such, certainly isn't a "counterfeit" Fender (but neither is it a "true" Fender either). For a hundred bucks, I don't think you went wrong. If the instrument plays well and sounds well, enjoy it and learn from this experience. When it's time to step beyond an entry-level Strat, you'll be so much the wiser.

JMOOC, HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY