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The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

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  • #76
    Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

    [QUOTE=hwkremer;4397636]
    Originally posted by Masta' C View Post
    The newest generation of fake SD's are showing up in the wild. Here's a recent post: LINK

    I ordered a couple vintage stack plus on eBay today for Squid Music, 100% positive with something like 60,000 feedback. I didn’t check if they were authorized. What’s the likelihood of counterfeits unwittingly getting into the stock of any of these large eBay dealers?
    In my opinion I wouldn't worry about it in this point in time, those sellers would take care of business and stamp it out pretty quick because they work really hard to maintain their 100% feedback.

    Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

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    • #77
      Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

      You guys are doing some weird stuff with your quotes...makes the question look like it was from me, when it wasn't

      Squid Music is a proper Seymour Duncan dealer. I used to visit them regularly when I lived in California. That said, there's no sense asking here about what dealers are legit or not. If they sell a large variety of SD products and are moving lots of product with near-perfect feedback, you're probably "ok". Plus, you can still check a dealer's status even after you've made a purchase. You can also reach out to the dealer and/or SD directly if you want to make sure.

      These fakes are going to come primarily from smaller sellers on eBay/Reverb, from Asian sites selling SD parts at a discount, and from the secondhand market, as we've seen in my last post. I would also be wary of marketplace platforms where nameless sellers collect like Amazon, etc.

      At the moment, only the JB, '59, Jazz, Full Shred, and Blackouts models seem to be at the mercy of fairly realistic looking counterfeits. There was a suspicious Slash model that popped up a while back, but I don't know where that went.
      Last edited by Masta' C; 02-20-2020, 08:55 PM.

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      • #78
        Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

        I agree. Do some research to know who you are buying from. It gets harder with used pickups. But as we are seeing, used, fake pickups aren't even much cheaper. So again, we all just have to learn as much as we can before making a purchase.
        Administrator of the SDUGF

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        • #79
          Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

          Since there doesn't appear to be any way of distinguishing the fake ones from the real ones, it's probably prudent to just stop buying any SD products known to have these clones. Specifically the JB, '59, Jazz, Full Shred, and Blackouts should be off your buying radar for the moment. You might be OK buying new from a reputable dealer - but given the very close replication of all visible indicators I'd say it's becoming a risk and likely to be unsafe to do so soon.
          Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

          Originally posted by Douglas Adams
          This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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          • #80
            Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

            I have several graphic novels I've published and they're ALL counterfeited in the Far East. You can walk into markets there and buy nearly ANYTHING you can think of as a counterfeit. From Star Wars DVDs to Madden Football games to iRobot floor cleaners to music equipment etc. It's like the wild west, where there is ZERO enforcement of anyone's IP protections (patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc.) and the culture is essentially "if you can recreate it, you can make money on it".

            There's virtually no way for Seymour Duncan, EMG, Dimarzio or even a larger company like Fender to do anything about it. If Disney can't stop it, no one in the music instrument industry has a chance.

            Like pople said upstream, it's just a buyer beware scenario and that's the best we can do.

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            • #81
              Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

              Originally posted by Masta' C View Post
              The newest generation of fake SD's are showing up in the wild. Here's a recent post: LINK

              And here are pics of the pickups. I bet 99% of the readers of this thread wouldn't even know to question them. Yes, even the bottoms are engraved with realistic SD logos!




              As a player and hobbiest, I’d have no idea with these.

              Actually, wait... I zoomed in, it all looks kind of funky. Screws, studs and printing all seem off, right
              Oh no.....


              Oh Yeah!

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              • #82
                Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

                Yeah, if you look closely, the finish and edge contour of the bobbins are off, the screw poles are slightly different, the slug poles are very different, the logos aren't quite right, and the neck pickup has heavily rounded corners on its mounting tabs, but they'd be passable for most players, even most Duncan fans. The mounting leg length is another discrepancy, but you can't tell easily from the pictures. Install them in a guitar and they become even harder to tell real from fake!

                The fact that they have the engraving on the baseplate down so well is what bothers me the most! Well, that, and the fact that they are copying the legitimate retail packaging!

                For those that didn't see the photos posted by the buyer in the other thread, here are the bottoms of the pickups shown above:

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                • #83
                  Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

                  Originally posted by GuitarStv View Post
                  Since there doesn't appear to be any way of distinguishing the fake ones from the real ones, it's probably prudent to just stop buying any SD products known to have these clones. Specifically the JB, '59, Jazz, Full Shred, and Blackouts should be off your buying radar for the moment. You might be OK buying new from a reputable dealer - but given the very close replication of all visible indicators I'd say it's becoming a risk and likely to be unsafe to do so soon.
                  This is ridiculous. Just buy from an authorized dealer, and you'll be fine.
                  Administrator of the SDUGF

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                  • #84
                    Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

                    Exactly. Just be aware that these are out there, albeit in small numbers for now, and remember that authorized dealers are at virtually no risk of carrying these products

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                    • #85
                      Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

                      Originally posted by Mincer View Post
                      This is ridiculous. Just buy from an authorized dealer, and you'll be fine.
                      If you give up buying any product that's getting counterfeited, you're going to be:
                      1. Walking to gigs
                      2. Playing a unique, homemade guitar
                      3. Not ever playing in a bar or place that serves beer
                      4. Calling all your friends on a 1950's Bell landline phone


                      Personally, I'll just stick with Dave's advice...

                      Larry

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                      • #86
                        Re: The Counterfeiters are Getting Better!

                        Thanks for helping to keep the fleas off of ebay!
                        “The hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is.” - Edward Van Halen

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