Counterfeit Alert - eBay

They're common, but not always obvious. The counterfeiters have pretty much perfected the packaging, so it's much more difficult to discern the fakes if they are photographed in boxes, which is how many are being sold now.

In this case, the seller has unboxed pickups, so it is much easier to tell that they are fake. It would be great if others could help me get the listings pulled. Also, if a listing is pulled for being fradulent, there's a chance eBay will let the recent buyers know or cancel those transactions (at least they used to)

Here are some fake versions in reproduction boxes...you can see why they are so hard to tell from the real thing based on pics alone!

f0BTets.jpg
 
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Is there a way you can tell visually? I just purchased my first SD pickups. All came in boxes with mounting hardware and instructions and all have stickers on the back of the pickups.

Ron
 
Ron Garrison said:
Is there a way you can tell visually? I just purchased my first SD pickups. All came in boxes with mounting hardware and instructions and all have stickers on the back of the pickups.

Ron
Click to expand...

Easiest way is to post a couple pics of the pickups top and bottom

The biggest tells right now are the baseplate mounting legs, slug poles, and sometimes the top logo or label underneath. That said, it's not always easy. Measuring the DC Resistance is another way to catch some fakes
 
Ron Garrison said:
Is there a way you can tell visually? I just purchased my first SD pickups. All came in boxes with mounting hardware and instructions and all have stickers on the back of the pickups.

Ron
Click to expand...

Easiest way?

Sorry Duncan... the easiest way to get guaranteed authentic pickups online is to buy old used DiMarzios models that have no known counterfeit thereof in existence (DMZs have stamped model numbers on baseplates)

PS ones that DO have known knockoffs (not sure about baseplates, but distinct top look is copied pretty well): the Crunchlab/Liquifier set
 
WHOA!!!!
Seeing this post now...
These are the SD Pickups I just bought used on eBay.
Is any of them fake?
Logo look different on one and another...

Requesting info ASAP!
 

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Look legit to me. Little blurry though. The difference in logo is the thick logo is from when Cathy took over the company. On the website, Duncan was made thicker/bold and on the pickups both words Seymour and Duncan were made bold. She wanted to emphasize Duncan over Seymour.
 
A thread with red v Fake comparison photos, that was stacked, would be really helpful...
 
Mincer said:
find an authorized dealer and pay the money it costs for a legit pickup.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To me, it's worth the extra $10 or $20 to make sure it's real, it works correctly, and I can exchange it if I don't like it. Oh, and Sweetwater includes candy and the best gear catalog around. (That alone is worth it :D)
 
Aceman said:
A thread with red v Fake comparison photos, that was stacked, would be really helpful...
Click to expand...

I've created several threads over the past couple years with plenty of examples and information, but they tend to get buried quickly.

A few things to look out for:
  • Sellers based in Asia, though not always (as evidenced by this thread)
  • Overly rounded corners on the mounting tabs of standard-spaced (i.e. "SH") models
  • Incorrect mounting tab length on Trembucker-spaced pickups
  • Oversized mounting screw holes (i.e. the threaded portion, not those drilled out for direct mount)
  • Unusual size/shape of the bottom label or label font
  • Slug poles with a perfectly smooth finish on top. Conversely, slugs with an overly exaggerated "bullseye" appearance
  • Screw poles that taper on the bottom or lack the self-tapping cut-out toward the tip (exception: Custom Shop pickups)
  • Bobbins with any sort of texture or odd coloring (ex: unusual cream color)
To date, it appears realistic counterfeits exist for many of the mainstream SD pickups...JB, Jazz, '59 set, Alnico II, Pearly Gates, etc.

Unfortunately, it's often easier for me to look at something and tell you if it's fake than to try and describe all the "tells", but I suppose I could put a master list together if I knew it wouldn't get lost
 
Masta' C said:
I've created several threads over the past couple years with plenty of examples and information, but they tend to get buried quickly.

A few things to look out for:
  • Sellers based in Asia, though not always (as evidenced by this thread)
  • Overly rounded corners on the mounting tabs of standard-spaced (i.e. "SH") models
  • Incorrect mounting tab length on Trembucker-spaced pickups
  • Oversized mounting screw holes (i.e. the threaded portion, not those drilled out for direct mount)
  • Unusual size/shape of the bottom label or label font
  • Slug poles with a perfectly smooth finish on top. Conversely, slugs with an overly exaggerated "bullseye" appearance
  • Screw poles that taper on the bottom or lack the self-tapping cut-out toward the tip (exception: Custom Shop pickups)
  • Bobbins with any sort of texture or odd coloring (ex: unusual cream color)
To date, it appears realistic counterfeits exist for many of the mainstream SD pickups...JB, Jazz, '59 set, Alnico II, Pearly Gates, etc.

Unfortunately, it's often easier for me to look at something and tell you if it's fake than to try and describe all the "tells", but I suppose I could put a master list together if I knew it wouldn't get lost
Click to expand...

Thanks! It's definitely better to buy from a reputable vendor/dealer, but sometimes we do have to save money in certain things to pay for others. I'm a solo recording artist (actually drowning in debt), but still would like to keep putting music out. Pickups will definitely take me to where I need to be tonewise.
 
Masta' C said:
I've created several threads over the past couple years with plenty of examples and information, but they tend to get buried quickly.

A few things to look out for:
  • Sellers based in Asia, though not always (as evidenced by this thread)
  • Overly rounded corners on the mounting tabs of standard-spaced (i.e. "SH") models
  • Incorrect mounting tab length on Trembucker-spaced pickups
  • Oversized mounting screw holes (i.e. the threaded portion, not those drilled out for direct mount)
  • Unusual size/shape of the bottom label or label font
  • Slug poles with a perfectly smooth finish on top. Conversely, slugs with an overly exaggerated "bullseye" appearance
  • Screw poles that taper on the bottom or lack the self-tapping cut-out toward the tip (exception: Custom Shop pickups)
  • Bobbins with any sort of texture or odd coloring (ex: unusual cream color)
To date, it appears realistic counterfeits exist for many of the mainstream SD pickups...JB, Jazz, '59 set, Alnico II, Pearly Gates, etc.

Unfortunately, it's often easier for me to look at something and tell you if it's fake than to try and describe all the "tells", but I suppose I could put a master list together if I knew it wouldn't get lost
Click to expand...

Again - the description is "nice". But to understand "overly rounded" shoulders I need to see them next to NOT overly rounded real ones.
 
i've often found that the "seymour duncan" print on the bobbins is always a bit off in exactly the same way on the counterfeits. The "ou" in Seymour is a little wonky and the font is just a bit off. If you only saw it once you'd probably not notice, but since it's wrong in the same way on every fake it really jumps out at me immediately.
 
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