authenticating jacksons and charvels?

[moku]

given that there are many companies that make charvel and jackson bodies (with same cavity shapes, etc.), the same goes for necks, is there a real way to authenticate them? what do i look for?
thanks in advance!

[Newc]

That information really shouldn't be publicized, IMO, as it gives the fakers something to go by to make their junk harder to spot.

[moku]

i see your point. but i'm assuming that most of the shops that make copies have real jackson and charvel bodies in their posession to measure the specs and to copy, no?

as far as i can tell, many of these shops use alder, poplar, etc, even mahogany (of course there are diff grades of these wood). so to be the devil's advocate, what makes them "junk"? i mean, any decent shop would be proud to inscribe their shop name on the neck pocket.... but once painted and assembled, who can tell the difference (w/o removing the neck)?

i'm not affiliate with any of these shops, in case anyone is wondering. i play and collect kramers but have about 6 jacksons and charvels and a few robins. i was just curious if there are ways to avoid being cheated.

[RacerX]

Post the pics of your Jacksons & Charvels and we'll comment on them

[moku]

picture from a few years back... i've since accrued several more charvels (esp. the fusion series)

but those dk2m-s. i mean, these are always popping up on ebay. not necessarily for cheap (just the regular street price), but i was browsing the web and saw the exact body shape and all on a website selling for under a $100. and it's white, too. someone can just buy a body, then put on a jackson neck. how can i tell if those ebay ones are real and not a knock off, especially if it's assembled already?

[moku]

recent charvels i got:

current project, model 4:


my question does not apply to the vintage ones as they're easier to tell. but ones like dk2m, dkmg, and newer charvels, etc.

[straycat]

Who would fake a newer one?

[Sunbane]

Most of the fakes would be made by people who try to get a few bucks extra on eBay. They often don't have an original to compare it with, so their fakes are pretty easy to spot. Building copies of production line Jacksons from scratch in a shop would just not be cost effective.

[moku]

thanks for replying guys. guess it's a moot question.

[VitaminG]

there's good money to be made taking $500 worth of parts & selling it as a $300 secondhand Jackson

[Newc]

Actually these Chinese shops that crank out the Gibson fakes might take the work. Send them a real DK2M and they send back 100 fakes made of lesser wood, painted and assembled and logoed. You sell a $150 fake for $600 on Ebay and put $450 in your pocket.

Sounds like a plan to me

Of course just like no one told them to stamp the Made In USA and serial # BEFORE it's painted/finished, you'd have to specify things like that.


But barring that, most every company uses a different control cavity route, so if it was an ESPee body with a Jackson neck, you'd be able to tell.

However, the real question becomes how do you know if someone hasn't put a higher-level Jackson neck on a lower-level Jackson body? Say you take an older DK2 neck (rosewood) and put it on one of those hot pink DX10 bodies - unless you knew that finish was only available on the DX10, you'd think it was a limited run Pro series.

But then again, Jackson imports are usually better than most other imports, so even the low-end stuff would be worth having. But if you're buying, you expect to get what you believe you're buying, which in this case would be a limited run DK2, not a mutt.

[moku]

some years ago, i bought a dk2m on ebay for three something. still have it (the one on the right in pic above). it's in pretty good shape and played just fine after a good set up. but i wonderd whether it's a real one; why it sold for that amount. :think:
moved onto other guitars so i haven't played it in a year....

[DonP]

I'd just say you got a good deal. Sometimes stores will blow them out at reduced prices (like $299 for a red one a while back). The sellers on ebay have to lower their prices to compete with these blow-outs.

[Dannyjoe Carter]

given that there are many companies that make charvel and jackson bodies (with same cavity shapes, etc.), the same goes for necks, is there a real way to authenticate them? what do i look for?
thanks in advance!

IMHO, for someone new to Jacksons I would say, money permitting, that if you stick with a neck-through Jackson you'd almost gaurantee it to not be a fake. In my 32 years of playing I have never seen a neck-through copy but so many companies are even offering "charvel specs" like Musikraft for example and they are very close to the originals to the untrained eye.

[VitaminG]

IMHO, for someone new to Jacksons I would say, money permitting, that if you stick with a neck-through Jackson you'd almost gaurantee it to not be a fake. In my 32 years of playing I have never seen a neck-through copy but so many companies are even offering "charvel specs" like Musikraft for example and they are very close to the originals to the untrained eye.

We've seen a few through the E-fraid section over the years. There were a lot of companies making Jacksonalikes back in the 80s and many that ripped off Jackson's pointy headstock. You'll occasionally find neckthrough imports that are "close enough" that if rebadged could fool the less informed. Anyone who knows Jacksons could tell by the finer details but the uninitiated could be convinced by a relogoed Hondo or Vester that they're looking at something special. Because we all know that if it's not currently on the Jackson website, it must be Custom Shop, right?

and given that it is neckthrough and the confidence a buyer would have that no one could have just slapped a Jackson neck on an unknown body, I would think the risk is greater that someone who doesn't know any better might overspend on it. So that great deal on the Soloist with "Made in USA" after the logo that they've just picked up for $700 doesn't look so fine when they find out that it's actually a Hondo made in Korea.

For an example of what I'm talking about, check out the great restoration Henrik did on his Fernandes Rhoads

http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/RhoadsMod00.htm

Unfortunately the page on his site is being rebuilt so you can't see the whole process, but from the initial pics, you can see how this neckthrough Fernandes rebadged could easily be mistaken for a Jackson.