Ebay is something that I have stayed away from for years. Ed Roman is definitely not a fan of Ebay !!!!!!!!

But I finally had to give in and advertise on Ebay due to all the free advertising that all my competitors are getting.

Even though I am using eBay to advertise, I will never personally recommend that you buy on it.

I have hired a very knowledgeable guy, Mick Bowman to handle Ebay transactions. I personally want nothing to do with the day to day dealings on Ebay.  If you see an Item on Ebay I probably have many more like it in stock... Please call for info !!

I have never placed an auction on it prior to January 20th of 2004 except for a couple of Heritages back when Ebay first reared it's ugly head.

I felt that because I have seen so many people screw themselves that it would eventually just go away

Well I was wrong.  Not about people screwing themselves, it's just definitely not going away.

 Ed Roman

Ed Roman will be selling off all the traded in 22 fret PRS guitars on Ebay!  Seeing as how much I hate Ebay and how much I hate 22 fret PRS guitars that's a perfect way to get rid of them. My salespeople have all been instructed to show our normal customers all the benefits of the 24 fret model.

October 19, 2001:  I predict this page is going to really going to cause some serious tongue wagging,  This page is going to be a place where people can tell about their nightmares. Currently the only requirements are that you obviously have to be a real person who is willing to print his name & town where you live. You must include the name of the person who sold you the guitar and the town and full address where they are located.

Person who is the seller can have his friend bid up the item or bid it up himself by using a hotmail address. Item is simply not worth what you end up paying for it. By far the most common scam.  I talked to a pawn shop owner in Iowa, He actually told me, he had a network of 5 or 6 people, that all work together and bid up each others items on a regular basis.
Tip:
You even have to watch out for the guys who have lots and lots of good feedback. Because by the very fact that they have tremendous amounts of sales happening, that means they are professionals.
Advice:
Never try to beat a professional at his own game.

Person who is the seller,  is really a music store owner and is using Ebay to get rid of his unsaleable crappy guitars. He pretends he is just another guitar player that needs the money.

The reason for this is because the music stores used to have guitar shows to go to and get rid of their junk. Ebay has destroyed the guitar shows.  I used to go to guitar shows to buy used guitars, nowadays there is almost nothing I can buy.  If I go to a guitar show in California, I need to buy at least 40 or 50 pieces to make the trip worth going on.  At the last Texas show I did, I couldn't find much of anything to buy.

Person who is the buyer has a friend or a band member that works for UPS or Fedex or the Post Office, You are the seller, He is top bidder and he sends a check to you to pay for the guitar. His friend at the UPS terminal or post office is alerted to the fact that it's coming through the system. His friend simply puts another address label over your label, so that it will be delivered to a third party location of his choosing and never be delivered to the address that you shipped it to. The buyer calls you one evening and asks you when you shipped the guitar out. Of course you tell him you shipped it,  he asks for a tracer number and the next day calls you informing you that it appears that UPS lost the package.  If you shipped it through a Mail Box Etc. or similar rip-off joint they will run for cover. They are notorious for not wanting to get involved when something is lost or damaged. If you were a little smarter and shipped it directly through a UPS terminal,  then you may stand a good chance of getting compensated, if you paid to have it insured. However UPS is a self insurer and they will bury you in red tape and make you produce proof that the item was actually in the box that you shipped. They will want all kinds of things like serial numbers, 2 estimates of value and your right kidney. As I said UPS is a self insurer,  they have a whole little game they play when there is a loss or damage claim (Don't get me started on that) in fact that would be a great rant in itself.  I took UPS  to court several times and won each time.

Currently I use an outside insurance company to insure my packages. It costs a little more and there is a whole different set of paperwork that has to be filled out for every package shipped, but believe me it is well worth it. They pay immediately and have given me no problems. Luckily I don't have too many claims, but that is because the person who is in charge of the shipping department is my wife who also takes care of all the other problems that arise day to day (I would be lost if she wasn't here to straighten out all the other day to day Bullshit.) She makes certain that every package is shipped and boxed perfectly.  She has over 28 years of experience in shipping and receiving and she is very careful.  

Person who is the seller is completely fraudulent and never even owned the guitar.  He simply could have taken his digital camera into any music store and photographed it a couple of times. You send your money to this heinous bastard and he picks it up at a mail drop (there are thousands of them usually 2 or 3 to even a little town). You simply never receive what you paid for.  These deals usually can't be repeated too often in any one area, so usually it will be for at least a couple of thousand dollars.  These Guys are also very smooth and reassuring on the phone.  The word con man simply means confidence man. These very smooth operators, they know how to instill confidence in their mark and they know what to say on the phone.

This is a variation of Scam # 3 but instead of having the guitar shipped to a third party location the buyers actual friend is the route driver who delivers to his house.  When the driver arrives they simply open the box, open the case, remove the guitar and then do one of two different things.

1.  Buyer calls seller and wonders why he only shipped him an empty case.       Ouch !!!
2.  Buyer simply re packs the box and re tapes it up so that it looks untouched.  He of course forgets to put the guitar back in the box.  Then all he has to do,  is call you for a refund, stop payment on his check, or contest his credit card purchase.

This is yet another variation of Scam # 3 & #5
This one is particularly scummy. The Con Artist doesn't even have to know the UPS Driver.
This time the buyer accepts the package,  waits till the UPS driver leaves, quickly opens the box and removes guitar, tosses it in a nearby closet and runs outside to catch the driver. The driver naturally will walk back in the house, where this scam artist will then pretend to be all pissed off because the case had no guitar in it.  Remember he now has actually established a witness.
He then simply calls his credit card company and gets the charges removed.  DOH !!
If it was a prepay deal,  he will scream bloody murder and threaten to sue if you don't send him his money back. He then goes on Ebay and gives you bad comments if you don't send the money.  Of course if you are a store owner,  you have to take care of him and give him his money back.  I know I would.

This one happens a real lot. I have personal knowledge of at least 2 different people in my area alone who do this. I would mention their names but I would open myself up to a suit.  As the moderator of this site I am limited to printing your complaints. I cannot print any of my own. So please if you know someone who does this please call me and I will expose him.

OK Here it is......
Seller has a nice looking instrument that has a very serious defect in it. This happens a lot to stores and pawnshops, because many people trade in their problem guitars. Pawnshops usually don't know Jack Shit about Guitars, but they still have to sell them.  But Ebay has that pesky little thing going on where,  if you are an unsatisfied customer,  you can send negative feedback. Well, here's how the real serious professional scum sucking Con Artists get around the negative feedback issue.

TRUE STORY
Example seller has an expensive PRS Guitar or Fender Stratocaster, Custom Shop Guitar. The truss rod breaks and it is deemed un fixable. He sends it back to Fender to fix and Fender says sorry it is out of warranty and we cannot fix it.  Seller strips out the pickups, swaps the tuning pegs out for cheapies, takes out the tremolo and replaces it with a cheap copy made by Samick. Basically he strips out any useful parts on the guitar and replaces them with shit.
He then takes some good clear pictures of the guitar, the guitar is placed in between 2 or 3 other very expensive guitars for full psychological selling effect. He takes close up pictures of the Custom shop logo and the guitar is then put on Ebay.
Here's where it gets really dirty.  He then writes a long narrative glowing commentary talking about just how incredibly good the guitar is. He even said it had a Buzz Feiten System Installed when I know for a fact it wasn't.  He talks about beautifully smooth fingerboard and incredible action. He rails on and on about how good the guitar sounds, feels, plays, and looks. He says he loves this guitar,  it's a dear friend and how he hates to sell it but he needs the money because his sister got screwed by a mule and is pregnant so she needs the money for an abortion.  You get the general drift here.

Naturally lots of people are going to bid on this. He sets a modest reserve of $1,500.00 when the guitar's true value is less than $100.00 dollars. The high bidder bids 1675 and wins the auction  ( I love how they say "wins the auction",  more psychological crap from Ebay to get the buyers spending.)

In any case here's the next move the seller makes in his carefully planned little scam.

He receives the money from the buyer. He then calls the buyer and gives him some Bullshit reason that he doesn't want to sell it. He tells him something like "I just couldn't part with it" or "My Brother gave it to me and I have to keep it for sentimental reasons" He may even tell the guy the truth and actually tell him that the truss rod is broken. Then he tells the buyer that he has another one that's even better or just as nice but, he will give him a real good deal on it. Remember, at this point the seller already has the buyers money, so here he is offering him his money back. At this point the buyer trusts the seller totally. He had already decided to trust him when he sent the money in the first place. Now he trusts him implicitly,  The seller is a true Confidence Man.  He has gained himself a lifetime sucker -  I mean customer.  Furthermore the poor fool will go back on Ebay and give the guy positive feedback so he can lure more flies into his little web.

Oh By the way if you are interested in knowing what happened to the original guitar that was listed......
The seller just called several of the runner up bidders and pulled the same trick.
He says the first deal fell through, but If you still  want to buy the guitar I will give it you for the amount you bid

Eventually he will talk to someone who may not be too savvy. The guy might be located in Alaska or somewhere far away. The seller may deem not worth much as a long time customer. To this guy he will actually ship the piece of crap guitar.

When the guy gets the guitar he will simply be totally screwed.  He won't have anyone or anything to complain to. He won't be able to post negative feedback because it wasn't an Ebay purchase.  After all, he didn't win the auction so he has no vehicle to post negative feedback to.

OK I know this is getting long,  but this scam has hundreds of variations.

Lets say our seller buddy scammed someone's credit card number,  maybe even someone he didn't like.  Ok, he now applies for an Ebay account using the stolen credit card number.  He then runs the same kind of an ad on Ebay using a PRS or a 59 Gibson Les Paul. This time he doesn't even have the guitar he just goes out on the net and selects some beautiful photos from someone's web site. Maybe he even selects the photo from some web site he doesn't like.  Remember all he wants to do here is get lots and lots of bidders so he sets a low reserve.  He gets 150 bidders.  The winner sends his money, the runner up gets a call telling him the first deal fell through so he wins by default so he sends money.  He just keeps going down and down the list,  Lets just say he does it with three different guitars in 3 different price ranges, he could effectively get 600 bidders to call.

Some of those PRS Guitars can sell for $3,000.00 and Gibson 59's can go for even more.  He may only need to make about 30,  short phone calls
to bag $100,000.00

He has definitely got to shut down within 3 weeks, but he could easily disappear with $150.000.00.

Lets say he lives near a state line for example he lives in Indiana but he sets himself up in Chicago with a bogus cell phone and mail drop. He could get a patsy say, for example, some crack addict named Julie Baker to cash all the checks.  He would represent himself as Jay Baker and he would request that you make your check payable to J. Baker.  He could effectively cash all the checks and disappear without a trace back to Indiana.  The Chicago Police might look in Chicago but they wouldn't necessarily even look in Indiana.  By the time they bothered to look in Indiana, he would be  long gone.

Now suspicion would be cast on the poor sap who's credit card got ripped off who probably didn't even get charged yet for the Ebay account that our buddy set up.  Added bonus,  because he didn't like the guy anyway, remember?  Suspicion might be cast in the direction of the web site where the pictures came from, another added bonus because he didn't like them either.

This one is used conjunctively with other scams. The con man goes into any store and takes some pictures. He takes a picture of the front of the building and posts it on his advertisement. This is done simply to instill confidence in the Mark that the seller is a real business.  The poor Mark does a better business report check on him and gets a glowing report. So he sends his money without worrying.

This is a way, the con man can get credit card numbers, to open up multiple accounts with Ebay.  Each account he opens up is simply using another name he scammed.

Sometimes, while the con man is photographing the guitar he might get a salesman to actually hold the guitar for him. A picture with a face in it psychologically makes the mark much more comfortable.  The con man Emails the photo to the mark after his initial inquiry.  Remember what I said earlier con man is short for confidence man. The true pro gets your confidence and then strings you along until he is ready to drop the con on you.

Hi Ed,

Here is another potential way to scam a seller on Ebay.  I figured out this trick after it happened to me legitimately on Ebay, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how this can be used to scam.  Here was my situation:

I see an ad for a Vintage Fender Jaguar neck for sale. I need the neck for a Jaguar I have here with a broken truss rod. Opening bid is $35 with no reserve, and some has already bid on it. I bid $175, and out bid the guy at $75. Near the auctions end  he starts bidding, in $5 increments until he outbids me. I abandoned the idea of winning this neck at the current price. I in-fact decided I had bid more than I should have, and was happy I didn't have to buy it. The next day I get an email saying "Change of bid notice", along with a winners confirmation email. I open the Change of bid notice, and its says the high bidder RETRACTED his bids, and an explanation was given in the bid history page. I go back to the site to see what's up, and I am the winning high bidder on the neck for $35! I open the bid history and this clown retracted ALL his bids with the excuse "Will not fit my Stratocaster scale guitar" . To top it all off, he retracted his bids minutes before the auctions end, so nobody even bothered to look at the auction because it takes Ebay about an hour to update the price changes on the main page! The seller was not happy I won his neck for $35, and I was sure I would be fingered as a crook, but he did no such thing.

The moral of the story is, say you have two Ebay user names, lets make them Crooked and the other SRVfan4ever. There is a guitar on Ebay for sale, its a CS Fender, and there is a reserve. SRVfan4ever wants this badly, he knows used blue book places it around 2 G's. He bids $3000.00 under the name Crooked. Reserve is met at say $1400. The screen now displays the amount $1,400.00, reserve is met. He comes back in with the name SRVfan4ever, and bids a few times, reaching it up to $2,950.00 Nobody will outbid him as its already almost $1,000.00 over market value. Near the auctions end (maybe within seconds!), he logs in as Crooked, and goes to the Ebay bid retraction page. The page says to list a reason why you are retracting your bid, you type in "Wife killed in car crash" or "Lost job, company going bankrupt" ... whatever. Then it retracts ALL of Crooked's bids, and only leaves SRVfan4ever's bids, which at this point will be the reserve amount. The seller can contest this, but if the guy was smart enough to do all his Crooked bidding at a library, or at a buddies house, Ebay will not be able to link the two users together.

How easy is it to get a bogus user name? Its as easy as going to the white pages directory on the net, typing a name you like, then picking one with the address you like. Copy the address info down, as well as name, then go online at a library or school. Open an email account at one of the many small email services out there (Ebay doesn't accept Hotmail accounts without submitting a credit card number), and open an email account in the persons name you are "borrowing". Create a bogus user name and password, and presto!  You have a name to mess with. Maybe you can even buy a few guitars picks at first to gain some positive feedback's so you look better.

I hope you understand what I just typed. If not, let me try and clarify it, or I will call. I hate trying to explain things this way. I am a verbal person.

Jim Shine
Oxford, Maine

One Store pretends to be another store,  sells the unit and the blame gets put on the other store.

This happens relatively often. You might get tipped off when the seller asks you to make out the check to someone other than the store name.

"The naive vendor"

This happens with older guitars. A guitar trader in possession of a dreadfully damaged guitar poses as an antique dealer who "knows nothing about instruments". The guitar has "just been found in an estate clearance" and may even have been given a layer of dust and grime to make it look that way.  E-mail inquiries about condition are answered in a friendly but apparently ignorant way. The idiot buyer (i.e. me) bids on the thing thinking it might be duff, but it might just be dirty. Inevitably the item sells for an average fair price but turns out to be hopelessly damaged junk and of course it's "all sales are final".

Mike

If you spend any time on my site you will note that I make copies of any guitar you want.  These are definitely not forgeries, I don't try to pass them off as the real thing.  There are many unscrupulous scum balls who do copies, and then try to pass them as the real McCoy.  Ebay of course is a haven for all those maggots.

One Maggot in particular is currently making Charvel copies. He purchases an original San Dimas Charvel. He then  proceeds to make 4 or 5 exact copies of the actual guitar he has purchased. He actually copies the serial number, color and model.  For some reason Charvel buyers feel they are safe if they get the serial number and call the factory to see if such a guitar exists. If the color etc. agrees with the number, the buyer feels safe.  NOT !!

Of course Philippine made Fender copies are exact duplicates and I can't even tell the difference.  (Buyer Beware)

Scam #13
Everyone gets Screwed

Ebay is advertising in magazines, so magazine editors won't be allowed to do much exposing of Ebay.  Editorial departments will be told to look the other way.

Lawrence got a raw deal when he purchased through Ebay a 1969 Les Paul Guitar.

Lawrence thought he had won an auction.  He bought a 1969 Les Paul Guitar for slightly above $500.00

The guitar needed a paint job and otherwise was supposed to be in excellent condition according to the A to Z Pawn Shop in Chicago.  A to Z  were the people who sold the guitar to him.

I will list the problems that the guitar had.....

1. It was sold to Lawrence and represented to be a one piece body,    It turned out to be a six piece body.

2. Some Moron had installed a Kahler Tremolo unit, It appeared that whoever did it, used a chisel to hog out the wood. When he did this he split the top of the guitar on one of the seams and now the guitar requires a whole new maple cap to be installed.   Remember this guitar was sold as a one piece guitar.

3. The binding was cracked & broken on the neck head stock and body.

4. The Frets were incredibly worn, this guitar will require a fret job.

5.  The back of the guitar had an imprint of a carved heart & and several initials.

6.  The back of the head stock had numerous holes in it from someone repeatedly changing the tuning pegs.

7.  The front of the head stock was damaged so that it would require more than a normal amount of work to repair.

8.  The Les Paul Logo was non-existent.

9.   The Gibson Logo was raised up above the level area on the head stock.

10. The inlays on the neck were raised and will require resetting, 2 of them were cracked.

11. The fingerboard itself was cracked and damaged in numerous places.

12. The shielding cups were missing & all the original  pots & switches had been changed.

Hey,
I totally love your website, and agree w/ about 95% of the things you say.  Anyway about my Ebay scam:

About 5 months ago I attempted to purchase a custom a 1988  PRS guitar supposedly signed by Carlos Santana in near mint condition.  I was outbid,
but received an email that since the winner had no positive feedback, he would sell it to me for what I bid because I  had excellent feedback.

The final price was, I believe, $3,800.00 with shipping.  Well I  paid 5 installments, and after the fourth, I never received any confirmation

after the 4th installment was sent.  I was unable to reach him, because he canceled his registration.  His Ebay name was nirgin ESP

Please email me if you need anymore info, also is it true that I get a password, I would sure like one.

Anyhow feel free to use my story on your page, hopefully it will result in the ultimate death of Ebay.

I absolutely hate it now. Its a safe haven for Scumbags & Maggots

Sincerely,
Joe Mata

Hey Ed,
I just read your Ebay page! All the insights were great.....I have spent a couple of months with a MBE etc/UPS/....."fraudulant credit card"
sale that I was even dumber than most and used the Liverlipped Spermgargling Bastards at Billpoint , who authorized the card
/sale and then 2 MONTHS later did a charge back on my account !  After weeks of UPS red tape and all the other bullshit (you can
imagine!) They are supposedly reimbursing me for the insured amount .  Short version of story,...but you get the point.
The real reason I am writing is to tell you that I laughed my ass off through your entire Ebay rant! Even though I was/am one of the many
dumb asses to ALLOW themselves to get ripped off......I feel MUCH better after reading this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Plus I just had to come up with a
sentence where I could use "the Liverlipped Spermgargling Bastard " line !!

Thanks for cheering me up .....NO SHIT!!
I WILL BE BUYING FROM YO,...IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO HELP FINANCIALLY SUPPORT
YOUR RANTS !!!

Best Regards,
Curt Bagby
Delphi , IN.

Ed:

Even before I go into details about my "Ebay nightmare," I'll start with my opinion that auctions, in general, play on most people's tendency towards impulsiveness. It is too easy to get "caught up in the moment" and make a bid that's at best, poorly researched, if not downright foolish. A friend of mine just discovered Ebay, and realized a few hours after surfing the site, "Oh crap... I bid on a lot of auctions... stupid little stuff... but I'll be in trouble if I wind up high bidder on more than a couple..." Plus, you never know if there's a "shill" driving the bidding up.  I've witnessed these issues firsthand with traditional auctions of cars, estates, and foreclosed real estate, and it's even easier to make an "impulse bid" when surfing Ebay. And the ultimate caveat emptier: unless you have money to burn, if you bid on, or part with "real" money for any high ticket item you haven't seen, from an individual you don't have reason to trust, you deserve what you (don't) get. Ask yourself: what is your legal recourse? Posting negative feedback on Ebay? I'm sure the scam artists are shaking in their boots...

Now for my "Ebay nightmare." In early 1999, I posted a week-long auction of my 1999 Harley Davidson Road King Classic. There was some action for the duration, and at the end, I had a high bid of around $21,000. However, over the ensuing week it became apparent the "high bid" was in fact a prank, perpetrated by a teenager with nothing better to do. When I contacted the auction "runner up," they had already put a deposit on a new Road King from their local dealer. Plus, there was another potential "non-e-bay" local buyer, who had purchased another bike by the time I realized the Ebay auction was a bust. So, this harmless prank had cost me two "real" sales. Adding insult to injury was the fact that Ebay seemed to have bad internal communication: although I had notified them that the sale had fallen through, their billing department started collection proceedings against me for "withholding commission."

Later,

Phil McArdle
Hartford Ct.

Okay, First I would like to say, Killer web site, people say your a smart man,  I say your a man who has good analytical skills, like, you see a problem, you fix the damned thing. I like that, I do the same thing.

Anyhow, let me tell you of an Ebay nightmare ALL TO FAMILIAR TO ME.

I have been a player of Jackson guitars for years.  I find that they are a great deal for the money, I prefer their USA models, but I have played some killer imports, though I prefer USA.  I had just bought a Jackson Soloist with EMG 85 and 2 EMG SA's.  I paid a great price for it, got the case with it not even mentioned, the guy told me of the jokers that say FREE CASE!  I know for a fact (I have spoken to people at Jackson guitars ) that USA Jackson's come with free cases, and in most cases most imports do.  I bought the Soloist, it was as described, one mark on it, been played and was in every respect a great buy.  I picked up a soloist for 500$ USA! that's a deal, its a player Etc.  My good pal Peter H.  from PA, seeing that I bought a guitar and got a killer deal, he put his faith into Ebay and bought a guitar.  He chose a brand I'm not to happy with, he ordered a Metallica red sparkle Ibanez RG 565.  The guitar was advertised as having perfect action, great cosmetics, needed money for college, you know the bullshit.

My buddy Pete having an Ibanez RG 565 he knew what they played like.  Ibenhad even sent him the factory specs for how it should be set up.  He knew about the guitar, granted we are not great luthiers, BUT we know how to set up a floyd rose guitar.

He spends like 400$ on this guitar ( not too much for a guitar but come on man 400$ is 400$, hell 4$ is 4$. ) He gets it, the neck has SUPER GLUED SHIMS IN IT!  Who the F#%K super glues their shims in place?  Some one had also chiseled out the tremolo cavity rather, HACKED it out.  the action on this guitar sucked, my strat plays better.

He emailed the guy and the guy threatened him with Ebay contact removal from Ebay the whole deal and gave a speech on how Action was personal preference. You show me some one who likes action you can practically put a hair brush under.  At the same time I also saw an auction for a Jackson Randy Rhoads neck through guitar. I was like SHIT! I need it!  I bought it for a measly  $270.00 (I should've known something was up, call me gullible),  It came out to be a Rhoads EX pro, BOLT ON NO SHARK INLAYS JAPAN CRAP!. I will be honest it played good, but it in all cases isn't a USA or neck through.

Ebay is good for posters, CD's sometimes, crap that you don't lose to much money if you get fucked.  For guitars I sincerely don't recommend it.  Sometimes there are legit people ( my soloist! )

Ed, thanks for letting me rant, I'm noticing on your site your gone from 2nd to the 12th, so I see I'm going to wait for a reply, BUT that's worth it to hear from a human with a brain.  If you need the sellers of this shit let me know.

My name is Rob I'm from PA as well.  I see the all metal Roswell Rhoads you have on your site, is it available for sale and round about figure,  I get my W4's Jan 3rd or so and file them rapid refund and would have it that week,  I know its awhile from now ( well not really like 2 and 1/2 months ) that's why I'm asking a round about figure.

Thanks
Robert

Greetings Ed,

Before my Ebay nightmare, I'd like to compliment you on your site.  It's about time this industry had someone who spoke the truth.  When I become
interested in a new brand/model of guitar, I always check your site first to see what you have to say about it.  I love the "NO BULLSHIT" approach.  Any plans on a Schecter evaluation?

My story:  About two years ago, when I first discovered Ebay, I found an  absolutely gorgeous white Les Paul "copy", with gold hardware.  According to
the seller's ad it was "handmade" and, of course, "played great".  Please understand that my income, at the time, did not allow for any guitar in the
Gibson price range, therefore, I was intentionally looking for a "copy" of sorts.  I emailed the seller and requested additional pictures and information about the guitar, etc.  Everything seemed satisfactory.

As "luck" would have it, I "won" the auction, for $480.00 (+ $25 shipping). The transaction was quick and smooth and I received the guitar within 2 days after my payment was received.  As I opened the box, my heart sank into my stomach.  Here's the skinny on this piece of shit excuse for a guitar:

1)  The "gold" hardware was mostly chrome in some spots (photographed very well) from rubbing off.

2)  The "tune-o-matic" bridge and stop-bar tailpiece looked as though someone had leaned on them while wearing a sweater, just after spraying them
gold.

3)  The "binding" on the body and neck looked as though it had been done with white-out.

4)  The nut was apparently re-glued with Elmer's glue, and at an almost 45 degree angle (this must've happened sometime after the photos were taken).

5)  All volume and tone knobs were stripped.

6)  The body felt like it had been cut from a cheap and hollow closet door.

7)  The best (worst) part is when I plugged it in.  100% pure feedback.  I don't know why I even bothered to plug it in.  I think I was so pissed that I was delirious at that point.

Lesson learned:  SAVE YOUR MONEY AND BUY A QUALITY GUITAR FROM A KNOWN, REPUTABLE BUILDER!

I refuse to bid on anything ever again.  Let's continue spreading this message, and put the money back into the hands of those who truly and passionately build great quality guitars... the ones who deserve it.

Thanks Ed,
John

Ed,
I won an auction on Ebay for a "Brand New,  Mint condition" Gibson Les Paul Studio guitar in Alpine White with Gold Hardware, hard-shell case included for $700.  I'm thinking to myself that this is a pretty good deal with them going in the local shops for more. So... I contact the seller in Canada, who assures me that all is good and well and send him out a money order for the axe. About 3 weeks later a package shows
up on my doorstep that looks like it has been kicked down a flight of stairs. I opened it up and there sits a worn chipboard case. No packing material has been used. Just the cardboard and the cheap case. I opened it up and sure enough there sits a white Les Paul with Gold hardware. Most of the gold is worn off the hardware, the white is yellowed from smoke, and where the neck meets the body there is a huge crack wide enough to push a nickel into. I contact the seller about this.. he says he "accurately described the guitar, and that if I have a problem I should take it up with UPS, because they damaged it during shipment. Of course he chose to charge me extra for insurance and then not insure it,
UPS inspected the package about 2 months later and told me that even if he had put insurance on it, which he hadn't, that I would be out of luck
for inadequate packaging. So here I sit with a pair of Gibson Pickups, some tuning keys, and bridge and tailpiece for $700. One thing is for sure... I
won't make the mistake of buying another guitar from Ebay.

Thanks for putting this info out there Ed.  Nice to see someone speak their mind.  If Ted is for President then you need to be in his cabinet
somewhere! :)

Thanks,
J. Reagin

I would like to tell you my Ebay rip off.

I was looking for a good bass. Something used, but to get me some 'great' tone and had 'great' playability.  I guess I wanted a Modulus, so I was looking at various models.  So one popped up for about $800.00 or so.  Nice color, blue stain over alder, had stock EMG's was an older model, and claimed to be in great condition.

So I figured everything checked, I bid, and after talking with the guy over the phone I went through with the transaction. Well, it got to my house, and the condition was decent, no rashes or anything or chips, but the action was real high.  Called the guy back and he said he set the bridge to be like that.  Well, so I played it, then took it to have it set up.  So, this is where I find out that previous to '98, Modulus did NOT install truss rods in their basses, and Graphite necks DO warp, not always, but older models tend to.  Would Modulus get me another neck or allow me to purchase a replacement?  No.  Would this guy take back the lemon he sold me?  No.  Sold it for 450 cause I told the buyer of its problems, as should have been done in the first place.  How was I supposed to know this thing had no truss rod?  Do I think that guy knew?  Well, is that really the point?

Another thing, any seller out of the country, beware of.  In many countries you can open a phony bank account and no questions are  asked.

A past buyer of your wares, always a proponent of your site and your services, I tell everyone I know about you and what you do.  I ran across your Ebay scam section tonight and have to tell you that I was one of the stupid.

A Jackson Prototype JJ was up for auction and I had to have it.  I wound up losing the auction and thought nothing of it.  A week or so later, an email showed up from the guitar's owner saying that the original buyer never ponied up the cash and offered the guitar to me for what I bid.  I jumped at the chance and had the thing shipped UPS and even paid the buyer extra for proper insurance.

The guitar arrived in the case as advertised.  It was packed pretty well but the box was crushed.  No biggie, just a box.  The seller didn't detune the guitar nor did anything to secure the neck.  You guessed it...the neck was broken.  The single volume knob was also in a small crater as it was jammed into the body.

I called the seller to get the info for insurance and he said that he didn't opt for it since I didn't pay for it.  Furious, I demanded a refund that I never got.  The box was labeled from a Christian Music Ministry in Missouri...the seller was a child of one of the Ministries founders with none of the morals of the Ministry.  A refund was refused and nothing could be done on Ebay's side since the transaction was off-line.

I intend to ship the guitar to you in the near future for repair, but I shall never be that stupid about Ebay again.

Woody Sebastian

My Ebay nightmare is by far the stupidest thing I have ever done. Why?  Because I had already read this page a full 2 weeks before I screwed myself.

My butt is dripping blood and I'm out $2,400.00,  I fell for the same old deal where the first guy didn't come up with the money so I'll accept your bid even though it's below what I really needed to get. I spoke to the guy on the phone he was so nice so friendly and so full of shit. This guy was obviously a pro because we were talking about about all kinds of things on the phone, Sports, Golf, This guy told me about his 2 kids and how one of them had to be taken out of her equestrian classes because she hurt herself. He played me like a violin. The guy sent me several beautiful pictures of the guitar he included a picture of the back of his home (I think).

I thought I was going to be the proud owner of a beautiful Amber 1986 PRS  serial number 1117 with bird inlays and a gorgeous top.

Instead I am just waiting for the guitar that never came and probably never will.

The guy was incredible, his dog was barking (Or a dog was barking) he told me he was taking the dog to the vet later that day. He sounded like a stable homeowner type. I might have thought the guitar would have a couple of slight marks in it but It never even occurred to me for even a second that the guy was a total con man and was not who he pretended to be.

His phone number turned out to be a pay phone in Burbank, His address turned out to be the Mailboxes etc. in Burbank.  According to the Burbank Police it seems that the pay phone is less than a minute from the Mailboxes etc. So naturally I suspect the people at Mailboxes etc.  I have called them at least 5 times and no one sounding like this creep has answered.  Mostly a Hindu sounding Ghandi answers the phone.

Ed, you know me.  I have bought from you before, I am simply too embarrassed to sign my name to this. There are other readers of your site who know me very well also. I just can't bring myself to give you my name.  If you don't print it I'll understand,  I just feel so fucking stupid!!!!

(Unsigned)
 

I think I know who sent this, the next time you call me I'm gonna ask you outright.

Ed

Ed,

Saw your site; really great, next time I'm in CT, I'll make it a point to stop by. I also saw your request for Ebay horror stories.

I wanted an electric, but was a novice guitar player so I couldn't justify spending a lot of money. After a little looking around, I decided I wanted a good copy of a Les Paul. I liked what I saw/heard about the Dearmond M75 (set neck), and bid on one on Ebay. Supposedly in new condition, with only the most minor hints of surface wear. My winning bid of $300 got the guitar on its way.

Turns out, the guitar had suffered some kind of trauma, and the fretboard up near the nut was separating from the rest of the neck, as well as the neck binding in that area. Can't really get the action lowered right, without causing all sorts of fret buzz on the lower strings, because the fret board/neck is all fucked up. Some repair work had been done, but it was very amateurish and ineffective. Looked like it was done by a 16 year old with bad tools and eyesight. Ebay seller doesn't reply to my attempts to contact him (probably can't stop giggling over how he screwed someone over).

Local guitar shop says yea, we can fix it, but the guitar isn't worth the cost it would take to fix it. Screwed.

I play it, cause I don't have anything else, and the Dearmond gold tone humbuckers do sound nice, but the action is too high, and I can't fix it. I make do, but want to get a different axe.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Ed,

I don't know if you are still looking for Ebay nightmares, but I have one.

I bid on a legit auction for a PRS model that I had always wanted. My bid was the maximum that I could pay but it was not enough and I "lost" the auction. A day later I received an email from a "seller" saying that he had the same model and would be able to sell it to me for the price I had bid. I was very happy to be able to buy it for my bid price so I asked him for a phone number to call so that we could discuss it. He gave me what turned out to be a cell phone number and we discussed the deal. I believed he was legit because I was able to find his name and address on the web as the corresponding member of a rock band in the city where he supposedly resided. I sent him the money and, to make a long story short, I never received the guitar. He continued to respond to emails and phone calls with "it's in the mail" kind of statements until he finally disappeared just before I filed federal mail fraud charges. The web pages were phony. The mailing address turned out to be a drop, and the phone number is now disconnected. Of course I have no recourse through Ebay because this was all behind the scenes. The feds say they will continue to investigate. I'm not very optimistic about recovering my loss. In any case, I'm gone from the Ebay scene. It's not worth it.

Bill Scott

Hey Ed,

I read your Ebay scam rant, and I just had to respond. I don't agree with many of your opinions, but its a free country and if somebody brings up issues more people will freely discuss them. Anyway on with my nightmare. I will say from the onset, that because of precautions I took I never lost a penny.
 

Nightmare: I'm buying a Peavey bass off a guy with the screen name "ohkevin73". He claimed to be from Columbus, OH, but has also claimed to be from various towns in Michigan. After I buy the bass, I look at his other auctions, and see that he has a different address on every item. Now I'm stuck with a credit card charge from Bill point. Of course the bass never comes, and this guy disappears. I contact Visa, and as I speak they are trying to hunt this money down. I have bought many pieces of gear off either Ebay or a private seller, with good results. I wouldn't have one of my main guitars, or my main amp without it, but this experience has soured me.

I recommend to anybody bothering to venture into Ebay to be cautious. Get home phone numbers, home addresses, full names, use an escrow service, or use a credit card. Always remember, your dealing with the general public. This is the same general public that steals your cable, taps your phone line to make calls to Panama, and the same general public that would sue the city if they drove into a traffic light after a night of heavy drinking.

Ben Agata
Queens, New York

Hi Ed!
I love your site, and browse it constantly.  Now to business:

As you well know, Gibson has bought the Kramer name, and is putting out cheapo guitars that are not even a shadow of the mighty Kramers of the past, however, did you know that many unscrupulous Ebay scammers are buying up these cheapie guitars, and then selling them on Ebay at a profit?

Here's how it works:
Jimmy shaftyourbutt buys a four pack of Kramer focus guitars for 78 bucks each.  He then turns around and advertises them on Ebay as a
"NEW KRAMER ELECTRIC GUITAR! L@@K type of deal.  Their OPENING BID is at least $99.00, if not $129.00! (Often with a "buy it
now" at $129.00 or so).  I have seen them go as high as $189.00 for a guitar that the buyer could have bought themself directly for $79.00.

These scam artists are taking advantage of 2 things:
1.  Buyer ignorance.  They are counting on the fact that the buyer is some starry eyed teen or some such person who sees a deal, and is UNAWARE that they can get the same guitar for far less at music yo.

2.  The Kramer name.  Far too few people are aware that the great 80's guitar company putting out solid rock guitars is long gone, and Gibson is merely prostituting the brand, models, and some design specs of the original Kramers.

I have gone completely against E-bay rules to warn potential buyers about this scam.  (And have received warning letters from them).  I have no problem with a young beginner guitarist saving a few bucks and getting one of these $79.00 guitars.  (They beat a squier in my book for overall value.)  I have had sellers flame me for warning their buyers.  Do you know what their biggest excuse is?  They tell me "I have expertly setup this guitar, so it is worth it"  HA!  Anyone desperate enough to engage in such a scam CAN'T be an expert.  So they changed the original strings and "adjusted" the action.  Big deal!  a whoppin' 7 minutes for that.  I have a few problems with this whole affair

A.  As stated above, it capitalizes on buyer ignorance.  Worst of all, the target market is young beginners saving their allowance and paper route money to buy a guitar.

B.  It supposes to add false value to the item.  ("setup", "inspection" etc)

C.  The buyer has no warranty with the company itself.  They have to go through the bonehead who sold it to them!  The warranty is only 30 days, mind you.  This means that by the time the guitar is shipped to the scammer, put on Ebay, sold, then shipped to the buyer, that warranty has all but expired!  And what if the scammer dies, moves, or just gives up!  The poor buyer has no recourse.

D.  Worst of all, it takes money out of the pockets of those who probably don't have much to begin with!  and that should be the very DEFINITION of a scam!

Just my two cents.

Sincerely,
Donn Halliburton

Hi, Ed.

Big fan of your site.  Some guys look at smut on the net.  I look at guitars.

Anyway, here's another scam for your Ebay rants page that I don't think was covered, and it's probably one of the most common. I bid and "won" the auction for a Roland GR-30 guitar synth.  Seller seemed nice enough, even emailed me to say that there were a few scuffs on the outside of the unit.  I thought that a little strange, most used gear has a few scuffs.

It turned out that his concern was the kiss I got before I got fucked. Unit shows up, and I anxiously plug in with my brand new Godin synth guitar.   Roland unit turns out to be a boat anchor.  Won't hold a preset and jumps all over the place.  I notify the seller and he ignores me for a few days until I threaten.  Then he comes back with a vengeance saying he wont take the unit back, and that it was damaged in shipment or I messed it up, and to file a claim with UPS. Of course, UPS will not insure anything electronic for shit.

I take the unit in, and my tech tells me the 13 pin input jack needs to be replaced.  Not something that could have happened in shipment.  I'm out $290.00  plus the cost of repair.

Bottom line:  Seller knows he has a DOA box, tries to act like he really cares about getting you a good unit, then when it does show up fried, tries to blame it on the shipper, who won't reimburse.

Of course, anybody worth a shit on Ebay will take stuff back, unless they're out to ream your sphincter.   I will give you the guys name at the bottom of this email, Ed, he's there in New York.  If you ever see him, kick him in the nuts for me, will ya?

Keep on rantin, bro!
Scott Chapin
Corrales, NM

guy who screwed me:  Ray Lyman, Elmhurst, NY, ebay
user-razorsedgeproductions

Hello Scott

Yes this is a very common type of Ebay screwjob,  Thanks for sending it in and calling it to our attention.  I don't see anyway to protect yourself from this type of thing.

Ed

Hey Ed,

Back when I used to like Ibanez and Ebay was new to me, I bought an Ibenhad RG on Ebay. The seller was a music store that takes trade-ins. The guitar looked very nice in the picture, plus this guitar was decked out. It had all the typical ibanhad frills: Binding on the neck; shark tooth inlays; A chrome pickguard; etc..  I won the auction for $350 dollars. I thought I was getting a guitar in like-new condition for a very reasonable price.

When I received the guitar I could tell it was the same one in the picture, except that it had damage that wasn't visible. To start off with the obvious, the pickguard was corroded, someone had moved the rear strap button and then put it back, the fretboard had pits in it, and the frets were worn badly. Upon closer inspection I found that the guitar did not play well, and after removing the pickguard I detected the the odor of cat urine.. get this.. INSIDE the guitar.

It was definitely cat urine, I know because I have a cat of my own. Anyway that ought explain the corrosion. I pretty much found out that ebay is a dumping ground for people's faulty guitars and that's the reason why I call it "America's Junkyard".

Ibanez Nightmare:

Ed, I know you despise Ibanez and I was happy when I found your site. You rip into them without fear of retribution and I like that. My problems with Ibanez guitars are that they're definition of a manufacturer's defect doesn't include a warped neck,  and their guitars are junk. These music stores (especially the large chain stores) don't sell these things set up, and the salesmen will always "reassure" the buyer that "the guitar's action is only that high because it was never set up to play".   The guitar that ended my buyer/manufacturer relationship with Ibanhad was an RG 550, and it was being sold for $100.00 off because it was dropped and the paint was chipped. Of course it had ridiculously  high action, and no, I was not in the habit of bringing a ruler to the music store to check for uneven frets. The damned thing had a warranty so I decided to trust it. I have, in the past, bought ibanez guitars that actually played ok, but my initial faith in them after the first few good experiences was waning.

When I brought the damned thing home I soon learned that it would not set up. The straighter I made the neck I learned it had a backbow at the second fret. I had most of the neck almost straight but the second fret was acting as if it were the nut. Anyway, This was likely the third or fourth Ibanez of mine that had a defect and so I returned it to them (under warrantee*) with a letter detailing what was wrong with the guitar, as well as what was wrong with the  previous ones I returned prior to this. I wanted to remind them that they have a quality control problem.(at this point I wasn't screaming at them, but they still didn't like that). In my letter I asked them to replace the neck. They called me at 8:00 AM to tell me why they refused to fix it. They claimed that due to the paint chips the guitar "looked as if it spent ten years in my basement and thrown around on the floor".

I felt that up until that point I had been a "good" customer. I really got on their case about it because the guitar was technically new and I thought they had to honor the warranty,  I made many phone calls and appeals to get this guitar looked at. After getting nowhere I even emailed Jemshit.com and steve Vai's website. Finally I got someone at Ibanez who told me they'll take a look at the guitar. Without telling me what they were going to do they decided to grind and polish the frets and send it back to me. Needless to say it relieved the buzz but they did a crap job on it. During the stage when I was emailing people I guess I pissed Ibanhad off because people from those websites wrote back to me that "they have spoken to Ibenhad" and that I "should not be so arrogant and make such an ass of myself", Another had written that I
"had given the people at Ibanez a poor opinion of me".

Like I care. Their product is substandard. I'm the customer and $500 dollars is nothing to just throw away. I hope I don't look like I'm made of money even though they know that no matter how shitty their product is they know that 'Joe Public' has money to spend, and spend, and spend.

I got curious after this event and went to local music shops with a metal ruler in hand and found 11 RG's out of 13 that had warped or
twisted necks. I also found 2 out of 6 S series guitars were also warped. You know Ibanez is junk, and I found out the hard way.

I wont buy another Ibanez to give another penny to that company. That doesn't mean that I don't want a replacement body for the neck of my first RG, (it has a neck that fits the square heel of the older rg).

Back in the early 90's I thought their guitars played pretty good and I know that neck is all right still. Anything coming from them today is what I call "pretty garbage".

* Depends on what Ibanez calls a warrantee these days

Anyway, If you got this far thanks for reading. You don't need me reinforcing your dislike for Ibanhad but that is my testimonial. They don't honor their warrantees.

Frank

I DECIDED TO LIST A HIGH PRICED FRANKLIN MINT SET. I GOT 2 BIDDERS. 1  HAS RETRACTED 2 BIDS IN 1 WEEK. & 2 HAD 4 RETRACTION IN 6 MONTHS, SO I SENT HIM AN EMAIL STATING, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RETRACTING THIS BID, CUZ ILL REPORT YOU TO EBAY & FILE FRAUD CHARGES.

NO RESPONSE, BUT HE DIDN'T RETRACT THE BID. THEN MY OTHER BIDDER SEEM FINE, TILL 3 DAYS AFTER HE BID, HE RETRACTS SAYING IT WASN'T THE ITEM HE THOUGHT IT WAS. THAT'S BULLSHIT CUZ I HAS SEVERAL PICS POSTED & FULL DESCRIPTION, & EVEN MAILED HIM MORE PICS. HE NEVER ASKED ANY QUESTION, HE JUST BID. WELL I FILED AN INVESTIGATION & NEVER HEARD FROM EBAY.

NOW THE BIDDING ENDED SUN, IT'S THURSDAY . NO EMAILS FROM WINNING BIDDER. WON'T RESPOND TO MY EMAILS. I LOOKED UP HIS MAILING INFO,  IT'S IN FUCKING ITALY. SO, EVEN IF HE MAILS ME THE MONEY, GOD KNOWS HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE TO GET HERE. SO, IM GETTING SCREWED AGAIN.

AFTER THIS INCIDENT IS ALL SAID & DONE, IM CANCELING MY  EBAY MEMBERSHIP.

THEY DON'T SCREEN THEIR MEMBERS,  WHICH THEY SHOULD & THEY SHOULDN'T LET PEOPLE RETRACT THEIR BIDS. THEY SHOULD HAVE TO SEND A REQUEST TO EBAY & IF APPROVED, EBAY RETRACTS IT.

BOGUS FUCKING SITE.

ANGEL CISZEWSKI

I agree with you, even if your shift key is broken,  Ebay should not let people arbitrarily retract their bids.  Sellers get screwed all the time.
Ed

I HAVE SEVERAL TO CHOOSE FROM, YOU'D THINK I WOULD LEARN:

SENT CHECK TO SELLER, & HE RECEIVED 3 DAYS LATER & CASHED IT ON THE VERY NEXT DAY.. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PUT ITEM IN MAIL THE NEXT DAY.

HE CLAIMS HE DID. WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A X-MAS PRESENT.  I NEVER GOT IT, & HE STOPPED RESPONDING TO MY EMAILS. FILED FOR AN INVESTIGATION. FILED FOR FRAUD. NOTHING. EVENTUALLY, I GOT HIS ADDRESS. LET ME REPHRASE THAT, ADDRESSES. HE HAD 2 DIFFERENT MAILING LOCATIONS, 2 DIFFERENT NAMES, & A BOGUS PHONE NUMBER WELL, BOTH ADDRESSES WERE IN NEW JERSEY.

SO, I WROTE A NOTE TO THE NEW JERSEY POLICE INFORMING THEM. I SENT ALL HIS INFO. THEY CALL ME SAYING, YEAH, THIS GUYS GOT A MILE LONG RECORD FOR FRAUD. SO THEY  CONTACTED HIS LAST LAWYER. TURNS OUT, HE'S GOING TO COURT FOR ANOTHER SITUATION, & MY COMPLAINT WOULD REALLY HURT HIM.

SUDDENLY , I GET AN EMAIL FROM THIS DIRTBAG, OH I WAS SICK & COULDN'T MAIL YOUR STUFF. FUNNY, HE SAID HE DID MAIL IT & WAS TRYING TO TRACK IT DOWN...SUDDENLY 2 DAYS LATER MY ITEM ARRIVES.

THANK GOD I CONTACTED THE POLICE CUZ EBAY WAS TOO BUSY TRYING TO REMOVE THEIR HEADS FROM EACH OTHERS ASSES.

ANGEL CISZEWSKI

I Sincerely hope that you have learned your lesson,  I also hope you get your shift key unstuck.......  I am surprised the Police helped you. Usually when you call them for anything that requires Police Intervention

They listen very closely.....
They are not listening to your complaint......
They are actually listening for you to say something that will get them off the jurisdictional hook.
This way they can just tell you to hire a lawyer and don't bother them.
Then they go back to their donut shops in between handing out parking tickets and pulling people over for other Bullshit..

Don't get me started on the cops.... I could rant forever.

They simply don't want to do their job... You were very lucky that you got helped the way you did.  Either that or they must have really hated the scumbag who tried to screw you...  Please send in his name.

Ed

Dear Sir:

This is my horrible story about Ebay.

I received an email from an Ebay member after I failed to bid a notebook on Ebay. The guy claimed to have the same item and can give to me much cheaper. We agreed to do the trade. Per his requirement, I send my check to him ($1,775.27). But since he cashed out my check, he just disappeared, and I can never contact him again!

I tried to send this guy a legal notice through express mail, but got returned since the addresser refused to accept the mail.

I tried to make a police report in the county the guy lives, they refuse to take the case since no law for them to take action against this kind of fraud. (Fairfax, VA).

I filed complain in National Fraud Information Center and Internet Fraud Complaint Center, but it looked besides taking your complain, they can do nothing else to get back your money

So besides go small claim court ( I need to fly for hearing), what else can I do?!

If you have any idea what shall I do, please return the mail.

Thanks.

Charlie Chen

Oh Yeah and Paypal can eat my shorts too

The Below Article was emailed to me 12/16/03

Fakestrat.com is not affiliated with Main Street Music Shop (formerly Gear Closet) in Murfreesboro Tenn.

Fakestrat.com is a non-profit consumer warning

This site is intended to show the public a specific guitar and warn consumers of it's existence.

This guitar was an Ebay purchase from Main Street Music shop in Murfreesboro Tenn.

The guitar is a forged replica of an early 60's Fender Stratocaster that was altered to appear as an old instrument.

NOT a $3,045.00 vintage guitar.

HERE ARE THE FACTS

This guitar was paid for on Oct.31 2003, received Nov. 5th 2003, and returned Nov.11th 2003

todays date is Dec. 15th 2003

"very likely an instrument
which never saw the inside of the Fender factory." George Gruhn

See appraisal letter from George Gruhn below. 

This website will show the guitar that I bought from Main Street Music was misleading in every way. The guitar I received was indeed a fraudulent copy of a vintage Fender guitar. This has been an ongoing problem with many musicians and guitar collectors. I thank everyone who is standing behind me in my quest to expose this instrument as a fraud.

Joe Wilson is a very well known Luthier. He has been repairing guitars professionally since 1964. He also owns and operates an authorized Fender service center. Precision guitar Mt. Pleasant SC Here is a picture of Joe holding the guitar 11-7-03

---

 

Letter from GEORGE GRUHN

Below is a copy of the appraisal you requested as well as a letter from Mr. Gruhn. The originals are being sent to you via postal mail.

Best wishes,
Gruhn Guitars

November 6, 2003

I have examined the attached emailed digital photos of the instrument described below, but have not seen the instrument itself. Below is my estimate, based on these photos, of the instrument’s value; however, it is
not possible to judge from photos alone the exact state of originality and need of repair, so my appraisal is only accurate insofar as the photos are representative of the actual condition of the instrument.

We certify that the guitar described below is, in our opinion, an instrument purporting to be a 1961 Fender Stratocaster, but which based on examination of the photos and information provided to us, appears not to be an original 1961 model.

Description: This instrument has no serial number on the back plate. The owner states that when he purchased the guitar he was told that it was refinished and had a replacement back plate with no serial number, however, upon receipt of the guitar and examining the instrument with care, it was his opinion that this was not a Stratocaster at all. I am attaching to this appraisal copies of the owner’s linked web site with information and photos and his observations on this guitar. I have personally examined all the photos and information and have also had it examined by Sam Calveard, Andy Jellison, Ben Burgett, and Bill Baldock of the Gruhn Guitars repair staff.
We find that all of us concur with the present owner’s statements that this guitar clearly is not a 1961 Fender. We are not able to determine from the photos who made this guitar, but we are able to determine who did not. This instrument was not made by Fender in 1961. As such we are unable to providea precise appraisal of any value it may have since we cannot determine from the photos exactly what quality it may have as a utility tool. It is clear,however, that any value the instrument has is based on whatever utility it may have rather than any collector’s item appeal. It is not possible to apply normal standards of supply, demand, and prior precedent for 1961Stratocasters to evaluate this instrument since it is not a 1961 Fender, and according to what we can see in the photos, is very likely an instrument
which never saw the inside of the Fender factory.

November 6, 2003

The appraisal you requested is enclosed. We are not familiar with Main Street Music in Murfreesboro, therefore I cannot comment on them or their integrity. My general feelings about eBay are not possible to express in polite language.

Sincerely,
George Gruhn

GG:mjf

Enclosure

If you are going to buy a guitar on Ebay.... You are taking a very big chance !!!!!!!! 

George Gruhn is a very respected and well known name in the guitar community. George is also much more polite than I am. I personally would not hesitate to tell any one exactly what I think of eBay. 

Many people assume that the reason people like George Gruhn and myself don't like eBay is simply because it interferes with our business and we lose some sales because of it. While that may be partly true consider this fact.

Ebay is a double edged sword, It has totally destroyed and decimated the Vintage Guitar market, It has devalued many people's collections and it will continue to devalue products. Ebay has destroyed the investment value of many fine guitars simply because certain maggots are using it to pimp off fakes and damaged goods. These fakes and damaged goods tend to act as price setters even though they are not even real and barely credible.

Consider the poor collector who has amassed a large quantity of beautiful old guitars. He has spent lots of years and lots of money selecting good specimens. Then some maggot dumps a fake on ebay for next to nothing and the value of the real ones is diminished greatly.

Ebay has actually helped my business, guitars like JET, Viking, Quicksilver, Abstract, RVC, Jaros & Gary Jacobs are selling for high numbers on Ebay and therefore helps me to sell guitars. Many people who were staunch Vintage Guitar buyers have run for cover and are switching over to custom made guitars. Custom Guitars is my Specialty.

Ed Roman