I recently came across this fake Synyster Gates guitar that initially had PG and I fooled until Syn confirmed it was fake. I figured it would be a good idea to share this here so people can reference it in case they come into this situation.
As soon as you see it, you're probably thinking "Of course it's fake, they don't make Syn guitars in that color." That's true, but there were a couple prototypes of that guitar way back in the day. PG owns one, Syn likely owns another, who knows if there was a third floating around or other variations of this prototype. As soon as you see Syn's actual prototype at the end, it's obvious that this guitar isn't it (different inlays, pickups, black hardware, white Schecter logo, etc.) but you never know.
Someone was selling this guitar in my area for $500. As soon as I saw it, I was ready to buy it right away. Since I was slightly skeptical, I asked PG if it was real and he said it looked legit as far as he could tell. Eventually we noticed a few inconsistencies. But since this guitar would be a prototype, the inconsistencies weren't exactly a dead give away. Syn put the nail in the coffin, but here's what tells me this was fake.
1. Pickups - The pickups aren't Invaders. Not a dead giveaway, as the owner could've swapped pickups or since it could've been a prototype, it just could've had other pickups.
2. Pickup Selector/Knob placement - On a traditional Synyster Gates guitar, the knobs sit below the pickup selector. On this guitar, the pickup selector is between the knobs.
3. Top Strap Button placement - On this guitar, the upper strap button is on top of the "horn" of the guitar, pointing up toward the headstock. On a regular Syn Custom, the strap button is on the back of the "horn" on the back of the guitar, pointing behind the guitar.
4. Deathbat Inlay - The pictures weren't the greatest, but I could kind of tell that the jaw of the Deathbat was slightly off.
5. Inlays - Again, the pictures aren't great but to me it looks like the inlays on the fretboard aren't pearloid. To me, the inlays on this guitar looks flat white whereas it looks pearlescent on a legit Syn guitar.
6. Large Headstock - This one was difficult to tell as well, but if you look at the "points" on the headstock at the 6th string tuning peg and 1st string tuning peg, it's very wide. The distance from point to point is pretty long in comparison to a real Syn Custom. Also, Schecter put out a statement back in the day warning against counterfeit guitars and they warned against large headstocks. (More info here)
7. Backplate - Small difference, but the backplate on this fake guitar has a space where you can see the bridge/springs. My Syn Custom (~2010) doesn't have a space on the backplate. The newer models do, but the space doesn't look like the one in this picture. Again, the owner could've swapped that out.
8. Pinstripes - The large thick pinstripes on the headstock don't touch the 1st and 6th string tuning post on this guitar. On a real Syn guitar, they do. Also, the pinstripes on the body of this guitar end before the edge of the guitar (look at the pinstripes on the left side of the body). On a real Syn, they go all the way to the edge.
9. Serial/Country - On the back of the headstock, where the headstock and neck join, a real Syn guitar would have a serial number and tell you where it was made. This guitar doesn't have that. However if this were in fact some sort of prototype, it wouldn't be unlikely that it wouldn't have that information on the guitar.
To reiterate, you could chalk up some of these things to it possibly being a prototype. Some of these things are definitely due to bad craftsmanship that Schecter would never let leave the factory. There may be other things I missed as well. I used my 2010 Syn Custom as a reference. This guitar fooled me and PG. Luckily, I didn't buy this guitar. I made the seller of this guitar aware of everything, and they changed the listing to a lower price and made it clear that it was fake. They said they bought it from a Flea Market. I know, crazy to think a Flea Market guitar is fake.
Be careful out there when buying a guitar this is too good to be true. On the other hand, if you didn't pay too much and it looks/plays/sounds good, who cares?
As soon as you see it, you're probably thinking "Of course it's fake, they don't make Syn guitars in that color." That's true, but there were a couple prototypes of that guitar way back in the day. PG owns one, Syn likely owns another, who knows if there was a third floating around or other variations of this prototype. As soon as you see Syn's actual prototype at the end, it's obvious that this guitar isn't it (different inlays, pickups, black hardware, white Schecter logo, etc.) but you never know.
Someone was selling this guitar in my area for $500. As soon as I saw it, I was ready to buy it right away. Since I was slightly skeptical, I asked PG if it was real and he said it looked legit as far as he could tell. Eventually we noticed a few inconsistencies. But since this guitar would be a prototype, the inconsistencies weren't exactly a dead give away. Syn put the nail in the coffin, but here's what tells me this was fake.
1. Pickups - The pickups aren't Invaders. Not a dead giveaway, as the owner could've swapped pickups or since it could've been a prototype, it just could've had other pickups.
2. Pickup Selector/Knob placement - On a traditional Synyster Gates guitar, the knobs sit below the pickup selector. On this guitar, the pickup selector is between the knobs.
3. Top Strap Button placement - On this guitar, the upper strap button is on top of the "horn" of the guitar, pointing up toward the headstock. On a regular Syn Custom, the strap button is on the back of the "horn" on the back of the guitar, pointing behind the guitar.
4. Deathbat Inlay - The pictures weren't the greatest, but I could kind of tell that the jaw of the Deathbat was slightly off.
5. Inlays - Again, the pictures aren't great but to me it looks like the inlays on the fretboard aren't pearloid. To me, the inlays on this guitar looks flat white whereas it looks pearlescent on a legit Syn guitar.
6. Large Headstock - This one was difficult to tell as well, but if you look at the "points" on the headstock at the 6th string tuning peg and 1st string tuning peg, it's very wide. The distance from point to point is pretty long in comparison to a real Syn Custom. Also, Schecter put out a statement back in the day warning against counterfeit guitars and they warned against large headstocks. (More info here)
7. Backplate - Small difference, but the backplate on this fake guitar has a space where you can see the bridge/springs. My Syn Custom (~2010) doesn't have a space on the backplate. The newer models do, but the space doesn't look like the one in this picture. Again, the owner could've swapped that out.
8. Pinstripes - The large thick pinstripes on the headstock don't touch the 1st and 6th string tuning post on this guitar. On a real Syn guitar, they do. Also, the pinstripes on the body of this guitar end before the edge of the guitar (look at the pinstripes on the left side of the body). On a real Syn, they go all the way to the edge.
9. Serial/Country - On the back of the headstock, where the headstock and neck join, a real Syn guitar would have a serial number and tell you where it was made. This guitar doesn't have that. However if this were in fact some sort of prototype, it wouldn't be unlikely that it wouldn't have that information on the guitar.
To reiterate, you could chalk up some of these things to it possibly being a prototype. Some of these things are definitely due to bad craftsmanship that Schecter would never let leave the factory. There may be other things I missed as well. I used my 2010 Syn Custom as a reference. This guitar fooled me and PG. Luckily, I didn't buy this guitar. I made the seller of this guitar aware of everything, and they changed the listing to a lower price and made it clear that it was fake. They said they bought it from a Flea Market. I know, crazy to think a Flea Market guitar is fake.
Be careful out there when buying a guitar this is too good to be true. On the other hand, if you didn't pay too much and it looks/plays/sounds good, who cares?
