Help Identifying Fake ESP Rhoads V
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 2:49 pm
I'm usually pretty good at this kind of thing, but my Google Fu is failing me on this one. Any insight would be appreciated.
I first saw this guitar at a pawn shop last week. It was still in there as of noon today when I went back to said establishment. The following are the facts as I know them.
The owner of the pawn shop paid the seller for it thinking it was authentic. Owner of pawn shop then puts it up for sale on eBay. Somebody contacts pawn shop owner and informs him it's a fake, apparently providing sufficient evidence that this is so. Ethical pawn shop owner changes both the tag in the store and the online listing to indicate that it's a fake.
These are my personal observations from inspecting it in person. Mint condition. Set neck. Unbranded Floyd. ESP 81 style pickup cover with no lettering. Good fret work. A couple years ago I saw a fake ESP Kirk Hammet Ouija and it was pretty much complete garbage when you held it in your hands. Not this one. It feels on par with a real low-mid priced LTD, which is to say, good.
So . . . I have a few questions.
What exactly is it a fake of?
The guitar has a Kirk Hammet signature on it. It's not like Kirk personally signed it, but it's written on the back of the headstock in the way you'd see it on a signature model guitar.
Is there in fact an ESP Rhoads V Kirk Hammet signature model, and more precisely, one with these unique graphics?
Or is it a complete flight of fancy by the builder or totally one off job by customer request?
Guitar comes with a Jackson hard case. The price is $250, but all guitars in the shop are currently 20% off, so it would be $200. A Jackson brand Rhoads case alone costs $200. Well, as least a real one does. Maybe the case is fake too.
Thoughts?
I first saw this guitar at a pawn shop last week. It was still in there as of noon today when I went back to said establishment. The following are the facts as I know them.
The owner of the pawn shop paid the seller for it thinking it was authentic. Owner of pawn shop then puts it up for sale on eBay. Somebody contacts pawn shop owner and informs him it's a fake, apparently providing sufficient evidence that this is so. Ethical pawn shop owner changes both the tag in the store and the online listing to indicate that it's a fake.
These are my personal observations from inspecting it in person. Mint condition. Set neck. Unbranded Floyd. ESP 81 style pickup cover with no lettering. Good fret work. A couple years ago I saw a fake ESP Kirk Hammet Ouija and it was pretty much complete garbage when you held it in your hands. Not this one. It feels on par with a real low-mid priced LTD, which is to say, good.
So . . . I have a few questions.
What exactly is it a fake of?
The guitar has a Kirk Hammet signature on it. It's not like Kirk personally signed it, but it's written on the back of the headstock in the way you'd see it on a signature model guitar.
Is there in fact an ESP Rhoads V Kirk Hammet signature model, and more precisely, one with these unique graphics?
Or is it a complete flight of fancy by the builder or totally one off job by customer request?
Guitar comes with a Jackson hard case. The price is $250, but all guitars in the shop are currently 20% off, so it would be $200. A Jackson brand Rhoads case alone costs $200. Well, as least a real one does. Maybe the case is fake too.
Thoughts?