[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

How often have you seen players with basses that are not what they think they are because they were duped

I have seen a few of them. Usually they get them cheaper so they think they got a deal but still, they paid too much. One other sale happened awhile back and with 2 other appraisals took them to court and won. It cost him $10k to get his money back. The bass was well over 100k. The fake job was quite good to the naked eye.

and have you seen fakes coming out of any of the better known retailers in the US?

I have seen a few that in my opinion were not what they claimed to be, so yes as far as fakes. I have seen many more also from better known shops that were sold as something else like French or Italian that were actually German. They buyer thinks he's getting a deal but is actually paying top dollar retail and more.

Also have you ever seen fakes that are almost visually like the real thing?

I have seen a few that were harder to identify but unless they were used upside down or inside out or kept in the case for all its life the actual playing wear for basses that age was just not present. Taking them apart and scraping off the false oxidation stain inside will reveal the fresh wood.

Currently, Arnold has apart my old Italian Guitar shaped bass. No matter how much scraping he has done the dark oxidized color is IN the wood as deep as you go. This is true age.