Ken, I gather from reading your posts on the subject of provenance that there is a certain amount of guesswork involved even among experts; I seem to remember that you've bought basses thinking they were from one maker and later changed your mind - after further research, study and reflection. And do you know (or strongly suspect) of any dealers who have changed the provenance in a willful attempt to defraud rather than simply having an option that maybe wrong?
And while I'm thinking about it, have you considered going public and naming those dealers who you can prove have replaced labels or altered the provenance of instruments specifically to increase the price in the manner you've described?
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