Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: March on July 09, 2006, 12:43:34 AM

Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: March on July 09, 2006, 12:43:34 AM: There is a fake Jem doing the rounds. It's priced at £1399 and reckons itself to be of the white/gold variety (Vai's preffered choice of the last 10 years or so).

The neck does not feature the scallops, the body is horrific, looks like it has been knocked up in someones garden shed. The trem is wrong, the pickups are not DiMarzio Evos let alone any other form of DiMazrio (£5 cheapies), the trem is not an Edge of any form. Pickguard is cut incorrectly, monkey grip looks like it was cut by a 2 year old.

What really sickens me is someone will probably be taken in by this piece of cr@p. To the knowing eye, it's spotable from a mile away, but to the unsuspecting player who does not know the Ibanez range and only wants to own the same guitar used by their hero, this is fraud.

Sooooo, if you plan to go down to that overpriced street looking for an example of this very instrument, be careful. This one would have trouble commanding a pirice of £150, let alone £1399.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: maliciousteve on July 09, 2006, 12:56:09 AM: did you inform who ever's shop it was in that it's fake? and that it's illegal to sell a fake Jem as a real deal Jem.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: jt on July 09, 2006, 04:49:02 AM: :D Maybe you should drop Ibanez an Email letting them no what you suspect & why. See what they say....

:D 8)
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Twinfan on July 09, 2006, 10:47:37 AM: You should tell the shop your suspicions. It might be an innocent mistake?
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Davey on July 09, 2006, 11:22:36 AM: i agree.. did you talk to the owner/manager/salesman
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Andy RV on July 09, 2006, 01:30:34 PM: It's not one of these is it?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Beautiful-Ibanez-musical-Guitar_W0QQitemZ300004884466QQihZ020QQcategoryZ33043QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Twinfan on July 09, 2006, 01:52:44 PM: Those Ch-ibanez guitars really look the part don't they? Frightening.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: jt on July 09, 2006, 02:38:30 PM: :D There`s F**k loads of these cheap cr@p Chinese guitars all over Ebay at the moment.

:D 8)
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Muso on July 09, 2006, 03:15:12 PM: To my eyes that Ibanez Andy posted in the link looks like the real deal? Its an amazing fake, I mean I had the real deal version of this guitar and I can't tell from those photos.

I really wonder what they sound like?

Oh yea to the main guy who started this thread, why didn't you tell the store workers/manager about the bogus fake?

hmmmm
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: gingataff on July 09, 2006, 03:57:42 PM: Nah, that pics ok but you can see a few parts that are obviously bogus:
The headstock slightly wrong (too chubby) the logo is at the wrong angle, the monkey grip is too big, the bridge is a cheapy all gold affair, nothing like an Edge, the heel screw ferrules are gold but they should be black, I didn't check the Lions Claw but that's probably rough, you can't see the inlay but I bet its all plastic rather than the plastic/abalone/maple that it should be and the jack socket is too close to the strap buttons. Am I too picky?:twisted:

bet it sounds like pants too, though some BKs might make it better :wink:

I'm really surprised that dealers on Denmark street would get taken in by this though, they are usually pretty canny. By the way, does anyone know if that Ibanez RG is still for sale in Rockers, the kind of pink/purple one with 'Biax' pickups that was a prototype for Vai?
I read on his website that it was sold for charity, now someone wants 2K for it!
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Davey on July 09, 2006, 04:37:38 PM: Quote from: gingataff
Nah, that pics ok but you can see a few parts that are obviously bogus:
The headstock slightly wrong (too chubby) the logo is at the wrong angle, the monkey grip is too big, the bridge is a cheapy all gold affair, nothing like an Edge, the heel screw ferrules are gold but they should be black, I didn't check the Lions Claw but that's probably rough, you can't see the inlay but I bet its all plastic rather than the plastic/abalone/maple that it should be and the jack socket is too close to the strap buttons. Am I too picky?:twisted:

yep.

you can spot it pretty easy if you know what to look for
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Afghan Dave on July 09, 2006, 05:16:02 PM: Quote from: gingataff
By the way, does anyone know if that Ibanez RG is still for sale in Rockers, the kind of pink/purple one with 'Biax' pickups that was a prototype for Vai?
I read on his website that it was sold for charity, now someone wants 2K for it!

Yes, I think it is. I saw it again a couple of weeks ago, it's been on sale for ages.

I can't believe anyone would buy it for any reason other than charity so I think Rockers made a poor purchase there.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Elliot on July 09, 2006, 05:34:25 PM: My experience of Denmark Street is that actually attempting to talk to someone who works in one of those shops (which all seemed to be owned by the same person) either results in a curt, rude response or them silently walking away. With that in mind they probably don't care if they are selling fake rubbish - they probably got stung themselves and decided to get their money back.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: dave_mc on July 09, 2006, 06:01:15 PM: that sucks if they're trying to fob off a counterfeit.

I don't like Denmark street. Last time I was there, I was trying out a guitar, and another guy came in to try stuff, and the owner of the shop basically asked me, no tact whatsoever,

"are you actually thinking of buying that?"

with the implicit (or more accurately, pretty obvious) overtone of "if you aren't, eff off so someone else can try stuff!" ( the sales assistant was nice, he had plugged me into the setup at the start)

Anyway, I lied that I was (heck, you don't walk into a shop thinking "I want X guitar", you walk in thinking "if I try something nice, MAYBE I'll consider purchasing...", but maybe I'm different to everyone else), so the other guy got plugged into a different amp, he was trying some kind of vox tonelab type jobby, and proceeded to try to drown me out.

Dickhead.

Anyway, I know they have high rates etc., and are probably under more pressure to make a sale than the shops that I'm used to frequenting, but if you treat prospective customers like cr@p, how are you going to get sales?

Yeah, so anyway, I'm no fan of Denmark Street, and if they do have a fake "Jem" for sale, it doesn't surprise me, quite frankly.

:drink:
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: gwEm on July 10, 2006, 09:27:30 AM: word, denmark street service can really suck - so much rudeness and over inflated prices. sometimes you can get a nice assistant, but is rarely.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Kilby on July 10, 2006, 01:19:30 PM: Not too fond of Denmark St either, Wunjo Vintage & Rare and Andys are pretty pleasant, but the rest of them usually suck big time.

The ones with the Ex Vai guitar and the ones next door to Argents (Argents have now shut down :( ), must have the worst attitudes in the world and that's truely an acheivement.

Rob...
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Elliot on July 10, 2006, 03:21:05 PM: Argents have shut down - and reopened next door :D
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: gingataff on July 10, 2006, 05:24:53 PM: Argents is the music book shop isn't it? Nice place, Rose Morris has loads of books but I always preferred to give my money to Argents :)
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: March on July 10, 2006, 11:51:30 PM: Quote from: Andy RV
It's not one of these is it?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Beautiful-Ibanez-musical-Guitar_W0QQitemZ300004884466QQihZ020QQcategoryZ33043QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That's spot on!

I wish I had of told the shops owner, but the realisation dawned on me what the guitar really was after I had left (didactic memory...).

But I recognise the features and the build quality is certainly nowhere near Ibanez calibre.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: HJM on July 11, 2006, 08:00:34 AM: They are pretty much owned by the same firm - used to be a lot of shops owned by Orange Amps owner Cliff Cooper but he's just sold his last one. Now I think Music Ground is the largest shop owner down Denmark Street. It's allways been very difficult to get a deal down the street, even harder now Soho Soundhouse is part of Sound Control....
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: azn_guitarist25 on July 11, 2006, 10:48:05 AM: Quote from: March
Quote from: Andy RV
It's not one of these is it?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Beautiful-Ibanez-musical-Guitar_W0QQitemZ300004884466QQihZ020QQcategoryZ33043QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That's spot on!

I wish I had of told the shops owner, but the realisation dawned on me what the guitar really was after I had left (didactic memory...).

But I recognise the features and the build quality is certainly nowhere near Ibanez calibre.

should check for scalloped frets at the 20-24 frets cos thats an easy why to check to see if its fake or not
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Crazy_Joe on July 11, 2006, 04:12:16 PM: Also that is not an Edge Pro trem.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: gingataff on July 12, 2006, 06:04:01 PM: Ibanez are now putting a warning on their website amd ebay has warnings too, apparently its not only Jems but K7s and some others.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Kilby on July 13, 2006, 08:37:56 AM: It's not only Ibanez suffering at the minute, Rickenbacker have been hunting down companys and the ebay auction situation appears to accelerating :(

Rob...
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: headtheball on July 13, 2006, 05:03:04 PM: i bought a copy Rickenbacker Bass in Smithfield Market (Kilby and Dave Mc will understand) when I was young and stupid. I've sold it on since (honestly I might add. I got 70quid for it), but to give it it's due, it was a tidy enough bass, sounded pretty cool and looked fantastic. Some of this shameless copy gear isn't actually all that bad if you pay for what it is, not what it's supposed to be.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Searcher on July 13, 2006, 05:47:58 PM: Quote from: Kilby
It's not only Ibanez suffering at the minute, Rickenbacker have been hunting down companys and the ebay auction situation appears to accelerating :(

Rob...

I do believe that there are more copies than genuine articles on eBay these days. By the time I filter my searches to exclude all the cr@p I end up with less than one third of the total stuff advertised in electric guitars.
Title: Beware if you are Jem hunting on Denmark Street.
Post by: Kilby on July 13, 2006, 08:47:25 PM: Hey my antoria sg seems to have the best of both Gibson and Fender worlds.

Maple neck & fingerboard, non mahogany body (like ash or maple) and fender frets

The bad points are bolt on neck and cr@p pickups.

Still wouldn't sell it for the world, 28 quid way back in 1983.

Rob...