Beware of fake autographs!!

[Peekaboo]

ABC'S 20/20 covered a story about a company selling fake autographed guitars and making lots of money off of them. They talk about how this company is taking pictures of rock stars and other celebrities and doctoring up the pics to make it look like they are signing these guitars. A lot of things online can appear legit even with a supposed photograph to prove authenticity but trust me, people can be very deceiving. I completely believe this now after seeing a fake picture of Don Henley in this story. I know this to be true because the picture of Don that was featured in the video was taken by me. They used one of the pictures I took at Don's UNT lecture. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it but that's really my picture.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/phony-roc...ory?id=9226150

[MikeA]

I've seen some of this Jess. I was bored during one trip to Vegas a year or so ago and decided to walk through the "shops" at Caesars Palace on the Strip. There was a "memorabilia" shop that caught my eye and I was browsing around in it and saw a case of guitars for some exorbitant prices. They were autographed. One had an autograph by Jimi Hendrix along with a couple of other 60's guitarists. I started asking questions about it and got the shop owner backed into a corner. He finally admitted that the "autographs" were "reproductions". When I asked him if they were authorized either by the artists or by the estates of the artists he invited me to leave!

What he had was Squire guitars and knockoffs...mostly very substandard guitars...that he was trying to sell for $2,000 to $13,000. Nearly all of the guitars carried multiple autographs...Hendrix, Clapton, Walsh, Eddie Van Halen, you name it and they had it in almost any combination!

What a total rip-off. I wonder it that shop is still in business? Understand that folks staying at Caesar's Palace as a rule are not paulpers like me! They have money and have come to Vegas to part with that money!

We're going to the Strip this next trip. If I get a chance, I'll swing through Caesar's and try to snap a few pics of the gits if he is still in business.

[TimothyBFan]

Amazing Jess!! I can't even imagine what your reaction was when you saw that. I just watched the video and I would of recognized it and I imagine anyone here would have also. Have you tried to contact anyone about it? It sounds like it is an ongoing court case right now. They might like to see your original. I was wondering, did you post that picture anywhere but on The Border? If not-then what's really scary is that they have taken it right off of here and done that to it. What nerve.

I've got my autographs of Tim (sent by him/his people), Joe (obtained by my niece) and Glenn (off ebay-so who knows). I know I could never afford to get one of these guitars (like the Zeppelin one in the story) but that would be one of the first things I would like to buy if I ever hit the lottery. I guess there's always the doubt that it isn't real, unless you see them sign it in person!

[Troubadour]

I'm glad this came to fruition, Jess. Good on ABC for reporting it!

[Peekaboo]

Amazing Jess!! I can't even imagine what your reaction was when you saw that. I just watched the video and I would of recognized it and I imagine anyone here would have also. Have you tried to contact anyone about it? It sounds like it is an ongoing court case right now. They might like to see your original.

When I first saw it, my jaw literally dropped. I kept watching it over and over because I couldn't believe it. It's so surreal. I mean, i've seen the show before and I never would've thought that I would have any kind of association with it besides just watching the show. I haven't tried contacting them about it yet but I plan to. I don't know yet what I will say exactly (any suggestions?) but I'd like to get in touch with them.

[ticky]

I cant imagine how shocked you must have been when you saw YOUR picture being used here. I think I would have flipped out!
I used to collect autographed pictures and I still have quite a few, mostly movie and TV stars, so I ran across the fakes quite a bit. I remember buying a few pictures from one particular agency in San Fransisco and getting a letter from the FBI a few weeks later saying they were busted for selling fakes. It turned out one of mine WAS indeed a fake.
I learned to look very carefully at signatures, comparing any I might be interested in to other signatures by the same individual, but mostly I'd send a photograph to the individuals with a sharpie and asked them to sign. This still didnt guarantee anything, but you were more likely to get something genuine. I usually asked for them to be signed to me. This lowers the resale value, but they meant more to me personally and the celebrities were more generous with their signatures because you were less likely to be selling them.
Im sure I still have a few that are fakes, stuff I bought off Ebay, but my truly prized autographs I know are the real thing.

[Brooke]

A couple years ago I went to a benefit and there was a silent auction for lots of different stuff. Among the items was a guitar signed by all the Eagles and I asked if it was genuine and they said the autographs were 'autosigned' meaning they were done by a machine and supposedly were approved by the Eagles. But who really knows for sure if they actually approved them?

[MikeA]

Brooke,

I think that is the way the "signature" series guitars are "signed". I'm thinking of the ones that Takamine sells as "Glenn Frey" models. Their's is a nice Tak okay that runs around $1,300 but don't think for a second that Glenn is signing each one of them! He has approved of the model and probably uses it or something similar on stage during concerts. But you can be sure that his "signature" is stampped or embossed on the guitar by machines.

Not at all sure about the one signed by all the Eagles though that you mentioned. Nor am I sure about the ones that were sold at Sam's Club a while back. I know some here bought one of them. Maybe that one was one of those autographed ones. And, I don't know if each one was personally signed...I seriously doubt that it was.

But that is my own "doubt" and I have NOTHING to base that on.

Oh, as for REAL autographed items, I know personally of only two that I witnessed. One is the banner that was made by one of the members in the JWFC and taken to the concert in Chicago where Joe did a Meet and Greet. He signed that Banner along with all of the Fans who were present. During that same M&G there was a lady who brought a Magic Marker and convinced Joe to sign her calf. The next day she went and had it turned into a Tattoo.

I might consider trying to obtain the Banner, but I think I'd elect to allow that lady to keep her leg.

[TimothyBFan]

I'm a lot like you Mike--skeptical! The only reason I know my Joe Walsh album is legit is because he did for my niece, in her presence in Chicago. I'm pretty sure the Timothy one is also only because of what Julie told me when she emailed me when he received my letter. I will choose to believe he signed it with loving care just for me anyways!

Some of these stories here about the guitars being "autosigned" disappoints me. So am I understanding that when something is "autosigned", the artist oks it, makes money off of it but never once touches that item? If so-the ol' mighty dollar speaks once again doesn't it?

[MikeA]

The emphasis on these "Signature Guitars" is not so much on the "signature" as a collector's item, but on the instrument itself. They are supposedly replicas of models that the artists use...in the case of electric guitars, they are theoretically set up with the same pickups and other amenities that the guitar the artist specified either when commissioning the company to build him the guitar or that was designed for sale with the input of the artist suggestions taken into account in the design process.

Generally speaking, these models are considerably higher in price than similar top of the line models sold by the same company. All manufacturers that I know of offer these signature models...it's an easy way for the artist to get a "royalty" on the sale of each guitar.

But do you think Glenn Frey signed every one of those labels that can only be seen if you look inside the guitar's sound hold? I seriously doubt it <LOL>