99.99% sure I got duped by Guitar Center

Unbelievable ...

 

I think this story needs more information. I'm no expert, so why do we think it is a fake? Have you contacted Ken Smith to see if it's legit?

 

Thinking the same thing...
EDIT: But I feel I must ask, if you suspected a fake before buying it, why did you? Cheap price worth the risk/hassle if proven a fake?

 

sometimes they just don't know what they are looking at and have no idea. i once looked at what was labeled an American telecaster. what it was was an American neck on a mim body. there are some easily discernible differences between the two bodies. i also bought an jet city jca22 that was labeled and priced as a jca20. got the 2 channel version for the price of the 1 channel amp. i pointed out both mistakes.
dj

 

If it wasn’t around $3,000 it wasn’t real.

Looks like something from DH Gate out of China.

If you paid more than $340 you got ripped off.

If you paid less you got a fake for a new price

https://m.dhgate.com/product/custom-ken-smith-6-strings-natural-quilted/520319362.html?


Scroll down after you go to the link

 

Makes the case for doing the research before you buy...no problemo though, return it without penalty to GC. Are you trying to hold them responsible?

 

How much $ did you pay for it?

If it’s under $500, you knew the answer before you hit the purchase button.

 

Looks all wrong.
For starters those knobs are all bunched together. A real Smith pre has separate boards and therefore the knobs would be spread apart. The shape of the body is just off, and has a very flat appearance where Smiths have very rounded edges. The S logo looks upsidedown. Not a Smith nut, not a Smith bridge. The headstock looks way chubbier.

 

Yup, totally this ^

This is by no means the first such misrepresentation like this I've seen at GC. I would tell you (and seriously, I mean no offense) if you couldn't tell this example wasn't as high quality of a bass as a Smith, you should slow down before making purchases like that and do some more research, or just ask here 1st . It is GC so at least a return should be easy.

 

Fake. Faker than a really fake thing.

The "S" logo is upside down, the knob spacing is off, the body is a vague approximation of something you'd see on a real Smith but not close enough to fool anyone who knows bass guitars. It definitely has the air of a $300 Chinese counterfeit job.

 

If you do return it, just don't do it like this.

 

What I find just as alarming is the purchaser at that store is in the position to buy for GC and can’t tell the difference between what’s authentic and what’s not...if that was a gift for someone, that would have been a disaster..

 

Yeah, return it.

 

The easiest people to cheat are the ones that think you can get something for nothing.

 

Thats why GC is an emergency parts store for me...
Koy

 

The "S" on the Guitar Center Smith is janky.
Below is a bona fide Ken Smith headstock for reference.

 

I had a Smith, and everyone I have seen seem too have a real fancy brass nut, the back of the head stock also has odd protruding wood, to allow for the truss rod hardware.

 

I seem to have located the problem.