I found my stolen blue V

[Reeltarded]

It's not correct on purpose. Three features anyone but a novice would know.

That isn't enough. I don't build counterfeit guitars. These were the first three electric guitars I ever built. They were for fun and banging on the floor.

I have another I left incomplete after all this shit started happening.

[Leo_Gnardo]

This is sorta stirring my brain cells that are thinkin' of fine art fakes - some of which have become collector items in spite of being copies, forgeries, or works "done in the style of" and passed off to collectors & museums who want to believe and shell out $$$$$$ as if they were.

I know you're in a mood to do something about it Miles. It might be a solution to just watch what happens & gather some amusement from that. What happens if you contact seller/buyer/market/authorities and give them the story - and they don't believe you? The joke's on them then. Even with the differences between yours and the 'authentic item.' Sorry it won't benefit you except a big bitter horse laugh. My serious recommend is - finish up that V you have partially built and enjoy it. Put bad times behind & get on with life as we know it.

[ToneMerc]

Professional advice on this probably won't hurt, but I'm not sure what sort of professional. I'm thinking of the point at which you must identify yourself and your intentions to the one who presently has the V. Maybe a small carrot and big stick approach can create some movement.

On the one hand, he doesn't want the embarrassment (when it becomes public knowledge) of having said he owns the only blue V on the planet when it turns out to be a fake. The risk (reputation) of being exposed and the consequences that follow may be on your side if he has a strong need to keep it quiet. On the other hand, a small amount of cash, and I do mean small -- something to cover his trouble for returning it -- may be enough to push him in the right direction. Once it becomes known the piece is a fake and it is stolen, it will lose all collector's value and whatever he's got in it will be in the crapper.

This is very different from the Montrose/Moore guitar, which is a genuine Gibson LP. In that case, provenance and ownership are the issues. Here, the item is conterfeit and that is a big difference because there is virtually no significant monetary issue in play after revelations are made. The question will be, can you prove it. Here, you may need Gibson to say that s/n doesn't belong to that guitar and we didn't make it. At that point, you may run the risk of tangling with Gibson over whether you can build an instrument that looks exactly like theirs does. Maybe you remember how Gibson tied up PRS in court for years until PRS finally got a favorable ruling? In that case, PRS had deep enough pockets to pursue the matter. OTOH, maybe Gibson doesn't care about a one-off that "wasn't intended to be sold."

Reel, when I call it a counterfeit I am not demeaning your work in any way. From what I see, you make beautiful guitars. However, I think you know, in this particular case, your brand isn't Gibson in the eyes of the collector community.

Good luck with this.

Phil, I was thinking along these exact same lines yesterday, he's riding a slippy slope here.

TM

[Zippy]

Changes at the site?

http://1967-flyingv.weebly.com/pelham-blue.html

"Serial number: 000014. This is supposedly a 1967 Flying V with Pelham Blue finish. But, according to some very reliable sources, this guitar is a copy that was built in 1996. The finish is lucite Lake Placid Blue. Other sources say there are in-fact two real Pelham Blue 1967 Flying V's out there in the world. One was owned by the guitar player from the 1970's band the Raspberries, Wally Bryson. I dont know if he still has it or not. It is also rumored that Lenny Kravitz has one."

[Phil_S]

Ugh! Forget about the stealth approach. Someone woke the sleeping dog.

Reel: I am sorry about calling it a counterfeit. It was the wrong word choice. It is not like you are making Franklyns and passing them off as Franklins. Conterfeit implies the intetd to deceive. You have made clear from the beginning that you never had intent to deceive anyone.

I guess it is hard to feel satisfaction that someone got fooled. It's very nice work!

[Reeltarded]

Yes, I know buddy! I wanted to get that out there though so anyone reading this too intently wouldn't start having designs on being some neighborly hero and landing half of us in a court somewhere to tell the story they want to hear.

My intention was to make a copy of my cool guitar so I could beat the crap out of it live. I have turned down many thousands of dollars in my face to outright fake something and that is not even sort of my intention, ever.

I lost control of this mess. It was my first rodeo. I have been sickened at most every turn thinking about the people who did profit from it. Maybe Jeff od'd on the money he got. I hope it hurt. He was an outrageous piece of shit there at the end. A friend I lost long before he lost his own self.

I normally wouldn't speak ill of the dead, ya know. Special pleading in this case.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I lost control of this mess. It was my first rodeo. I have been sickened at most every turn thinking about the people who did profit from it.

It's a case of what I call Artist's Dilemma. The twist in your case is you never sold it nor intended to sell it. It is kind of amusing that some have profited mightily as it changed ownership. What they did with those profits, especially on the first sale, isn't your responsibility so you can stop worrying about that.

I'd be interested to see you finish up the unfinished one, a much better way to spend your energy. Put on serial # FAKE pressed into the wood just like brand G. Your little joke on the world. And here's another to make your day:

TAG: the latest in "reliable sources." Gotta love that! We're esteemed to be reliable now, who knew? Only a matter of time before Prince Rooopert tries to buy the site. What could be better? Fairly unbalanced?

[NickC]

........ Put on serial # FAKE pressed into the wood just like brand G. Your little joke on the world.

Or instead of "FAKE" ........ put "REEL".

[John_P_WI]

........ Put on serial # FAKE pressed into the wood just like brand G. Your little joke on the world.

Or instead of "FAKE" ........ put "REEL".

Well played Sir!

[Teleguy61]

Ugly story Miles. I'm sorry for the pain you've had over your guitar.
People can suck so bad sometimes.
How can they do that?

[tubeswell]

How about starting a facebook campaign on the stolen gee tar? Some angle like 'This is the guitar I built and this is the story of how it got stolen and this is where I found it ended up. Please give it back to me?' or something like that?

[jeff12]

Wow, must be something about Flying V's. My story has a happy ending. This is my 82 V2, bought it new in 82. It was stolen in 86. In 1996 the local pawn shop called me about repairing a bad pickup on a guitar they had just put out for sale. You guessed it my Flying V. Got the guitar back 10 years almost to the day from when it was taken. If it could talk it would probably tell quite the story of it's 10 year journey. Just amazed to get it back. A lot rougher condition than when taken but a keeper for sure. Funny though the case still had the Dean Markley string sticker on it I put on 10 years earlier.

[73GTV]

Nice,

[LeeMo]

Edit:I decided not to put my joke on here out of respect for Reeltarded. It was tasteless and sarcastic. He might have liked it . No need to pick at sores that are healing.

LeeMo

[Reeltarded]

Post it up. My skin isn't only really thick.. so is my sense of understanding.

I probably won't even notice. heh