The Anatomy of a Fake Wylde Audio Guitar - Part 1

Despite Wylde Audio guitars not being everyone's cup of tea, Zakk Wylde's guitars are some of the most commonly counterfeit guitars out there. This model, the Odin Grail continued the legacy of his bullseye and buzzsaw Gibson Les Pauls when he separated from Gibson in 2015 to start Wylde Audio with Schecter. Personally, I love the appearance of this once - the gold and crimson color combination paired with gold hardware and black plastics are very visually pleasing. The gold hardware itself creates a contrast with the translucent crimson that allows the flame of the maple underneath to peak through. In terms of playability, what you hear about the thick "baseball bat" necks is accurate and the active EMG 81/85 pairings scream like you'd hope.

Authentic version of this guitar are hard to find, though 3-4 a year have been popping up on Reverb for the last 3 years, ranging from $1400 (damaged) - $2600. On eBay, there's one in Japan for about $7500 that hasn't sold in the same time frame. It's autographed, but frankly Zakk isn't stingy with his signature, so the autograph alone isn't worth the $5k up-charge.

Meanwhile, there's no shortage of $250-$400 version of the same guitar on eBay. They're all listings from China and they range from dead on replicas to obvious fakes (more red and brown than crimson and gold). On AliExpress, you'll find the same for about $250.

Unfortunately, you'll find the knock-offs listed as authentic on various marketplaces like Facebook, Offer-Up, and Craigslist. Even worse, it's possible for these to make their way into the used sections of guitar stores, including big box stores like Guitar Center and Sam Ash.

That's really a shame. You should be able to trust your local store, but if they're going to plead ignorance to make a profit, the best you can do is be an informed shopper.

That's the point behind this blog series. We're going to doing a deep-dive into fake that came from Sam Ash in King of Prussia. Here's what's coming:

• Part 2: External Comparison - visually, if you had this in your hands in the store, what are some of the obvious signs to look for

• Part 3: Internal Comparison - if you have the opportunity to peek into the control cavities, what should you find?

• Part 4: Under the Hood - we're going to strip this guitar down to see what we find. Are the stripes decals? Is it just a printed graphic veneer?

• Part 5: Rebuilding - I'm going to be doing some damage in Part 4, but I'm going to build it back up to make it playable again, if not entirely better than it originally was.

Find me on Instagram or Facebook to follow along!

Follow Along on Social