Should I be flattered that there are fake "Jerman's" on ebay?

[thistle3585]

I had a former customer email me telling me he bought one of my mandolins on ebay, which I thought was kind of odd. Most people contact me when selling one. I looked it up on the sold listings and its a fake. Now I have to send the guy an email telling him the bad news.
Fake Jerman Mandolin

[JEStanek]

It's certainly an older e-mando with that JazzMando sticker on the back.

Jamie

[thistle3585]

This has been bugging the crap out of me for the last hour or so. It seems like I had seen this instrument before. I'm thinking this is a body that I had milled and decided not to use. It may have gone through the flood in 2008. I was thinking I remember a cafe member posting a photo of that bridge cover some time back. Anyhow, I know that it isn't an instrument that I had built.

[journeybear]

Weird. It seems to me there must have been some connection in the previous transaction, when the seller bought it, for him to make a point of putting this in his ad. Is there any way you can contact him to find out who sold it to him?

My inital thought was, yes, it's an honor, albeit a dubious one. Then I saw the selling price. One would hope one's work, even if it's falsely attributed, would be worth more.

[thistle3585]

The original owner/builder is a member of the cafe or at least was a member. I remember him posting a question about making the bridge cover but I can't seem to track the thread down. The new owner, also a cafe member, is sending it to me and I'm going to go through it for him. More to be revealed when I get it in my hands.

[MikeEdgerton]

I spent some time searching and didn't come up with a thread but here is the instrument in question for posterity.

[darrylicshon]

I say that one on ebay and almost put a bid down

[thistle3585]

Okay, this is getting interesting. I emailed the buyer and told him that this wasn't an instrument that I had built. I just got off the phone with the seller. He called me as the buyer told him about our conversation. We talked for awhile and he said that he wasn't trying to misrepresent the instrument and that it was conveyed to him that it was built by me. Apparently, the instrument is in transit to the buyer right now. He said he'd be willing to take it back because he didn't want people to think that he was selling a fake. All in all, it was a very good conversation and I have come away from it a lot more confused about the origin of the instrument. The seller sent me a line of emails from the guy he bought it from including some emails between myself and that guy. Apparently, he and I had an email exchange back in 2006. So, in the end the three of us myself, the buyer and the seller are going to try and make sure everyone comes out of this feeling okay about the deal. I really appreciated the seller calling me and being up front with his end of it. He made it very clear that he wasn't trying to pass off a fake or perpetrate a fraud. Both guys are real nice and I hate to see them have to get caught up in this. Now, I have to go back in my records and see if I did in fact build part or all of it. I have kept records from very early on and it doesn't come up, so we'll see what plays out.

Sorry if I'm confusing people by referring to buyer, seller and guy he bought it from but I don't want to publicize a bunch of names.

[journeybear]

You can call them Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego if you wish, but this an intriguing story however you look at it. It sounds like the seller acted in good faith, given what info he had from the person he bought it from. That's where it gets a little sketchy. I hope your sleuthing is fruitful. Thanks for being so forthcoming.

[thistle3585]

Well, the verdict is in. Its been quite an interesting day. Come to find out, it is my mandolin. In fact, it is the very first mandolin that I made. Well, not quite made to completion, but my very first attempt at building a mandolin. I found out who the original owner was, which was a cafe member, and slowly but surely tracked it down. I went on the Wayback Machine and looked up my very first website and it was listed as #1. Somewhere along the way, through the various website revisions, it got labelled as #2. If I recall correctly, I started it about 2002 and got fed up with it and tossed it in the corner. In 2006, I saw a post on the cafe where a guy was wanting to trade a tenor guitar for an emando. Apparently, I offered it up along with a box of mismatched tuners and off it went never really thinking much about it.
So, it wasn't a fake. I called the seller back and told him the story and now he's regretting selling it. In regards to the buyer, I've offered to build him a new, custom mandolin in exchange for getting this one back. So there you have it. This piece of crap is actually mine and hopefully will come back home. For what its worth, its had three owners in twelve years and they've all been cafe members.

[Dave Greenspoon]

The moral of the story for me is: You're going to regret letting go of your Jerman!

[Frank Russell]

Buyer.

[Frank Russell]

By the way, both Andrew and the seller are to be congratulated for straightening this out so that everyone comes out okay. I went from being stoked that I scored a Jerman (even a little rough) for such low $$, to crushed that it might not be real, to being stoked again about Andrew's generous offer. All I was trying to do in the first place was replace a Jerman that I sold a few years ago and have missed every day since. Good folks on both sides of this one, doesn't always turn out that way these days. Frank.

[dang]

Good folks on both sides of this one, doesn't always turn out that way these days. Frank.

This turned into a much better story as I read along, major props to all parties involved for working through this and being honest!

[vwfye]

Truth is stranger than fiction and ofter more fun to read!

[Sweetpea44]

What an interesting story .... glad it worked out!

[Ed Goist]

GREAT thread, GREAT tale, & GREAT outcome.

These win-win-win situations can only occur when everyone involved is totally upfront and willing to openly communicate. Hats off and job well done to all involved!

[thistle3585]

After twelve years, number one has arrived back home. Looks like I'm going to put a new top on it and "re power" it. Neck is perfectly straight. Not sure if I'm going to replace the duct tape with a truss rod cover though.

[journeybear]

Or you could found the Jerman Museum with this as the first exhibit. Whatever you do with it, glad you got it back.

[thistle3585]

I always wanted to keep one for myself and have never been able to so this will probably be my regular player.

[Frank Russell]

I only had it in my hands for a few minutes, as the seller sent it to me with a broken string, but did the electronics still work, Andrew? What little I saw of it was kind of cool looking. If I hadn't been in a big hurry to get it back to you, I would have liked to mess around with it for a few days. Definitely light years better than the early efforts of many makers I have known. I also dug the duct tape truss rod cover. Maybe just glue your name in MOP on top of the tape? Frank

[journeybear]

Maybe just write it on with silver Sharpie, in keeping with the down-home approach.