Have There Ever Been Fake Koetsu?

No thoughts at all ??

@scm 

The pictures are of a legit Koetsu. Seller is in Japan, so you'll probably get a legit Koetsu. I thought the "Signature" model had the different body shape and metal cover with "lip" like the higher end Urushi & RSP, but it they might have made it like the standard Rosewood more recently - I'm not familiar with that part of the line. 

@mulveling ..Thanks, I`ve been helping my buddy find a cartridge that would be a step up over his nearly worn out ZYX Ultimate 100.

He did buy that one and it will be interesting to see how it sounds.

Thanks Again

Steve

@mulveling....Nice catch on noticing the lack of the 'bump out' at the base of the cantilever shown in the picture 👍.

I let him know and told him to double check that he will be getting a Signature not a Standard Rosewood.

Steve

@mulveling....Nice catch on noticing the lack of the 'bump out' at the base of the cantilever shown in the picture 👍.

I let him know and told him to double check that he will be getting a Signature not a Standard Rosewood.

@scm  They might have legitimately changed that, more recently. Koetsu has made little changes to production over the years, which sometimes makes it hard to parse out what's what. That's a real challenge for older Onyx models. And good luck predicting whether an Urushi will have smooth-bore or threaded mounting holes!

You can see the Rosewood Standards for sale from Japan have a very dry, light-colored looking Rosewood. Yours shows a dark, rich Rosewood color. So the way to distinguish *might* simply be a more selected piece of darker Rosewood. The Signature Platinum (which I do have) adds a light coat of clear lacquer, which makes its look richer and shinier versus the matte Signature and Standard models. The Platinums also always have a serial # that starts with "P" like "P356".

If the Japanese seller is adamant it's a "Signature" model, I'd be inclined to trust him.