Have There Ever Been Fake Koetsu?

@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.

@mulveling He`s waiting for a reply and I sent him a link to this thread.

Much appreciate all the information !!

Steve

Ok some more sleuthing around and I found this:

https://www.koetsusea.com/The-Wood-Series.php

I`m inclined to believe that it`s a Standard according to the pictures.