Microchip to prevent fraud?

[Nuclearfishin]

I just learned something cool--back in 1997 Gibson started putting a micro-chip ID in the neck joint of their historic models. Has anybody ever heard of Gibson (or anybody else for that matter) using or reading the chip? It seems like a cool idea, I'm just wondering how the average person could benefit and have a guitar scanned to avoid being taken by one of the many fakes that seem to be flooding the market.

 

[guitarfish]

Carvin puts a Snagg tag in all theirs. I don't think it's a theft deterrent, and it won't help get a guitar back, but it can aid in ID'ing a recovered guitar in the event the serial number is gone.

 

[samdjr74]

I think the idea of this was to tag a guitar with it's serial number and if the guitar is ever stolen it could be located if the guitar is brought to a shop that had the scanner tool. Good idea but I don't know of anyone that scans guitars.

 

[John Hurtt]

Baker uses the Snagg in his B3 guitars. I don't know how practical it is yet, but the idea is good.

 

[fenderfreak]

what?! this is interesting. but ya, who scans them? never heard of any shops that scan these. if the scanner is not available easily, i can't see how this helps except when it goes back to Gibson?

 

[michael30]

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Accessories/Security/SNAGG_Microchip.html

 

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Awesome !

 

[Nuclearfishin]

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Accessories/Security/SNAGG_Microchip.html

Wow, that's even cheaper than I would have imagined for the chip reader. Why don't we see more people using this? It would be really easy to eliminate a lot of potential fakes on the market if more people knew about this and had dealers/pawn shops scan the guitars.

Also, why don't we have a registry where people could report stolen equipment? I know thieves can easily alter serial numbers and such, but a chip would be much harder to copy. If dealers and pawn shop owners could scan, they could verify it against a registry of stolen gear to see if it was hot before they bought it. Even better it might discourage the theft if crooks couldn't unload it.

 

[guitarfish]

Wow, that's even cheaper than I would have imagined for the chip reader. Why don't we see more people using this? It would be really easy to eliminate a lot of potential fakes on the market if more people knew about this and had dealers/pawn shops scan the guitars.

Also, why don't we have a registry where people could report stolen equipment? I know thieves can easily alter serial numbers and such, but a chip would be much harder to copy. If dealers and pawn shop owners could scan, they could verify it against a registry of stolen gear to see if it was hot before they bought it. Even better it might discourage the theft if crooks couldn't unload it.

Those are good ideas. Theoretically, if someone is looking at a used Fender Custom Shop guitar, they s/b able to have it scanned to verify it's authenticity. In practice though, this technology is only as good as the buyers & sellers. Let me give you an example.

I bought a Carvin in '05, it had a Snagg chip, and I registered it online. I sold the guitar a year later, and told the buyer about the Snagg chip. All he needed to do was create a free account on the Snagg site, and I could transfer the registration to him. I emailed the guy 2 or 3 times, and he never bothered to do it. Then he sold the guitar. So now someone has it who either doesn't know about the Snagg chip at all, or doesn't know to contact me.

A little frustrating, but nothing I can do about it. There's always a chance if it gets stolen, it could get returned to me, lol.

 

[Goo Fighters]

Are they true bypass!?!?!? How is the tone affected!?!?!? Is it boutique enough?!?!

 

[guitarplayaman]

Chips of any kind whether in guitars or pets or people are a bad idea.

 

[uOpt]

These aren't microchips.

If anything they put in rfid chips.

 

[Nuclearfishin]

I understand how the system is a failure for you guys. But, if there were a registry for stolen gear, it wouldn't matter whether the site was updated or maintained by the SNAGG company. If somebody has their gear stolen, they enter the chip ID on the website. When stuff is pawned, the dealer compares it against the registry. If it's on there, gigs up.