Over the last few days, certain factions of the online musical community have been abuzz with news of a custom-built, 17-string guitar being made for a popular YouTube celebrity by the name of Jared Dines. However, the last day has seen this tale of musical decadence turned into a sale of caution, warning others to be wary of what you buy online.

Earlier this week, a picture emerged online of a man holding a rather ambitious looking, 17-stringed guitar. The instrument in question was a custom job for musical comedian Jared Dines. Dines had originally commissioned the instrument to be made so that he could use it in a video he was making named ‘Djent 2017’.

Image of a 17-string guitar posted by YouTube celebrity Jared Dines

The instrument in question.

Various online resources, such as Guitar Player, commented on the instrument, remarking on the sheer audacity of building such an instrument, and remarking on how you can expect to see it in the hands of Jared Dines for an upcoming video.

However, as most stories tend to happen, this one did not have a happy ending, with Jared Dines today taking to YouTube to note how he was scammed.

In a video fittingly titled ‘I got scammed BAD…,’ Dines outlines the steps leading up to the instrument’s creation, and how all was not as it seemed.

“I commissioned somebody by the name of Nicholas Olson to make me a 17-string guitar for this video,” Dines said. “To which he said he would charge me a little over $1,000, and then the rest of the payment would be in me shouting him out on all my platforms and telling people to check him out. So I thought ‘That’s pretty cool, okay, let’s do that.’

YouTube VideoPlay

Dines continues to talk about how red flags began to then emerge, with the luthier from Olson Guitarworks beginning to ask for more money, and letting the deadline that was originally agreed upon pass him by. Soon, the penny dropped and Dines discovered what was really going on.

“He doesn’t make these guitars, apparently. He orders them from a Chinese website for $400, which is verified,” Dines explains. “The exact same guitar that he says he made for me is being sold on a Chinese website for $400. Coincidence? Maybe. So this came to my attention that he ripped me off, charged me about $1,200-1,300 for this guitar that costs $400, said that he was making it and that’s why it was taking so long.”

“So I confronted him about it and he is now blaming somebody else who he entrusted to make guitars for him in some other state. And he didn’t realize that this other guy was sending off to get these Chinese guitars which I think is bullshit. Because the entire time he was telling me he was the one making it, talking about step-by-step what he’s doing to the guitar and why it’s taking so long. And now that he’s been called out he’s saying ‘Oh, somebody else made it, I didn’t know that he ordered it from the Chinese company.’ So that’s a lie right there.”

Jared Dines concludes his video by stating the facts, noting that Nicholas Olson from Olson Guitarworks was the person in charge of the custom job, how he was effectively sold a cheap pre-made Chinese version of the guitar he was after, and how much money he had lost in this whole ordeal.

Of course, various commenters on Jared Dines’ videos were quick to chime in with varying responses. While some were sympathetic, some took it as an opportunity to gloat about the perils of buying things from an online seller. Others however, well, others quickly took to posting memes from The Simpsons about Dines’ situation.

An edited screenshot from The Simpsons used to make light of Jared Dines' situation

Image courtesy of Brendan Keith Thompson from Compuglobalhypermeganet Australia & New Zealand

While Jared Dines’ story might appear to be nothing new to those various musicians who have found themselves on the receiving end of various online snake oil salesmen, others are treating this as a cautionary tale of how not to buy instruments online.

Regardless of your viewpoint, this is definitely going to be one of those tales that will be remembered for years to comes.

Check out YouTube’s Jared Dines & his ’10 Styles Of Metal’ video:

YouTube VideoPlay

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine