  We have thoroughly characterized the surfaces of the organic charge-transfer
salts TTF-TCNQ and (TMTSF)2PF6 which are generally acknowledged as prototypical
examples of one-dimensional conductors. In particular x-ray induced
photoemission spectroscopy turns out to be a valuable non-destructive
diagnostic tool. We show that the observation of generic one-dimensional
signatures in photoemission spectra of the valence band close to the Fermi
level can be strongly affected by surface effects. Especially, great care must
be exercised taking evidence for an unusual one-dimensional many-body state
exclusively from the observation of a pseudogap.
