tbonesullivan

Yeah, he's really the "father of the superstrat", or at least an uncle. Even though I think he sold the company to Grover Jackson in 1978 after bankruptcy, he'd already changed the landscape.

Oh man, that's sad to hear. The importance of his shop to the guitar community in the LA area cannot be overstated, and without Charvel, there very possibly would have been no Jackson. The list of people who had worked with his shop, from just getting work done to getting a full custom guitar, reads like a Hall of fame for LA guitarists of the 70s and 80s.

Bill had a heart condition and has had two heart attacks in the past, which may have something to do with this. There are also tons of other conditions that could lead to this. He was a heavy drinker for decades, which doesn't help. I admire his honesty, and always wish that somehow they could have made a final tour work, but honestly I think with his health and also the drummer being far more physically demanding, it wasn't in the cards.

The Five Watt World stuff is really great. I also love how honest he is about his own gear tendencies. There's one where he talks about having guitars that are almost "too good" to actually play, and revealed that his PRS S2 guitars are his number one players. He's also right that the Deluxe really is the sweet spot for vintage Fender amps, if you want to drive them hard to get some nice chewiness. Sure you can do it with a twin but you'll level your house. So many of the popular mods for Fender amps are fore the Deluxe.

Well, Thomann is Suing Fender. Being in Germany, they are also best positioned to take on the original ruling head on. The fact that Fender scored a default win in Germany and started going after U.S. makers was just plain stupid. Thomann is one of the largest music retailers in the world, and their CEO is worth 1.6 Billion. They also have a larger revenue stream than FMIC. https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/electric-guitars/thomann-is-suing-fender

I've been trying to learn to use 9s for a while now. EVH used 9s downtuned to Eb. Jake E Lee uses 9s. Seems like almost all of the 80s players used 9s. My biggest issue is that I cannot, for the life of me, get good fast palm muting with 9s. I have no idea how the hell people did it. Billy Gibbons... he uses 7s now. Still sounds great. Learning to use 7s though will definitely take a lot of adjustment.

NICE! I've been seeing pictures of all the basses that Geddy Lee has been rocking, including the throwback Rickenbacker 4001 style bass. Always amazed at how nuts people go over Rickenbacker basses, including myself.

Not really news I expected to see, but I guess they decided that the "Beatle Bass" was something they wanted to keep being able to sell. Hopefully they'll be able to maybe improve the neck joint, though many may just want the OG. I'd also love to see more of their other short scale offerings more available. Maybe also make... GASP... some long scale basses. https://guitar.com/news/industry-news/hofner-has-reportedly-been-saved-from-bankruptcy-by-thomann-and-gewa-music/

Well, it's now been confirmed that PRS was one of the companies hit. I would very possibly assume that the video above is from their response. Whoever made this call at FMIC is definitely short on more than a few brain cells, to go after PRS with such a flimsy "win". https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/electric-guitars/prs-fender-cease-and-desist

Well that sucks. Makes me realize that I've been posting here for probably almost two decades now. Time flies when you're having fun. RIP JohnnyB, you are definitely missed.

Yeah... like if the Chinese company had even tried, they might have actually won. But instead they ignored it, or possibly were never even notified, given how good they are about keeping a mailing address for legal procedures. I heard that they argued the shape was based on a woman's body? Did Leo Fender EVER say that?

Making "Better Than Gibson current production" was how Hamer Started. I think the crux of the matter will be "how different" an S-type guitar needs to be from a Stratocaster to not infringe on the copyright. The Grosh Retro Classic looks pretty much like a Strat to me, except for the headstock, which is slightly different. You need to overlay the two guitar bodies to see how they are different.

Thank you for all your work on this! I wish I could help but back end stuff is beyond me. Heck even front end stuff is beyond me.

IIRC, they have a somewhat weak neck joint, depending on the era and where made. The original "violin bass" as used by McCartney had a puny neck tenon and a floating fretboard. So the main thing to worry about is the tension of the strings. Unfortunately actually finding that out for a given set of strings can be a pain in the ass, due to how much flatwounds vary in construction.

I actually had been planning on selling my G&L Legacies eventually, but now I think I want to keep them just to spite Fender. Even though I have like... 5 Fender guitars / basses.

I think that's exactly what was ruled in the united states when they tried to trademark the shape. I'm pretty sure they did this in Germany because the laws are different. Though it might have been good for the company they sued to actually do something. The problem is that they seem to be going directly after smaller companies that don't have large legal resources. Of course now I wonder if they are going to go after Kramer guitars as well, which is owned by Gibson. Ibanez also makes strat type guitars.

Fender won a regional court case in Düsseldorf, Germany, against a company that pumps out strat clones on Ali-Express. Well, they kinda won, as the other party never bothered to show up, so technically it's a "default" ruling". But now they have decided to use this to send C&D letters to pretty much every company that sells guitars through Thomann in Germany, and most likely would love to bring this back to the U.S., but unfortunately the strat body was already declared generic. However that hasn't stopped them from going after U.S. companies that sell internationally. LSL got papers sent, and who knows who else. Since they already own Bigsby, the company Leo ripped the Strat headstock shape from, and also now that I guess they got the rights to Leo Fenders name from the bankruptcy of G&L, I guess they want to start suing everyone like Gibson. https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/electric-guitars/fender-cease-and-desist-lsl-instruments

For the price, I certainly hope those both bring the goods. That pain scheme reminds me of a story from Billy Gibbons guitar book, where he talks about opening for Hendrix when he was with the Moving Sidewalks. After a show was over, they brought out sheets of paper and paint and just were throwing paint on everything, or something like that.

I mean.. that is his classic look. His Fender signature models are also usually just black, though they sometimes make sunburst ones. However all of Geddy Lee's Sansamp pedals and preamps are kinda seafoam green, so I think he also likes green.

Ahh, a black SG. I used to have one. I'm sure I've posted pics about it. definitely one I should have not moved on, but I sold it to a friend, who later passed away. Now I really kinda wonder what his sister did with all his stuff, as his mom passed away not long before he did. I have two SGs now.. somewhere in the pile.

See, that's one thing I was glad about. Being used to Fender and MM basses, having the pickup cover or the horseshoe in the way is just a pain. I know some people love it, and it's got that iconic look, but you'll also see the majority of Rickenbacker 4001 and 4003 basses out there with it removed. The other Rick model basses don't have the big cover thing.

Yeah, I just saw two more photos posted of the blue one... danng.

Oh man don't even get me started on the prices of Concert Tickets, with or without the involvement of Ticketmaster / LiveNation. Here's the second one they made, which is more my style. I have no idea what the control setup is, but IIRC, Geddy lee is pretty much both pickups FULL OUT on his Jazz and Ricks.

As an owner of the "Big Beautiful Book of Bass", I know that Geddy Lee has quite the collection. He does not however have a very early 4000 bass, which had a huge gold scratch plate, single horseshoe pickup, strange plastic and lucite bridge cover, and other things. Well, Rick did him a solid and made him one, though with a neck pickup so it would give him the sound he wants. Now I have no interest in having this bass. I already have a 4003 in Fireglo. I love how well it does the Rick thing. However you can bet your ass that rich Rush / Geddy Lee fans have been activated by this. Apparently a second one was made in a more blue color with a Schaller bridge. I'm hoping that for once Rickenbacker decides "yes, we want to make money" and gives the people what they want. https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2026/04/27/inside-geddy-lees-new-custom-rickenbacker-4000v-bass-for-rushs-return/

Wow, I'd never even heard of this brand before! Definitely some interesting "ahead of their time" innovations, like an adjustable nut? Is the tremolo based on a big leaf spring like that later Gibson trems they used on SG specials, or is it something different?