tbonesullivan

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.