Fender attack on the clones

[DawgBone]

The new Harley CEO is bringing back the Evo Sportster which may be a good move as geezers who still want to ride (and I may soon resemble that remark ) may not be able to push their 900 pound baggers into the garage for much longer.

Wow, hell must've frozen over, lol. Glad to hear it because I hated the whole bagger trend and that was one of the few bikes I had any interest in. The sportster S looked cool, but is a pretty expensive bike by comparison, and mostly unproven. Plus I hate liquid cooled cruiser bikes. I have an '05 project 883 out in the shed that was a frame and a parts pile when I got it, I just need to get motivated to finish it.

[pauln]

I'm just glad I got mine back in what Cunamara called the "brief resurrection"; the first couple of years when Fender resumed manufacturing in the USA in the Fall of 1987 (at the new Corona plant, with just a few employees, in conjunction with the creation of the Custom Shop in the same facility).

March 1988 - one of 25 Bahama Green, John Cruz left his name inside, became C.S. master builder

[GuyBoden]

Harley moved forward when Indian did not with things like overhead valves and rear suspension. And as a result, Indian went out of business. Back in the 1950's innovation was expected from American producers. Harley is today trying to move forward again, but their older customer base (me included) is not going along for the ride (pun intended). They are betting on younger riders going for their high tech, Made in Thailand motorcycles. I hope it works for them. The new CEO seems to have a plan....

I think Fender and Gibson have a similar problem in that their customers want Strats and Lesters and whenever they innovate, the market goes thumbs down. Other than Strats, Teles, P Basses and J Bases, I have never played any Fender guitars that appealed to me in the least, so I get it.

Some can still remember the British Motorcycle industry.


1934 Triumph 6/1. (One of my favs.)

[Litterick]

Meanwhile, back in the Guitar World, Fender has spoken.

“Everybody is welcome and will be able to continue making and selling double cutaway and/or two horned electric guitars, as long as they are designed sufficiently different from the Fender Stratocaster.”

“Our focus has been on working directly with companies to find practical paths forward."

“Where there is cooperation, that can include transition or phase-out periods and concessions on monetary damages."

“Outcomes such as inventory destruction are not something we are seeking – they are legal remedies that may be considered in situations where infringement continues without engagement toward a resolution.”

“Many of the addressees of that initial communication have reached out to us… and have entered into reasonable settlement discussions on the premise that they will discontinue making and/or selling the 'Stratocaster' clones.”

[Christian Miller]

Haha, they totally tried it on and are back-pedalling like crazy after the push back.

[garybaldy]

Haha, they totally tried it on and are back-pedalling like crazy after the push back.

May be all the reports have been exaggerated like everything is these days.

[Christian Miller]

May be all the reports have been exaggerated like everything is these days.

Nah.

I mean yes, obviously, YouTubers will catastrophise but also this is at minimum a massive PR clusterflip.


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[DawgBone]

Some can still remember the British Motorcycle industry.


1934 Triumph 6/1. (One of my favs.)

Pre unit Triumphs and BSA's are among the most beautiful bikes ever built IMO.

[Stringswinger]

Pre unit Triumphs and BSA's are among the most beautiful bikes ever built IMO.

The new Trumpets are pretty cool too. But IMO, the best of the British two-wheelers were the Vincents.

[Unclegrumpy]

Maybe. A friend has a Brough Superior mounted on a floor stand in his living room. Our teddy bears are former riders so they couldn’t resist.

yeah, he’s single.

[GuyBoden]

Maybe. A friend has a Brough Superior mounted on a floor stand in his living room. Our teddy bears are former riders so they couldn’t resist.

yeah, he’s single.

The new Trumpets are pretty cool too. But IMO, the best of the British two-wheelers were the Vincents.

In the UK, Matchless are considered one of the best British Motorcycle ever built.

The Brough Superior used Matchless engines. So, that says how highly Matchless were regarded.

All good stuff.

Edit: I personally, like vintage Velocette motorcycles, because a friend had a nice example.

[ruger9]

Apparently Fender sent a cease & desist to PRS over the Silver Sky... this will be interesting...

[garybaldy]

Apparently Fender sent a cease & desist to PRS over the Silver Sky... this will be interesting...

I think PRS should as well. It's an ugly thing.

[Christian Miller]

I think PRS should as well. It's an ugly thing.

Hideous guitars, Just goes to show the clout Mayer has with the young 'uns.

Probably too hideous to be actionable.

[Alter]

I don't think they have a chance, they haven't copyrighted the strat shape for decades, this new "guitar is a work of art" approach won't fly. I wonder why they created all that negative commotion. Is the lawyer team so strong there? Big corporation way of working? Who knows..

[jzucker]

The local GC was looking bad a few years ago but seems to be lively these days.

My friend has a shop that is acoustic themed but he still has plenty of electric guitars and amps, used mostly. He’s doing ok but he hustles.

As far as the intellectual property I am ok with those wanting to protect their property but in the case of Gibson, Fender, and Martin they should have started about 50 years ago.

Regardless change will come.

they will lose big on this one.

[jzucker]

I don't think they have a chance, they haven't copyrighted the strat shape for decades, this new "guitar is a work of art" approach won't fly. I wonder why they created all that negative commotion. Is the lawyer team so strong there? Big corporation way of working? Who knows..

they are hoping to put the small companies out of business with legal costs.

[spencer096]

weird fender's getting so much hate.

even if it's legal, it's hard to support companies making blatant ripoffs.

[jzucker]

Haha, they totally tried it on and are back-pedalling like crazy after the push back.

Suhr did everything they asked when he left, as head of the custom shop to design strats with enough changes not to be sued. It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out.

[jzucker]

weird fender's getting so much hate.

even if it's legal, it's hard to support companies making blatant ripoffs.

none of the "clones" are blatant ripoffs. They all improve over the original with aged woods, better workmanship, better pickups, better hardware, tweaked body and headstock shape etc. Like Gibson, fender doesn't even know how to make a vintage instrument. Fender's custom shop guitars are made with the same bodies and necks that normally go on the USA factory instruments.

it's clearly a blatant attempt to put smaller companies out of business who are beating them in sales. Instead, they should try improving the quality and warranty. The recently scrapped the limited lifetime warranty on the american instruments for example.

[spencer096]

none of the "clones" are blatant ripoffs. They all improve over the original with aged woods, better workmanship, better pickups, better hardware, tweaked body and headstock shape etc. Like Gibson, fender doesn't even know how to make a vintage instrument. Fender's custom shop guitars are made with the same bodies and necks that normally go on the USA factory instruments.

im not defending fender's business...i agree it's not up to snuff and their custom shop is a joke.

but none of those qualities you listed distinguish a suhr classic S from a strat though...a tweaked body like the silver sky is different, but the classic S is still very very much in the classic strat realm. and if it wasnt clearly and obviously influenced by a strat and aimed at the strat market, what else could the S in classic S stand for?

[joe2758]

[QUOTE=spencer096;1467432

but none of those qualities you listed distinguish a suhr classic S from a strat though...a tweaked body like the silver sky is different, but the classic S is still very very much in the classic strat realm. and if it wasnt clearly and obviously influenced by a strat and aimed at the strat market, what else could the S in classic S stand for?[/QUOTE] I was giving the benefit of the doubt until I saw the classic T lol

[jzucker]

That's like saying a an L5 and an eastman are the same.

Look at the headstock and neck joint of of the suhr. Body shape is slightly different too.

[joe2758]

and JM

[spencer096]

It's clearly a blatant attempt to put smaller companies out of business who are beating them in sales. Instead, they should try improving the quality and warranty. The recently scrapped the limited lifetime warranty on the american instruments for example.

personally, i think theyd be better off slimming down their lineup...quality would improve and itd be easier to issue warranties and customer service organically without 500 different models.

but if a smaller company is coasting off of their designs (we know the history), i dont see why they shouldnt defend themselves legally. and conisdering they bring in close to $1b/year, im not sure where this idea is that they're getting outsold came from...i guess the silver sky outsold solely the american professional strat for a year or two, but not the entire USA fender strat lineup if you combined them, let alone mexican and japanese strat models (mexican-made telecaster and strat were the highest selling).