Fender can't win on quality so it resorts to legal measures

**jzucker** · 05-20-2026, 10:39 PM

Fender escalates legal campaign against S-style guitars | Guitar World

**coyote-1** · 05-21-2026, 08:36 AM

Does Fender LOSE on quality?

I have a Squier Standard Stratocaster. Close to 20 years now I guess… the neck was perfect and has remained that way. The body is fine, the finish has held up well. I did change out the electronics, but that was something any rational person might do to any single-coil guitar given the noise on some of the stages I was playing. The original electronics had as 70s Strat tone as one could wish. All for $219.

If you’re going to argue that Fender should not be doing this, ‘quality’ is not a good launch point. If the company can make the legal case that this shape/concept is theirs and theirs alone, and make it stick in court, you don’t get to say “yeah but the frets were not perfect on my Ultra Luxe Vintage Strat, therefore other companies!” Question: if an engine cover on a 296GTS does not fit perfectly, does that authorize Kia to flood the market with Ferrari clones?

**jzucker** · 05-21-2026, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by coyote-1

Does Fender LOSE on quality?

I have a Squier Standard Stratocaster. Close to 20 years now I guess… the neck was perfect and has remained that way. The body is fine, the finish has held up well. I did change out the electronics, but that was something any rational person might do to any single-coil guitar given the noise on some of the stages I was playing. The original electronics had as 70s Strat tone as one could wish. All for $219.

If you’re going to argue that Fender should not be doing this, ‘quality’ is not a good launch point. If the company can make the legal case that this shape/concept is theirs and theirs alone, and make it stick in court, you don’t get to say “yeah but the frets were not perfect on my Ultra Luxe Vintage Strat, therefore other companies!” Question: if an engine cover on a 296GTS does not fit perfectly, does that authorize Kia to flood the market with Ferrari clones?

The reason fender went the copyright route is that they already lost in court over the earlier suit so they have changed tactics. It's just an attrition game. They gain nothing except to put the competition out of business. From what I can see with suhr, they are already changing the body shape, the neck joint, the headstock, the number of frets, etc. Maybe fender should patent or copyright the usage of photo-flame and sandwich bodies?

they absolutely lose on quality. I went through a couple eric johnson models which were just horrible. One had a warped neck and maxed truss rod (i guess .010 strings just had too much tension).

Fender is using crap wood that has not been aged or dried properly. My son's american professional needs a fret level right out of the box.

My 2 suhrs are perfect. Both of them appear as if they were pleked and have held up over time.

**Christian Miller** · 05-21-2026, 10:51 AM

Yeah I think most guitarists seem to think USA Fender is pretty weak these days compared to the competition.

There’s been times in the past 20 years when the Mexico factory or Squier have put out something absolutely killer.

I have a USA Tele with a great neck. But I tried literally every tele in the shop and this one was used.

**coyote-1** · 05-21-2026, 12:11 PM

Artificially dried wood has issues (brittleness), and aging wood takes TIME and results in a smaller quantity of usable wood as flaws reveal themselves. Very few mass manufacturers are able to properly dry wood nowadays. And of course there’s zero “old growth” available.

Bowed necks? Yeah that’s an issue. As for fret leveling? Interestingly, I’ve never had such an issue on a new or used instrument. I’ve had a few with fret sprout, but never had a neck that, when properly set, needed fret leveling. I thought that problem was exclusively the realm of $3K Gibsons

Originally Posted by jzucker

The reason fender went the copyright route is that they already lost in court over the earlier suit so they have changed tactics. It's just an attrition game. They gain nothing except to put the competition out of business. From what I can see with suhr, they are already changing the body shape, the neck joint, the headstock, the number of frets, etc. Maybe fender should patent or copyright the usage of photo-flame and sandwich bodies?

they absolutely lose on quality. I went through a couple eric johnson models which were just horrible. One had a warped neck and maxed truss rod (i guess .010 strings just had too much tension).

Fender is using crap wood that has not been aged or dried properly. My son's american professional needs a fret level right out of the box.

My 2 suhrs are perfect. Both of them appear as if they were pleked and have held up over time.

**Litterick** · 05-21-2026, 04:25 PM

It is not about quality. It is about Germany. Fender won in a German court and now has the authority to prevent Strat copies being sold in Germany. Fender could move on to conquer the rest of Europe by court actions in member states. These are big markets. Cheap Chinese clones and more respectable American copies are direct competition for Fender's own guitars.

Fender took the copyright route because it became available, after the European Court of Justice ruled that works of applied art should not be held to higher standards than other copyright claims.