First, I am not against buying these type things. I don't care. If it is such a big deal to you that those logos not be on the headstock, and it is important that these things aren't mistaken for EBMM because it may hurt their reputation, then why not spend your money with EBMM if you are that concerned about them? Doesn't make sense to me.
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NBD - a counterfeit bummer.
- Thread starter Apolicious
- Start date
And once the item is sold and shipped to the US, it's in violation of that law and the seller is subject to it, no matter where they are located.
I would just remove the logo and maybe do something creative like your own logo.
I build my own Rickenbacker clones, purely for my own use, which is perfectly legal under "fair use", akin to painting a copy of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and hanging it in your living room. Selling it, represented as genuine, would be illegal, of course. I build some obvious "tells" into my Ric clones, and make my own TRC's, which is actually pretty easy to do. Weirdly, since Rickenbacker Inc. will not sell you a replacement TRC for any price if it's lost or broken, the only source is either something like $150 on Ebay, or $3.00 on Aliexpress. I have no issue with a fake Ric TRC on a real Ric, kind of a victimless crime. A trademark is only as good as the companies willingness to enforce it, which is why Fender and Gibson lost theirs years ago, but Rickenbacker has always been pretty zealous about protecting theirs. It is, however, their job to do that, not mine.
that's beautiful!I build my own Rickenbacker clones, purely for my own use, which is perfectly legal under "fair use", akin to painting a copy of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and hanging it in your living room. Selling it, represented as genuine, would be illegal, of course. I build some obvious "tells" into my Ric clones, and make my own TRC's, which is actually pretty easy to do. Weirdly, since Rickenbacker Inc. will not sell you a replacement TRC for any price if it's lost or broken, the only source is either something like $150 on Ebay, or $3.00 on Aliexpress. I have no issue with a fake Ric TRC on a real Ric, kind of a victimless crime. A trademark is only as good as the companies willingness to enforce it, which is why Fender and Gibson lost theirs years ago, but Rickenbacker has always been pretty zealous about protecting theirs. It is, however, their job to do that, not mine.
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
EBMM is one of the most litigious bass makers out there, and they keep a tight lock on their body, headstock, logo, etc designs. It's why there are so few true 'MusicMan' clones out there, minus the ones they license themselves (SBMM or, in the past, 'OLP').
Buying a $230 Temu bass and expecting it to be 'legit' in any way is a fool's errand. You indeed get what you pay for.... or less! It's one thing to buy an item and not realize it was counterfeit.... it's another to buy it knowing it's a full on counterfeit and doing it anyway.
Buying a $230 Temu bass and expecting it to be 'legit' in any way is a fool's errand. You indeed get what you pay for.... or less! It's one thing to buy an item and not realize it was counterfeit.... it's another to buy it knowing it's a full on counterfeit and doing it anyway.
Gibson is an interesting case, because they were able to successfully trademark their designs after the fact. Their website even has a page listing them.
After decades of passively allowing other companies to clone Gibson guitar designs (including, amusingly enough, Fender through its Jackson brand), they began clamping down about two decades ago and at this point it's going to be very very difficult to bring a Les Paul or Explorer-shaped guitar to market in the US or Europe without hearing from their lawyers.
If the bass is a copy of a Bongo, it is a counterfeit with or without logos.
Man lies with dogs and wakes with fleas, story at eleven.
That's true.
Any Business imported counterfeit goods will have them seized by customs. OP isn't a business. His bass would fall below the 'De Minimus' threshold so it wouldn't even be opened. If on the of chance it was opened then it's tagged as a replica, which is perfectly legal for personal use.
Ali-Ex/Temu sellers didn't create a market, they only responded to customer demand. When the De minimus level was raised to $800 in 2019 who'd have thought that what US customers wanted was cheap fake goods.
Phrase "you reap what you sow" comes to mind.
Sandpaper, meet headstock and his friend clear acrylic spray.
Logos gone along with any shame or regret.
Logos gone along with any shame or regret.
I bought one of the the fake Fodera's as a project. I make it plain to anyone who asks that it's not the real thing. It was really a POS when it arrived. I put a lot of time an effort into making it a very playable instrument. It was intended to be a project and a learning platform for fret leveling, crowning and more advanced set up. It's my "fly bass" now since, if it's run over by the baggage wagon...I can strip the hardware and electronics and start over. BTW - my avatar is the real thing.
From what I'v seen of the Chinese Temu/Aliexpress basses, that's the best use for them: Project Bass. The basic woodworking and finish is OK, but the hardware and electronics are crap. Sometimes you can find an unfinished "husk", just the neck and body minus the hardware and electroniocs, or you can special order one like that if you can overcome the language barrier and overall shady transaction factor. I for one am glad that US customs prioritizes fentanyl, weapons, and human trafficking over searching for counterfeit basses. Rickenbacker seems to have given up on policing all the fakes off the internet, I've seen fake Rics for sale on Reverb and Ebay for weeks at a time. The fakers arent cutting into their bottom line enough to worry about, if you want the real deal it's going to cost you $2k plus. The Chickenbackers vary from marginally playable to complete gargbage right out of the box, which makes the "deal" aspect pretty illusory.
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,122
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besides- every single thing that is sold on temu is utter crap... by design. Stuff doesn't last, so you keep going back again and again because it feels so good to find stuff cheap and get packages in the mail. But in reality it ends up in the garbage which is detrimental to the environment, humans, animals, etc
Patents for all of those are expired. Bongo is the most recent one released in 2003. The shape can be trademarked and the trademark can be extended functionally for a long time as long as it is in use and defended (see coca-cola bottle etc).
"Utility and plant patents have a term for up to 20 years from the date the first non-provisional application for patent was filed. A design patent is granted for a term of 15 years from the date of grant."
Trademark, patent, or copyright
Trademarks, patents, and copyrights are different types of intellectual property, learn the differences between them.
It's also why putting the "Musicman" logo or trademark on there (or fender logo or rickenbacker or whatever) is the most problematic part of counterfeiting. It's directly infringing the trademark.
I wrote "patent" when I meant "trademark" in the post you quoted. Insufficient caffeine
Fender was able to successfully trademark their headstock designs, which is why companies duplicating the Jazz and Precision basses (not to mention Telecasters and Stratocasters) can be as faithful as they want with the body design but have to use a different headstock.
Warmoth and a few other companies license Fender's headstock designs for their aftermarket necks, but they do not sell complete guitars.
"Bogno""Rickenbacker" "chickenbacker"
"Fibson"
"Bonko"
Yeah man. Be creative!
