Rondo Rickenbacker copy...

[DW]

Originally posted by B'Aces High



Outta curiousity, what was his reasons?

He's just protecting his company's intellectual property against people who want to take it.

Fender and Gibson do the same, but they were too late out of the gate to protect as much as RIC has. So they concentrate on people who copy their headstock designs or get too close.

John Hall also believes in keeping all his available jobs for US workers.

 

[Treena Foster]

Originally posted by DW


So they concentrate on people who copy their headstock designs or get too close.

DW, who is they......Fender?

It very obvious that many companies have copied the fender P bass and Jazz bass, so how do you explain all the copies?Are they legal?

Treena

 

[DW]

Originally posted by Treena Foster


DW, who is they......Fender?

It very obvious that many companies have copied the fender P bass and Jazz bass, so how do you explain all the copies?Are they legal?

"They" are Fender and Gibson. If a headstock design is too close to theirs, they will take action against the builder. Their headstock shapes are trademarked. So are the logo script designs. You can look at a Sadowsky headstock and see that it's not a Fender. But they are fighting a constant battle against some others, and from what I've gathered, they have become a lot more aggressive lately. I know of one builder who has said on a public forum that Fender has warned him and he has taken down all the headstock photos of his Fender-style guitars on his site. He's waiting to see if Fender will allow him to use the headstock he's designed without having to defend himself against a lawsuit. They apparently told him that the headstock must be different enough that a person with no prior knowledge of guitars could look at it from a distance and tell an obvious difference. He also mentioned that he could be sued for back damages on prior sales.

 

[Treena Foster]

Originally posted by DW


"They" are Fender and Gibson. If a headstock design is too close to theirs, they will take action against the builder. Their headstock shapes are trademarked. So are the logo script designs. You can look at a Sadowsky headstock and see that it's not a Fender. But they are fighting a constant battle against some others, and from what I've gathered, they have become a lot more aggressive lately. I know of one builder who has said on a public forum that Fender has warned him and he has taken down all the headstock photos of his Fender-style guitars on his site. He's waiting to see if Fender will allow him to use the headstock he's designed without having to defend himself against a lawsuit. They apparently told him that the headstock must be different enough that a person with no prior knowledge of guitars could look at it from a distance and tell an obvious difference. He also mentioned that he could be sued for back damages on prior sales.

That's what I thought. I remember the Fernandez guitars and basses, they used the same logo style on their instruments too but Fender sued...end of story!

The Rogue basses look close in appearance but I know the pickups and body parts are larger and some smaller!

Treena

 

[Victor Wooten98]

I was reading this story from Lakland, apparently when they first started they wanted to get a bass ready for NAMM so they just picked up a Fender jazz, shaved the Body a little bit, and Dumped in a MM style Pickup in the bridge position... After the show the Fenders reps had a conversation about it...

 

[Treena Foster]

Originally posted by Victor Wooten98
I was reading this story from Lakland, apparently when they first started they wanted to get a bass ready for NAMM so they just picked up a Fender jazz, shaved the Body a little bit, and Dumped in a MM style Pickup in the bridge position... After the show the Fenders reps had a conversation about it...

Do you have a link to this story?

Treena

 

[Treena Foster]

Check this out!

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Treena

 

[Bard2dbone]

I remember those Univox Ric clones!

I had one back in the early-mid eighties. It was a great bass until American Airlines dropped it out of the case. I had it in a flight case but 'somehow' it got opened and dumped. Broke some of the body binding and, more importantly, put a big, unfixable s-curve twist into the neck.

Major drag. Had to get a real Ric to make that sound. The one on the 'bay looks a lot like mine did.

 

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Fender even went after Status Graphite- in the early days they used the name "Strata"- even though the product in question was a headless bass....