Your next guitar?

[Ian B]

Isn't this one http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/201 ... der_Strat/

The more I read this, the more bizarre the theft become. How the hell do you drape a medium length jacket containing a guitar over your shoulder without it being noticed by staff as you leave the shop?

A good Strat is a very flexible instrument, a cheap copy - not so much.
So I guess bringing in the copy was the bigger problem ...
Classic job !
Cheers,
susiwong

[Uncle E]

How nice is this?
I need the original tele pup combination, but like the look of this one.
(hmm perhaps it is moddable to single coils actually)

The bridge pickup would be easy to mod but I'm not sure how great it would sound in a mahogany body. I have a mahogany body Warmoth strat that sounds much better with Little 59's than it does with Kinman single coils.

[Uncle E]

Somehow I can't see how a price difference of several hundred percent to the nearest competition can all be attributed to creative, honest business models like child labor or the like.

I've been to 6 factories in China and have found the labor practices to be acceptable, without a child laborer in sight.

Seriously, good wood is expensive for several reasons.

Well, African mahogany is cheap and very good. Also, that spalted maple top is just a cheap veneer.

[Uncle E]

I think though that China is becoming something of a manufacturing powerhouse, and may soon be making quailty guitars.

The majority of Chinese instruments I've played are still lacking but I've found two factories that make quality instruments on the level of the US.

[Uncle E]

Is this an accepted practice? Do the companies being copied ever assert their rights with cease and desists, etc?

All you have to do is research Gibson suing PRS for knocking off the Les Paul.

[Aleatoriac]

If someone can make a guitar that plays like my Parker Fly hardtail, but has a trem with silent springs and always returns to tune, and can flutter for an hour if you want it to, a pickup that can sound like any pickup in the universe, and another pickup that can spit out accurate midi, and a headstock / neck / body that can change tuning at a moment's notice, and can sound like a REAL acoustic if needed, and can... Well that would be my next guitar.

[Hink]

Is this an accepted practice? Do the companies being copied ever assert their rights with cease and desists, etc?

All you have to do is research Gibson suing PRS for knocking off the Les Paul.

Fender isn't any better, at Daddy's Junky Music where I use to work we had a huge inventory of used ger (they still do of course). They were also Fender dealers, when listing used guitars that were strats (but not Fender) they wouldn't even allow 'strat type' in the listing, we had to write 'S' type. Daddy's has a course they send you to (Daddy's University) and learning to enter the info in the computer when you take something on trade of buying was a big part of it. You are responsible for entering the info, setting the price (with a manager approval of course) and it must be done by the end of the day you take it in...if you make the mistake of listing a strat style guitar any way other than 'S' type (unless it's a Fender of course) too many times you were gone, if you missed it once it still cost you. Daddy's had a thing called a second man commission, anything you purchase for the store or take in as a trade gets you a piece of the sale when that item sells, if you entered the info wrong in any way you lost the second man.

Daddy's is a very large chain, Fender had no problem pulling all there items from Daddy's because they knew it would sell elsewhere.

[susiwong]

I haven't read too far back on this thread, so I'm sorry if this was covered. The Chinese made guitars linked above takes you to an Australian reseller with some really beautiful, but cheap, stuff (I know the wood isn't the greatest, SW).

But in any event, I'm curious about the legality of them knocking off copies of Fender, Steinberger and PRS guitars (among others that I spotted) which, I assume are patented/trademarked. The one linked above actually says 'Telecaster' in the listing.

There's a beautiful $700 PRS knockoff complete with bird inlays on the fretboard. PRS's own stuff doesn't even do that on their more affordable models.

Is this an accepted practice? Do the companies being copied ever assert their rights with cease and desists, etc?

Just curious.
-B

Can't put it in rhymes this time, I'm afraid.
Copies have been around forever, arguably the Les Paul has been inspired by a Paul Bigsby guitar model, so I think this is a topic for lawyers instead of players.
Let them obsess about visual details, the value of a guitar is in materials, craftsmanship and tone, not in a fretboard inlay.
Actually faking a brand guitar, name and all, with the intent of deceiving customers however is criminal, no doubt.
All that said, I routinely put 7ender decals on my custom built guitars because I like the looks - they are not for sale though.
Ymmv,
susiwong

[susiwong]

Is this an accepted practice? Do the companies being copied ever assert their rights with cease and desists, etc?

All you have to do is research Gibson suing PRS for knocking off the Les Paul.

Even Paul himself admits his very first prototypes were based on the LP Junior/Special DC idea, obviously he has come a long way since then and qualifies as original builder for sure.
But you were talking about that fairly recent lawsuit ...
Did he win btw ?
He still sells nice single cuts.
Cheers,
susiwong

[hibidy]

If someone can make a guitar that plays like my Parker Fly hardtail, but has a trem with silent springs and always returns to tune, and can flutter for an hour if you want it to, a pickup that can sound like any pickup in the universe, and another pickup that can spit out accurate midi, and a headstock / neck / body that can change tuning at a moment's notice, and can sound like a REAL acoustic if needed, and can... Well that would be my next guitar.

You have a wonderful imagination

[Hink]

I haven't read too far back on this thread, so I'm sorry if this was covered. The Chinese made guitars linked above takes you to an Australian reseller with some really beautiful, but cheap, stuff (I know the wood isn't the greatest, SW).

But in any event, I'm curious about the legality of them knocking off copies of Fender, Steinberger and PRS guitars (among others that I spotted) which, I assume are patented/trademarked. The one linked above actually says 'Telecaster' in the listing.

There's a beautiful $700 PRS knockoff complete with bird inlays on the fretboard. PRS's own stuff doesn't even do that on their more affordable models.

Is this an accepted practice? Do the companies being copied ever assert their rights with cease and desists, etc?

Just curious.
-B

I think this is a topic for lawyers instead of players.

oh the irony

I routinely put 7ender decals on my custom built guitars because I like the looks - they are not for sale though.

ooooh I'm telling

[Hink]

btw susiwong http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Guitar-Heads ... 45f9942fe1

[BERFAB]

I do know a bit about design patents. I'm sure most of you notice that every major legit manufacturer has their own slightly different signature look, even if they are similar to other designs. Angles might be a bit different, or a different style of cutaway is used. Headstocks are also a nice way of distinguishing your brand. The reason they're all different is that they are trying to not run afoul of the patents/trademarks/copyrights that may exist.

But I never really noticed the blatant copying like with those Chinese guitars. [I must admit though, they do look tempting.] So I was wondering if litigation was common.

BTW, it appears that Gibson was initially successful in their lawsuit in which they defended an approved patent application that went back at least as far as 1987. On appeal, PRS prevailed.

-B

[tapper mike]

I've got this Greg Bennet fastback, it was the predecessor to the avion. It has an amazing body that looks less like a les paul then the avion beautiful body beautiful tone. Gibson ordered a cease and desist on the fastback but approved the avion which is more LP like in appearance. It makes no sense to me.

Re parker and midi, forget all of that. Midi is the worst thing to put on or in a guitar it will never be anywhere near as good as a midi instrument built from the ground up for midi (ztar, kitara) Although you can always get Harvey (Starr) to build you a double neck ztar and guitar.

[Uncle E]

If someone can make a guitar that plays like my Parker Fly hardtail, but has a trem with silent springs and always returns to tune

Put strips of cork inside your springs.

a pickup that can sound like any pickup in the universe

Roland GR-55 or RackVax

and another pickup that can spit out accurate midi

GK3a or MidiFly

and a headstock / neck / body that can change tuning at a moment's notice

GR-55 or RackVax

and can sound like a REAL acoustic if needed

GR-55 or RackVax. I personally thought the Variax Acoustic was the best sounding instrument of the Variax line, it didn't quite sound like a regular acoustic but it did have a unique, interesting, and totally usable sound.

btw, I'm not saying the GR-55 or RackVax are the greatest options in the world, just that they'll do what you're asking.