Fender Studio Pro 8 Released

[BONES]

There's enough examples in the history of corporate business where exactly this happened (well not after five years but for us that's just an arbitrary number anyway since we have absolutely no insight into why the name change happened when it happened) - the first random thing that came to my mind was the Glas V8.

Could you have picked a more obscure example?

After that frivolous lawsuit I certainly want Fender to disappear off the face of the earth.

So they should just allow anyone to copy their work and do nothing about it? The law suit was completely justified, the Cease & Desist letters, maybe not so much.

[bk]

All this thread activity made me sure 8.1 had dropped. Nope. Someone wake me when it does.

[electro]

8.1 is supposed to be new features or just bug fixes?

What features were added from 7.x - 8.x besides MIDI to Audio and AMP Sims?

[concealed identity]

Fender devs:





Give all your money to the devs, because surely when you're in your deathbed, they will show up to give you support.

Not sure what your point is, as long as your corpse is available you have a healthy future

[EnGee]

So they should just allow anyone to copy their work and do nothing about it? The law suit was completely justified, the Cease & Desist letters, maybe not so much.

I'm with you that they have the right to protect their IP, but 70 years late?! Also, in the US it is already Public Domain. I mean protecting the 'shape' is just so stupid for me really! The shape resemble a classic guitar from the bottom till the handles (cuts). It reminds me of the Apple stupidity protecting the iPhone shape!

Anyway, I think that letter is crazy stupid! The guitar market is barely surviving with so much competition and brands. This move by Fender is surely angered many shop owners and manufactureres. Also, most of guitarists or potential buyers are not so motivated to buy a Fender guitar/bass.

Now for other products of Fender, Presonus original software and hardware, I'm not sure it is fair to boycott them. For me, although I kept Cubase beside Studio Pro, I only won't consider Fender/Squire guitar or bass in the future. I will also avoid the inspired shapes/design from other companies.

Let's see now what 8.1 brings. I'm only interested in bugs fixing to be honest as I see it excellent overall.

[BONES]

It's not necessarily public domain, they just lost a law suit in 2009 about it. That obviously didn't preclude them from winning another one in 2025. It was a different situation that led to a different outcome and I don't see any problem with it at all. The Stratocaster has an iconic shape that Fender have every right to protect from fraud. After all, why else would you copy it, other than to deceive customers into thinking it was a real Strat? I understand that brands like Epiphone have been copying other guitars for decades but it's something I have always thought was wrong.

[vertibration]

I think it was an unwise move to hurt small builders such as Jet Guitars for example. Its like, at the cost of what? Your reputation? If they went after companies putting out fake Fenders, thats one thing. To go after everyone who has a similar guitar, for example, PRS Silver Sky, then thats ridiculous. Guitar players are petty, vindictive, and they remember every wrong doing by companies. This will not bode well for Fender in the long term.

[CapnLockheed]

It's potential brand suicide. Plain and simple.

You wanna sell more Strats? Make better Strats.







And on a somewhat unrelated note:

What features were added from 7.x - 8.x besides MIDI to Audio and AMP Sims?

Not a damn thing that makes it worth the upgrade for me. I'll be using Presonus Studio One 6.6.4 for the foreseeable future. It does everything I need it to.

[noremorze]

So they should just allow anyone to copy their work and do nothing about it? The law suit was completely justified, the Cease & Desist letters, maybe not so much.

I'm with you that they have the right to protect their IP, but 70 years late?! Also, in the US it is already Public Domain. I mean protecting the 'shape' is just so stupid for me really! The shape resemble a classic guitar from the bottom till the handles (cuts). It reminds me of the Apple stupidity protecting the iPhone shape!

Anyway, I think that letter is crazy stupid! The guitar market is barely surviving with so much competition and brands. This move by Fender is surely angered many shop owners and manufactureres. Also, most of guitarists or potential buyers are not so motivated to buy a Fender guitar/bass.

Now for other products of Fender, Presonus original software and hardware, I'm not sure it is fair to boycott them. For me, although I kept Cubase beside Studio Pro, I only won't consider Fender/Squire guitar or bass in the future. I will also avoid the inspired shapes/design from other companies.

Let's see now what 8.1 brings. I'm only interested in bugs fixing to be honest as I see it excellent overall.

And that's the whole thing, ofcourse they have a right to defend their IP. But they didn't trademark it in 1954. And that is what matters legally, the ruling in the German lawsuit doesn't mean anything. They only suddenly started caring about it when they began losing market share and their financial situation worsened. This is exactly what Gibson did as well when things weren't going well. It reeks of desperation. This could easily backfire and end up threatening the long‑term future of the DAW. One of their DAW strategies was aimed at attracting guitarists, which makes this move look even more self‑defeating.

[ffx]

So there was one single minor-like update in a whole year (most work was done for rebranding), completely different from what was announced. I paid 99 eur, so the price still is fair for a quite good, traditional style DAW. Yet the claims, always so off from reality, these are annoying me. Of course I joined Studio One because of those claims, expecting at least 2 more major feature updates. Is this the normal operational way in capitalism now, or a specific Fender / Studio One problem?

They could expand free upgrades to 2 years, or clarify their current roadmap. But such moves are not common here, in short term perspective they are assuming profit losses then - But would this be really the case? Why should anybody upgrade, if the upgrade is more expensive than getting the license and if there are no real new features? I really don't like time based upgrade policies. For some vendors you are still paying for major version number increases instead, which is way more fair.

So this company is not really confidence-inspiring when it comes to the future. In the end, that's all their problem.

[andypryce]

So there was one single minor-like update in a whole year (most work was done for rebranding), completely different from what was announced. I paid 99 eur, so the price still is fair for a quite good, traditional style DAW. Yet the claims, always so off from reality, these are annoying me. Of course I joined Studio One because of those claims, expecting at least 2 more major feature updates. Is this the normal operational way in capitalism now, or a specific Fender / Studio One problem?

They could expand free upgrades to 2 years, or clarify their current roadmap. But such moves are not common here, in short term perspective they are assuming profit losses then - But would this be really the case? Why should anybody upgrade, if the upgrade is more expensive than getting the license and if there are no real new features? I really don't like time based upgrade policies. For some vendors you are still paying for major version number increases instead, which is way more fair.

So this company is not really confidence-inspiring when it comes to the future. In the end, that's all their problem.

First feature update should be out soon. Probably first week of June.

[BONES]

But they didn't trademark it in 1954.

They didn't need to. Copyright exists, all they need to do is prove that they did it first. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that if they did trademark the shape in 1954, people back then would have thought they were pretentious wankers, trademarking something with no reputation or anything to suggest it was in any way special.

So there was one single minor-like update in a whole year

WTF!?! Pro 8 only came out 6 months ago, so it can't possibly have been a year. I stopped reading your drivel at that point. If you can't even get your fact straight, what is the point of you?

[lfm]

Also, Studio One lacks a sample & hold waveform for automation. I actually posted that as a feature request on their Presonus Answers page once, but, you know how it is...

I.e., automation isn't the same for me. Modulators are more of a creative tool, and less of a permanent automation "envelope". Also, if I'm honest, most automation implementations in DAW were quite cumbersome to me.

Just remember I bought a synth, Roland SH-32 because it had 120+ waveforms or something.
- that did not make it more interesting sounding that I found
- I was quickly bored with it

But guess I am more of old school tape recording approach and not so much over effects.
- different instruments are the effects, kind of
- or presets of a synth
- doing something musical with it always

Not in the daw itself so much.

Like the Classical composers with a full orchestra available, using a flute or a cello or brass and stuff.

[noremorze]

So there was one single minor-like update in a whole year (most work was done for rebranding), completely different from what was announced. I paid 99 eur, so the price still is fair for a quite good, traditional style DAW. Yet the claims, always so off from reality, these are annoying me. Of course I joined Studio One because of those claims, expecting at least 2 more major feature updates. Is this the normal operational way in capitalism now, or a specific Fender / Studio One problem?

They could expand free upgrades to 2 years, or clarify their current roadmap. But such moves are not common here, in short term perspective they are assuming profit losses then - But would this be really the case? Why should anybody upgrade, if the upgrade is more expensive than getting the license and if there are no real new features? I really don't like time based upgrade policies. For some vendors you are still paying for major version number increases instead, which is way more fair.

So this company is not really confidence-inspiring when it comes to the future. In the end, that's all their problem.

First feature update should be out soon. Probably first week of June.

I'm still considering next Tuesday as a candidate, but yeah, should be out soon.

[jens]

If anyone in the thread aims at talking out of their arse less in regards to the Fender discussion, here's a good start:

https://bicolegalcompliance.com/design- ... copyright/

Leo Fender is on the record saying that he considered his work to be entirely utilitarian. So it's a really safe thing to say that he would have never aimed to secure copyright for his creations. That's why he used the same body shapes again (Music Man) and again (G&L) after selling his first company to CBS. But of course everyone who had anything to do with any of it is now dead.