Fender issuing cease & desists everywhere

stickyfiddle

Seeing this on various Reddit and Instagram posts. Apparently they’ve decided that the German default judgement means everyone is now banned from making Strat-shaped guitars, even though the US courts decided decades ago it was a generic electric guitar and Fender didn’t have the right to protect it. 

I won’t be buying any more Fender shit, and certainly not anything new. Fuck that. 

Whitecat

They’re only doing it to brands who sell into Germany. If any of them challenge in a higher court than the original judgment was handed down by, then it will get interesting. 

octatonic

So lots of vendors will pull out of Germany now.

fretmeister

Did Fender not notice that even Lego ultimately didn’t win IP protection for their products?

They are so obviously upset at Thomann / Harley Benton showing it’s possible to make something 90% of the quality for 20% of the money.

earwighoney

fretmeister said:

Did Fender not notice that even Lego ultimately didn’t win IP protection for their products?

They are so obviously upset at Thomann / Harley Benton showing it’s possible to make something 90% of the quality for 20% of the money.

Buy a Harley Benton Strat, put some Mojo Pickups in it and it'll sound 90% as good as a Fender Custom Shop Strat. 

Spend the rest of your savings on Monster Munch (other snacks are available). 

dindude

They should spend their time in QC and trying to come up with a neck shape that isn’t modern C. That might help them better than suing the pants off of competitors. 

LemonSoul

earwighoney said:

fretmeister said:

Did Fender not notice that even Lego ultimately didn’t win IP protection for their products?

They are so obviously upset at Thomann / Harley Benton showing it’s possible to make something 90% of the quality for 20% of the money.

Buy a Harley Benton Strat, put some Mojo Pickups in it and it'll sound 90% as good as a Fender Custom Shop Strat. 

Spend the rest of your savings on Monster Munch (other snacks are available). 

Probably wouldn’t play as well, but I don’t disagree with the point you make

ICBM

dindude said:

They should spend their time in QC and trying to come up with a neck shape that isn’t modern C. That might help them better than suing the pants off of competitors. 

Modern C is the best neck shape.

I genuinely don’t understand the hate. What’s the problem with it?

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

Modern C is the best neck shape.

I genuinely don’t understand the hate. What’s the problem with it?

Do you really want answers to that question?

stickyfiddle

Modern C is fine. 

Way better than the stupid flat D they put on a lot of generic Asian stuff. 

It’s not to say they should also offer other things but I’ve got custom order necks that are pretty close to a modern C… 

chris78

Let’s be honest, fender are right as would Gibson be about protecting the Les Paul. Leo came up with the strat shape, strat design and it’s been ripped off by other companies who are stealing that design. The issue is, they’re 50 years too late. The ship has firmly sailed and it’s now a bad look. It’s perfectly possible to come up with new designs - their ex masterbuilders Carlos Lopez and Levi Perry are showing you can do that - but given they’ve got the headstock protected, it’s still enough for most people that they won’t want a strat that doesn’t send fender, even if others are making them better.

prowla

I think it's a bit lazy that guitar makers feel the need to just make things that look like Strats.

dindude

ICBM said:

dindude said:

They should spend their time in QC and trying to come up with a neck shape that isn’t modern C. That might help them better than suing the pants off of competitors. 

Modern C is the best neck shape.

I genuinely don’t understand the hate. What’s the problem with it?

It’s awful, I tried again recently thinking, can’t be as bad as I remember, but it is.

Their competitors manage a slim C that feels nice in the hand (my recent Sire being an example), but the Modern C feels like there’s always some wood missing.

The worst bit is not that it exists (prob has it place on some guitars) but that they put on almost everything below a Custom Shop.

They’ve just done a La Cabronita in the 75th anniversary collection- looks fab, but it’s got a bloody Modern C - that does not belong on a La Cab. It’s lazy arse guitar building.

Esoterick

To be fair to Fender it must have caught them by surprise, Harley Benton have only been making this shape guitar since the late 90s.

Plectrum

stickyfiddle said:

Modern C is fine. 

Way better than the stupid flat D they put on a lot of generic Asian stuff. 

It’s not to say they should also offer other things but I’ve got custom order necks that are pretty close to a modern C… 

I don't think there's any right or wrong/good or bad in neck profiles. To me it's just personal preference.

matone

Sounds like the actions of a failing /desperate company . As others have already said,they are decades too late .

Sporky

They should innovate with a Future F neck shape. 

Jetsam1

prowla said:

I think it's a bit lazy that guitar makers feel the need to just make things that look like Strats.

Proven that guitarists want "new, modern and different" but will only buy the same old two or three designs that have been around forever. 

Just legal bullying as they obviously feel they can't compete any more outside of volume and marketing. 

I have three Fenders all 10 years old or more and annoying that another brand is being enough of a shit to spoil the ownership experience yet again. 

Jetsam1

Sporky said:

They should innovate with a Future F neck shape. 

Is this were they join Only Fans?

ICBM

Philly_Q said:

ICBM said:

Modern C is the best neck shape.

I genuinely don’t understand the hate. What’s the problem with it?

Do you really want answers to that question?

Yes, I did. I still don’t quite understand the answer.

dindude said:

It’s awful, I tried again recently thinking, can’t be as bad as I remember, but it is.

Their competitors manage a slim C that feels nice in the hand (my recent Sire being an example), but the Modern C feels like there’s always some wood missing.

The worst bit is not that it exists (prob has it place on some guitars) but that they put on almost everything below a Custom Shop.

They’ve just done a La Cabronita in the 75th anniversary collection- looks fab, but it’s got a bloody Modern C - that does not belong on a La Cab. It’s lazy arse guitar building.

For me Modern C is the most comfortable neck neck shape, certainly on a Fender. I’ve also heard it criticised for being ‘bland’ - to me that’s a good thing, it’s a neck shape I don’t even notice is a ‘shape’ - I don’t need to think about it or modify my technique in any way to compensate for it. For me, if you actually notice the neck has a shape when you’re playing, it’s not ideal. I know everyone’s hands are different and it’s impossible to make one shape that naturally fits everyone, but I think they’ve done a reasonably good job with it.

There are many other things I’d criticise the modern Fender company for, but Modern C  isn’t one of them - although not offering a choice of shapes much lower down the range, given that the very nature of bolt-on neck construction makes it easy to do that, probably is.

Sporky

Jetsam1 said:

Sporky said:

They should innovate with a Future F neck shape. 

Is this were they join Only Fans?

I think the Grotty G is for that.