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ANNOUNCEMENT: Gibson styled products

To be fair, they were dead-on ripoffs. It was a miracle they got away with it so long.

I am really really looking forward to seeing the new singlecut. I want a tummy contour.

Am I right in thinking that the SG won't be affected? Yamaha make SGs too, don't they?
 
Everybody does.

A few years ago at a mom and pop shop, there were a number of Chinese cheap imports that were clearly Ibanez RG ripoffs.  Same headstock shape and a few other appointments.  I asked about them.  The owner said they were existing stock from a Chinese factory that made Ibanezes, but dud not renew their order.  The bodies were slightly changed and control layout was weird.  He said someone bought them up, changed the guitar the legal 10%, finished them, rebranded them and sold them in bulk to highest bidder.

But yes, everyone makes a single cut, mahogany bodied, maple capped, 24 3/4" scale, dual humbuckered, 4 controls, toggle in upper bout guitar.
 
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom said:
But yes, everyone makes a single cut, mahogany bodied, maple capped, 24 3/4" scale, dual humbuckered, 4 controls, toggle in upper bout guitar.
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Right. And perhaps Gibson intends to go after all of them. But, there are a number of suppliers from overseas that are going to laugh at them and do what they want. Maybe Gibson will get the Commerce Dept. to go after them to prevent imports, since it's unlikely any serious IP argument can be made that would hold up in court against a determined opponent. The Commerce Dept. is more malleable.

In any event, it's a bad move on Gibson's part. It's not going to increase their sales at all, and will more likely decrease them. Ask any gas station or fast food restaurant owner and he'll tell you the best way to increase sales is for a competitor or two to open across the street.
 
BUMMER  :o

:icon_scratch:  Dose this include the necks too ?

I've been umming and arrrring for a while, over getting a Warmoth LP    :dontknow:



OH CRAP  !!

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Give me a Warmoth any day  :headbang:                                                                                        Give me a Warmoth any day    :headbang:
 
Black Dog says he called and talked to Rob, who told him there's no problem with the necks.
 
I guess I'll just get body blanks and trace the existing Gibsons that I have ( LP Custom/LPS/ SG/ ES-339) 
It's not a big deal to sand your own tummy cut , or any other body contour.

Looking on the bright side , this is a chance for Warmoth to have more  in house designs
 
greywolf said:
I guess I'll just get body blanks and trace the existing Gibsons that I have ( LP Custom/LPS/ Short Horn/ ES-339) 
It's not a big deal to sand your own tummy cut , or any other body contour.

Looking on the bright side , this is a chance for Warmoth to have more  in house designs
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Yippee. We all know how well that's worked for the vast majority of suppliers. Hell, Warmoth makes better parts than Gibson or Fender, and the Koreans make better guitars, in both cases for dramatically less money, but try selling one on eBay. If you can get half of what you've got into it, you're doing extremely well. The general public wants a big name (read: Fender or Gibson) on the headstock that's associated with their heros, or fuhgeddaboudit. Gretsch and Guild have been trying for decades, and where are they? PRS is finally getting some traction, but it's been a long row to hoe for them as well.
 
I sort of wonder if Gibson would actually have won this if it had gone to court - after all, they sued PRS and eventually lost.

Maybe it's more the case that Gibson can pay their lawyers more and Warmoth can't afford to fight the case so have to give in and stop selling the bodies... :dontknow:
 
I'd bet dollars to donut holes that the cost of litigation is the controlling factor in this case. Even if you've got a rock-solid case that can't lose, it can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to fight this kind of war. This is why there are patent/copyright/trademark trolls out there now. They know that all they have to do is threaten, and most companies will knuckle under out of fear of bankrupting themselves for the sake of principles. It's the old "the operation was a success, but the patient died" fight.

Unfortunately, it sets baseless precedents which are then used in attacks against the next victim.
 
Well said everyone. This is pretty disappointing. I love some of the Gibson shapes, but Gibson doesn't offer anything I want. I have a Gibson SG that, unfortunately, doesn't compare to my Warmoth Strat in both sound and playability. It's my favorite shape, but Gibson quality just compare to the quality I've seen from Warmoth or some other name brands, namely PRS and Suhr that I've owned/tried. Hopefully these new shapes will be likeable and one day, Gibson will get their due.
 
Cagey said:
I'd bet dollars to donut holes that the cost of litigation is the controlling factor in this case. Even if you've got a rock-solid case that can't lose, it can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to fight this kind of war. This is why there are patent/copyright/trademark trolls out there now. They know that all they have to do is threaten, and most companies will knuckle under out of fear of bankrupting themselves for the sake of principles. It's the old "the operation was a success, but the patient died" fight.

Unfortunately, it sets baseless precedents which are then used in attacks against the next victim.
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True, there are guys who do nothing but troll Ebay and Craigslist to stop auctions/sales that describe products to have a likeness if they are not the actual brand.
 
Next thing you know body blanks will be considered constructive posession of infringement. Oh,well, give it five years the way they're running the ship currently, and it will be open season because there wont be a Gibson any longer.
 
I really should not jinx this, but I wonder if Heritage has been approached in a similar way.

Just fuel for the fire.  :evil4:
 
Well that's a bummer... I had my eye on an SG-style custom build sometime in the not-too-distant future. Hopefully there'll be a new design similar to the SG!
 
Mayfly said:
I really should not jinx this, but I wonder if Heritage has been approached in a similar way.

Just fuel for the fire.  :evil4:
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My guess would be that when the Heritage dudes bought the Kalamazoo factory and fixtures, they probably also negotiated a license to manufacture Gibson-esque guitars.  Wouldn't surprise me to learn that Gibson relies on an income stream from Heritage, or at least wangled a nice lump sum at the front end.

 
Heritage builds excellent guitars ,  I  have a freinds with one.  They are all the old skilled "vintage" gibson guys who still make quality stuff.

Th new gibsons ( except for the custom shop) don't do a thing for me
 
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