Earvana?

[CrazyGrain]

Did that option just pop up today or have I just missed it in the past?

Anyone use them? Opinions?

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/StringNut.aspx

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

Huh, so they're back .... A couple of years ago, Warmoth stopped offering Earvanas. They're in the neck builder again, too, but only for straight-neck necks, it appears.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Kind of odd that Warmoth still don't stock the proper one-piece Earvana nuts or mention that they are readily available for angled headstocks, but whatever.

Earvana never actually went out of production. Did make me wonder why Warmoth stopped offering it. I know there was the whole legal issue with the design, but since that was settled in less than a fortnight and Earvana were allowed to keep producing nuts, you'd think Warmoth could have kept on going all this time, too.

But hey-ho, at leats they're back. Why anybody would choose to use a plain straight nut, I've no idea.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

EBMM won a case on it.  The detail was they could not be bought on the neck, they could be purchased as replacement parts.  I think Warmoth decided to avoid the cloudy area and just not offer it.  My version of the events might need some work, but that was the jist of the story.
Patrick

Oh yeah, the Warmoth version fit a LSR routed nut, Earvana has this for sale as well.  The Tilt back headstocks do not have that nut available, so it isn't an option.  Even though there is shelf version for tilt back headstocks for sale elsewhere.

 

[bagman67]

EBMM won a case on it. 

Seems more likely that EBMM dashed off a cease-and-desist to Earvana and did some aggressive saber-rattling, and the parties then would have settled prior to any filings.  It all happened so fast that I can't imagine any other mechanism that would have done the trick.


Big guys pushin' little guys around - yay for justice!  As usual, consumers are better served*, innovation is promoted**, and EBMM gets to market The Game Changer in much the same way (albeit more aesthetically defensibly) as Gibson promotes its raft of advanced-technology boat-anchors***.


Bagman








* This is sarcasm.


** So is this.


*** This is not sarcasm - it's the good Lord's honest truth.

 

[Red Rocks]

The Earvana nuts are back up because EBMM lost the appeal that Earvana had filed. So they are now available again.  arty07:

 

[bagman67]

The Earvana nuts are back up because EBMM lost the appeal that Earvana had filed. So they are now available again.  arty07:

Right you are!  Ignore my rampant speculation.  Like many an asshat trained in the nation's law schools, I was ill-informed.  Here's the reversal of the judgment that Earvana infringed EBMM's patent:




http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cafc/12-1276/12-1276-2013-01-24.html


Fascinating* reading.


Bagman






* There's that sarcasm again.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Earvana's were coming stock on ESP's before the legal hoopla.  I imagine that was a reasonable amount of business for Earvana.  If that starts up, maybe they will have enough R&D cash to make the compensated 7 string floyd nut.  That would be the icing on my Agile guitar.
Patrick

 

[jay4321]

I have Warmoth-installed Earvanas on a 3 necks but don't recommend them anymore. They work great, but it's dawned on me that, in time, you're stuck with an odd non-standard channel routed in the neck when they wear down and you need a new nut. The better way to do it is a normal nut channel with the drop-in (read: non-permanent) variety installed:

And they're cheaper besides.

Back when the Earvanas were the hideous two-piece screw-on ones it was a different situation. The newer drop-in shelf types are much better.