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- vintermannApparently Fender got bought up by a private equity fund, Servco Pacific Capital. Who would have guessed.
- normalerI used to work for a Thomann competitor "Musicstore" in ~2005.The server was some tower server in a back office with a note reminding everyone not to turn it off.With Thoman being hugged to death right now I would like to think of there being a similar situation (its probably fine, but it made me feel nostalgic).
- dofmI still think this whole Fender-suing-everyone thing will end up with Thomann owning them either partially or completely.But the weird German lawsuit was always about the fact that some private equity suits (or bad Hawaiian shirts, it seems) are upset that Thomann (and others) sell the PRS Silver Sky, which as they have probably deduced from the reverb.com data they now own, likely outsells equivalent Fender models by some margin.So I think Thomann are just bringing it on.And they aren't the only ones: LSL hired the lawyer who won the judgement that put the S-type body shape in the public domain in 2009.
- joriswThose who don’t know what this is about may appreciate Rick Beato’s (a guitar music vlogger) rant about ithttps://youtube.com/watch?v=OU7RUpkXsV0
- AnimatsThis is a place where European copyright law is significantly different from US copyright law. In the US, copyright cannot cover a "functional part", which is why there is a third party auto parts industry. Improved functionality can be covered by a utility patent, but that lasts only 20 years. Designs can be protected by design patents, which last only 15 years. So in the US, any rights left in the form of the Stratocaster expired long ago.US companies sometimes try to make "trade dress" or trademark claims, but that's much weaker than copyright.
- insaneirishIn one fell swoop, Fender destroyed every bit of musician goodwill they had. For right or for wrong (and I think for wrong), their claims are baseless.I wish them (and their PE overlords) a powerful defeat, ideally in a court of law, but if not, in the court of public opinion.
- altairprime
- TrackerFFThe problem is that after their original patent expired, they sat on their hands for too long. By the time they tried to trademark in 2008/2009, their bodies were considered generic in the US. Gibson, on the other hand, did what Fender should have done and applied for trademark (for their Les Paul body) back in the late 80s.Now other brands are eating their lunch, and Fender is seemingly trying a last hail marry to get this settled. My guess is that if they manage to get a positive ruling in Europe, they'll somehow try to use that as case for US courts.
- dangRecent and related:Fender escalates legal campaign against S-style guitars - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48189539 - May 2026 (132 comments)
- codedokodeOn a side note, think how conservative music world is, if people are still manufacturing and successfully sell guitar designed in 50s. You can probably take a 50s guitar and connect to a modern amp, or take a modern guitar and connect to a 50s amp and it will work.Compare this, for example, to smartphone chargers or headphones and their compatibility.
- 28304283409234This makes me want to buy a new PRS. At Thomann.
- qweryEven if you think Fender is solely responsible for the design, which is frankly ridiculous, the bloody thing's been around forever and now they're suing?Having a court stop actual counterfeits -- sure, nobody has a problem with that. That's not what this is.Then there was the headstock thing, Fender was notorious for pursuing makers of guitars with headstocks that had any resemblance to the Strat headstock. Let's ignore how limited the design space is considering the constraints of six strings - six tuners at the end of a narrow strip of timber. Fender was obviously acting in an anti-competitive way at that point. At the same time, the quality of their own products continued to drop. Coincidence?Now they are going after anything that looks like an electric guitar.The general "S-style" body form, as popularised/iconified by the Stratocaster is popular for many reasons. A lot of those reasons (I would say most) are practical/functional.Fender shouldn't be allowed to possess the shape, let alone use it as an anti-competitive weapon in order to coast along for another century just because the brand happens to come with some notable IP.Fender's monopoly over the shape shouldn't be protected by law/courts. Here's why:It's a functional design -- a matter of ergonomics and practicality. For a lot of guitarists, the S body style is the most effective, comfortable shape to play.For a concrete example of an "iconic", yet clearly functional design feature: the top point of the "S" is where the front strap hook is. Having this point protrude forwards (along the neck) helps balance the weight and this provides the player with physical control over the mass of the guitar.Many of the subtle features of Stratocaster body are obvious practical improvements -- it's the result of filing down sharp edges that were noticed when attempting the play the instrument. Imagine you're starting from a classical acoustic design, what steps would you take to make it more playable and make it electric at the same time?It's an incremental design built on forms that have been used by luthiers for centuries. It's not a Fender shape -- it's an (electric) guitar shape.
- karim79I have two strats. Both signature editions. Ed O'Brien and Mark Speer edition. I also have a fender accoustic which is perhaps my most favouritist guitar ever. I fucking love fender and will forever.
- okanatNo such contempt has one against another in Western culture as much as politicians have against their constituents, and trendsetter companies against the cultural heritage they helped to create.
- sparkling502 Bad Gateway, the HN kiss of deathArchive.org link: https://web.archive.org/web/20260624025836/https://www.thoma...
- worikI am confused. What is this about?
- kgwxdGood luck, but they've already destroyed the name, all they have left to make money is IP, pretty sure they're only focused on this.
- nosioptarI've always hated Fender. This pig fuckers used to charge about 50% extra for a lefty guitar, assuming you didnt want something like a Jazzmaster, which wasn't available in lefty for decades.Worse part is that lefty fenders always have something fucked because they put zero care into them, despite charging a premium for them.Fender doesnt even make a good product. I've pulled strat style guitars out of dumpsters that were better than a fender.
- DDayMace[dead]
- j4kp07[dead]
- ben7799I play guitar, I own a Fender guitar and a Fender amp, along with another non-fender amp and 2 other non Fender guitars.I'm just super sick of hearing about this story. Guitar players online are way too worked up about this. Fender is being annoying, but there is no way I'm getting rid of my Fender guitar or amp over this, and there is no way any of this would stop me from buying another one.The Fender shapes just don't need to be copied at all. I live near a famous boutique type shop. They may have some boutique guitars that rip off the shapes of Fenders, it's been tolerated, but they have a lot of guitars that don't rip off Fender shapes and many of them are really great guitars.Too many players are acting like the sky is falling if Fender wins with any of this stuff. The sky is not going to fall. We'll go back to the way things used to be where Fender body shapes weren't ripped off so often and it will be fine.I think some of the doom and gloom is also because too many players are super obsessed with buying more and more guitars all the time. It's all about what is the next purchase as opposed to just enjoying the guitar they have.
- hettygreenF*ck em - let them have that body shape. Seriously at this point do we need more stratocaster shaped guitars?There's so many cool companies doing unique body shapes, if you're gonna take the time to build a guitar why not put some thought into the design?