100% agree with Dean on this. Shape is set dressing and personal choice. It is pretty far down on the list of whether a guitar is great and long lasting.
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024
31 points (100.0% liked)
guitars
3861 readers
9 users here now
Welcome to /c/guitars! Let's show off our new guitar pics, ask questions about playing, theory, luthier-ship, and more!
Please bring all positive vibes to the community and leave the toxic stuff elsewhere.
Rules:
-
Treat others with respect. ALL others.
-
No spam
-
No self promotion
-
No NSFW
-
No circle jerk posts, there are other places for that silliness, and they are wonderful. Not here.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Trademarking a shape of something feels like the lawsuit from a while ago, where they tried to copyright a fucking musical note
As Rickenbacker knows, shape is a function of Trademarks and not Copyright. Ric maintains TM on their stuff by actively pursuing violators and suing them. Certain copyrights expire after 20 years - a relevant one would the Gibson invention "truss rods" which help keep guitar necks straight. In 1919, Gibson invented them and put them in guitars. In 1939, the copyright on the patent was lifted and their biggest competitor at the time, Epiphone, was able to put them into their guitars, leading to the Golden Era of Epiphones from around 1940-1952. Incidentally, the brothers of the founder drove the company into the ground after his death, and Epiphone was bought by Gibson in 1957 - thereby passing along to Gibson such things as the "mini-humbucker" which was found in Firebirds and Les Pauls to name a few.
Patents expire after 20 years, yes, but patents aren't copyrights. No current copyright expires in 20 years. They all expire 70 years after the death of the author (or 120 after creation in the case of corporate with for hire)
Mixed my terminology. I'm not a lawyer, but I know my guitar history. You got the point.
Off topic, I've always seen truss rods as a symptom of manufacturing defects. I've never considered them what made Epiphones great.
Not manufacturing defects. They correct the natural tendency of wood to change shape with temperature and humidity.
Kay and other companies used stiff bars of non-adjustable steel in the neck to keep them from warping, but results were mixed.
Truss rods let you fix and adjust to different climates and conditions.