Fender, the orange guy of guitarbrands?

I feel like they have a right to protect their brand. It’s ludicrous at this point, but it’s within their right. What I don’t understand is why Strat and not the rest of their body shapes?
i think it's the Strat only because that shape was the only relevant shape from the case in Germany.

i can't wait to see PRS duke this out with Fender. i would imagine that they won't roll over or cower the way a small builder without resources for legal fees might, especially given the amount of money invested in the Silver Sky series.

the market is what created the demand for these other s-style guitars. customers wanted a well-built, great playing strat and fender isn't offering that anymore. this is what capitalism is supposed to celebrate.

and this garbage that somehow Leo created the shape out of thin air based on a woman's curves is ridiculous. it's essentially the form that multiple stringed instruments have taken for at least hundreds of years (without the cutaways which you can't defend as part of the "shape of a woman" with a straight face)
 
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Hmm both my Jaguars (basses) say "Fender" on the headstock.

I don't remember if that's on the front right below Squire Squier, or on the back near the serial #, but yeah, I have a couple of Made Not In the US Fenders, nee a few— Same for my Stratocaster™.
Guy I gigged with a few times (myself on bass, him on a "Fender Strat"; conversation went kind of like this on a set-break...

ME: Cool Strat, I've got a Shoreline Gold one...
GUY: Great! What year is it?
ME: I don't know, it's a Squier I picked up cheap so I could...
GUY [cutting me off]: Oh, so you DON'T have a Stratocaster.
ME: Well, that's what it says so on the headstock...
GUY [cutting me off]: It's not a real Statocaster though... breaks over.

Ever since, I mockingly tell people I have a Fender Stratocaster, 'cause it says both those things on the headstock. 😸


I don't give a flying-fudgesicle about whether or not my aforementioned instruments are "real" Fenders, but...
maybe now I'll remove ALL Fender-related branding from them...


I first learned of the Fiasco Debacle ehr Fender Litigation from the Tim ex-session-player-now-EweToober Whutzizname's bait-clicky vlog:
"FENDER RIP" or "FENDER JUST COMMITTED SUICIDE" or whatever the title...

I was surprised at how choked up he was about it, his voice was UNSTEADY, he could barely get through the video.







"I don't always Fendorse Blander, but when I do..."

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"... I choose an other Brander."
 
Time to get me one of these:
View attachment 117506
Oh wait…..Fender owns Gretsch (or used to)
Fender have never owned Gretsch. They entered a marketing and distribution deal with Gretsch in around 2003. They help with marketing and I believe new products and their distribution network has helped Gretsch reach a much bigger market. Before Fender it was quite difficult to get new Gretsches in Australia, for example. Fender also helped get a lot original details right - the shapes of a lot of the Japanese era models were distinctly un-Gretschlike And now they are very accurate to the originals. Famously Fender CT scanned an original '59 6120 to get the trestle bracing right.

Interesting fact (if you like Gretsch or Bo Diddley) - While the first Bo Diddley rectangle guitar may have been built by Gretsch all the rest that Bo Diddley played were made by a luthier in Australia.
 
I have to wonder if this won't end up being a "no publicity is bad publicity" type of thing.

Of course much of the chatter is negative at present, but good or bad this is the most discourse/most I've seen people talking about Fender in general...probably in my whole lifetime lol. Every guitarist on youtube with more 5 subscribers has already posted a video of their thoughts on the matter...

And then ironically for everyone posting negative stuff about it, you've got folks coming out of the woodwork who feel compelled to fight to defend Fender's honor for whatever reason...

IDK, like I said, it's mostly negative discourse but at the end of the day they seem to have got their name in everyone's mouth lol
 
I would say most touring musicians don’t even care. They might not even know about it. My guess is it will blow over and be forgotten about. You can boycott Fender but there will be literally thousands to take your place. Why? Clapton, Beck, Vaughan (both of them) and hundreds of others. Meh, just my 2 ohms.
 
Meh. My headline:
"Influencers desperate for content manufacture drama storm"

Nothing comes remotely close to driving engagement like anger and conflict. The Youtubers are going to make money off this. Fender gets multi-page threads about its products.

Dystopia marketing makes all of us miserable and a few people some money.
 
Meh. My headline:
"Influencers desperate for content manufacture drama storm"

Nothing comes remotely close to driving engagement like anger and conflict. The Youtubers are going to make money off this. Fender gets multi-page threads about its products.

Dystopia marketing makes all of us miserable and a few people some money.
Soon there will be another Bill Finnegan to take its place.
 
I saw this thread before the video got put in my feed, and it only took me a minute or two before I got disgusted and turned it off.

It was a guy in his 50s sitting in a pile of grown-man toys probably worth about $250K or more crying because some corporate lawyer sent a strongly worded letter to an Aliexpress vendor.

As I'm watching the theatrics of his histrionic tantrum, I'm thinking, "Does this guy have a clue what a clownish asshole he looks like? This guy is absolutely humiliating himself."

Just as I was about to feel some pity for a man clearly desperate to put on a performance his employer Youtube will deem profitable, I realize his literal job is to make me feel upset. The size of his paycheck hinges on making me so angry I'm going to engage in arguments on the internet with other people in my niche of interest.

The nascent pity pivoted to anger.

"Fuck that fucker."

After stopping the video, the anger got the better of my conscience and I reminded myself the Kayfabe reality world we live in is what it is. So, sorrowfully, when I saw this thread again, I decided to participate.

What I can't wrap my head around is objectively, we have it better than human in the past million years could imagine: clean, hot and cold running water, electricity, fresh fruit all year, Big Muffs. How the fuck can we be this damn miserable all the time?
 
Suddenly these videos started popping up for me too. YouTubers are the worst usually. I'm tired of the performance...the click bait-attention whores most of them have become. It's not entertainment or artistic, yet old media is getting gutted for cheap reaction videos by the masses. It's like the guy in Idiocracy who just wants to watch Ow! My Balls! One step closer everyday...
 
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