Gibson sends Mojo Hand FX cease and desist over Mister-O Phaser

jubal81 said:
Three completely different phasers:
A) Maestro PS-1A is a 6-stage JFET phaser with a true sine wave LFO
B) The Mr. O is a digital emulation of the Maestro PS-1A
C) The Master Phaser is a Maestro stage phaser, which is a 4-stage phaser that uses OTA chips
Click to expand...
Ah now I feel a bit silly. I don't think anyone currently sells PCBs for the PS-1A. Aion is planning to sell Maxon PH350 PCBs but it will be several months before ready. I guess I will see if I like the stage phaser in the mean time...
 
fig said:
Eat my shorts Gibson! ( how'd I do @music6000 ? )

Just arrived!

cWjbWkM.jpg
Click to expand...
Ooooo a LaWsUiT M*sTeR-O! There is a 100% chance we boxed and shipped this to whichever dealer you purchased it from! (It was also built next door!)

It's a pretty badass sounding phaser, cops that lighter, chewy "vintage" phaser tone to perfection. Sounds spot on next to the old PS1a we have at the shop.
 
I've got a PS-1A recreation, and there's a couple good reasons nobody's building them.
1. The buffer and mixer stages need to be totally replaced to fix volume and tone loss.
2. The split supply has to supply more current than the typical charge pump designs you see in most pedals that do that.
3. The LFO is a massive circuit to achieve a sine wave.
4. You have to match 6 JFETs.
5. You have to carefully bias the JFETs
6. It has to be dialed in, because off the bat, you're probably going to get thumping.

After you've got all that done, there's a pretty good chance you're going to prefer the Phase 2 (Mutron 6-stage optical) phaser you built.
My PS-1A lives in the closet most all the time. Sounds great, but I prefer Phase 2 for phaser sounds. The PS-1A really stands out on the fastest setting, where it does a sort of Leslie effect - which is what it was really designed for. It's a lot of fun for that one little part of "Centerfield" where they use a Leslie to mimic a baseball park organ sound.
 
The PS-1A is really one of the best phasers though, especially with how the speed ramps. I think Lectric FX has a PS-1A PCB in the works, and I definitely can’t wait to build a few, even though it’ll likely be expensive and a total PITA to do.
 
Ok, so, going back to the original issue of Gibson filing a cease and desist over trademark infringement....

As a designer, I find this move by Gibson rather detestable. Looking at the differences in the designs, there are far more differences than similarities. The font styles are completely different. What Mojo Hand FX chose was a font style that gives it that same flavor as the original Maestro logo...but it's still not the same. The "S" is different. The "E" is different. Everything about it is different. So, how exactly does this infringe on their trademark? I don't get it. Bullshit to say the least.

Now, does the name "Mister-O" infringe on a trademark? Not to me. It's an obvious play on words. No way could anyone misconstrue that to be the equivalent to "Maestro" in name. It's a "work-alike" and anyone buying one would know that. So, again, like the design, what Gibson is playing at here is bullshit.

I think the issue is that copyright and trademark law in general are in a weird place. It's way too easy for a big company like Gibson to pounce on a small company like Mojo Hand FX and get away with it. Why? Because Mojo Hand FX simply doesn't have the money and resources to fight it. Gibson probably has a nice little budget for legal crap that allows them to file shit like this and not sweat it. Sucks but that's how corporate America is. Stingy.
 
jeffwhitfield said:
Ok, so, going back to the original issue of Gibson filing a cease and desist over trademark infringement....

As a designer, I find this move by Gibson rather detestable. Looking at the differences in the designs, there are far more differences than similarities. The font styles are completely different. What Mojo Hand FX chose was a font style that gives it that same flavor as the original Maestro logo...but it's still not the same. The "S" is different. The "E" is different. Everything about it is different. So, how exactly does this infringe on their trademark? I don't get it. Bullshit to say the least.

Now, does the name "Mister-O" infringe on a trademark? Not to me. It's an obvious play on words. No way could anyone misconstrue that to be the equivalent to "Maestro" in name. It's a "work-alike" and anyone buying one would know that. So, again, like the design, what Gibson is playing at here is bullshit.

I think the issue is that copyright and trademark law in general are in a weird place. It's way too easy for a big company like Gibson to pounce on a small company like Mojo Hand FX and get away with it. Why? Because Mojo Hand FX simply doesn't have the money and resources to fight it. Gibson probably has a nice little budget for legal crap that allows them to file shit like this and not sweat it. Sucks but that's how corporate America is. Stingy.
Click to expand...
chrome_image_Nov 20, 2021 1_17_21 PM PST.png
 
Oh for F... fonts' sake...

Part of the problem of overzealous trademark aggression in general is thats if you aren't seen to be pursuing protecting your trademark (such as Gibbleson and Rickybaker do), then you can lose the trademark. So, the rules encourage large companies with deep pockets to abuse smaller companies that can't afford an eloquence of lawyers.

Like most games, it's rigged...
 
Feral Feline said:
Oh for F... fonts' sake...

Part of the problem of overzealous trademark aggression in general is thats if you aren't seen to be pursuing protecting your trademark (such as Gibbleson and Rickybaker do), then you can lose the trademark. So, the rules encourage large companies with deep pockets to abuse smaller companies that can't afford an eloquence of lawyers.

Like most games, it's rigged...
Click to expand...
Off topic, but good to see you back. There’s a lot to catch up on…
 
jubal81 said:
I've got a PS-1A recreation, and there's a couple good reasons nobody's building them.
1. The buffer and mixer stages need to be totally replaced to fix volume and tone loss.
2. The split supply has to supply more current than the typical charge pump designs you see in most pedals that do that.
3. The LFO is a massive circuit to achieve a sine wave.
4. You have to match 6 JFETs.
5. You have to carefully bias the JFETs
6. It has to be dialed in, because off the bat, you're probably going to get thumping.

After you've got all that done, there's a pretty good chance you're going to prefer the Phase 2 (Mutron 6-stage optical) phaser you built.
My PS-1A lives in the closet most all the time. Sounds great, but I prefer Phase 2 for phaser sounds. The PS-1A really stands out on the fastest setting, where it does a sort of Leslie effect - which is what it was really designed for. It's a lot of fun for that one little part of "Centerfield" where they use a Leslie to mimic a baseball park organ sound.
Click to expand...
That PS-1A sounds way too hardcore for me.

Kevin at AionFX said the PH350 uses some obsolete vactrols and nobody's ever done the work to find a modern equivalent. He mentioned possibly Q2 of next year but no definite timeframe. He did mention that the PT909 used components that are not obsolete or have known current equivalents. So I am hoping that he might come up with something for it.
 
Fun fact, just in case y'all don't hate Gibson enough.

Back when they got slapped with a LACI violation for using SMUGGLED ebony and rosewood, their CEO decided to book an interview as part of their public-facing legal defense.

He was there to proclaim their innocence and air his grievances about how the real reason their facilities were raided was because the evil gov't was trying to destroy American jobs, blah blah blowhard.

And he booked this interview...with none other than "Info Wars". You know, the herbal supplements-filled-with-lead hocking, don't take those meds your doctor prescribed you advising, civil violence baiting, sandy hook was a hoax proclaiming, fluoride is turning the frogs gaying, let's accuse all our political enemies of being pedophiles that drink the blood of children for that sweet sweet adrenochroming, paranoid and psychotic propaganda outlet from the narcissistic racist shit pile of a human being: Alex Jones.

Which...I mean, makes sense from a certain point of view. Cause that's certainly where one *could* go if one was looking to spew a bunch of nonsense.

I mean, let's say you're the CEO of the notoriously lawyered-up Gibson guitar company, and your facilities are raided because your company played fast and loose with sourcing the lumber you use to build instruments...

Taking a hard line position of "we did nothing wrong" *certainly* strains credulity...
 
Stickman393 said:
Fun fact, just in case y'all don't hate Gibson enough.

Back when they got slapped with a LACI violation for using SMUGGLED ebony and rosewood, their CEO decided to book an interview as part of their public-facing legal defense.

He was there to proclaim their innocence and air his grievances about how the real reason their facilities were raided was because the evil gov't was trying to destroy American jobs, blah blah blowhard.

And he booked this interview...with none other than "Info Wars". You know, the herbal supplements-filled-with-lead hocking, don't take those meds your doctor prescribed you advising, civil violence baiting, sandy hook was a hoax proclaiming, fluoride is turning the frogs gaying, let's accuse all our political enemies of being pedophiles that drink the blood of children for that sweet sweet adrenochroming, paranoid and psychotic propaganda outlet from the narcissistic racist shit pile of a human being: Alex Jones.

Which...I mean, makes sense from a certain point of view. Cause that's certainly where one *could* go if one was looking to spew a bunch of nonsense.

I mean, let's say you're the CEO of the notoriously lawyered-up Gibson guitar company, and your facilities are raided because your company played fast and loose with sourcing the lumber you use to build instruments...

Taking a hard line position of "we did nothing wrong" *certainly* strains credulity...
Click to expand...

So you're saying there aren't gay frog chemicals in my water?
 
Here's the odd thing....Does Gibson even sell a Maestro PS-1A? I don't think they do. So how exactly is it possible to infringe on something they don't even produce in the first place? That is...unless they plan to in the near future. Even then, it's still quite bogus.
 
jeffwhitfield said:
Here's the odd thing....Does Gibson even sell a Maestro PS-1A? I don't think they do. So how exactly is it possible to infringe on something they don't even produce in the first place? That is...unless they plan to in the near future. Even then, it's still quite bogus.
Click to expand...
I think it was more about infringement of the Maestro brand as a whole, which Gibson does occasionally still produce products under. That said, I don’t think the alleged infringement would hold up in court since the name is different enough, the font is distinctly different from the lettering of the original Maestro logo, and a primary-colors-on-black color scheme isn’t a protectable mark. Of course, Gibson knows that, but they also know they have the money and clout to intimidate smaller brands and, if need be, bury them in legal fees until they have no choice but to back down.
 
I don’t know guys, I tried a LP Special Tribute with P90s that was amazing a couple months ago. I wish I had bought it!

Everything I read about Gibson’s corporate shit does sound gross tho. I was not aware of the Alex Jones stunt, that’s really low.
 
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