Tribute guitar

[basicswatch]

If anyone is interested in the tribute guitar I had posted on ebay let me know. I will not be making anymore and only have the one I posted pics of here. I will sell it at a good price. Ebay took down my auctions by the request of Fender/Jackson because one of the forum members here took the precious time out of his schedule to call jackson and report my auction. I spoke with Jacksons lawyer and he told me whom it was. this guy is a member here and also buys on ebay. He has been sending me alot of emails over the last 7 months because he was mad i took so long to make the tribute guitar. This guy has a big mental problem to waste so much time sending me emails and then calling Jackson. (Dude you need to get a life and quit sticking your nose in other peoples bussines). We were going to make the guitars with new specs I got from someone here and was also going to be all mayple as i found a good supplier. But since the headstock shape is copyrighted since 1995 I will not be making them now. And from what I hear Jackel will not be making any guitars at least not anytime soon or not for the public after his stroke. A customer told me he contacted them and was told he may start again but don't know when as he is not recovered yet. Strokes are very bad and have permanant effects on our brains and motorskills so I feel really bad for the guy and hope he recovers fully. So as of now unless you build yourself or find someone to make you one everyone will have to pay a crazy price for them. What really bothers me is how Jackson was able to fanagle a design patent on the headstock in 95 when many used that headstock before that. But they had no problem using the polkadot design on many guitars that they did not design. And to the member that snitched I'm sure many members will be very happy with your good service. And if you email me again I will post every email you sent me with a link to them here so everyone can see what a looneytoon you are.

[Cryptic Night]

[Paul Wolfe]

And if you email me again I will post every email you sent me with a link to them here so everyone can see what a looneytoon you are.

That could make for some drama... we haven't had a good dramatic fight in a while.

Please check your PMs

[sytharnia]

But they had no problem using the polkadot design on many guitars that they did not design.

so should fender stop doing the buddy guy strat?? it has polka dots which he is clearly stealing off sandoval........

dude if jackson started making polka V's that were the same shape as the sandoval with the harpoon headstock then you would have a point but to say they are stealing a design based on dots is pathetic.....and didn't sandoval (and randy for that matter) basically steal the V shape off gibson?

As far as I know jackal have not had a problem with legal issues over his V...probably because he doesn't throw them on to ebay using the word jackson multiple time as well as bagging them. Honestly I would nail you as well. Best thing you could have done was just to try and sell them on here and other rhoads site (if any are left)....but then you would need to work on your sales technique

[Cryptic Night]

I'm not 100% positive on this, but can't you get away with making custom guitars, if they are made to order?

I would think that's how Jackal gets away with it. He makes them ONLY when people order them. He doesn't make a bunch and then try to sell them online or anything.

I can't recall, but does he even specifically say he makes them? We all know he does, obviously, but does he actually say on his site "Hey everyone, I make exact copies of Jackson guitars!".

[basicswatch]

Madman using any design you did not make is stealing it. Yes even the dots design which is a huge design. So I don't agree with you. IF JACKSON was honest about design and trademark then they should not be using anything other then what they design. they don't want there headstock being used but they will go ahead and use someone elses design on there guitars. Believe me if jackson could get a trademark on the dots they would but they cannot, noone can. How they got the tradmark on the headstock is even odder they somehow pulled it off and since that design has been out for so many years I am surprised they were even awarded it. Now cryptic I think Jackel did have at problem at one time with Jackson. My opinion here is just to leave it alone or if someone contacts me maybe I will do one but will not advertise them.

[Paul Wolfe]

Why is it surprising that they trademarked their headstock? Most guitar companies do. As for them not trademarking until later, Gibson didn't persue trademark infringement on a large scale until the Asian market started selling loads of instruments with their design - hence the 'lawsuit' model Ibanez Les Pauls.

The polka dots cannot be trademarked, because polka dots have been used forever in all sorts of industries. Randy's guitar was painted with polka dots to resemble the fabric of his vests and bowties. Buddy Guy has a polka dot Strat which had nothing to do with Randy. You also have to consider that 'Jackson' is no longer a company, it is now a brand owned by Fender.

I believe the issue you encountered was offering to mass produce these guitars. This was brought to Fender's attention (from what you've told us) and they shut you down. Don't know why those Chiese ones aren't shut down, but that's for Fender to decide on.


Again, I'm sorry your endeavor was shut down. Are you considering making any guitars - like your own design - or are you just heading in a different direction?

[Cryptic Night]

Don't know why those Chiese ones aren't shut down, but that's for Fender to decide on.

I would imagine Chinese companies would be harder to shut down because they have different copyright laws, if I'm not mistaken.

Only other reason I could think of, would be that they fly under the radar of Fender.

[Paul Wolfe]

Don't know why those Chiese ones aren't shut down, but that's for Fender to decide on.

I would imagine Chinese companies would be harder to shut down because they have different copyright laws, if I'm not mistaken.

Only other reason I could think of, would be that they fly under the radar of Fender.

That makes sense.

[camdenlp]

Bummer. I was looking forward to seeing the v.2 with the bound neck. What about just changing the headstock? Big enough that a buyer could, in theory, cut it to a shape they choose later? Of course that is more work and cost for the buyer but I, for one, would love to get one made, jut haven't seen one close enough yet...

[rice_pudding]

If they were only made to customer order would that not be a workaround???

I don't really know what you were making, I'm assuming replica's of Randy's original pin stripe V. If you were making them and shifting them as a stock pre-built you can't be too surprised about being shut down.

Pretty much a dick move from fender/jackson. They could at least manufacture the guitar themselves and sell it for a reasonable price to the public. Of course there is the limited edition $12,000 model they came out with

Rob

[sytharnia]

Pretty much a dick move from fender/jackson. They could at least manufacture the guitar themselves and sell it for a reasonable price to the public. Of course there is the limited edition $12,000 model they came out with

Rob

I have seen the tribute relic for 5k on ebay ........... I look at it that jackson do make a randy guitar....its called the RR1 (and many cheaper options of that shape). It has his name on it and was his design. It is one of the only things keeping his name alive 30yrs on and we can all afford one version at least.....so everyone buy one

[dannyahansen]

Pretty much a dick move from fender/jackson. They could at least manufacture the guitar themselves and sell it for a reasonable price to the public. Of course there is the limited edition $12,000 model they came out with

Rob

I have seen the tribute relic for 5k on ebay ........... I look at it that jackson do make a randy guitar....its called the RR1 (and many cheaper options of that shape). It has his name on it and was his design. It is one of the only things keeping his name alive 30yrs on and we can all afford one version at least.....so everyone buy one

I am gonna have a custom shop Jackson RR1 built for me starting next year. I guess my guitar will need to be built by one of the 2 master builders there. I requested to have Mike Shannon build it. The time they said would take between 2-3 years. So I guess in 3 to 4 years I will have it. Quite the wait, but I don't care as this is a guitar I have thought about for a long time. Lots of abalone inlay. IT is a mix of several favorite guitars I have played. The color and lay out will be like a '59 Les Paul in a dirty lemonburst with a floyd rose. A nice quilt maple top on a korina body. 3 piece raw flamed maple neck with a dean ML v neck profile. 24 stainless jumbo frets with fretbinding over the frets in a 24.75" scale length. Nitro finish, tree of life inlay with abalone boarder on the fret board. The pinstripe pattern on the body will be abalone inlaid. The entire guitar will have an abalone border on it's sides. Should be a nice guitar. It will cost me about $7000.00 - $10000.00. And as such will be a completely custom guitar to my specs. The only bummer is that they need to get approval for the pinstripe pattern. And that might be a deal breaker. It has taken me 5 months just to to this point and all of the details are still not finalized. Still need "research" done on the tree of life inlay with the boarder as well as the previously mentions pinstripe inlay approval.

Here is a nice article about Mike that really got me excited about his workman ship.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... _Shop.aspx

[rice_pudding]

I have seen the tribute relic for 5k on ebay ........... I look at it that jackson do make a randy guitar....its called the RR1 (and many cheaper options of that shape). It has his name on it and was his design. It is one of the only things keeping his name alive 30yrs on and we can all afford one version at least.....so everyone buy one

Jackson build a whole range of RR guitars. My point is that it's a little daft they would want to shut down someone for building a model that they just don't want to make. If there is demand for it, why not make it themselves? The guy in question seems to have been turning them out like a factory (I use that term liberally) and selling them 'off the shelf'. As I said in my last post it's natural you could run into trouble doing that rather than making what the customer orders.

But still, it looks like a big company slamming down on one guy because he's an easy target. Most of the industry survives from ripping off famous designs. If someone was making a RR1 or RR5 I can fully understand Jackson getting pissed off, but making a design they don't even manufacture???

As to why someone would report this guy, presumably they thought they were doing the right thing in protecting RR's legacy. I wont attribute to malice, what can reasonably be explained by stupidity.

Rob