Guitar Blog

Fender to copyright body shapes?

"Word in the guitar industry is that Fender and its deep pockets are finally on the verge of copyrighting the body shapes of the Strat and Tele like they had previously done to their peghead designs. The implications are enormous. Established manufacturers will either pay royalties to produce a Stratoid, if they are even given the license to do so, or they will have to change their guitars so that they do not have the Strat shape to any great extent. Custom manufacturers will most likely not be able to afford the licensing. Why after 50 years is Fender doing this? They've bought so many of their competitors and are in such a solid financial situation, they may be trying to corner the market on Strats and teles." (Via The Wizard of Az)