guys you remember my story on the custom shop guitar i ordered from a small rising custom shop and how it didn't end well? well it's been a few months now and i discovered this on the forum where these guys were making them (look at the green guitar photos)

http://www.guitarradas.com/t9341-loja-do-rock-no-guitarradascom-guitarras-sonus

now look at my ex-strat copy to be (which sadly is a gonner for the reasons we know (RIP))






wheather it was based on my guitar or not you decide but i also discovered that they are selling my idea to whoever is intrested in going on with it :'( it's not fair... sure i'm to blame for it all but did they really have to go this far? i feel a bit back stabbed cause they killed my originallity... what do you think? did i get screwed? :'(

Different colour, different pickup configuration, different stripe, different controls, different pickup routing (front/rear), different pickguard (has one/doesn't have one) ... etc.

Except for the idea of putting a racing stripe on a Strat (which has been done before) where do you see a rip off?

_________________

Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

i dunno i kinda pop in my head that it looks like mine plus the stripe ain't that diferent if you look closely it's the same design i made just put diferently but i guess you're right maybe it's all just a coincidence but my idea is still for sale which kinda irritates me

What happened with your guitar Ralf that you ordered from the CS? i don't know the story.

_________________
Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

@gorgon read this old post

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=61771 this came from that night don't worry about the girlfriend part :p just needed to let it out

Your link is messed up. It should be this:
http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=61771

When you talk about a "Strat" and a "Custom Shop", people who aren't familiar with your story are going to assume you're talking about a Fender Strat ordered from Fender's Custom Shop. There are thousands of forum members and they can't all remember every other member's history. I know you don't want to give people the wrong impression that Fender has mistreated you, so it would probably be better if you say something like "a custom Strat copy from a small builder" when you start new threads about it.

you're right... sorry about that guys and sorry fender ... i'll fix that as soon as possible... but notice i said "my" custom shop and not "the" custom shop

the link is that way because i had to search for it there is nothing wrong exactly i just gave the search link

^^ Thanks strayedstrater, that's exactly what i thought ralf meant, the Fender Custom Shop in the US. Comforting to know it isn't the case. When i read it i said to myself "no way! can't be!" now at least i know it was a local builder who was doing the work. Confusion cleared up!

_________________
Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

gorgon sorry once again for the mess up

You don't need to apologize -- it's not like you were trying to fool people. You're just so familiar with the story that it didn't occur to you that other people don't know the details and might misunderstand.

************

Back on topic: If you had actually bought the guitar you commissioned it might be sleazy for them to start making the same thing for other people. But that guitar isn't the exact same thing you ordered, and you backed out of a contract after they had already started working on it. If anyone got screwed in this deal it was the custom builder.

If you see strong similarities, the best thing to do at this point is just to take it as a compliment. They liked your design enough to think other people will want to buy something that's vaguely inspired by it.

true... honestly i don't blame them

Didn't you "rip-off" the stripe from John Mayer anyway?

Speaking of rip-offs, what about that "shop" ripping off the Fender headstock shape and decal? Or are they just using genuine Fender parts? (doesn't look like it)

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Chances are that a lot of people won't bother to open the first link that shows the builder's new guitar. Here's one of the pics:


I don't really see any infringement of your design.

true they aren't but they're working on that... no i actually took out one line of the stripe and made it thinner and put it on the upper horn... it has nothing to do with john mayer either way if i were to put the stripe any other way... i'd be ripping off the competition mustang and or one of the many stipes of EVH

i guess not.... case closed (hammering noise)