A guy just showed me a relic'd 62 Strat build that he has about finished. The guitar looks very authentic even though it is a custom build. Although he isn't putting a serial number on it he told me he was putting a Fender headstock decal on to complete the look. I told him that some are going to flame him for that but he brought up the reproduction amp builds that don't get any complaints. He said Fender was aware that Marsh Amplification and others sell both kit and completed amps with Fender logos, faceplates etc, of many models that are complete clones even though they don't have a single Fender part on them. I checked and he is correct many of the models even say Fender Electric Instrument Co. on them. His point was that if Fender doesn't care about amps with their logo on them, why would they care about his headtock decal. I had never thought of that but he might have a point.

I do believe and am sure someone with far more Fender wisdom than me will chime in momentarily, providing he never sells it and or never sells it as a "Fender" guitar, he is good to go.

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I believe that Jimi, Stevie, Jeff, Robert, Hubert, Les, Leo and the "Duck" are all looking down on Joe B. saying "Holy smokes that dude got some stuff going on!"

Check out the cause:
http://crossroadsguitarfestival.com/

+1

It's not a crime to counterfeit a product, or to possess it for personal use (excluding US currency).

However it is a crime to import, export, or sell one surreptitiously with the intent to profit monetarily from a deliberate misrepresentation.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Fender is very protective of its logo, but I personally don't care if a guitar that is a replica uses the logo. There are some very famous players who use replica guitars (down to the logo) and no one cares. SRV and Slashed both come to mind.

I do problem have a problem with someone trying to sell something that it is not. I've made some homebuilt Fender guitars, with logos, and I've done it to make me happy.

It seems obvious to me that putting a Fender logo on either and amp or guitar that wasn't built by the Fender co. is a wrong thing to do.

I just took a quick tour of the Marsh Amplification website, and while most of their replica amps don't say Fender on them one or two do. This, for instance:

http://store.marshamps.com/product_info ... cts_id=571

Those most definitely are built for sale and profit, and they're not exactly being surreptitious about it. I wonder what Fender think about that?

Anyhow. Regarding l88vette's original post, my own view on fake logos is that beyond any legal issues it is just so uncool and needy to put someone else's brand on an instrument they didn't manufacture. Like the kids who put Ferrari tags on their car keys; it seems a bit babyish. And for sure, if I build a guitar as good as the one l88vette describes I want to put my own name on it, not give the credit to someone else.

Cheers - C

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Apparently it doesn't cause Fender sufficient heartburn to galvanize their legal team into taking any action.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

No, for sure. They definitely have bigger fish to fry.

It always quietly amuses me when I see people talking about "reporting" a fake guitar on Ebay to Fender - as if they are going to immediately send off the black attack helicopters to sort that scammer out!

Seriously though, Arjay, you know all about amplifiers and I don't: are Marsh Amplification a big deal or not? I've heard the name but nothing more. Are they a commercially significant company, or is it a guy operating out of his spare room? (Nuttin' wrong with that, of course.)

Cheers - C

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Marsh is a small boutique amp builder and a producer/purveyor of repro cabinets and parts. I have no info as far as how many amps they sell annually but I'd bet it was less than a hundred per year. I've heard that the company is basically three or four people working out of some guy's garage or small shop. Thus, they're no threat to anyone's corporate bottom line and it's even possible that they've made some tacit arrangement with "the powers that be" regarding their use of certain trademarked names and logos (I'm merely speculating here though).

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

+1=That is correct.



enjoy my short answer ;O)

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

The helicopters are Lake Placid Blue.

I find it hard to beleive that fender woulf be ok with anyone putting their logo on anything they did not produce.

It is misrepresenting the fact. Somewhere, sometime, someone will think it is a Fender and be cheated.

i like the idea of the LPB Helicopters :O)

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV, but my understanding about trademarks is that protecting your trademarks is part of the rules about having one. That means big-small-medium infringement.....if ANY infringment occurs, the trademark owner is expected to pursue protecting their trademark...and like any law-based action- you have to be able to prove that you have done so.

Greater minds than mine: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm#6

So if Fender sees possible infringement, or is made aware of it, I believe that you can take it for granted that it is being pursued. i think that applies to most companies in the same or similar positions.

Cheers,
rob

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

Putting it at an even 'closer to home' level, let's say one of us here is a brilliant painter whose work is most desirable. How would said person feel ethically and otherwise if someone was counterfeiting his/her paintings right down to forging his/her signature?

Frankly, with the prices these bootleggers are getting for phoney Fenders, it would be more cost effective and FWIW, legitimate for someone looking for a relic Fender to outright buy say, a Fender AVRI 62 (or whatever) and mutilate it to taste. Not only would it be a genuine Fender but all the desecration inflicted upon it would be singular to the owner's personal taste.

As always, the above is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?