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Author
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Topic: Who's next? (Gibson/PRS lawsuit)
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JM
Member
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posted 03-16-2004 09:36 PM
  
Joe, just to clarify where folks are coming from, I notice you live in Tennessee. Any personal or familial relationship to Gibson or their attorneys?[This message has been edited by JM (edited 03-16-2004).] |
Cosmic Wonder
Member
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posted 03-16-2004 09:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Big Joe:
While the Gibson product may not be your cup of tea, there is no better product on the scene today. 
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John Mayes
Member
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posted 03-16-2004 10:27 PM
No better product out there huh?..I find that laughable. There might not be for you, but to use that as a blanket statement is awful bold. Not to mention "none Better" to you may be mediocre to another. Of course I do like Gibson's LP's..I don't like their new acoustics too much though.
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John Bushouse
Member
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posted 03-16-2004 11:33 PM
Methinks Big Joe has a connection to Gibson, as shown on this post:
http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/016670.html To quote: "At the Gibson Factory repair facility in Nashville we charge $75.00 to build and install a bone saddle. That included a professional set up also. We don't use dropin saddles that are generic and may or may not fit the saddle slot perfectly, but take the time to make the saddle from scratch and ensure it fits properly. We repair any brand and any kind of guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, upright bass, fiddle, electric guitar, whatever." Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it would be nice if Big Joe was clearer about his connection up front. |
bobore
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 12:31 AM
I really do love Gibsons (currently own five, or six if you count the Epi Sheraton), but this is absolute folly on Gibson's part. In the previous copy era involving Japanese makers, the instruments were virtual clones of Gibsons and Martins except for the name on the headstock (used to own a darn nice Ibanez copy of a Gibson banjo!). But this current Gibson effort is clearly an attempt to eliminate competition from a direct rival at Gibson's price point in the market. Big Joe, or anyone else who thinks Gibson is justified in this effort, please direct yourself to Gibson's Epiphone site. Under "products"-"electric", you will find an instrument called the "fat 210." Could we all agree that this guitar is based on a Fender Strat? Could we also then agree that Gibson is hoping to profit from a design pioneered by another company? The fact is, there are only a handful of basic body styles, especially in solidbody electrics, that have been tweaked and retweaked since the '50s. The single cutaway solidbody existed before the first Les Paul. Gibson simply produced their take on the that design, just as PRS and almost every other electric maker out there has done over the years. Gibson deserves to get crushed in court for this one. |
Fingertwister
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 02:48 AM
Since Big Joe is so set against stealing, I take it he will be happy to relinquish any real estate he may "own" in favour of the native americans it belonged to originally.. |
dberkowitz
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 03:44 AM
Lower the volume folks. I'm disappointed with the lawsuit, too. Gibson has had its share of problems over the years, mostly due to poor management, but it doesn't deserve the disrespect I'm reading in this discussion. Are there products, on balance, that are being made with a constistently higher quality than Gibson has over the years. Yes. Does Gibson have a bad product? No. Is Gibson capable of more? Absolutely. But lets not just slam them for being big. They're an easy target as is Martin for that matter. Competition improved them dramatically and they're making great guitars again. Undoubtedly, PRS has done the same for Gibson. |
DaveWendler
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 04:49 AM
I have an attorney friend looking into obtaining a copy of the decision...apparently it's too recent for the law reviews to publish. He works for the Feds; he'll have a good angle on it. To be totally clear, I wanted to make this point: While Gibson may have the right to defend it's intellectual property, they have in the past "borrowed" other's work in the field to apply to their own products. In my opinion, there is not enough similarity in the two disparate products to warrant a lawsuit; and the reason Gibson has for bringing suit appears to be the setting of a precedent to widen the interpretation of trademark issues. When the court decision is published, I will read it with great interest. [This message has been edited by DaveWendler (edited 03-17-2004).] |
John G
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 05:53 AM
Seems to me that if Gibson should sue anyone, it would be the folks making E bay item 3710825734. While there might be doubt whether PRS is infringing, it is obvious these folks are. But then, I doubt these folks are hurting Gibson's bottom line either. |
Jeff Hildreth
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 07:43 AM
It is universally understood and talked about here and elsewhere ( other discussion boards, players, dealers etc) that Gibson quality is spotty. No need to give personal anecdotes .. just keep your ears and eyes open... facts are facts.As far as there being no better product.. if that isn't arrogant , pompous, self serving and flatly not true. I have owned a half dozen Gibsons over the years...would not own newer ones. There are too many other choices of "value".. but never say never. I don't see anyone bashing Gibson so much as telling the truth or trying to get the truth I don't own and will likely never own a PRS product. No axe to grind I just do not understand the delay in the "tradmark" and that the folks bringing the lawsuit are as guilty of using other's works...just clever enough to get around
"trademarked" shapes.. Never thought Gibson could drop below the image created by Norlin ... JJH |
Sidheguitarist
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 10:29 AM
quote:
Originally posted by dberkowitz:
...But lets not just slam them for being big...
My sense is that they are actually being slammed for being rapacious.But that is only my opinion.
-MM
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JM
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 10:32 AM
quote:
Originally posted by John Bushouse:
Methinks Big Joe has a connection to Gibson, as shown on this post:
http://www.acousticguitar.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/016670.html To quote: "At the Gibson Factory repair facility in Nashville we charge $75.00 to build and install a bone saddle. That included a professional set up also. We don't use dropin saddles that are generic and may or may not fit the saddle slot perfectly, but take the time to make the saddle from scratch and ensure it fits properly. We repair any brand and any kind of guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, upright bass, fiddle, electric guitar, whatever." Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it would be nice if Big Joe was clearer about his connection up front.
Ah. I was suspicious about some connection.
Big Joe, there is nothing wrong with discussing issues involving a company you work for, but such connections should be revealed up front. This has come up before at the AG forum, and folks tend to get a bit touchy when others forget to mention they have more than a passing interest in the products being discussed.
[This message has been edited by JM (edited 03-17-2004).] |
Paul McGill
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 01:15 PM
The guerella is on the loose again, its not the first time. The fact is there were single cut away designs before the Les Paul. They made similar suits against small builders over the F-5 mandolin. Snakehead pegheads and they draw very loose design perameters to hassle others over there IP. There is a long list of builders they have hassled. Its pure bullying. I seriously doubt PRS is Stealing anything from Gibson, but then I haven't seen the design so I can't say for sure. |
marymary
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 01:28 PM
i read an interesting article recently where the gibson ceo stated that his aspirations for the company included taking them public and also modeling the company after yamaha.makes one wonder, doesn't it? funny thing though, the music shop at gibson sells santa cruz and bourgeois guitars alongside the gibsons. |
califlefty
Member
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posted 03-17-2004 01:35 PM
As a Heritage Guitar owner I always knew I had a "real" Les Paul anyway! |
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