What I learned about "Lawsuit guitars" when i started getting in to the especially old japanese guitars. Whole lawsuit started in mid 70's when some brands in Japan started copying Fender and Gibson guitars. When i say copying, it literally the same shape, same font for the brand name headstock, even some of the quality of these guitars was better than the original American build ones. That's when these big companies such as Martin, Fender, Gibson etc filed lawsuit on some of the models of these Japanese brands. Some of these brands are İbanez,Orville, Greco, Tokai, Hondo, Electra, Global and the list goes on. If you into vintage good quality guitars, i suggest you to check these brands guitars!! Some of these brands are still producing with their name and some of them not and some of them turned in to big brands Japanese factory such as legendary Fujigen brand in to Squier and etc. I own a 1990 SA-75 Greco ES-335 copy Tokai 1979 St-42 strat and a forgot the year but around 80s tele from again Tokai. I own two 93 Squier Stratocaster and 89' one as well. They are amazing for the price. Like i said some of these brands bought by the companies that they coppied so these big brands sell guitars to japanese market. Fender bought Fujigen plan so they made Squiers ther, Gibson bought Orville etc.
I got a '74 Ibanez eb-3 copy and a Cortez j-bass copy that looks like a geddy lee signature, they are pretty fun to play though the tuners aren't the greatest ever
i have an '87 E Series Squier Strat made in Japan, same factory they were making American Fender Strats and are said to be as good as the "Fenders" they produced. It's the Contemporary HSS made for the Japanese Market, no pickguard, 3 toggles - no 5-way, and is Gibson 24.75 scale length, with a C/D profile. The guy i bought it from thought it was a Stage Master and some dillrod took off the 6-pt trem and put on a Floyd Original, so i had to plug the 2 post oles. i restored the nut and 6pt trem and it plays like a dream.
@@slagmaggot Fender closed their factory to build a new one and for about 5 years in the 80's, Fenders were made in Japan, pretty sure they didn't say "Made in Japan", but Squiers did.
I would love to see more of these guitars not just their headstocks and I'd love to hear them too! Give me a heads up if you do such a video comparison please? I think it would be fun!
Thank you for the kind words. In the next few months I'm going to start doing videos showcasing different guitars that I own. Please subscribe to the channel so you'll know when new content is posted. If you've already subscribed, thank you. -Jim
I’ve been contemplating making my own guitar for years. I have a headstock shape in mind that I’ve never seen before. I researched extensively. I’m not even gonna say what it is so nobody steals the idea. It’s gonna look sweet!
i own a Crown International (CI) Les Paul with the Gibson Open Book Headstock. It also has the MOP inlaid Crown in the headstock like a LP Custom. The C with I letters laid on top of each other are on the Headstock also. I found that Crown International was renowned for PA and Speaker Systems, but only found 1 pic of a guy playing a CI Les Paul , Goldtop Copy. Pretty sure it's Japanese Made? It has a bolt on neck, nut width 1-5/8th, thin c shaped neck profile that plays like butter with sunburst paint job. Would like to hear more if anyone has one or knows more history. It's sat for over 40 years, is in mint condition, minimal fret ware so upgraded to Gibson Deluxe Tulip Mach Heads, 2 Gibson PAFs and it sounds awesome. ...still need to upgrade pots, sw's and wiring. And in the 70's i played a Univox LP Lawsuit copy that i traded in for a Gibson Marauder in '75.
The only "lawsuit guitar" is an Ibanez Super Standard from 1975. Norlin (Gibson) sued Hoshino Gakki over the open book headstock. Ibanez headstock was changed in 76, lawsuit was settled... it never went to court. Global is South Korean, not made in Japan.
The point I was trying to make was that "post lawsuit" all companies started protecting their headstock designs. Most companies, no matter where they were located, didn't want to risk getting sued so they made changes to their designs. I remember a story in the 80's or 90's about a load of Fernandez guitars that were stopped at customs and because the headstocks were shaped exactly like Fender they had to alter them before customs would let them in. I saw at least 1 of these guitars back then and they just chopped the round part in half.
I have a Tokai strat which I bought new in 84. It had no logo because of the Fender lawsuit.. the original logo said 'Tokai' when you got close up, but from a distance you would swear it was a Fender 'spaghetti' logo. The lawsuit tried to stop the whole instrument, but they only succeeded in stopping the logo. The guy who sold me the Tokai gave me a Fender transfer, and now I have the world's only Fender Twatocaster 😊
I laugh out loud every time I see some guitar advertised as a "lawsuit era" guitar. It is like they think it makes it better quality or more desirable. 99.9% were never part of a lawsuit and even if they were, the people were not getting sued for making superior quality. As soon as someone starts talking bout it being a lawsuit guitar, I hand it back and walk away laughing..
What I learned about "Lawsuit guitars" when i started getting in to the especially old japanese guitars. Whole lawsuit started in mid 70's when some brands in Japan started copying Fender and Gibson guitars. When i say copying, it literally the same shape, same font for the brand name headstock, even some of the quality of these guitars was better than the original American build ones. That's when these big companies such as Martin, Fender, Gibson etc filed lawsuit on some of the models of these Japanese brands. Some of these brands are İbanez,Orville, Greco, Tokai, Hondo, Electra, Global and the list goes on. If you into vintage good quality guitars, i suggest you to check these brands guitars!! Some of these brands are still producing with their name and some of them not and some of them turned in to big brands Japanese factory such as legendary Fujigen brand in to Squier and etc. I own a 1990 SA-75 Greco ES-335 copy Tokai 1979 St-42 strat and a forgot the year but around 80s tele from again Tokai. I own two 93 Squier Stratocaster and 89' one as well. They are amazing for the price. Like i said some of these brands bought by the companies that they coppied so these big brands sell guitars to japanese market. Fender bought Fujigen plan so they made Squiers ther, Gibson bought Orville etc.
I got a '74 Ibanez eb-3 copy and a Cortez j-bass copy that looks like a geddy lee signature, they are pretty fun to play though the tuners aren't the greatest ever
i have an '87 E Series Squier Strat made in Japan, same factory they were making American Fender Strats and are said to be as good as the "Fenders" they produced. It's the Contemporary HSS made for the Japanese Market, no pickguard, 3 toggles - no 5-way, and is Gibson 24.75 scale length, with a C/D profile. The guy i bought it from thought it was a Stage Master and some dillrod took off the 6-pt trem and put on a Floyd Original, so i had to plug the 2 post oles. i restored the nut and 6pt trem and it plays like a dream.
@@cacornhusker2940how do you make American fenders in japan?
@@slagmaggot Fender closed their factory to build a new one and for about 5 years in the 80's, Fenders were made in Japan, pretty sure they didn't say "Made in Japan", but Squiers did.
@@cacornhusker2940 didn't know, what year or years? I have USA and made in Japan strats
I would love to see more of these guitars not just their headstocks and I'd love to hear them too!
Give me a heads up if you do such a video comparison please?
I think it would be fun!
Thank you for the kind words.
In the next few months I'm going to start doing videos showcasing different guitars that I own. Please subscribe to the channel so you'll know when new content is posted. If you've already subscribed, thank you.
-Jim
I'm particular to a Chibson I bought 5 years ago. Course I swapped all the parts but now it's incredible.
I’ve been contemplating making my own guitar for years. I have a headstock shape in mind that I’ve never seen before. I researched extensively. I’m not even gonna say what it is so nobody steals the idea. It’s gonna look sweet!
Go for it!
i own a Crown International (CI) Les Paul with the Gibson Open Book Headstock. It also has the MOP inlaid Crown in the headstock like a LP Custom. The C with I letters laid on top of each other are on the Headstock also. I found that Crown International was renowned for PA and Speaker Systems, but only found 1 pic of a guy playing a CI Les Paul , Goldtop Copy. Pretty sure it's Japanese Made? It has a bolt on neck, nut width 1-5/8th, thin c shaped neck profile that plays like butter with sunburst paint job. Would like to hear more if anyone has one or knows more history. It's sat for over 40 years, is in mint condition, minimal fret ware so upgraded to Gibson Deluxe Tulip Mach Heads, 2 Gibson PAFs and it sounds awesome. ...still need to upgrade pots, sw's and wiring. And in the 70's i played a Univox LP Lawsuit copy that i traded in for a Gibson Marauder in '75.
I'm not familiar with that brand.
The only "lawsuit guitar" is an Ibanez Super Standard from 1975. Norlin (Gibson) sued Hoshino Gakki over the open book headstock. Ibanez headstock was changed in 76, lawsuit was settled... it never went to court.
Global is South Korean, not made in Japan.
The point I was trying to make was that "post lawsuit" all companies started protecting their headstock designs. Most companies, no matter where they were located, didn't want to risk getting sued so they made changes to their designs.
I remember a story in the 80's or 90's about a load of Fernandez guitars that were stopped at customs and because the headstocks were shaped exactly like Fender they had to alter them before customs would let them in. I saw at least 1 of these guitars back then and they just chopped the round part in half.
I have a hondo2 les paul lawsuit guitar. Plays and sounds awesome.
I have a Tokai strat which I bought new in 84. It had no logo because of the Fender lawsuit.. the original logo said 'Tokai' when you got close up, but from a distance you would swear it was a Fender 'spaghetti' logo. The lawsuit tried to stop the whole instrument, but they only succeeded in stopping the logo. The guy who sold me the Tokai gave me a Fender transfer, and now I have the world's only Fender Twatocaster 😊
Lmao hahaha that’s just too perfect a “twatocaster”. Nice 👍🏼
Hey I have a 1987 schecter strat is that a lawsuit guitar?
No.
@@rhoadsmusic Ok thanks.
Great video
I laugh out loud every time I see some guitar advertised as a "lawsuit era" guitar. It is like they think it makes it better quality or more desirable. 99.9% were never part of a lawsuit and even if they were, the people were not getting sued for making superior quality. As soon as someone starts talking bout it being a lawsuit guitar, I hand it back and walk away laughing..
Absolutely! ❤