Sunday, December 1, 2024

Trump Guitars And Gibson Seizures

 

Trump Guitar
I really don’t care who you voted for in the 2024 Presidential election or even why, but what is important is the news that the Gibson Guitar Company has threatened with a cease-and-desist order to Donald Trump for copyright infringement. 

Actually Gibson has threatened the company marketing and selling the Trump Guitars.


Trump Electric Guitar
On it's webpage16 Creative states it is the world’s first Veteran owned, multi-focused branding agency, we are privileged to work with an iconic lineup of entertainers, athletes, businesses, Veterans and military organizations to bring their brand and legacy to life through strategic marketing campaigns and branded merchandise. The company is mainly in the business of offering logo based promotional merchandize.


Trump Acoustic Model
Apparently this company was hired by the Trump campaign to put the Trump brand on guitars. These limited-edition instruments range in price from $1,000 to $11,500. 


Only the high-end models are autographed by President Trump. 

Trump Electric Model
In its cease and desist order, The Gibson Guitar Company infers that the electric models resemble their Les Paul model. I must say they are correct. 

However back in 1977, the owners of Gibson, The Norlin Company sued Ibanez USA, then known as Elger Guitars. 

1976 Ibanez Catalog
At the time Ibanez was turning out some very convincing replicas of a variety of Gibson style guitars. Some of these looked quite like Les Paul style guitars. 

The Eastern District Philadelphia based Federal Court did not get a chance to rule on the case as it was settled out of court. The case was settled between the parties with the agreement that Ibanez could duplicate the body style but could not use the same headstock shape(s) found on Gibson instruments.

1975 Ibanez Catalog

With all of the Asian based Gibson-style guitars sold on the web, I hardly think that Gibson can use their argument. Ironically, the Trump Guitars are probably manufactured offshore. 







In other Gibson news the Federal Government seized a shipment of 3,000 Asian manufactured guitars in a Los Angeles based seaport. All the instruments bore the Gibson logo. 


These guitars would have been worth almost 18 million dollars had they not been discovered to be counterfeits.

© Unique Guitar Publications 2024 (text only)
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5 comments:

  1. ShnookylangstonDecember 28, 2024 at 9:38 AM

    When I worked in a music store in around 1975, a guy ordered an Ibanez Flying V through our store. It was identical to a real Flying V except for the headstock logo, and it sounded great--a really nice guitar.

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  2. olivia jonesJanuary 1, 2025 at 2:26 AM

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  4. Jordan PetersonSeptember 8, 2026 at 5:44 AM

    The Gibson and Ibanez history is probably the most interesting part of this, especially the 1970s dispute over how closely a guitar could copy the body and headstock design. It does make the current situation with the Trump guitars a little more complicated, particularly with so many Gibson-style instruments already being produced by different manufacturers. The seizure of those 3,000 counterfeit guitars is another interesting twist, and glory casino also caught my attention while browsing.

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