Rebecca Frazier

The Fender Stratocaster Lawsuit

Apologies for the delay with this blog, I drove across the state to see one of my favorite bluegrass guitarists, Rebecca Frazier (https://luegra.design.blog/2023/05/27/the-amazing-rebecca-frazier/), at a festival in Niles, Michigan. It was wonderful to see her, and she was just as happy to see me after so many years of just emailing and messaging each other, And her band loved the chrusciki (Polish cookies known as “angel wings”) that I brought.

If you follow any music business news, you know that the past few weeks have been filled with talk of Fender and its lawsuit against a number of other guitar manufacturers regarding the making of Stratocaster style guitars. It began with Fender presenting cease-and-desist orders to other companies, from larger ones such as PRS and Ibanez, to smaller boutique operations such as LsL.

Many observers are assuming that this lawsuit comes from an earlier success that Fender received in Germany against Yiwu Philharmonic Musical Instrument Co., based out of China. In a court in Dusseldorf, the decision sided with Fender that Yiwu must discontinue selling Strat style guitars in the European Union countries. It didn’t help that Yiwu failed to send attorneys to the court in the first place.

So Fender received a ruling that qualified the Strat as a copyrighted form of art which no other company could sell similar guitars. However, this was a German court. So Fender decided to take action here in the US, a much larger guitar market for electric guitars. The initial letter from the Bird & Bird Law Firm sent to other guitar manufacturers stated “Subject of this letter is your offer of products which infringe the copyright of our client’s Fender Stratocaster guitar. We insist that you immediately stop manufacturing, selling, marketing, or producing such infringing products.” The letter also demands that companies destroy current stock and secure sold guitars to destroy as well.

When guitar podcasters and music journalists got wind of this, the internet blew up. Note that Fender received a patent on the Stratocaster back in 1953, and started mass producing them the next year. For a product that has been around for over 70 years, it seems strange that Fender decided to take action now.

Immediate reaction from the defendants has been mixed. Granted, Fender has the cash to afford the best legal representation. Companies like Ibanez and PRS also have the money, so they seem willing to put up a fight. However, LsL admits that it cannot financially fight Fender. Fans of the company set up a GoFundMe page to help LsL with attorney fees.

Since the first news, any information regarding continues legal work and negotiations seems to be hush-hush. Very little is being leaked out by Fender as well as the defending guitar manufacturers. Moreover, these little bits come out every day, so opinions and new podcasts and vlogs come out just as fast as the news arrives. Most recently, Fender has revised its lawsuits, stating that it was not interested in all two-horned body guitars, and those companies that replicate the Strat will be removed from the lawsuit if they do modifications to their models that show a distinct difference to the Strat.

Nost people following this lawsuit are assuming that Fender is specifically going after PRS. John Mayer, who was a Stratocaster through most of his career, recently endorsed PRS and its Silver Sky model. Other than the differing headstocks, the Stratocaster and the Silver Sky are basically the same guitar, body shape and electronics.

(These are just a few of the many YouTube vlogs dealing with the lawsuit)

Perhaps Fender is miffed that Mayer went to PRS instead of staying with it. Looking at guitar fans postings on the internet, most believe that Fender is the bad guy, some even suggesting a boycott from future Fender product purchases. As stated before, every waking day seems to bring another update to the lawsuit. I plan to follow it as a curiosity rather than a main concern. However, whatever happens in the court will definitely have an effect on the future of not onlyt musical instrument manufacturing, but product manufacturing in general.

Chew on it and comment.

The Amazing Rebecca Frazier

Everyone who reads this blog knows that I am a big fan of Molly Tuttle’s flatpicking. She is one of the best up-and-comers out there in the bluegrass field, pushing its boundaries as well as paying tribute to its traditions. The media, including those in the bluegrass music fold, tend to promote her as the first female to blaze a trail with bluegrass guitar picking. Almost all seem to forget that there was another female that was doing wizardry on the six-string about a decade ago, and fortunately, is getting back into the music performing after a long semi-haitus.

If you haven’t heard of Rebecca Frazier, then start paying attention. When she was still Rebecca Hoggan, she helped form the Hit & Run Bluegrass Band in Colorado back in 2001. The band pushed the walls of traditional bluegrass a bit that made it stick out among other young bluegrass bands at the time, winning numerous awards and performing on stage with acts such as Alison Krauss, David Grisman, and Hot Rize. Part of the excitement of this band was Rebecca’s amazing flatpicking along with her strong vocals. It was common to see her handling guitar workshop duties at many of the bluegrass festivals that the band attended. She would marry the band’s mandolinist John Frazier, and the pair would move to Nashville.

I was fortunate enough to see Hit & Run at its one-time performance at The Ark in Ann Arbor around 2009 (not sure of the exact year). I also met up with John again at The Ark about a year after where we both attended a Roland White mandolin workshop and John just happened to be in town.

Upon their move to Music City, John took more studio and touring jobs with artists such as Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, and Jim Lauderdale. Rebecca was the first woman to appear on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine in 2006, and her first solo album When We Fall was recorded in 2012 (she gave birth to her daughter Cora, while recording the album). The album would be declared “Best Bluegrass Album of 2013” by the Bluegrass Situation website.

While John toured with national artists, Rebecca became more of a homebody mother, although she never strayed too far from her writing and performing. She re-formed a new version of Hit & Run Bluegrass Band a few years ago, and over the past few years, due partly to being stuck at home during COVID, she began posting videos on YouTube performing and instructing on bluegrass guitar solos from her heroes Tony Rice and Norman Blake.

A few months ago, I happened to catch a post of hers on LinkedIn, and wrote to her asking about her plans. She is interested in getting out and touring a bit again, so we both are staying in contact, as I told her that I would help her with booking in the Michigan area in any way that I can.

I am so glad to see that Rebecca plans to get back into the bluegrass scene again. She is an amazing talent, and I would advise anyone to search out her solo album, as well as subscribe to her YouTube channel.

Chew on it and comment.