Happy 4th of July!

Wow, I write a blog page in March, go back to work and when I look up, its JULY!!! yikes! where does the time go?!

The shop has been BUSTING OUT the EVH work, I'm very happy to report that we have now stamped 140 Units since May 20th 2015 which is pretty darn good for such a small shop.

The "Judah Guitars" retail store next door, has been gaining steadily since it opened on March 15th 2016 and no one could be any happier than me about it. business is fun when you see success from your efforts. the shop has an average of 110 instruments on the wall at any given time. with more coming and going everyday. Plus, amps pedals and accessories, We picked up Presonus mixing consoles and are talking with Techtonics flat panel speakers as well. We hope to be involved with local sound reinforcement in a big way soon.

My PXWC guitar has been sidelined due to legal issues, its seems Peavey thinks my new head stock shape is too close to theirs.. I don't see it it at all, but they say they do and they hold the trademark, so...

I'll wait until a solution presents itself. which really sucks because I have 3 semi-complete guitars sitting here that can't be finished in their present form. oh well its not the first time I've been screwed out of some money in this business. But IMHO at some point the littel guys are going to have to take these big dogs to court and say hey look there are only just so many ways to make a head stock that mechanically works correctly and owning a trademark on a headstock shape really has little to do with branding. asits plainy obvious that you can buy a guitar with a fender shaped headstock that says everything from Fender, Squier, Charvel, EVH, Jackson, Teisco, Tokai,.. etc etc..

People just want to buy a design that is proven to work. they are afraid to buy something that is unproven and they really don't even bother to read the names on the headstock anymore. they just know that a certain shape , works. Most folks no longer associate that one shape with a certain brand name anymore.

its a lot like violins, you can't tell a strad from a geunirious or a basoti by shape, they all look he same, and its because that shape has proven itself over time. so people don't by the brand they buy the proven design.

Little builders like me are still pushing the boundaries of the designs. and some wonderful new designs have emerged in recent years. but the headstock of an instrument has some very hard mechanical limits.

so once you locate your holes placement for your tuning keys.. your outside shape becomes dictated by those placements. which leaves you with only a very few options for an outer perimeter shape.

Branding refers to the "brand name" of the instrument. and should not refer to a shape of the device.

but, thats for a judge to sort out.

Gotta get back to work Thanks for stopping by to read my few lines.

Now, go grill something good to eat this Tuesday!