A bit of a gripe.

C

Cullenszoo

New member
I'm curious if any other members have had dealings with Cathy Duncan? I contacted her before the holidays regarding the Hunter pickup. Long before reading about the pickup on the ESP website I had done a pickup mod and called the pup the Hunter. I had even made entries in my blog and talked about in a guitar building group. Taking a cue from a fellow forum member who shared his story about his Magnetar pickup (link at bottom) and dealing with DiMarzio I decided to contact Ms. Duncan.
A week or so later I heard back from her saying she and her team had not had time to address the issue yet.

It's been several weeks now and I still haven't heard anything. Did I contact the wrong person at SD? I realize she probably has her hands full but I would have been fine being shifted to one of her staff.

I can only assume the silence means they really don't care. With NAMM coming up I guess they will be promoting it along with any other pickups.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...p-the-quot-Satchur8-quot-!&highlight=Magnetar
 
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Re: A bit of a gripe.

I'll pass this up the chain - have you reached out again? I'm sure she'll be back in touch with you.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

Keep in mind a few things...wildfires and mudslides probably have upset normal operations in the area.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

It appears that OP blogged about a "pickup mod" he was working on which he called "the Hunter", and apparently SD has a new model coming with the same name coming out, and he doesn't want them to also use the name "the Hunter". Since OP doesn't seem to have any commercial interest in the name, I'm not sure why SD should even agree to what he's asking. The "Magnetar" scenario is substantively different for a few reasons.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

PicoRiveraTele said:
It appears that OP blogged about a "pickup mod" he was working on which he called "the Hunter", and apparently SD has a new model coming with the same name coming out, and he doesn't want them to also use the name "the Hunter". Since OP doesn't seem to have any commercial interest in the name, I'm not sure why SD should even agree to what he's asking. The "Magnetar" scenario is substantively different for a few reasons.
Click to expand...

How do you figure?
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

Not trying to sound like Mr. Creativity here,,,,,but I can come up with cool names for things like a dime a dozen,,,,,and I don't need any of them for myself.
Just PM me and I'll get you a much better name than Hunter or The Hunter or whatever any of that creatively lazy crap! Sounds like a Ted Nugent model lol


How abouts "the enforcer"?
 
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Re: A bit of a gripe.

Staying on the hunter theme,,,,,,you could go with "the predator mod",,,,,,,but then Peavey might have a gripe because of those guitar models way back,,,,,and then Arnold and his housekeeper might want their cut also,,,,,,and then there's Carl Weathers and Jesse Venture probably start griping too. lol
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

I remember that GTR had a song called 'The Hunter'. 1986, I think.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

PicoRiveraTele said:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, is the pickup mod which you've titled "the Hunter" more than just a personal project? Do you plan on selling it as a product?
Click to expand...

It is a pickup I made. I use it when I play live. I've recorded with it and promoted the pickup as part of that recording. As a solo artist as well as a member of a band there is always a level of marketing or branding yourself. From my reading the situation is pretty similar except DiMarzio's reaction.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...chur8-quot-!&p=4134541&viewfull=1#post4134541
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

I think the only real reason you'd want exclusivity to the name is if you're selling it and you don't want customers to mistake your product for theirs, and then you have to get a trademark in order to make your claim to the name legally binding. I am not a lawyer, but so long as you're not selling the pickup in question, I don't think Seymour Duncan could stop you from you using the name as you have been, should they trademark it later. I think this is one of those cases where you have to just shrug your shoulders at the fact that two similar things happen to have the same name, and I'm not one to side with SD as a knee jerk reaction, either.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

As for the difference between this and the Magnetar, the winder "MJ" who was said to be working on the pickup or pickups works for Seymour Duncan. As the two biggest pickup making companies in the market going back since the late 70's, DiMarzio and SD have a long history of trademark issues, and so it doesn't surprise me that DiMarzio wouldn't want to risk another trademark issue.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

PicoRiveraTele said:
As for the difference between this and the Magnetar, the winder "MJ" who was said to be working on the pickup or pickups works for Seymour Duncan. As the two biggest pickup making companies in the market going back since the late 70's, DiMarzio and SD have a long history of trademark issues, and so it doesn't surprise me that DiMarzio wouldn't want to risk another trademark issue.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding when you have Maricela wind a pickup the customer names it and she writes that down on the box. I don't think that qualifies as a trademarked name unless Duncan is claiming ownership of every custom wound pickup name. If that were the case I can see your point.

I think the only real reason you'd want exclusivity to the name is if you're selling it and you don't want customers to mistake your product for theirs, and then you have to get a trademark in order to make your claim to the name legally binding. I am not a lawyer, but so long as you're not selling the pickup in question, I don't think Seymour Duncan could stop you from you using the name as you have been, should they trademark it later. I think this is one of those cases where you have to just shrug your shoulders at the fact that two similar things happen to have the same name, and I'm not one to side with SD as a knee jerk reaction, either.
Click to expand...

Now I'm not making a ton out of my playing ability but when branding ones self you have to look at potential endorsement materials. In this case MY pickup with it's name couldn't become a signature model because it's already taken. These are some of the things I contacted Cathy Duncan over. I figured it would be better to work something out sooner rather than pay lawyers to hash it out later.
 
Re: A bit of a gripe.

"Magnetar" is (to my knowledge) a made-up word, whereas "hunter" is a very generic word.
Several Magnetar pickups were made, and sold, over a period of time, by Seymour Duncan. There is a commercial interest there.
Your Hunter seems to be a pickup you've modded yourself, only one exists, and you seem to have no plan to produce and sell versions of it?

Imagine it wasn't a pickup. If an indie comic company made a character called Magnetar, and a big publisher came out with a character called Magnetar, there would be an issue. If ten publishers had characters called Hunter, nobody would really care, it's a pre-existing word, and rather generic.
 
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