Re: I won't buy a Dimarzio...
Buy Used Gear, Everyone Reaps Assets
See my other posts for my standpoint on this
And it's been renewed! Larry won't ever give up the trademark because it's not about the money, but about the POWER.
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I think that this is incorrect. Unlike patents which expire afrer 20 years, trademarks NEVER expire. Therefore, they do not have to be renewed, but simply run until the company gives them up of their own accord or goes out of business.
Examples of AFAIK currently active patents in Music, these can not be used by any other company without the trademark holder´s permission, which often costs money, for a period of 20 years since approval:
Buzz Feiten
True Temperament
Fanned Frets
Triple Shots
Schaller Hannes Bridge
Tom Anderson´s neck mounting system
Examples of Patents in music which have expired and can now be used by
anybody:
Synchronized Tremolo (Fender)
Double locking Tremolo (aka. Floyd Rose)
Cam operated Tremolo (aka. Kahler Flat Mount /Flyer)
Cascading gain stages
Channel switching
Examples of trademarks. These can effectively NEVER be used by any other company without the trademark holder´s permission, which often costs money IF permission is given at all.
Gibson
Fender
Jackson
Charvel
Ibanez
Seymour Duncan
Paul Reed Smith
Monster
Tom Anderson
Lipstick Tube Pickups
Double Cream Humbuckers.
Seeing it written out like that I can´t help but notice 2 entries in the last set that seem to be playing "one of these things is not like the other", i appear to have inadvertently created the first visual aid for this discussion :chairfall
Could you order individual creme bobbins, unattached to a baseplate with the white/black wires unattached, as separate items from the Custom Shop? I'd be more than happy to assemble my own, if so.
My guess is no...
BUT, I just got an Idea..... hehehehemuahahaha!!!
You can probably buy a set of unwound bobbins in any color of the rainbow and a baseplate and send then in to the Duncan CS to be "rewound". Costs IIRC as much as a production pickup + shipping and the 5 bucks for bobbins and plate
