Fender versus the Guitar Industry
21 May 2026 • by Bob • Guitar, Music
For my guitar-playing friends: in case you hadn't heard, the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is now suing several guitar manufacturers that make Stratocaster-style guitar bodies - which is probably every guitar manufacturer (other than Gibson). Currently the lawsuit is telling these companies to "Cease and Desist," which means that these guitar manufacturers must stop making any Strat-like guitar bodies for the foreseeable future, and that's a LOT of guitars that won't be going on the market. (I'm also worried about companies like Warmoth that allow tinkerers to buy unfinished Strat-style guitar bodies to create custom guitars.)
Ever since Leo Fender created the Stratocaster back in the early 1950s, that guitar shape has become ubiquitous within the guitar world. In a way, it's become an open standard, like PC compatible computers or car batteries. (And in that same sense, so has the Les Paul guitar shape.)
This is a really stupid move on Fender's part, and the negative backlash among the guitar community has already begun, with many guitarists openly boycotting Fender. (Though I have no plans to sell my Fender Strat, of course.)
All this unnecessary brouhaha comes down to money: Fender's lawyers will probably use this lawsuit as a money grab from their competitors, while damaging the competition from guitar manufacturers who are often building better guitars than Fender.
However, the best comment from the guitar community is: "Yamaha [who is affected by this lawsuit] is worth over $3 billion, and Fender is worth only $700 million. Yamaha should buy Fender."
I'm sure that was meant as a joke, but... it's not a bad idea, provided that Yamaha lets every other guitar manufacturer continue to make their Strat-style guitars, too. I think it would be great if Yamaha bought Fender and released the Strat-style design into the public domain.