I am sick to death seeing all these Japanese, and lately Korean, guitars being touted as a "lawsuit guitar"!
Let's set the record straight. The "Lawsuit" period was during the early 70's. Gibson, and to a lesser degree Fender, filed a lawsuit against some JAPANESE companies, for copyright infringments. The main companies filed against were Ibanez, Tokai, Greco, and Matumoku. (Aria, Westone, Electra, and a few others.) The reason for this lawsuit? Well, it's twofold. 1, Some companies, mostly Greco and Tokai, made their logos look alot like the Gibson or Fender logo's, (Look at the stylized Greco logo as an example.), which may confuse the unwary buyer into purchasing a fake. And 2, some of these companies were producing a coopy that actually were a bit better than the original! Hence the lawsuit, and the outragious prices they fetch!
Now Gibson won the lawsuit on their headstock design. It's commonly known as the "open book" design. Check any Les Paul's headstock to see what I mean. So, basically after 75 or so, all the Japanese companies made their headstock look different than Gibsons. Simple really. A few seconds with a band saw, and waa-laa, no lawsuit infringment!
Look at the headstock on these guitars being sold under the guise "Lawsuit". Does it look like a Gibsons? Does it say "MADE IN JAPAN"? Would the logo fool you if you glanced at it? Take this into consideration as you read and look at the ad. Most LOTUS's are NOT lawsuits! A lot of LYLE's are. And if you see people running ads calling there "Made in Korea" guitar a lawsuit, COMPLAIN!
Hope that helps to clear things up a bit,\
Michael
user was badpenguinguitars .. good work on his/their part
