| Subject: | Re: [RESOGUIT-L] MAS its laminate for Gods sake! | | Date: | Monday, January 30, 2006 22:54:30 (-0600) | | From: | kbrown <kbrown @...........edu>
|
I had a dream last night. Jerry Douglas ordered a dobro made out of particle
board and Formica from [INSER NAME OF MAKER HERE], and when it came, took it
out on tour with AKUS.
Well, as it happened, it sounded darn good. I mean Jerry was playin' it, what
did you expect? In fact, it sounded *really* good. Rob Ickes heard him play it
and ordered one. Randy Kohrs ordered one, too, and took it out on tour with
Dolly Parton (Dolly just loved it -- said she "grew up with Formica and
Tupperware").
Dick DeNeve started researching Formica, and came up with a slightly modified
formula that improved significantly on the sonic qualities of the material.
Charlie Campbell explained it all to us. Production was a little slow at first,
because the construction industry in the area affected by Katrina and Rita was
consuming a lot of the particle board, but eventually production caught up with
demand, especially after the manufacturers started sending imported mahogany,
rosewood and koa logs directly to the particle board plants.
Eventually all the major luthiers in the US and Canada, from Beard to Yanuziello
were offering the particle/Formica (or "PF" models as they came to be known)
instruments either as standard models or options. The Paul Beard web site
explained that "you can order any color you want, as long as it's black." The
Chinese began importing them under the "Presley Pressbord" brand name, selling
them through Guitar Center.
And then the inevitable happened. You guessed it...
Gibson bought the rights to the Formica brand name, and began suing all the
major luthiers making the PF dobros. All were driven out of business except the
Chinese, who simply ignored international trademark law (it later developed that
the Chinese owned Gibson, anyway).
And then the alarm went off.
Ken Brown
Austin, Texas
I have a square neck and it's made of this primitive stuff called maple.
|
Re: [RESOGUIT-L] 
Reply to this message