So some guys on YouTube say you should boycott Harley Benton because the guitar at the top is a rip off of the guitar below it:
At least, I think these are the 2 guitars in question?
Which is the gist of my post here: they are similar, but not exact - despite hyperbole.
Many differences: knobs, fingerboard extension, sound holes are different, body size/geometry different, bridge different. They look similar (unless I've got the wrong guitars?), but it's variations on a theme.
A theme that Taylor didn't invent. The first thing I think of when I see both is a combination of the following:
Godin MultiAc |
..and:
Ovation Adamas |
Rickenbacker 360 |
The aesthetic is a combination of established elements. From a design intellectual property standpoint, there is nothing new. From a functional standpoint there isn't, either.
Nobody is buying the $400 guitar thinking it's a Taylor. But more importantly - and this is the real point - Taylor isn't losing any customers for it's $2,200 guitar.
Nobody is walking into a Taylor dealership, thinking they want the Taylor and then settling for the Harley Benton. Nobody. Just like nobody walks into a Fender dealership wanting to order a Custom Shop Stratocaster, and then settles for a Harley Benton strat.
Which is a whole lot closer aesthetically and functionally than the Harley Benton and the Taylor.
Unless one wants to restart the stratocaster clone wars and go off on a jihad against everybody that makes a strat style guitar, the Taylor vs. Harley Benton issue is a non-issue in my opinion. The guys in the Youtube video sells both Fender and PRS: do they want you to boycott PRS Silversky models.......?
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