Post Lawsuit.
After the Lawsuits things changed.
The copying all but stopped and in particular the headstock designs. Orville ( Gibson ) and Fender Japan sprang from the ashes
and Fender Japan is alive and well today despite having moved from Fujigen in 1997 to be made in the Tokai factory and labelled
" Crafted in Japan " rather than the more desireable " Made in Japan " models.
Ibanez - Greco - Burny - Tokai - to
name just a few either slightly changed their designs , designed totally their own guitars or slowly faded away or switched
production to other countries. Each has a different story to tell.
During this period some great guitars
were produced and have become classics in their own right but as production switched to other far eastern factories the magic
in the opinion of many was lost and profit took over from pride.
Many of the guitars listed are Post Lawsuit made
in a period when the Japanese took the attitude that if we can't copy them then we will make em better. In many cases they
achieved just that and in the eyes of many this was the era of the GREAT guitars. They were taking on the USA giants head
on with their own products and at last the world had some real alternatives. For many of the Japanese makers the boost came
when various notable big names of the time started using Japanese guitars in preference.
