I was wondering to what extent we are allowed to clone pedals, be it vintage discountinued ones or current production models. I became interested in the idea since i am designing a modified version of the PQ-4. This article about [url=http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=14450""]guitar copying[/url] is also rather interesting.
So my question really is how different does a pedal have to be from its original for it to be sold as a new product. Here are a few simple changes you could do hopefully you guys might know what is appropriate and what is not.
- Change the name. - Change the enclosure. - Changing various components (only in type so for example from carbon resistors to MF resistors) - Slightly changing various components (slight changes in value no more than 10% of total value) - Omiting or adding components. - Adding True bypass in a new enclosure and a different name. - Adding an extra bit of ciruitry like a top boost.
This is mainly regarding discontinued pedal of which the patent might or might not have run out yet. Any knowledge or even more curiousty is welcome!
Usually they patent the circuit design,if you change the values it changes everything.And the schematic don't dictate what the parts are made up of, just the values.
Liability and Legal Issues with building pedals.
Posted - 03/30/2010 : 16:29:46
