Muffroom Cloud will be changing its name as of 1 Sept.

horse

FFS - For Fuzz Sake

The FuckYou Cloud?

viz

Or illegal minefield.

viz

horse said:

FFS - For Fuzz Sake

The FuckYou Cloud?

haha Fuzz Sake is excellent!

RocknRollDave

Mushroom Pie.

RocknRollDave

Eclectic Mattress

RocknRollDave

Deluxe Mammary Joy

RocknRollDave

Sole Feud

digitalscream

RocknRollDave said:

Sole Feud

Excellent work!

earwighoney

My vote would be for 'Brian Blessed's Chin'.

That's some triumphant and fearsome fuzz if ever. 

***

Meh, I want to buy a Muffroom Cloud now.  Hadn't really considered one or heard clips of it until now.  The Muffroom seems to have a huge amount of variation for a fuzz.  All the fuzz pedals I've owned have been really one dimensional. 

Evilmags

Another happy muffroom cloud owner here. It's way better than what ehx currently make.

Gassage

Have you checked with Sky re using 'Cloud'?

And have you checked with the Hilton re using 'Room'?

If I were you I'd cover all the bases.

Heartfeltdawn

TheGuitarWeasel said:

As for going near Rickenbacker ... Jason Lollar's experience proves that even when the big company concerned can't make a pickup with reliable quality control ... they will make damn sure nobody else can offer alternatives. What annoys me is that were you a Chinese company you'd be left strictly alone. A case of pursuing the easy targets.

That's totally untrue in the case of Rickenbacker, who go after everyone, whether they're a US pickup builder or a Chinese seller marketing guitars in the Rickenbacker style. Go and ask the Indie Guitar Co what happened over their IRK5 model or ask Tokai what happened to the RG40 guitar. Ask eBay if it's possible to sell even a lawsuit era Rick clone on there. Rickenbacker protect their trademarks very strongly.

Sporky

Heartfeltdawn said:

Rickenbacker protect their trademarks very strongly.

As they have every right to - and as Fender and Gibson should have. But the guitarist historical re-enactment market means that not many people are willing to make something different, and too many of the ones who are happy to copy things are happy to use the reputation and trade dress of the original to sell their copy.

This I am not directing at Mr Thorpy; the Muffroom Cloud looks to have an individual sound and look and is a lot more money than a Little Big Muff. I still understand why EHX might not be happy with the name though - as I'm sure Mr Thorpy would not be happy if there was an EHX Punshot overdrive.

ThorpyFX

We have a winner....... But i'll announce it later.

Gassage

ThorpyFX said:

We have a winner....... But i'll announce it later.<script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/426c751/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>

Good. Just nipping down to the patent and trademark office.

Heartfeltdawn

randomhandclaps said:

Yeah, I appreciate that angle and that is the advice I would give.  However it is still Thorpy making the decision to change the name.  If (as is true EHX) have no case then there is no case to fight and ignore it.  It's their job to prove it, which as it's fantastical they can't. 

The is slightly more complicated as a lot of the Muffroom Cloud's marketing (besides it's name) relies on referring to EHX own baby.  Plenty of other Muff variants exist without making direct comparisons, such as the Musket, Pharaoh, Iron Bell... So to that extent maybe EHX do have a claim.  Still this isn't them in the wrong.  The Muffroom Cloud will still exist but use a different name.  Had it not been for EHX then the Muffroom Cloud would not have existed fall stop so I just find making them the bad guys a bit odd.

As for sending a cease and desist order equalling acting likes twats, when the world was awash with OCD clones, which itself is a clone of the Voodoo Labs OD with added tone control, Mike Fuller would send cease and desist orders as well as threats of physical violence to people so on balance I think EHX just followed protocol.  I suspect that the arrival of the Muffuletta around a similar time probably didn't help their mood much either.

There was also the hilarity of Vertex sending out at least one C&D letter to TGP members telling them to silence their clearly analysed and presented evidence terrible lies about Vertex. I can't remember if Freekish Blues sent any out. 

ThorpyFX

Sporky said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

Rickenbacker protect their trademarks very strongly.

As they have every right to - and as Fender and Gibson should have. But the guitarist historical re-enactment market means that not many people are willing to make something different, and too many of the ones who are happy to copy things are happy to use the reputation and trade dress of the original to sell their copy.

This I am not directing at Mr Thorpy; the Muffroom Cloud looks to have an individual sound and look and is a lot more money than a Little Big Muff. I still understand why EHX might not be happy with the name though - as I'm sure Mr Thorpy would not be happy if there was an EHX Punshot overdrive.

Don't worry I get why the company are concerned and i am resigned to change the name, i thought the pun wouldn't upset anyone, as the term has become very common and used by loads of people and the trademark is very far removed from the pun..... 

Anyway, they are upset, we can't afford to fight it and life moves on. Interestingly the trademark wasn't in place until 1990. It survived for twenty years without a trademark... My only remaining gripe will be regarding parity of response, I would place money on the fact that all the other offenders get to keep the names they have coined, modified that appear to similarly breach trademark. Ultimately though, this won't reflect badly on me so i guess its not a concern i need to dwell upon. 

 The moral of the story is..... don't stick your head above the parapet or its liable to get shot.... its not a coincidence the C+D arrived after the amazing Premier Guitar review we received.

Heartfeltdawn

Sporky said:

As they have every right to - and as Fender and Gibson should have. But the guitarist historical re-enactment market means that not many people are willing to make something different, and too many of the ones who are happy to copy things are happy to use the reputation and trade dress of the original to sell their copy.

Exactly. I have absolutely zero problem with Rickenbacker protecting their guitar trademarks, although the corresponding effect is that the replacement parts market for Rickenbackers is a near-neurotic experience

DrJazzTap

Well I'll not be buying another ehx product again.

ICBM

ThorpyFX said:

Interestingly the trademark wasn't in place until 1990.

Probably because Muffs were out of favour until the early 90s proto-grunge bands started using them again, and because there were very few copy/clone pedals of any kind until then either.

ThorpyFX said:

My only remaining gripe will be regarding parity of response, I would place money on the fact that all the other offenders get to keep the names they have coined, modified that appear to similarly breach trademark.

Because yours is one of the few which comprehensively wipes the floor with both the original and the rest of the competition, probably - hence is a threat rather than a 'pusher'. Fender and Gibson made that mistake in the 70s, thinking that the Japanese copies would always be inferior and hence they would always act as a pusher for the real thing by making owners want to upgrade. Then Tokai and Ibanez upset that logic and they started getting threatened with lawsuits. The actual 'lawsuit' which coined this overused term was only over the open-book shape of the headstock on some of the earlier Ibanezes.