Bass guitars

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We include updates on C. F. Martin & Company, Steinberger, Rickenbacker 4001, Music Man StingRay, Hagström, B.C. Rich, G&L Musical Instruments, Kalindula, Antoria, Shergold Marathon, Luthite, Ibanez K5, Hagström H8, Höfner 500/1, Warwick Corvette, Warwick Dolphin ... and more.

2025 FMIC is planned to move its corporate headquarters from Scottsdale to Phoenix, Arizona.
November 2024 Gibson sent a legal cease-and-desist letter to 16 Creative regarding Trump Guitars, alleging trademark infringement of their classic Les Paul design.
2023 Guitar World journalist Daryl Robertson highlighted Fender's significant impact on music history, emphasizing Leo Fender's transformative influence on guitar, amplifier, and bass manufacturing.
2023 SlashGear writer Luke Mitchell noted Fender amplifiers as defining the sound of blues, rock, and country music, recognizing their global musical significance.
June 2023 Fender announced a partnership with Kevin Shields of the band My Bloody Valentine.
2022 Legal ruling concluded in Gibson's lawsuit against Dean Guitars, with the court finding Dean Guitars infringed on Gibson's designs. The judgment awarded Gibson $4,000 in damages, which was significantly less than the $7 million Gibson had originally claimed.
May 2022 Andy Powers was named the new CEO, President, and Chief Guitar Designer of Taylor Guitars.
2021 Gibson acquired the iconic electric guitar amplifier brand Mesa Boogie.
2021 Gibson began expanding the Bozeman, Montana facility to create 100-200 new job opportunities.
November 2021 Fender acquired PreSonus Audio Electronics, a Louisiana-based manufacturer of professional audio equipment and software.
September 2021 The Federal Supreme Court made a final ruling dismissing Gibson's lawsuits against Warwick/Framus, ultimately rejecting the company's claims of design infringement and reputation exploitation.
July 2021 Gibson launched Gibson Records, a record label dedicated to releasing guitar-centric music across different genres, with the first album being Slash's fourth studio album featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, titled '4'.
May 21 2021 Stanton was sold to inMusic.
March 2021 The Murphy Lab, led by Tom Murphy, released its first collection of guitars.
November 2020 The Higher Regional Court dismissed Gibson's lawsuit against Warwick/Framus regarding the Flying V design imitation.
June 2020 Cerwin Vega Inc. acquired Cerwin Vega from Gibson.
January 2020 The company launched Gibson TV, an online television network focused on guitars and music culture.
January 2020 Fender Europe was fined £4.5 million for resale price maintenance between 2013 and 2018, violating the United Kingdom's Competition Act 1998.
January 2020 Servco Pacific acquired majority ownership of Fender by purchasing shares from TPG Growth, marking a significant ownership transition for the company.
January 16 2020 Gibson relaunched Kramer Guitars at Winter NAMM, introducing original and modern guitar collections with artist collaborations including Tracii Guns, Charlie Parra, and Dave Sabo.
2019 Gibson founded the Murphy Lab, a division within the Custom Shop specializing in creating aged replicas of classic Gibson guitar models.
2019 Gibson closed the Memphis factory and moved hollow-body guitar production to Nashville. The company also moved its Nashville headquarters to Cummins Station.
2019 Gibson initiated a trademark infringement lawsuit against Dean Guitars, challenging several guitar shapes and names including the Dean V, Dean Z, Gran Sport body shapes, Dovetail headstock design, and 'Hummingbird' and 'Moderne' names.
January 2019 Fender purchased the Bigsby Electric Guitar Company from its partner Gretsch, with the subsidiary continuing to operate independently and produce Bigsby vibrato tailpieces and electric guitars.
November 2018 Gibson successfully exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a new management team in place, after CEO Henry Juszkiewicz stepped down and transitioned to a consultant role.
May 1 2018 Gibson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, closing the unprofitable Gibson Innovations division while maintaining guitar production. $135 million in liquidity was provided by existing creditors to support ongoing operations.
2017 Gibson sued Warwick/Framus in the Hamburg regional court, claiming their guitar model imitated the Flying V and misled customers. The court initially ruled in Gibson's favor.
December 2017 The Gibson Guitar Factory building in downtown Memphis was sold to Somera Road, an investment company in New York.
October 2017 Gibson announced plans to relocate its Memphis operations to a smaller location and sell the Memphis property.
June 2015 Andy Mooney began serving as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
February 2015 FMIC sold KMC (Kaman Music Corporation) to Jam Industries.
2014 Gibson released the Government Series II guitars, similar to the first series but finished in a new 'government tan' color.
2014 Gibson acquired the Woox consumer electronics brand from Royal Philips.
2014 The Min-ETune self-tuning technology became standard on several Gibson guitar models, allowing instruments to tune themselves in about two seconds using robotics.
January 2014 The U.S. State Department honored Taylor Guitars with an Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) for their responsible practices in obtaining sustainable ebony, including purchasing their own ebony mill and increasing usable timber from 10% to 100%.
2013 Gibson acquired a majority stake in TEAC Corporation.
2013 Gibson introduced the Government Series of guitars, constructed from tonewoods seized and later returned by the US government, finished in 'government grey' to highlight a previous Lacey Act violation.
2012 Gibson announced a partnership with Japanese-based Onkyo Corporation, integrating them into the Gibson Pro-Audio division.
2011 Gibson acquired the Stanton Group, including Cerwin Vega, KRK Systems, and Stanton DJ, and formed the Gibson Pro Audio division to deliver professional audio equipment.
2011 Volkswagen partnered with Fender to manufacture premium sound systems for its vehicles in North America, including models like Golf, Beetle, Jetta, Passat, and Tiguan.
2011 Taylor Guitars opened a distribution warehouse in the Netherlands to serve the European market.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Taylor Guitars, Gibson (guitar company) & Fender (company), which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.