Yamaha has been confirmed as one of the companies to have been targeted by a cease-and-desist letter from Fender as the copyright dispute surrounding the Stratocaster continues.
Since scoring a default copyright ruling in German courts in March, Fender has sought to police its legal rights to protect the Strat body shape by issuing a wave of cease-and-desists to US and EU guitar builders.
LsL Instruments and PRS Guitars were among the first to be publicly confirmed as recipients of such orders. Now, Yamaha has confirmed to Reuters that it’s also been hit.
Yamaha says it received the letter in May. No specific model names were named in the comment, but Yamaha said it was “reviewing the notice and weighing how to respond”.
Despite no confirmation from Yamaha, there can be no doubt that the letter formally drags the Pacifica S-type into the dispute. Alongside John Mayer’s PRS Silver Sky, it becomes the most significant guitar to be targeted by Fender’s ongoing legal campaign.
First launched for LA session players in 1991, the Pacifica was pitched as Yamaha’s entry into the Superstrat world and a direct response to the heavy metal and hard rock scene.
“That was a big thing around that time,” Yamaha’s Electric Guitar Product Manager Yusuke Ota told Guitar World earlier this year. “We wanted to create something that was ultra-versatile and able to cover just about any kind of sound and genre.”
35 years on from its launch, the Pacifica is widely recognized as one of the most popular, best and beloved beginner guitars on the market. The 112V variant has become a household name. In 2024, the Pacifica received a premium update in the form of the Yamaha Pacifica Pro – again, one of the best guitars in its price range.
In taking on Yamaha, Fender is going up against the largest music instrument maker in the world. Pair that with the fact Fender has also been sued by the largest music instrument retailer in the world, it raises the stakes of the Big F’s legal strategy considerably.
Fender has maintained it wants to work “work directly with companies to find practical paths forward”, and CEO, Bud Cole, has downplayed some of the more draconian measures referenced in the letters.
That said, the company has attracted widespread backlash from the guitar community, receiving criticism from Guitar World readers and prominent YouTubers.
Yamaha has been approached for comment.
