Exploring the Ibanez Alpha and guitar body trademarks
- Philip Weller
- Jan 23
- 6 min read
The new guitar’s similarities to two existing models have caused controversy, but what does the history of guitar design tell us about trademarks and body shapes?
When Ibanez launched its brand-new electric guitar, the Alpha, earlier this month, Animals As Leaders guitarist Javier Reyes was seen in the comments section of the firm’s Instagram asking: “What Japanese for shameless?”
It’s clear what markets Ibanez is aiming to seduce with the Alpha – a guitar we reported on late last year, ahead of its release. Available in only extended-range formats featuring Fishman Fluence pickups, the guitar is intended as its answer to Abasi Concepts guitars – run by former Ibanez artist Tosin Abasi, and the Music Man Kaizen, a model created by Abasi and Ernie Ball.
It’s a guitar built for modern metal and progressive audiences. But fans have been quick to point out the striking similarities between the Abasi models and the Kaizen, hence Reyes’ comment. He feels Ibanez has copied their homework a little too shamelessly. One reel on Instagram even went so far as splicing the two guitars together, ultimately creating a guitar that looks remarkably like the Alpha.
But has Ibanez crossed the line, or is it well within its rights to do so? And what can the history of guitar design tell us about this curious case?
The Abasi influence
Tosin Abasi spent nearly a decade as an Ibanez artist before leaving its ranks to form Abasi Concepts in 2017. Speaking recently to Premier Guitar, Abasi explained his reasoning for leaving and starting his own business instead.
“There were a lot of realities of dealing with such a large company that started to make the process feel less than ideal for us, he said. It got to the point where I felt I could take it and bring it to life on my own.”
That departure meant that work on a new signature guitar, succeeding his Super Strat, TAM100, was shelved, and the plans for that guitar have never been released.
Thus, it doesn’t take a wild stretch of the imagination to suggest that the Alpha was born from that aborted project. There’s little to no argument regarding the similarities between the Abasi and Kaizen body shapes, so was this Ibanez guitar going down a similar path and revived by Ibanez, knowing that, due to the success of both Abasi Concepts and the Kaizen, there was an appetite for those guitars?
Likely, the truth will never be revealed, but many have been quick to suggest that this is less of Ibanez stealing ideas, and more resurrecting a project it already had a hand in.
Where does Ibanez stand, legally?
If, like me, you’re regularly shopping for seven- and eight-string guitars, you’ll know how rare it is to find a guitar that doesn’t have some form of Strat-like body shape. But have you ever wondered why this is the case, and how these firms can get away with it?
Well, it’s because the Stratocaster shape is actually defined, in legal terms as generic. Because Fender was unable to defend its trademarks in the 1950s and ‘60s, the electric guitar body shape has been deemed generic. It's basically public domain. Telecasters met a similar fate, too, but eight-string Teles are tragically rare.
Interestingly, Fender does reserve a degree of exclusivity with its headstock. That is trademarked, which is why you’ll only see that exact shape from Fender brands, including Charvel, which it acquired in 2002. Similarly, when Gibson sued Ibanez in the 1970s, it was over the use of its “open book” headstock design – it could do little to nothing about it taking the Les Paul body shape for its own ends.
Sure, there are similar shapes out there, the Yamaha Pacifica, and many Suhr models cut close to the bone, for instance. But they still err on the side of caution; they’re different enough from Fender’s trademark to avoid an angry letter from its lawyers.
So, if a lawsuit between Ibanez and Abasi was to ensue, it would be likely that Ibanez would argue that this body shape is the new standard. Two separate companies have issued similar shapes, so why can’t they?
Historical learning
It’s also worth noting that, when one company does bring body shapes to the legal battleground, matters can be extremely protracted.
Gibson and Dean have been locked in legal wrangling over the use of the Flying V and Explorer body shapes, with Gibson chasing trademarks for those bodyshapes. During that time, Dean even dropped a new Explorer-type model with the tag line “zero fucks given,” and while Gibson won both trials, with the ES-335 quietly deemed generic in the process, Dean has since responded with a statement called it a “complex verdict.”
And it is. Dean is still selling Z and V-shaped guitars, and other companies do too. So, nearly seven years later, it's not like Gibson has been able to establish a Flying V monopoly.
It also looks like Gibson isn’t filing lawsuits against anyone else, including Zakk Wylde’s Wylde Audio – its Warhammer axe is the bottom half of a V, and the top half of an SG welded together, basically.
The fact is that guitar body shapes are, largely speaking, fair game. It’s the same reason why Strandberg-esque ergonomic headless guitars are popping up all over the place – the new Donner HLX-500 and HILS Next guitars are two examples of that.
It seems that, while the Alpha’s shape is so similar to the Abasi design that, upon release many comments were from people assuming – joking or otherwise – that this was a new Abasi Concepts drop, it has done enough nip and tuck go get away with it.
It’s also telling that it’s Abasi’s bandmate, not the man himself, speaking out about it. Mind you, the Alpha was launched on his birthday, so he may have been otherwise engaged.
And that’s before wading into the wild world of trademarking, which is a slow and typically costly process, meaning trademarking a design might actually outweigh any profits made.
People don’t like change
Finally, I wanted to touch briefly on the psychology of similarity. It’s taken decades for headless guitars to take off, and there’s a reason why S-type guitars are so popular: People don’t like change.
It’s much easier to sell something familiar than drastically different. If I were to offer you something to eat, and I offered you a burger, or a Kākāpō bao bun with shrilldinger sauce*, you're most likely to go with the former.
So often, when someone is going to make a financial decision, they want to make it with little risk, and so familiarity plays a big role in marketing: it's a tactic regularly employed in every industry. It's the same reason your friend tells you to check out the band they've just discovered and goes, “they're like Mastodon but...” – this way, if you’re already a fan of Mastodon, you’re going to be more inclined to check them out.
By staying very close to the Abasi/Kaizen designs – designs which are already established in the market as ‘futuristic’ and ‘progressive’ – it is leveraging the success of those guitars for its own ends. It’s actually pretty smart.
In conclusion, yes, the Alpha is remarkably similar to those two guitars, but it’s unlikely we’ll see a court case ensue. Ibanez, having involved itself in legal cases before, knows where the line is, and it’s done everything but cross it.
*A Kākāpō is a parrot-like bird. It’s massive. I completely made up Shrilldinger sauce.
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