Edward the Compressor, by Ted Fletcher

  • Thread starter Thread starter tubedude
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I don't think the writing is quite BIG enough on that website.
 
I've got a TFpro Edward the Compressor here. It is definitely a very good piece of gear. The cool parts are the width and transient release features.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
 
Oz (or anybody)....

have you checked out the TF mics????

-mike
 
PMI knows all about this and they are pursuing legal action against TFPro. There have been several discussions around here about this. FWIW, and at the risk of starting a flame war, I think he's got a case for trademark infringement.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way associated with PMI or Studio Projects, and and make no claims, legal or otherwise on their behalf. I'm just a guy with a few SP mics.
 
freshmattyp said:
PMI knows all about this and they are pursuing legal action against TFPro. There have been several discussions around here about this. FWIW, and at the risk of starting a flame war, I think he's got a case for trademark infringement.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way associated with PMI or Studio Projects, and and make no claims, legal or otherwise on their behalf. I'm just a guy with a few SP mics.
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I've got one of these sitting my rack. It absolutely doesn't remind me of any Joemeek product I've ever been around. It's a hell of a lot better. I hope Ted succeeds with this product line. He's been nothing but polite and a gentleman in his dealings with me. I sincerely wish him well.
 
ozraves said:
I've got one of these sitting my rack. It absolutely doesn't remind me of any Joemeek product I've ever been around. It's a hell of a lot better. I hope Ted succeeds with this product line. He's been nothing but polite and a gentleman in his dealings with me. I sincerely wish him well.
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As has Alan with me. I am basing my opinion on a graphic posted by Alan at another forum, comparing side by side TFPro products with Joemeeks products. Out of fairness, Edward the Compressor is not shown in the image, and may not be part of the pending litigation. See for yourself:

http://www.studioforums.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=1436041581&f=6036095781&m=7816086234

Alan has shown himself to be extremely vigilant in protecting his business interests, sometimes at the expense of decorum.

With all that said, I'm sure it's a nice piece of gear.
 
I wish Alan the best of luck with his endeavors. I think this dispute between him and Ted Fletcher is much better left to private communication between the parties.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
 
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Re: Oz (or anybody)....

formerlyfzfile said:
have you checked out the TF mics????

-mike
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The TF mic that I've seen at the website appears to be in the same mic body as the MXL603. However, I'm not sure that it makes it the same mic as I get the impression that some toying with Feilo's original design has occurred in one or more versions of it b/c it seems one mic will get a good rap such as the MXL603 and another such as the Feilo SE1 will get a bad rap.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
 
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ozraves said:
I wish Alan the best of luck with his endeavors. I think this dispute between him and Ted Fletcher is much better left to private communication between the parties.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
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I think we can all agree on that.
 
freshmattyp said:
PMI knows all about this and they are pursuing legal action against TFPro. There have been several discussions around here about this. FWIW, and at the risk of starting a flame war, I think he's got a case for trademark infringement.
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No flamewar, just legal interest: You mean he might have a case because the Edward has the "Green Box" setting, set to "emulate" a Joemeek compressor?

When it comes to his other products, there are obviously his old joemeek designs, with a new name and color. But that would not be a trademark infringement, but a case of copying a design. I haven't got any clarification on wether Alan bought the right to the designs or not, so it's hard to say if he has a case there or not. A trademarr infringement could only be the case if the design is so unique that it can be considered a trade mark (even though it's not registered), and that is highly doubtful, since the "trade mark" in this case would be the grren colour, mostly. The boxes and knobs are not particularily unique.

It surely is a difficult case, that would have not have popped up if Ted Fletcher would have redesigned his boxes. Moved the buttons around, used other buttons, and not tried to be green first, but gone red at the start. He should have had more trust in his name, then in joemeeks...
 
regebro said:
No flamewar, just legal interest: You mean he might have a case because the Edward has the "Green Box" setting, set to "emulate" a Joemeek compressor?

When it comes to his other products, there are obviously his old joemeek designs, with a new name and color. But that would not be a trademark infringement, but a case of copying a design. I haven't got any clarification on wether Alan bought the right to the designs or not, so it's hard to say if he has a case there or not. A trademarr infringement could only be the case if the design is so unique that it can be considered a trade mark (even though it's not registered), and that is highly doubtful, since the "trade mark" in this case would be the grren colour, mostly. The boxes and knobs are not particularily unique.

It surely is a difficult case, that would have not have popped up if Ted Fletcher would have redesigned his boxes. Moved the buttons around, used other buttons, and not tried to be green first, but gone red at the start. He should have had more trust in his name, then in joemeeks...
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I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a heaping mound of salt. I think trademark infringement also covers brand identity, so that if someone copies another product so as to create confusion in the marketplace, that is actionable under trademark law. This may be entirely incorrect. My knowledge of the law comes from years of watching "Law and Order". :D
 
QUOTE:..............."It surely is a difficult case, that would have not have popped up if Ted Fletcher would have redesigned his boxes. Moved the buttons around, used other buttons, and not tried to be green first, but gone red at the start. He should have had more trust in his name, then in joemeeks..."


That sums it up quite nicely.


QUOTE:................."I think this dispute between him and Ted Fletcher is much better left to private communication between the parties."


To degree you are probably correct, however, IF Ted Fletcher has been less than ethical (or honest or legally correct), then why shouldn't the consumer be aware of what is taking place. Somewhere a long time ago I read something about the apparent demise of the Joe Meek business and what caused it, and if the information was half correct TF ain't the knight in shining armour he would have people believe. Does the term "snake oil salesman" mean anything to you?


:cool:
 
In an unrelated legal question, isn't "Edward the Compressor" also the name of Marshall's stomp-box guitar effect?
 
You got it.

The ED-1, also known on the Marshall website as Edward the Compressor.

:cool:
 
freshmattyp said:
I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a heaping mound of salt. I think trademark infringement also covers brand identity
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Yes, but the brand identity in this case would be the color green. And TFPro dropped that part, after Alan complained. Making a product that does that same thing is not an infringement on brand identity, unless that product in itself defines the brand identity, which probably only would be the case if the brand only had one product.

Possibly you could claim that the joemeek compressor sound is a brand identity, and then the Edward compressor would be on thin ice. :)

I don't think Ted Fletcher is a mean man. I think he just thought that he could sell the joemeek trademark and then continue making exactly the same products under another name and that would be it. That is obviusly not the case.

I also don't think Alan is mean. I think he thought that if he'd just buy the trademark everything would be fine. He couldn't. He should have bought the whole shebang, including Ted Fletcher himself. :)
 
The thing is both Alan and Ted are making different products.

Alan and his team have redesigned the whole Joe Meek line, improving on the inherited designs, in some instances practically starting from scratch. Ted's TFPRO line may also be based on the old Joe Meek stuff, but he has also made design changes, but in a different way to what Alan has done. Therefore, Joe Meek & TFPRO products are not the same at all, apart from they share the heritage and a few principles and a resemblance!
 
I hope Ted does well too, so that if he owes any back pay to his former employees, they can also share in the profits.

Chris
 
Back to the Edward the Compressor...

We were tracking bass last night. It was a Fender five-string Jazz bass. I was showing the bassist how a DI/preamp (A Designs MP-2) imparts its sound, how an EQ (Speck Model ASC) imparts its sound and how a compressor (TFpro Edward the Compressor) leaves its imprint on the sound. When you do this and add one at a time and dial in the sound it's kind deceptive to the ear. After we got the sound dialed in, I peeled back the layers until we were left with just the MP-2. It was amazing how much character of sound the Edward the Compressor and the Model ASC put on on the Jazz bass. The Edward the Compressor fit right into this chain so very naturally. It's worthy of consideration to anyone looking for a compressor for their studio.

Steve
www.mojopie.com
 
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