This pickup's name change was something that I avoided discussing over the past year, mainly because I thought part of the situation was so lame.
It's no secret that the original name for the new Satriani humbucker was Magnetar. It was listed at NAMM last year, along with a few other new models (that included the PAF 59, Imperium, and Dark Matter 2 for example).
One of Duncan's employees went to Satriani and DiMarzio. Something about he had a one-off custom shop pickup made and had called it Magnetar. Anyone can do that and make up their own name for it. I even have one with a made up name (big whoop). But... the employee laid it down that he had blogged about it and recorded with it and bragged about it to people.
Still, Joe and Larry gave Magnetar a pass. They didn't have to. Honestly, I think that Satchur8 is a MUCH cooler name for a Satriani pickup... so a big win there.
Something popped up on my radar a few days ago. Some dude modified a stock pickup (don't know what brand). He called it The Hunter (or Hunter, or whatever). He's had it for a while, but not clear on how long. Now, he is a solo guy and part of a band and has recorded with it and his stuff even gets regional airplay and he's blogged about it. He's got it in a guitar with an animal print graphic, so the "hunter" theme makes sense. When he saw ESP's 2018 new product promo, there's a new Duncan pickup called The Hunter (or Hunter, or whatever).
Meanwhile, the Duncan company hasn't mentioned it or promoted it and doesn't even have that artist on their roster. The dude contacts the Duncan company as soon as he saw the ESP promo to see if there were options. He even mentions the Magnetar situation at last year's NAMM... which in my mind, the guy has a practically identical situation going on. Just this week, an executive from the Duncan company pretty much told him to take a hike and that they are taking the name.
Why mention this here?
People give DiMarzio a lot of lip over what some consider petty business practices... i.e., the double cream humbucker, and "PAF". Meanwhile, the Duncan company appears to make a decided effort to be all west-coast California-hippie we're-all-friends in how they portray themselves.
My first point (finally! lol!) is that it can be seen that Larry was far more gracious than he had to be to a competitor's employee about the issue. I'll let people make their own opinion about how the other company handled it when the shoe was on the other foot.
Secondly, it might be a cautionary tale for when people come up with ideas. This dude doesn't seem to be looking for a payday for the branding of the pickup. But he does seem a little bummed that he think he should be considering trademarks/copyrights/whatever as he goes forward.
And of course, to give credit to Satriani and Larry for being the bigger people in this whole thing.
