If digital technology kills the sound of a guitar, is its shape still worth anything? The legal dispute between Thomann and Fender over the shape of the Stratocaster is one of the many negative consequences of the virtualisation of reality caused by the 'everything digital' philosophy by Andrea Monti - Originally published in Italian by Italian Tech - La Repubblica On 22 June 2026, Thomann, Europe's largest music shop, announced that it was taking legal action against Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, the American manufacturer of electric guitars such as the Stratocaster and the Telecaster, used by some of the greatest musicians in history, including Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler, Prince, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen. The substance of the dispute seems light years away from the world of technology: Fender has brought legal action against a Chinese manufacturer that was exporting instruments to Germany with the same shape as the Stratocaster. On 22 December 2025, a German court ruled in Fender's favour (albeit in the absence of the opposing party, and therefore without a hearing), and, buoyed by the verdict, Fender sent several cease-and-desist letters to other parties, including Thomann. Thomann, for its part, decided to take pre-emptive action to protect its own 'Harley Benton' brand - which also includes guitars modelled on Fender designs - on the grounds that the characteristics of the Stratocaster are essentially in the public domain and therefore reusable. This has been the case for decades, not in the counterfeit market but amongst reputable manufacturers producing high-quality instruments inspired by the American brand, which have even improved upon its original features. This is certainly a legal dispute concerning industrial design, but in reality it has a deeper significance, which transcends this particular case and calls for a broader reflection on how the digital age is changing the way Andrea Monti experience the world. Why protect the shape and not the sound Let Andrea Monti look beyond this specific case and ask ourselves why Fender might have decided to protect the shape of the guitar not as the efficient result of an engineering process but in terms of its aesthetic aspect, given that, all things considered, this is the aspect that matters least to a musician. In a guitar, aesthetics are indeed important, but what matters first and foremost is how it 'feels in the hand' and how it sounds - once again, 'how it is made'. So much so that activities such as changing the pickups, replacing the bridge, shaping the fingerboard and replacing the neck are commonplace, precisely to achieve the custom tone - the personalised sound - or to imitate that of some famous musician. Does the value of an instrument still lie in its sound? So why not try to claim intellectual property rights over the sound of the Stratocaster's single-coil pickups, which, incidentally, are what help define its acoustic identity? Firstly, because sound, as such, is difficult to protect legally, especially in an electric guitar, given that amplifiers play a fundamental role in the overall result. One, a hundred, a thousand instruments, and none of them Secondly, because modelling the acoustic responses of guitars and amplifiers makes it possible to digitally reproduce any combination (just read, if you don't believe me, what the Line 6 Variax 600 was capable of emulating several years ago). So there is less and less justification for spending money on a Stratocaster when, for much less, you can buy a replica that is not only well-built but, thanks to digital simulators, sounds practically the same. This is a key step in the argument. To paraphrase the title of the iconic track by The Buggles, one could say that digital killed the guitar sound. Which brings to mind the scene so admirably depicted in Crush!, the Apple advert released in 2024 to promote an iPad Pro. Without realising what they had done, Apple's creatives depicted a massive press that literally crushed everything analogue in its lives: a record player, paints, a metronome, a piano, camera lenses - all transformed into an iPad, presented as the only digital tool Andrea Monti has - would have - need. Without sound, form is empty In the same way, digitalisation has stifled the voice of musical instruments and rendered them fungible, if not indistinguishable, because it has shifted their value from the sound they produce to an empty form. Unlike Bruno Munari's immortal creations, in fact, the instrument's form is no longer functional in relation to its original purpose - producing a distinctive sound - but matters solely for the creation of economic value through the object's aesthetics. Reconnecting with reality This may be fine if you're making more or less realistic videos for a social network, but when it comes to playing for real, that's when you see whether the instrument is used for how it looks or for what it enables you to do; provided, of course, that the musician has decided not to interpose, between themselves and reality, yet another veil of fiction made up of plugins, electronics, digital simulations and, more recently, AI as well. In that case, bring it on - even in music, a good crash... is welcome

Fender drops V2 Effects Pedal lineup: Santa Ana, The Pelt, Pugilist, & The Bends get major upgrades. Upgrade your pedalboard with Fender's new V2 effects line! Featuring top-mounted jacks, momentary switching, and boutique-level tones from overdrive to fuzz. Fender has officially refreshed its acclaimed effects pedal lineup with the release of the V2 Series, bringing performance upgrades, smarter enclosures, and professional-grade routing to four of their flagship dirt and dynamics stompboxes. Fender V2 Effects pedals. The Santa Ana V2 Overdrive, The Pelt V2 Fuzz, Pugilist Distortion V2, and The Bends V2 Compressor have all been re-engineered with the modern player in mind. Retailing at MSRP of $229.99/£169 each, these pedals ditch side jacks for space-saving, top-mounted jacks, feature tour-worthy aluminum enclosures, and introduce innovative Multiswitch-enabled footswitches capable of both latching and momentary operation. It is all part of their huge mid-year gear announcement. Here is an in-depth breakdown of what the new Fender V2 lineup brings to your pedalboard. 1. Fender Santa Ana V2 Overdrive pedal. Tube-Like JFET roar with unrivaled EQ routing. The Fender Santa Ana V2 is a Class A, JFET-based overdrive that mimics the sagging, touch-sensitive response of a real tube amplifier. By running at 18 volts internally, it offers massive headroom and an organic gain structure. Aside from standard Level, Tone, and Drive controls, the Santa Ana V2 stands out for its tone-shaping flexibility: * The Voice & Tight Switches: Toggle between a natural, tight drive and a smooth, thick lead tone, while the Tight switch cuts muddy, pre-gain low end. * Pre/Post active 3-Band EQ: This independently switchable circuit features a center detent for flat response. Flipping the placement switch Pre-drive changes which frequencies get clipped hardest, while Post-drive acts as a surgical studio equalizer after the dirt. 2. Fender The Pelt V2 Fuzz pedal. From classic psychedelia to glitchy "Chaos" For the fuzz connoisseur, The Pelt V2 utilizes a silicon transistor-based design paired with a buffer-friendly input stage, ensuring it plays nice anywhere in your signal chain. It covers everything from standard garage rock to walls of shoegaze gain. * Texture Control: Alongside Fuzz, Tone, and Level, the pedal introduces Sag and Bloom controls to dial in everything from starving, zipper-style sputter to smooth sustain. * The Chaos Mode: The dedicated Octave footswitch does not just deliver traditional octave-up tracking; it activates an alternate Chaos mode for asymmetrical, glitchy, and beautifully unpredictable artifacts. A Blend knob ensures your core clean tone never gets lost in the wash. 3. Fender Pugilist Distortion V2 pedal. Dual-Engine gain Stacking. The Pugilist Distortion V2 packs two independent gain engines into one chassis, making it a masterclass in versatility. Whether you want classic rock grit or high-gain saturated bliss, the magic lies in how those engines talk to each other. * The Path Switch: Choose between three routing options to stack the engines in series for thick lead tones, or run them in Parallel mode side-by-side to create entirely new harmonic layers. * Tone Correction: Onboard Bass Boost and Mid Cut switches let you easily optimize the pedal when swapping between thin single-coils and hot humbuckers. 4. Fender The Bends V2 Compressor pedal. Studio dynamics meets Independent Clean Boost. The Bends V2 brings low-noise, studio-grade OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier) compression directly to your feet. It effortlessly balances dynamics while offering a dual personality. * Modern vs. Vintage: A specialized Vintage switch lets you toggle between crisp, modern, surgical compression and a smooth, warmly saturated vintage response. * Pre/Post Clean Boost: The pedal features an entirely independent clean boost circuit. Using the Comp Pre/Post switch, you can place the boost before the compressor for endless sustain, or after it as a pure volume jump to push your tube amp over the edge. Specifications at a glance. | Feature | Santa Ana V2 Overdrive | The Pelt V2 Fuzz | Pugilist Distortion V2 | The Bends V2 Compressor | | Circuit Type | JFET Class A | Silicon Transistor | Dual-Engine Analog | OTA Compression | | Bypass Modes | True / Buffered | True / Buffered | True / Buffered | True / Buffered | | Footswitch Tech | Latching & Momentary | Latching & Momentary | Latching & Momentary | Latching & Momentary | | Unique Feature | Pre/Post 3-Band EQ | Chaos Octave Mode | 3-Way Path Stacking | Independent Clean Boost | | Jacks | Top-Mounted | Top-Mounted | Top-Mounted | Top-Mounted | | MSRP | $229.99/£169 | $229.99/£169 | $229.99/£169 | $229.99/£169 | Frequently asked questions (FAQ). What is the advantage of the V2 pedals' top-mounted jacks? Top-mounted jacks route your cables out of the top of the pedal rather than the sides. This allows you to place pedals flush against one another, saving massive amounts of horizontal space on your pedalboard. What do the "Multiswitch-enabled" footswitches do? They allow for dual functionality. Latching mode operates like a traditional stompbox (click on, click off). Momentary mode engages the effect only while your foot is holding the switch down - perfect for adding a quick burst of fuzz, distortion, or boost for a single riff or solo fill. Do these pedals require a special 18V power supply? No. While the Santa Ana V2 runs at 18V internally to maximize headroom and tube-like response, it uses standard power inputs and converts the voltage internally, meaning you don't need a specialized power supply. Verdict & score. Fender has hits on its hands with the V2 effects lineup. By upgrading the enclosures to include top-mounted jacks and adding highly practical dual-mode (latching/momentary) switching, they have addressed virtually every critique of the original series. The inclusion of switchable true/buffered bypass across the board makes these a dream for complex signal chains. At $229.99/£169, they offer boutique-level routing features at a slightly more working-musician price point. They are still quite expensive when compared to other well-known pedal brands. Final score: 7.2 / 10. Where to Buy: Available now at authorized Fender dealers and via Fender's Official Effects Collection. #Fender #V2 Effects Pedal This article may contain affiliate links to Andertons, DeathCloud, Donner, Fender, Guitar Center, Positive Grid, Reverb, Sweetwater, and Thomann that help finance the running costs of GuitarBomb. Guitar Bomb will receive a small commission if you buy something through these links. Don't worry; you pay the same price, and it costs you no extra to use these affiliate links for your purchases. Jef Stone. About Jef Stone Jef is the founder of Guitar Bomb and a certified gear fanatic. Growing up with a luthier father, Jef's obsession with tone started early and led to a lifelong career as a sound engineer and pro-audio specialist in the UK. He has set up recording rigs for world-famous facilities like Air Studios and even ran his own London recording studio. A massive hoarder of pedals, valve amps, and guitars (some of which he builds himself), Jef has owned everything from Klon Centaurs to Parker Flys. He also runs the UK's Analogue To Digital music show and the Vintage Guitar Fair. Share the Post: