Mary Spender's 90-minute Bud Cole interview goes far beyond the Stratocaster dispute

YouTuber Mary Spender published a 90-plus-minute sit-down with Fender CEO Edward “Bud” Cole that instantly became the most detailed public reckoning yet with the Stratocaster shape campaign, going well beyond his earlier, tightly-managed Bloomberg comments from a week before. Asked directly about the cease-and-desist wave, Cole offered his most personal admission to date.

If I could go back in time with what I have heard, and what I know now, this would have been done very differently.

Bud Cole, Fender CEO

He did not walk the campaign back, however. Fender, he said, wants “respectful and earnest” negotiations rather than courtroom fights — but the legal process itself is not stopping.

We have to let this play out.

Bud Cole, Fender CEO

Cole repeated the now-familiar numbers — roughly 60 companies contacted, 32 in active negotiation, 18 with signed agreements — and confirmed one new detail: LsL Instruments, the small California builder who first went public about receiving a letter, has raised roughly $50,000 via GoFundMe toward its legal defence.

Spender pushed on the wider fallout that traces back to the Regional Court of Düsseldorf's December 2025 default judgment — the ruling that first treated the Stratocaster body as a protected “work of applied art.” That judgment became notorious among guitarists for how it described the instrument's curves.

Reminiscent of a female torso — hips, waist and arms — with deliberately uneven sides.

Regional Court of Düsseldorf, December 2025 ruling

That judgment, still untested by a contested defence, is what let Fender argue the body shape itself is copyrighted — the legal foundation that dragged in Yamaha, Thomann/Harley Benton, Schecter, Ernie Ball Music Man and, most symbolically, PRS's Silver Sky: the John Mayer signature model born out of Mayer's earlier split from Fender. Commentators picking up the interview (Guitar World, Guitar.com, MusicRadar, Ultimate Guitar) noted the irony that a guitar closely associated with a former Fender artist is now one of the campaign's most visible targets, even though Mayer himself has publicly said he wants the Silver Sky to “coexist” with Fender rather than compete against it.

Beyond the lawsuits, the interview ranged into territory none of Cole's prior statements had touched. He addressed long-running quality-control complaints dating back to pandemic-era production increases, and announced a company-wide initiative called “Fender 360” covering the whole build process rather than just final inspection.

When that gets called out, I need to listen.

Bud Cole, on quality-control complaints

He also discussed how Fender is absorbing tariffs on Chinese- and Mexican-made goods by shifting more budget-tier production to its Indonesian facility, crediting the strategy for the Fender Standard Series Telecaster becoming one of 2025's best-selling guitars, and said he is “bullish” on AI's potential for the guitar industry, without giving specifics.

Taken together, outlets framed the appearance less as a single news event than as Cole's attempt at a broader image reset — acknowledging the legal campaign's PR damage while signalling that Fender is simultaneously fighting on quality, pricing and technology fronts.