A temporary monopoly granted to encourage disclosure.
The L-series was the best-known Steinberger design, first made as a bass; the first Steinberger basses were built in Brooklyn in 1979. It dropped the headstock, moved the tuners to a tailpiece and made the whole instrument from a graphite and carbon-fibre blend in two pieces. The L2 is the version with two EMG pickups. Listeners were split on a sound that some called clean and others called synthetic.
The Gibson Moderne is a non-instrument: a shape conceived in 1957, patented in 1958, rejected at NAMM the same year, and absent from musical use for 25 years. It has no verified sound, no operational history, no confirmed prototype, and no functional distinction from later reissues. Its only property is ambiguity.
The Rickenbacker 4003 debuted in 1980 as a near-twin of the 4001 with an updated truss rod system made for roundwound strings. It has neck-through construction, has stayed in continuous production, and has spawned five-string, eight-string, fretless, limited-edition and signature versions.
The Hammond A-100 is a console tonewheel organ introduced in 1959. It is effectively a self-contained version of the B-3 and C-3, with an internal power amplifier and speakers, and it was built in many chassis styles identified by the last two digits of the model number.
The Chamberlin M1 appeared in 1970 as a table-top, much more durable Chamberlin design. It dropped the rhythm tapes, rewound its tapes with a return-roller system and used higher-quality playback heads. About 130 were built before production ended in 1981.
The 59DC was one of the first two reissues of Danelectro's Shorthorn line, sold between 1998 and 2001 with two pickups. The Shorthorn design it reissues is a dual cutaway hollow body of Masonite and poplar, with a Coke bottle style headstock and a seal shaped pickguard carrying stacked tone and volume knobs.