PRS has had to rebrand its recently announced Jimi Hendrix-inspired HX amps to ‘HDRX’, after Yamaha Guitar Group claimed the trademark conflicted with its Line 6 HX stompboxes.
In a statement released on October 26, PRS COO Jack Higginbotham said:
“After exploring our options, we have decided to rebrand our HX amplifiers as HDRX amps.
“It was important for us to keep the Hendrix Touring Circuit that we recently documented at the forefront of this amplifier, and we feel this new name does that while providing the necessary separation from Line 6’s product.”
In what might be seen as a subtle reference to the litigious nature of some of the guitar industry’s bigger players, Higginbotham also commended the collegiate nature of the discussions with Line 6 owner, Yamaha.
“Our conversations with Yamaha Guitar Group on this have been professional and productive,” notes the PRS COO. “A true reflection of why I enjoy the music manufacturing industry so much.”
The newly rebranded PRS HDRX line remains otherwise unchanged. Both the HDRX 50 and HDRX 100 were produced with the cooperation of the Hendrix estate and based on Paul Reed Smith and amp designer Doug Sewell’s research on Hendrix’s iconic Woodstock guitar amp, which is kept at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle.
For more information, head to the official PRS site.
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