What patents do I need to buy or lease to make and sell an electric guitar to the public?

Question

I want to make and sell my own electric guitars. However, I have not invented the instrument, nor was I the inventor of any of the major advances in the field. However, I have some changes (mostly aesthetic and stylistic) in mind before selling the guitars to the public in Washington state of the USA.

Do I have to pay the inventors of the components on an electric guitar (such as pickups or dials) or take a lease from them or their equivalent corporate identities in order to make and sell a guitar that draws heavily from existing models by other brands?

Shifted from Law Stack Exchange

Answer 1

The standard components of an electric guitar, and actually, the electric guitar itself have had their patent term expire. You can use whatever dials, switches, etc... are generically available in electronic shops. Without further specificity on what you're planning to use I can't give a more specific answer.

If you're delving into stylistic differences/similarities then you'd need to look to see if there are design patents/trademarked looks, etc... that you could run afoul of. But if you're literally asking if you need to pay royalties to GE for using a standard transformer you bought from radio shack then, no, you don't.