This was really interesting. One aspect, though, about "greed and profits"... people today attribute things too easily to these things. Way back, when electric guitars were arriving on the scene, somehow it was possible for the designers to combine their passion for music with the ability to earn profits. Nobody blamed them for that. In a normally functioning free market economy there is a HUGE check on "greed" and that is competition. This "greed" (more properly described as desire to earn profits by innovation) is precisely what motivates talented people to invent, improve, standardize and even find ways to lower prices while maintaining quality. It is no different than negotiating for your own salary, you want as much as possible, but obviously your "greed" can't just demand more than the market. Or when you are looking for the best price at the store or grabbing the freshest jug of milk. Self-interest is not greed, it is your JOB to act in your own self-interest (within law and other human/moral boundaries, of course).
I imagine myself as a present-day Gibson executive: if I can spend a bit more on components (which would be peanuts considering my economies of scale) and then achieve a tone that would compete with vintage instruments, I would easily market THAT (at any price that is needed to justify components and still make profits) and it WOULD sell. Not only that, I might even offer drop-in upgrades for previous runs of mass produced guitars, perhaps they would be expensive enough to justify the trouble, but it would communicate an intangible integrity, that is so sorely lacking from so many of today's formerly iconic brands (guitars, cars, etc.). I would guarantee that people who liked these upgrades would get excited and go out and buy ANOTHER Gibson or recommend one to a friend.
My gut feeling that this is not greed and profits, it's lack of passion and near-sightedness combined with greed. And the "resting on your laurels syndrome". Nobody else can officially advertise something that competes with vintage Gibson, only Gibson could. The lore of iconic Gibson/Fender, etc. guitars is strong and will continue to be so. And possibly with modern processing people are going to be less and less able to realize that "the tone" just isn't there. And I totally get it that a serious musician may not even have time/desire to chase tone, when they are focusing on their playing. Just thinking out loud here.
Maybe you can just sit on patents and trademarks for a while, but not forever. What causes such lack of passion... I think there's bigger undercurrents in society and policies that make that possible. When passion and excellence are not profitable or can't compete with mass produced cheapness, something else is wrong, on a much deeper, fundamental level. Well outside the scope of this discussion
