The great thing about the web is anybody can say anything they want. The bad thing bout the web is anybody can say anything they want.
Have you ever been on Amazon or someplace like that, looking at a DVD’s and you see those customer reviews? You know, some are actually well thought out and helpful but, some are written by knuckleheads, just bumping their gums, and it seems that all they want to do is say something sucks. You know what I’m talking about.
Viewer comments at YouTube there’s another one, some class acts on there.
Well, there are lots of sites that are based on customer reviews of musical instruments, guitars and guitar gear are the focus of many. Guitar players are constantly thinking about new gear. So, these are pretty popular sites. These places are rampant with knuckleheads. You see guys talking about quality, pro-level gear, just slamming it and, you know that the closest they ever got the piece was looking at a copy of Guitar World magazine. Conversely, you will see guys talking about a $150 guitar made in Malaysia, or someplace and saying; “I put this up against my late ’60s cherry face Les Paul and this guitar sounds and plays better. This guitar rocks!” You know, just ridiculous crap.
Now, a guitar manufacturer, D’Pergo, is suing one of these websites, The Gear Page. This is the first I’ve seen of this kind of thing.
D’Pergo Custom Guitars Inc. says that over the past four years one or more of its competitors have posted “defamatory, unfair, and untrue comments” about D’Pergo on a Web site owned by The Gear Page LLC, according to court papers.
The Colorado-based Gear Page operates the site, www.thegearpage.net, where musicians can discuss their music and gear. Gear Page members can also purchase and sell equipment through the site.
D’Pergo, which designs and builds high-end handmade guitars, filed paperwork in Rockingham County Superior Court last week in an attempt to obtain copies of all postings on The Gear Page message boards about D’Pergo, its founder, Stefan Dapergolas, and its products. D’Pergo also wants to examine all private messages sent through the site concerning the company…
The guitar maker accuses competitors of engaging in “grossly unfair competition and blatant defamation of D’Pergo by soliciting others to post negative and false comments.”
D’Pergo claims that one of its competitors actually compensated and/or offered compensation to others to post disparaging remarks about the company.
D’Pergo argues it needs access to all the messages to determine whether litigation against those posting the comments is “appropriate” and whether others have “unfairly interfered” with its business opportunities, court documents said.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it’s possible that unscrupulous retailers or manufacturers are manipulating these sites. So, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I did look up D’Pergo Guitars and they appear to be very serious about making quality instruments.
At D’Pergo Custom Guitars, we design and build original handmade instruments, each a refined reflection of a timeless classic. Our guitars consistently deliver effortless playability while achieving extraordinary three dimensional vintage tone, the likes of which have eluded builders of new instruments for decades. The combination of rare materials and innovative methods and designs, along with extensive research and development of our own tone centered components, yields unparalleled acoustic resonance and enveloping tone.
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Tags: D'Pergo Guitars, Guitar, knuckleheads, Music, rockingham county superior court, Stefan Dapergolas
Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com wrote,
Yes, unfortunately everybody on the internet can say whatever they want. You know that rule with democracy: we decide by voting, right? And if we consider that 80/20 rule of I don’t remember the name, 80% of people are not so…oriented (I don’t want to be rood)
So when we vote, the result is not quite the one that you would like or it should be. That’s with the reviews also. 80 percent probably are not correct, but well, they are 80% of all, right? Who can say which is the other 20%?
Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com’s last blog post..Not all songs come naturally to you
Link | June 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Pribek wrote,
This guy, Stefan Dapergolas, the founder of D’Pergo, is claiming that negative comments were posted by other guitar makers and, that these competitors used the site to “solicit” others to post unfavorable comments. Further, he says that one manufacturer was actually paying people to do this.
So, all of those allegations take this far beyond the realm of some morons saying stupid stuff.
The website is a business and, they are allowing the public to use the business as a published forum. If somebody decides to use that forum as a way to do harm to others, can the site owner (business owner), be held responsible in some way?
After I wrote this, I went to The Gear Page and ran a search for D’Pergo. I chose a random thread and looked at several pages of comments. Most of the participants were guys who aspired to one day have the money to buy a D’Pergo guitar. There were also two commenter’s that had nothing but negative things to say about D’Pergo and Stefan Dapergolas. That’s odd to me because, these aren’t guitars that are in music stores for people to try out for a joyride. They are custom made, hand built to order. So, I think that it’s possible that somebody has organized some kind of campaign against this guy.
That might be tough to prove though.
Maybe, Dapergolas has some info or evidence maybe, he knows it’s going on and is sick of it and wants to throw a few shots over the bow; who knows?
Link | June 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
Bob wrote,
Will you build a custom Les Paul that I designed?
Link | July 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Pribek wrote,
Sorry Bob, I don’t build guitars.
Link | July 29th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
gooptone wrote,
I didn’t know there were $150 guitars in Malaysia …China maybe :)
Link | August 15th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Pribek wrote,
I used to see some low end guitars coming from Malaysia. Few years back though. Maybe China has cornered the market.
So what’s the goop mean gooptone?
Link | August 15th, 2008 at 9:43 am
gooptone wrote,
Ha ha …goop is an important part usually found in overdrive/boost pedal’s .. …since most of the expansive ones have em…must be good stuff !
Link | August 15th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Pribek wrote,
Ahhhh….very good. I did not know that. Glad you stopped by and come again.
Rave on!
Link | August 16th, 2008 at 12:56 am
gooptone wrote,
Dude i didn’t realize thats you on the radio….you freakin rock!!
I am cleaning me windows dancing to your tune…thanks mate!!
Link | August 16th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Pribek wrote,
Thanks Goop and it does my heart good to know I put out some good window cleaning music.
Link | August 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am