Story of VGuitarForums

Started by Elantric, October 23, 2012, 04:43:24 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Elantric

At VGuitarforums, we have become the go to site for user discussions on real world use and implementation of high tech guitar FX and tools from companies who are delivering consistent high quality tools and better support after the sale in this field of high tech guitar today.

The tools for high tech guitar has never been better than today. and IMHO we achieve best FLOW when a symbiotic integration of the best sources of our tools can be integrated to what ever depth the player desires to pursue.

I tend to pay attention to what current boxes are being used on tour by players I respect (Vernon Reid and Adrian Belew) I also pay attention to the tools used by players who have "been there/done that" - like Reeves Gabrels and Alan Holdsworth   

But if your gear becomes a distraction during live performance, its time to either invest the time to learn how to best exploit your gear's strengths for your needs , or find alternate tools that allows a closer match to your expectations and needs
To quote  / paraphrase Craig Anderton: " The tool you can "wrap your brain around" is always the better choice for live performance."


Origins:
Its best to consider our forum an  isolated area that only Roland UK and Roland Germany participate and check in with from time to time.

Its been demonstrated that Roland US is not too interested in what goes on here, and see no need for an official Roland User to User communication channel.
I talked with Roland US back in 2001, they indicated there was no budget or manpower for a Roland User Forum.
If you think about it - it becomes a huge predicament for them, they figure if they tried to do what we do here - then Those owners of other Roland products ( like the V-Drums and Synth workstations which do not have a forum might feel slighted.
Edit-Drummers had to create their own
https://www.vdrums.com/


After 7 years of waiting for them to get off the stick and create a forum - I realized it was never going to happen

Roland has the same culture as Zoom

In 2003, When I saw that Zoom users had to create and host their own Zoom User forum,
http://zoomforum.us/

I realized the "so misunderstood" Roland GK 13 pin V-Guitar products needed one badly!

How a "13pin MIDI Cable" destroyed the Roland V-Guitar DSP Modeling brand
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=14088.0

Thus the creation of  www.VGuitarForums.com in Jan 2008,  a user to user forum  - not directly affiliated with Roland  / Boss Corp. We are musicians who volunteer to help each other understand the wide array of sonic tools available today. Because we are independent, (and not paid marketing shills) the side benefits include that we can point out strengths and flaws of lots of gear, and we are not just spoon feeders for the current corporate marketing campaign, and we allow outside thinking and deserved criticism - thus we have the important advantage of being a global forum,  for free exchange of evolving concepts and ideas , which is becoming more rare with each passing day.




Luckily a few VGuitarForums members do find value with our growing collective shared knowledge, and have provided small contributions to the daily expense of keeping the lights on here.
   
Details on helping to contribute to the operating expenses  of our forum is here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=1751.0

gandolf

#1
Quote from:  Elantric on October 23, 2012, 04:43:24 PM
As a reminder, I do not see any profit from the Group Buys, and they do nothing to help monetize the daily fees for operating this forum, which at this time come straight out of my own pocket.

Luckily a few VGuitarForums members do find value of our collective shared knowledge, and have provided small contributions to the daily expense of keeping the lights on here.
   
Details here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=1751.0

HI Elantic,

Actually i hadn't really thought about the financial costs associated with setting up and running a forum like this... i just gathered from the site's header banner, that this was just a community of like minded Roland guitar Synth owners, just helping each other out... maybe we should add a little blurb about contributing to costs, with the new member confirmation e-mail that gets sent? might avoid these awkward conversations...

So what is the going rate or a fair contribution? not having any idea of the costs, i wouldn't want to undervalue it ...

PS: have you thought about approaching Roland for a contribution? afterall this site not only provides QA and R&D feedback to them, but also takes on a number of "support"  functions, which otherwise would end up with them...And given the concise docs they supply, can require a fair bit (esp for newbies).

PS: why doesn't the "committee" collect a commission from the sale of items to cover costs? if it was a transparent transaction, would there be any angst from members? Many "not for profits" do this, instead of fees.... even if it was only Roland accessories....like leads, spares, etc.?

Although i guess that has the potential to cloud the forum's Independence...?

Elantric

#2
Well - the story of how VGuitarForums was created is a bit long, and there were a few helpful folks besides myself who helped kick start and assist ongoing issues behind the scenes along the way (
Aure Prochaska,
https://web.archive.org/web/20040824080542/http://vg-8.com:80/

www.aure.com
HippieTim,
http://hackolutions.com/index.htm
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?members/hippietim.10684/

SlackJaw, MCK ).
I saw a real need for a real User forum for MIDI Guitarists and users of DSP Guitar Modeling Systems to share real world experiences and tips and tricks and advice and work arounds.
--
Its best to think of these Roland products as gifts left behind by a passing UFO. -
based on what I experience , the Roland Marketing team remains clueless on how people actually implement them and use them.

In regards to having a meaningful discussion on Sound Design with Roland US, its more likely you will spot Elvis or get abducted by Aliens like Travis Walton. 

In other words - its best to consider our forum an  isolated area that only Roland UK and Roland Germany participate and check in with from time to time.

Its been demonstrated that Roland US is not too interested in what goes on here, and see no need for an official Roland User to User communication channel.

If you think about it - it becomes a huge predicament for them, they figure if they tried to do what we do here - then Those owners of other Roland products ( like the V-Drums and Synth workstations which do not have a forum might feel slighted. And talking with Roland US they indicated there was no budget or manpower for a Roland User Forum.

After 7 years of waiting for them to get off the stick and create a forum - I realized it was never going to happen

Roland has the same culture as Zoom

When I saw that Zoom users had to create and host their own Zoom User forum,
http://zoomforum.us/

I realized the VG-99 needed one badly!

Thus the creation of VGuitarForums in Jan 2008 Which has side benefits that we are not Moderated or spoon fed the corporate party line, and we allow outside thinking and deserved criticism - thus we have the important concept of freedom, which is becoming more rare with each passing day.


I like this quote:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4375865/What-s-really-missing-from-the-surface-PC?cid=NL_Audio&Ecosystem=audio-design

QuoteIf the industry has learned anything from the success of companies like Apple or Amazon, the experience is more important than the device and no hardware feature can replace the service or the content.
 




But first, some back ground on my opinion on how Roland US's lack of Dealer education and blasé cavalier "Oh-whatever" attitude on a simple matter of "what do we call the Roland GK 13 Pin Cable? - all helped to slow VG-99 (along with all other 13pin Roland/Boss "VGuitar" sales, and in the USA most folks think" Variax" when anyone mentions DSP Guitar modeling.

Test: Go to most any Guitar Center and you will find the Roland 13 pin cables are typically never stocked in the Guitar department, instead they are stocked over in the Keyboard department - with 5pin MIDI Cables. Many Roland Dealers put the VG-99 demo station in the Keyboard department too, particularly if they know they must sell the floor model.
Seems most keyboard players have a better understanding of tech, and studio wiring, compared to most guitarists, who prefer to hold the same guitar as their hero icon, while posing in a mirror, playing the same tired SRV / Metallica  lick over and over through a boutique tube amp.



Click here and see how many folks (and many new VGuitarForums members) STILL call this 13 pin cable a "MIDI" cable
http://bit.ly/YaDgM7
and

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=5188.msg56700#msg56700

if you examine the details of the GK-3, it becomes apparent MIDI has never existed in ANY 13 pin interface from Roland or Any other manufacturer at anytime.

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=7893.msg56178#msg56178

Confused marketing departments and Guitar Center floor managers refer to the Roland GK13 pin cable as MIDI.
The Planet Waves GK 13 "MIDI Cable" on the label hurt Roland GK sales too





This misinformation damaged the "Roland GK" brand


When Roland dealers tell customers the GK13 pin cable is a "MIDI cable", THIS KILLED VG-99 SALES in my Opinion

Even casual MIDI guitar users know Guitar to MIDI has a battle with latency and mis-triggered Notes that make you look like a fool at the live gig.

Many Newbies and younger guitarists hear the word MIDI, think

"dead old school 30 year old tech that should have died" ,

and never look at  the near zero Latency VG-8/VG-88/VG-99/GP-10 because they think:

"it uses that 13pin MIDI cable, I don't want those latency delays."

One more reason why lazy Roland Marketing departments failed, since they continue to not deal with the general public's mis informed idea of what a Roland GK 13 Pin interface actually Is and what a GK-3 actually does.

Only Roland Japan Corporate Global site tries to clear up the confusion

http://www.roland.com/V-Guitar/about.html



Basically I grew extremely frustrated that the principal method for VG-99 users to interact was Yahoo Groups.

Aure Prochazka was running the Yahoo VG-8 Group / Mail list  - in parallel with www.VG-8.com.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/vg-8/

Eventually around 2007, Aure's interests in life changed and he promoted several members to "Co-Moderate" the Yahoo VG-8 Group, as each and every post (and replies) in all threads there had to be "pre-approved" by one of the acting moderators before any post went "live" on the list. The argument in favor of this philosophy was it helped prevent SPAM, but it also relied on a 24 /7 "live body" to monitor all posts. However all too often a Mod would go on vacation, and many days would go by and it would appear that there was zero traffic on the Yahoo VG-8 list, then randomly the next day there would be a flood of new posts, as one of the Mods would finally log in and start approving the backed-up posts.       

Needless to say, many meaningful  / heated technical discussions often lost continuity - and some replies with crucial reply information either would get lost, or simply deleted by the "acting Moderator of the day"   

I was very frustrated with this situation, because the Roland VGuitar Systems (VG-8, VG-88, VG-99, etc.) are indeed extremely daunting to most guitarists and require a significant commitment to learning Audio  / Sound Design concepts to get the most from these tools.

Side note - In 2007 I purchased a Canon HV-20 Hi-Def Camcorder and discovered a great interactive online community

http://www.hv20.com/forum.php

Also Line-6 had a really active User Forum too

So I thought the Roland VGuitar systems and specifically the VG-99 deserved to have an equally powerful online community and "Vbulletin or PhP" type user forum, where anyone could join, learn, contribute, ask questions, share files, patches.

After the VG-99 was announced at the 2007 Winter NAMM, I knew this was going to be a big game changer - so I approached Roland US with a request that I thought the time was right for them to host a Roland User Forum on their www.RolandUS.com site.
But I was told by many people high up the food chain at Roland US that hosting a User Forum would be technically and financially impossible -the idea was  rejected. Remember this was back in the days when all Roland Owners Manuals had to be purchased  - there were no free Adobe PDF downloads until mid 2007

So I started a Yahoo Group called "VG-99Users" -

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/vg-99users/

First rule was that once I trusted a new member, I would no longer moderate his new posts. After 3 months our membership grew to nearly 1000, in large part because open discussions could occur 24/7  - and (a Vital point) Each member had the power to present clarity of his/her opinion  - nobody was the "master"  - any idea could be freely shared.

Eventually I solicited help to establish moving the community out of the yahoo eco-systems. Remember Microsoft now owns Yahoo, and the Yahoo Groups could easily be shut down with very little notice - rather like E-Groups died back in the late 1990's     


HippieTim helped with the first stab at co-creating and web hosting this community, but soon we discovered bandwidth  / cost issues with file sharing.

In Early 2008, SlackJaw offered a SMF Forum solution, and this version of the Forum you are reading here now was created. I spent a few weekends dumping my brain and posting numerous posts on all things i knew about Roland 13 pin gear, and COSM Technology - and eventually our numbers began to grow. Negotiating Group Buys with deep discounts for members of VGuitarForums for new Roland Gear helped too. 

In 2010, SlackJaw was sidelined with major medical problems, and MCK stepped in and helped me move this site transparently to a new web hosting company.

Since April 2012 - I'm now the sole owner / operator  - and despite my frequent posts, i do have other duties in life. But i'm very proud of our community, and I do check in with many other Guitar forums, I must say our group here is a refreshing destination on the web - free from the typical trolls, ego smashers, or  "internet contrarians" that reside at those other places. 


Regarding contributions - any amount is appreciated and goes into the support kitty.  So far each year, thanks to many members contributions -  I typically break even or have minimal expense. But hey I can find numerous ways to spend $$  - but I choose to keep this site going, as I feel we have not yet reached our peak or effectiveness in furthering stringed instrument sonic exploration. And being independent and "free-thinking" is swiftly becoming a lost experience.

And its true, the site is called "VGuitarForums" and while we initially focused on Roland gear - we are completely independent of Roland Corp, and since 2011, we now have message boards for Fishman Tripleplay and Line6 Variax with Workbench Patch file sharing areas.
All Logos, product names and documentation displayed here remain the property of the respective company.     


I also want to thank all our Moderators here (ShawnB, Brent Flash, Gumtown, Germanicus, MCK, VanceG) - its very rare that we must delete a post, or straighten out a member who violates the Forum Rules - but when the occasion arrives, we do act swiftly! 


The products we discuss, while innovative and beyond typical guitarists arsenal of FX only represent a very small portion of the of the  Roland/Boss Corporate product line.

Compared to other popular Guitar Forums, we have been conditioned to being the unwanted step-child.

And despite several invites, we still experience zero direct involvement from anyone employed at Roland/Boss

(Not an ideal situation IMHO)


I will point out that we do have regular visits from other High Tech Guitar suppliers:

Fishman support frequently posts here with excellent support for their Tripleplay Guitar to MIDI system.
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=13447.0

And Henrik from Antares (for their AutoTune System for Guitar) is a member here as well
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=144.0


and Bens from Tronical has a presence here too. 
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=17367.msg124011#msg124011


and our valued "GK Accessory" Suppliers

* PrimovaSound (CodeSmart)
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=176.0

* Synth-Lynx (Gumbo)
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=181.0

* Dr Wayne Joness (GR-300.com)
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=178.0

* Separate-Strings (Bill Bax)
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=182.0

* SpiceTone (6Appeal)
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=179.0

* Gittler (Sashua)
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=11243.0


From my perspective, its just the same Roland / Boss as 1978 , business as usual  =  lack of post sale support forces end users to create workarounds for products which only hit 80% of their goals, and have forced crippled features to promote buying the whole product line to get all the features
motivates customers to share notes on the ownership experience, and tips  & tricks, and share creative work arounds for the missing functions. ( same occurs on any high tech music gear)

If the industry has learned anything from the success of companies like Apple or Amazon, the experience is more important than the device and no hardware feature can replace the service or the content.


Ask Frank Richotte at Line-6 how he enhances the Line-6 User Experience
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/huge-props-to-frank-richotte-and-line-6-support.1818952/
QuoteDave Merrill wrote>
Apr 20, 2017
I'd like to tell you all about a recent experience I had with Line 6 support, and Frank Richotte in particular.

A little while ago I went to the first unofficial Boston area Helix meetup, and the left 1/4" output on my Helix showed up dead, where it had been working shortly before. Other folks there helped me out, since I hadn't brought gig-level spare everything, but I still had a problem. Frank was there, pretty cool of him we all thought, and afterwards, I got in touch with him about my situation.

What happened from there was probably the single best customer support experience I've ever had. Here's what Frank and Line 6 did:
Overnighted me a loaner
Sent an overnight UPS label to send my Helix back
Serviced it in roughly one day
Overnighted it back to me
Sent an overnight UPS label to return the loaner
How's that, huh? Pretty remarkable.

I don't think we should expect that level of service all the time for everything, but Frank did say it was OK to talk about how that all went down. Even if I didn't like my Helix, which I do, a lot, that experience alone would be a huge plus in its favor.

Great stuff. Thanks again to Frank, and to Will in Support, I'm super grateful, and super impressed.


I had hoped I could change the world, one user at a time summed up here
Story of VGuitarForums
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=7912.0


IMHO if Aure Prochazka had never started www.vg-8.com in 1996, Roland may not have experienced the sales growth of the VGuitar product lines,
http://web.archive.org/web/20040904191130/http://vg-8.com/

we probably would never have had a, EGroup VG-8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGroups
which became  the Yahoo VG-8 Group,
(now dead)
http://launch.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/vg-8/message/26292

Boss GT users used to congregate at Boss GT Central, but that site went belly up in 2014
http://web.archive.org/web/20120111175529/http://bossgtcentral.com/

When GR-55 was released and shown to myself and VanceG by Roland US at 2011 Winter NAMM, they stated they  never intended to release a GR-55 Editor  -
"it would be far too expensive to create and maintain across all the computing platforms" 
- which I voiced was really dumb move!
(Exhibit A
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=2939.msg101618#msg101618


Go to 4:58 minutes

Steve C:  Will there be an Editor?

Peter S (Roland) : No , sorry live with it. Creating a (GR-55) Editor is a huge, huge, huge effort

Steve C:  Maybe we can Hire a Czechoslovakian Grad school student ?

Peter S (Roland) : I'll leave that to you





And as luck would have it  -GR-55 had a "Bass Mode" , and Bass player Colin (Gumtown) had deep knowledge of the Boss GT, and applied his efforts to create the missing GR-55 Floorboard Editor - which no doubt helped sell thousands of GR-55
GR-55 Floorboard Editor
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=2951.0

Roland's sales and profits?
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=10865.msg78926#msg78926
http://web.archive.org/web/20110608001551/http://www.roland.com/ir/
http://web.archive.org/web/20130903124559/http://www.roland.com/ir/pdf/2013/20130508_1.pdf
http://www.roland.com/ir/pdf/2013/20131108_1.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20120905155051/http://www.roland.com/ir/financial_category.html
Quote[Guitar-related equipment]
With regard to guitar effects, in spite of robust sales in Central and South America and Asia, overall sales were flat year on year due to sluggish sales of multi-functional guitar effects, primarily in Europe.At the same time, sales of existing multi-track recorder products for guitars fell significantly year on year, but sales of new guitar synthesizer products rose substantially.



VGuitarForums became the aggregator before Facebook took over   -

and The Gear Page would prefer we just be content with our Line-6 AxSYS>POD>Vetta>Variax > Helix.
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?forums/digital-modeling-gear.53/

Even Line-6 has a User Forum
https://line6.com/support/forum/86-helix/

and a user to user patch exchange
https://line6.com/customtone/

and after 40 years , Its clear Roland / Boss has no use for this activity for end users to compare notes, exchange patches

unfortunately many employed at  Roland  / Boss Board apparently think  - "wait,  we have that too" - here
Boss Tone Central
http://bosstonecentral.com/
yet forget there is no "Upload" link there.
http://bosstonecentral.com/liveset/category/sy-1000/

I see even Roland / Boss Zendesk forum now has deleted USER FORUM areas, because too many folks sought answers to their problems, but solutions never arrived , so its easier to delete the thread = problem solved !
https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200180729-Guitar-Products


many things on this thread echo long standing unmet requests

WISH LIST FOR NEXT ROLAND UNIT ? What's your ultimate pedal?
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=256.msg732#msg732

I'll leave the rest for my upcoming reveal all autobiography , behind the scenes in pursuit of high tech guitar   


sloopdawg

#3
Quote from:  gandolf on October 24, 2012, 05:04:32 PM
Actually i hadn't really thought about the financial costs associated with setting up and running a forum like this...
So what is the going rate or a fair contribution?

I think the adverage contribution is like 20 or 30 bucks, but like Elantric said whatever you can afford is appericated.

Quote from:  gandolf on October 24, 2012, 05:04:32 PM
PS: have you thought about approaching Roland for a contribution? afterall this site not only provides QA and R&D feedback to them, but also takes on a number of "support"  functions, which otherwise would end up with them...And given the concise docs they supply, can require a fair bit (esp for newbies).

The one thing i have learned about Roland/Boss is there very good about selling us their products (which i really like by the way) but totally suck when it comes to support. They seem to do the bare minimum at best. Thats why sites like this are so vital, i mean look at all the knowledge and support we have here. As far as I'm concerned Roland/Boss should be totally involved with this site and the GT Central site. I feel we are what keep them current and why they have the numbers they do, but thats just my 2 cents.

Quote from:  Elantric on October 24, 2012, 06:17:15 PM
Well - the story of how VGUitarForums was created is...

Thank You for that, I knew of the site before this one but never knew the rest of the story. Very intresting read.
Just want to echo what everyone here has said and thinks, which is thank you and the others involved in the continuance and labor of this site.

aliensporebomb

#4
I think I actually joined up right around the time I was definetely going to get a VG-99 - one way or another both spurred on my Mr. Ruppert's jaw dropping examples and then that article that showed up in Premiere Guitar showing the GR-300 emulation (which somehow I was not clued into when I first found out about the VG-99).

I don't think I posted too much until I actually got the unit - just a smattering.  But it's interesting to read how this system came to be.  "Build it and they will come, and they sure did."

My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

whippinpost91850

#5
Elantric, I was always curious how this forum ( the 1st one I ever joined) Came to be. And after joining a few other ones , find this to be the most refreshing one of the bunch. As an older gentleman, I don't have time for "Egos" and the like. I know I can count on the wonderful, knowledgable people here, to be courteous and helpful with no BS. It's been awhile,but I will add to the coffers this week. Thanks again for starting and running this well oiled machine, It certainly should not be costing you financialy as your time is much more valuable to all of us here. Thanks Paul
PS: Thanks for the Kemper help as well

MCK

Great outline and thanks once again for being the catalyst for this wonderful community coming together.

Would like to also take a moment to wish Slackjaw all the very best of health. He was dealing with some serious health issues and we have not heard from him in quite some time. Positive energy and thoughts sent his way.

aliensporebomb

Has anyone heard from him lately?  Slackjaw that is?
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

musicman65

I've been here since Aug 2008 and I must say this is the best forum ever! I hope Roland doesn't do anything stupid....that would be a real shame.

bd

LPHovercraft

Thanks for sharing this bit of history. It's one of the great blessings of living in this era that this part encyclopedia, part coffee klatsch and part 'Hyde Park soap box' can exist and flourish.

It is not without its own special brand of irony the the VG-99 - a device that was pretty obviously ahead of its time - was created by a company so ill-equipped to help the market realize its potential.

On that I will say no more - as we'd be in 'beating a dead horse' territory. Thanks for keeping things going, guys!
Houston Haynes - LPHovercraft

Blended Cat

How can I make a contribution?

Blended Cat


Elantric



gumbo

Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

Elantric

#15
Gumbo  - thanks for mentioning VGuitarForums on other sites.

Typically mentioning of our site on other forums often gets a reprimand and deleted as SPAM ( as happened to me on TGP)

I'm all about increasing awareness of technical knowledge, and there is much good information at the GuitarNuts Forum.
http://guitarnuts2.proboards.com

I was researching an Ibanez RG-1820X-GK, and google took me to this thread here

http://guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/6954/piezo-midi-query

And I stumbled upon Gumbo's post
QuoteAt the risk of annoying {admin SumGai}, also have a look at the Vguitars Forum...lots of info there,


and I was happy to find  GuitarNuts Forum's Admin SumGai's response ( a kindred spirit! )

Quote
js, for more info, I second the sugguestion that you visit VGuitarForums, there are many remarkably capable and intelligent people residing thereon. Some of them are friendly too, as witness to them accepting gumbo into their midst. :D

mbenigni

Quote from: Elantric on October 15, 2015, 05:04:06 AM
Gumbo  - thanks for mentioning VGuitarForums on other sites.

Typically mentioning of our site on other forums often gets a reprimand and deleted as SPAM ( as happened to me on TGP)

I direct people here all the time, as a resource for detailed technical information, and as an example of a well-informed forum that doesn't get bogged down in being overly loyal to one specific product.  I actually mentioned VGuitar on TGP a couple of weeks ago, and I guess it flew under the radar, because no one removed it.  (Maybe because I didn't actually post a link?)

Elantric

#17
Yep, they hate me posting direct VGuitarforums URL Links at TGP.

Ive been warned and had posts to helpful information that would have solved the user's GK-13 pin problem deleted by TGP mods

chrish

I followed the link over to the sister site 'futureguitarnow' and wow, it was like entering a parallel universe. :-) I don't think you have to worry about roland trying to shut this site down. I don't think they would want to piss off 13,000 people who have supported their products over these many years, not to mention, how many guest users who look to this site for product insight. You have a fine creation here. It's refreshing that roland has no say in how it is run, but they should be grateful for your hard work. I know i am. In the short time i've been here, i've learned alot and the giving spirit of the members is great for the soul. Thanks man. 

Elantric

#19
Thanks  Chrish!
Glad you found value and knowledge here ( tell your friends!)


The good news is at LA Amp Show, I met with Gary Lenaire the new Roland Product Manager  - he has been promoted, and is now  responsible for the entire Roland Corporate Social Network presence
http://www.rolandus.com/blog/author/gary-lenaire/

He acknowledged he visits our forum time to time, and that is a good start on achieving improved communication channels between Roland Corp and VGuitarForums.
 

EDIT - Gary since left to work for Fishman

and (2021) we are now over 33,000 members here !  ( 250 new members each month for past 10 years 

whippinpost91850

I've mentioned Vguitar forums many times on the Kemper Forum, without repercussions

whippinpost91850


hading

I'm another who has directed people over from TGP several times with no difficulties.

whippinpost91850

Now that's just petty silliness ???

Elantric

#24
They have strict rules about Manufacturers making new posts at TGP  - (they do suffer higher "shills vs users" ratio over there)

But they read "V-Guitar" and  assume I'm on the Roland payroll

Story of VGuitarForums
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=7912.msg50044#msg50044