Sun Ridge Guitars, Jon Wright - "Gabriel Jenkins" and other fake names

[OJ Dorson]

I worry this might get taken down... I hope not, because I'm sharing this in order to help others.

I first became aware of Sun Ridge Guitars when I was interested in a really cool custom Series I Spoiler body. I've detailed that experience here before and it was... disappointing. There was a lack of honesty and integrity on the seller's part and I shared that. The bass needed a complete re-fret (the pictures make that clear) and the seller had assured me that the "Frets are in great condition!" Simple issue, easy enough to fix and the bass came out a much better bass. Sure enough, Jon Wright of Sun Ridge Guitars chased after every post I'd made here and wrote a rambling tirade blaming me for everything.

Time passes... wounds heal... I decided that Series I wasn't mine to keep and I found that Spoiler bodied Series I with Kahler tremolo a wonderful new home with an awesome new owner and sold it for exactly what I had in it. Didn't make a dime and was happy to do it.

We're now here over a year later and I have two beautiful basses listed on reverb; a Carl Thompson Full Frills and a Ken Smith BT4EG. Both are incredible basses. I get a message from a "Gabriel Jenkins" offering me a little more than half of what I have the CT listed for. Almost immediately, I get a message on the Ken Smith listing from "Gabriel Jenkins" - "OMy I also love this one. How about $11000 for the Carl Thompson and this Ken Smith?" I shared my phone number and asked that the person call me. Within a couple minutes, my phone rings and it shows "Jon Wright - Denver, CO". I pick up the phone and it's definitely Jon Wright trying on an accent. I said, "why does your phone come up as Jon Wright" and he pretended not to understand the question, and then pretended he could no longer hear and hung up. Within a minute, I get a message on Reverb: "I can buy but nay take me a few days but if you still have in a few then I will get back in touch. But maybe price is too much anyway. Let time I buy a Carl bass it was $4500. Maybe they are much more money now?? Would you consider less or are you set at ask price?"

I called back the number that called me and got his wife's voicemail. He just called me back now and spent some time on the phone cursing me out. He's now texting me with various abuse and harassment - AND still trying to buy my CT for under value.

So, listen... that's Jon Wright of Sun Ridge Guitars, and this is how he manages to get so many incredible basses - by pretending to be someone else with a limited grasp of English and trying to buy basses at half of their value.

***update*** just wanted to update that after trying to threaten me with a lawsuit, he did refund me the $250 "for refret" in PayPal. So, there's that.

[gearhed289]

Wow. Thanks for sharing. He's had a couple of different user names here. I try to give people the benefit of a doubt, but there's just too many sketchy stories about that guy, and the low-ball offers to turn around and flip have been pretty off-putting.

[Jonny]

Mods: Please delete this ridiculous thread. This is not the place for such rants.

In case this is not deleted...

Here is what I posted elsewhere.
Jon here, from Sun Ridge Guitars:

I find it pretty sad that OJ posts his story here and other places online, but so be it. There are two sides to every story. I could do the same as him and air my grievances with him too if I had the spare time and energy.
I also have a ton of great feedback over the many years I have been in business. Scammers don't generate over 4000 positive feedback scores on ebay, over 2000 on Reverb and host their own website/webstore.

OJ has his story, I have mine.
So be it. It's a free world and forums like this are are another easy way for people to hide behind electronic devices. Some people here are claiming that I hide behind electronic devices?? How so. You can google me and find my website in a matter of seconds. Contact info. etc.
It's just ironic that he (OJ) acts like such a stand up guy but here he is posting malicious and slanderous things. I personally don't think this is the place to post such things.
Who is the one hiding behind electronics?

Couple things...

We sell high end basses, guitars and pro audio equipment. The reason for the name change from SGW Pro Audio to Sun Ridge Guitars was simply that we focus more on guitars now and less on pro audio. Not hiding behind anything. Never have.

We have thousands of satisfied customers over the past 12 years. Yes, thousands.
We no longer use Reverb because they aren't a god fit. Things there are different since the Etsy buyout.

We sell on our own site at:
Sunridgeguitars.com
in person, and on ebay. TONS of positive feedback on ebay and Reverb.


If I were a scammer, the last thing I would do is put my real name out there. Scammers hide, I don't.
I run a business. Call me a flipper if you want, no problem. But at the end of the day, it's a retail business just like any other out there. We find gear all over the place. Online, here, craigslist, ebay, reverb, amazon, web stores, guitar shops, etc. Always looking for gear to buy.

I have had the same ebay account for nearly 20 years, was on Reverb since 2015 and have had our own website for a couple years. now.
We send t-shirts, mugs, hats and other swag with most orders. At least for the last couple years.
I am certainly not going to be posting my name all around if I am trying to scam.

If you have a question for me, check out the website. Happy to talk in person. If you just want to talk smack and hide behind your keyboard, then have at it.

I won't be adding any more to this post. I did feel it necessary to add my two cents but I have no interest in a flame war.

God bless you all and thank for reading.


Lastly,

Thanks for the free advertising OJ!