mb, we won't go there. It was a highly opinionated discussion based on someone spouting off about something they clearly knew nothing about. It's difficult to help educate people with egos much bigger than their brains. Don't get me wrong, that guy from Canada seems to be pretty cool, and picking apart that particular post had nothing whatsoever to do with the point of the response(s). But if you read some of the stuff from the people who chimed in later, it's clear that there's a lot of ignorance floating around on that particular forum. Which is really sad, 'cause the other parts of that forum have some very knowledgeable and very helpful participants (especially the amp section, which is full of working techs and people who know a whole lot about electronics). But that's exactly the point. This field of music (and musical electronics) is too vast for any one particular person to know "everything". My wife suggested I play a little joke on one of the people who responded, and it worked out "exactly" like we predicted it would. I bet her a buck that I could predict the response just about verbatim, and she doesn't give up easily, in terms of admitting defeat on a bet. Plus she has an advanced degree in psychology, and her sense of worthiness is offended when an ignorant slob like me (relative to her advanced vellum) calls a shot like that.
Okay, all that is probably TMI. On this particular forum, out of the thousands of posts and hundreds of people I've interacted with, only once did I ever encounter someone who I'd refer to as "contentious", or "aggressive" with the content of their post. And in that particular case, I got e-mails from a dozen or so other TB members, assuring me that the poster was nuts to begin with, and not to worry about it. And "that" is my point. Up here, I get help. Over there, I get opinions that aren't (for the most part) worth the orifices they're spouted from. It's hard to help people who don't want to be helped. The keyboard player in my band is a Luddite like some of those folks seem to be, but at least he doesn't try to hide it. He freely admits it, and he's able to joke about it, and he doesn't take his opinions very seriously, relative to the rest of the band. Bottom line is, he's a pleasure to be around. 'cause he has a great sense of humor. Really that's why I'm in a cover band with the guy. He's not the world's best musician, although he is an excellent honky-tonk piano player (can't read music though, he trained himself by ear), but that's not the criterion for my band members. I have to hang with those people once a week. We've been hanging together once a week for over ten years. We enjoy each other's company. We make "acceptable" music, and we have a lot of fun.
Really, I can play with anyone I want. I'm very proud of my resume. But, I'm not into the "famous" thing at all, in fact I go out of my way to avoid that nonsense. I deliberately don't post any pics or info that could be tagged in that regard. I "have" been a professional musician, toured around the world for several years making a living that way, with some people you've probably heard of, but these days I only do what I feel like, when I feel like it. Music is much more fun that way. I dislike the music "business". I'm much more into spending time with my family, and dinking around with basses and amps, and sharing my experiences with fellow musicians in places like TB. Today I helped a guy from Texas troubleshoot his Bassman AA165 amp that he just scored at a pawn shop. That kind of stuff turns me on. In a little while, wifey will be home, and we'll relax, and laugh about some of the stuff we hear in some of these posts. Life is good that way.
Really, I could care less whether some ignorant fool doesn't know anything about musical electronics. It's the "rest" of the bass players out there, the ones who "do" care, that I'm trying to reach. Man, I remember when I was starting out playing the bass, many moons ago, there were times I would have given my left nut to have access to an electronics expert. I can't even tell you how many basses (Fender and otherwise) I went through that were completely unusable because of issues with hum and the like. For a while I was going crazy cause it seemed like "I" was the problem. When someone finally took the time to explain stuff, it was like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Those are the kind of people that really need our help. There are plenty of young kids up here on TB that are evidently searching for helpful information, and for those of us with some knowledge and some experience, my feeling is that we ought to accept some responsibility for helping them out. That's part of the deal, as far as I can tell. If you participate in a forum like this, you're accepting that responsibility. If you choose not to do that, and spout ignorant nonsense instead, you deserve everything you get (which is most likely "nothing").
It's another version of the old computer concept: "Garbage In, Garbage Out". My feeling is, and my experience has been, that the value someone gets from participating in a forum like this, is directly proportional to the effort that they put into it. There. Wifey's home. See ya later.
