Double Bass Goodbye, Good Playing and Fairwell...

[Damon Rondeau]

As somebody who's been around here for years, as a participant and as a moderator, I gotta say I never heard a negative word about Tom Gale. On this forum, as well as the older 2xbasslist listserv, it was always obvious what Tom's commercial interest was. He never hid anything and he never did anything sneaky. He was up-front and above board -- his posts were short and to the point, and you could always read the good humour in his voice. An interest that he always advocated? Sure -- but never obnoxiously, in my opinion, and never in a way that called anybody else down. To go after him hard for being unethical and only interested in shilling his product feels like going after the small-town barber or something. Sure he's selling haircuts and would sell one to anybody who shows an interest. But he's not freaking Enron, fer chrissakes...

The double bass side of TalkBass has grown a lot in recent years and we've been challenged to deal with the interests and actions of commercial users. We want to maintain a friendly and open feel yet we don't want to be made the victims of unrelenting commercialism and selling. I never for one single moment thought Tom Gale was a problem in that regard. Did he need to take notice of the changing atmosphere around here regarding commercial activity? Yes, he did. Did he need to be called out for being unethical and immature? No, he didn't. He's been posting on bass boards and listservs longer than almost all of us and I've never been aware of any kind of trouble until quite recently.

This doesn't feel like one of TalkBass' better days....

 

[CT DB]

Good to hear that those associated with the site don't have a problem with Tom's approach. It would seem that the constant criticism and over-analyzation of every one of Tom's posts did more detriment to the discussions than his supposed agenda.

A solution would be to let him post and if you don;t like him or what he has to say just ignore him so the rest of us can benefit if we choose.

 

[damonsmith]

As somebody who's been around here for years, as a participant and as a moderator, I gotta say I never heard a negative word about Tom Gale. On this forum, as well as the older 2xbasslist listserv, it was always obvious what Tom's commercial interest was. He never hid anything and he never did anything sneaky. He was up-front and above board -- his posts were short and to the point, and you could always read the good humour in his voice. An interest that he always advocated? Sure -- but never obnoxiously, in my opinion, and never in a way that called anybody else down. To go after him hard for being unethical and only interested in shilling his product feels like going after the small-town barber or something. Sure he's selling haircuts and would sell one to anybody who shows an interest. But he's not freaking Enron, fer chrissakes...

The double bass side of TalkBass has grown a lot in recent years and we've been challenged to deal with the interests and actions of commercial users. We want to maintain a friendly and open feel yet we don't want to be made the victims of unrelenting commercialism and selling. I never for one single moment thought Tom Gale was a problem in that regard. Did he need to take notice of the changing atmosphere around here regarding commercial activity? Yes, he did. Did he need to be called out for being unethical and immature? No, he didn't. He's been posting on bass boards and listservs longer than almost all of us and I've never been aware of any kind of trouble until quite recently.

This doesn't feel like one of TalkBass' better days....

For my side I will 100% admit I am geek for bass methods, and I am also fairly conservative about them, I think most of them have some value, even Tom's.
The "ethical" problem for me was the problem of slamming the other methods AND then pushing his own.
So my problem mainly had to with never feeling his "advice" was on the level.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

+1 to what Mr. Rondeau posted. TB changed and the change brought the CUP with it. It's a hard adjustment for those who are accustomed to life without it. Tom decided to leave because the CUP made it difficult for him to talk about the method that he believes in - his own. That's perfectly okay. No need to take potshots on his way out.

This one's a wrap.