What is the 'old' TalkBass?

[Bikeguy57]

I was an early joiner in 2000. I worked as a bass/guitar tech for many companies at the time. I was asked to write a professional 'tech tips' column for the site. I did for awhile and left after a small...'situation'... that was very much indicative of the 'old talk bass' whining, witch hunt, village mob pretentious idiotic mentality that was often present. I have never missed that. I do miss the industry friends that used to be present here, both players and companies alike. I rejoined in 2002 for the classifieds.

The classifieds were killer. Most of my instruments would sell within 20-30 minutes. That was fun. You could risk huge amounts on instruments because if you did not bond with it, there were 10 others who wanted to check it out.

Would like to see you post more RG.

 

[spiritbass]

i dislike arguments and insults on forums or in person, so i prefer the newer talkbass. when a thread devolved into insults, people vigorously insulting other people's opinions and so on, i wouldn't go back to that thread. i don't find angry, self-justifying drunken rants entertaining in the same way i don't slow down to gawk at accidents or watch realiy TV. i prefer a little civility and respect - even, or maybe especially, when people disagree. if that makes me too PC, so be it. i like to hang out where i feel comfortable.

btw, i really liked KBD, but he never went after my opinions like he did with other people's.



many guests eventually become members.

like me. at first, i'd look for bass, amp or playing info on google, and it always lead to TB. it took me a year or two to decide "hey, i want to take part here". and i'm far from the only one. i routinely see people who say they came here for into and after a while, decided to join.

not everyone comes to a forum once and signs up. without guests who decide to join, most forums would be ghost towns with virtual tumbleweeds blowing by...

Arguing on the internet is one of the definitions of futility. Why bother? You will never, ever change another's mind, only they can. But, all of us are imperfect and subject to acting irrationally occasionally.

 

[DJ Bebop]

not everyone comes to a forum once and signs up. without guests who decide to join, most forums would be ghost towns with virtual tumbleweeds blowing by...

 

[gln1955]

There's been a certain amount of people making pronouncements about moderation here, some positive and some not. I think it might help to correct some misperceptions:

One is that we do mind members' privacy when making decisions. If a member got penalized or banned because they acted outrageously, we're not going to make a public announcement to the whole forum about what a jerk they were. If you don't know what someone did to get banned, that's because it's none of your business. Ask them on another channel, and if you have never bothered to make contact with them outside of TB, ask why you would think you're entitled to know. Similarly, if a thread degenerates into a flame war or other form of mass violation, a mod will have to take time cleaning it up, deleting the posts that are in violation. After the cleanup, non-staff members will not be able to see how it went haywire - which is as it should be.

I periodically see the accusation that mods are selective about enforcing the no-politics rule and have our own agenda. What I've seen (from contact with my fellow mods in other social media) is that the moderation team actually reflects a wide variety of political views, tough decisions get made after discussion among the team, and I can't think of any cases where I saw selective enforcement. We do have a commitment that everyone of whatever background is welcome here to discuss bass and music and to participate in the community. In an age where it seems everything has become more "political," our support of that commitment may seem to be so, but it's just keeping TB functioning as a welcoming community.

"Free speech" is not a relevant issue here. Talkbass is a commercial service to foster communication among bassists.
The rules exist to restrict your speech here so that the site can continue to serve that purpose. By becoming a member you agree to abide by those rules in your posts here. You're as free as a bird to say whatever you want - elsewhere. Set up your own site with your own rules if you like. The late @Chef (RIP) used to ask why we needed an off-topic forum at all on a BASS website.

I really do appreciate what the mods do. But, to be honest, some mods seem to have a hair trigger compared to others. Whether certain posts or whole threads stand seems arbitrary at times. That's understandable since we are a bunch of humans and every decision is not debated amongst y'all.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Scrooge got well-and-truly scrooged,

And Old TB went mad and they shot it,

And then I woke up.
​

 

[Chickenwheels]

Here’s something to fill you in:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/im-watching-shania-twain-on-david-letterman.66050/

 

[Bonafide]

Charles Larkey?

 

[jerry]

Charles Larkey?

So Good!

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

What is the 'old' TalkBass?
What is THE LAW?!?

 

[pcake]

Arguing on the internet is one of the definitions of futility. Why bother? You will never, ever change another's mind, only they can. But, all of us are imperfect and subject to acting irrationally occasionally.

in my personal opinion, arguing at all is usually futile. making someone defensive means they can't really listen to what you're really saying. making them defensive on a forum for sport? eek!

imperfection makes us different. by each being different, we add variety and textures to music, art, and human interaction.

View attachment 5323944

perfect!

 

[jerry]

in my personal opinion, arguing at all is usually futile. making someone defensive means they can't really listen to what you're really saying. making them defensive on a forum for sport? eek!

imperfection makes us different. by each being different, we add variety and textures to music, art, and human interaction.



perfect!

Unfortunately, for some people it's sport.

 

[Grinderman]

I don't know but after whatever time I've been here a new question came to mind today.

 

[Grinderman]

I don't know but after whatever time I've been here a new question came to mind today.

What is this for, who self-reports?

 

[Jason Sypher]

What is this for, who self-reports?
View attachment 5324175

Sometimes it’s easier to just turn yourself in

 

[ctmullins]

Self-reporting is the highest form of enlightenment.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

What is this for, who self-reports?
View attachment 5324175

Reported

 

[pfschim]

hmm. been around here for a while. Generally lots of good info here (then and now) if you look for it. Lots of good people here too. Seems to be fewer arguments (silly/pointless or otherwise), but maybe thats because I've gotten older and don't play in that arena anymore. TB is currently my only exposure to the socials and I like it that way just fine. The few forays I've had into that world overall just made me roll my eyes at the general silliness of much of humanity (at least as it's represented on the socials).

I'm a big fan of the mods and the work they do (along with the TB general rules of engagement) to keep things reasonable and mostly focused on bass and working musicians issues. I still very occasionally have to use the ignore bucket to personally mute someone who is being overtly ridiculous, although I'm pretty happy to observe that the few folks I've felt compelled to drop into that penalty box almost always end up banned (so it's not just me that finds them utterly ignorable).

carry on TalkBass!

 

[DJ Bebop]

What is the 'old' TalkBass?
What is THE LAW?!?

 

[hrodbert696]

I really do appreciate what the mods do. But, to be honest, some mods seem to have a hair trigger compared to others. Whether certain posts or whole threads stand seems arbitrary at times. That's understandable since we are a bunch of humans and every decision is not debated amongst y'all.

Some are more confident to make a decision in a given situation, no doubt. That's also why there's admins and ultimately the owner, and the Help Desk that can be contacted even by a banned member if they think a moderation decision was inappropriate. We are human, still, and may make mistaken calls sometimes. As for posts or threads left standing, sometimes things go unreported (we don't screen every post personally), sometimes there's a judgment that the person reporting it was overreacting and there's no actual rule violation, sometimes there is but there's ambiguity about how exactly to moderate it (e.g. points or no points? Delete or edit? Close the whole thread or see if productive discussion resumes?), sometimes a thread is of concern but we wait to see how it develops before stepping in, and so on. It's not an exact science and, as you say, we are a bunch of humans.

 

[s_wood]

I used to hang at the Dudepit. I think I found it and TB searching for gear. I do miss the days when Tom Bowlus was active here. He was such an excellent resource for evaluating gear.

Tom Bowlus is still very active on TB. You just need to read the same threads he does!
https://www.talkbass.com/members/tombowlus.31302/