I've broken the TGP addiction.

electronpirate

electronpirate

Axe-Master
Just occurred to me that I haven't been on TGP for a few weeks.

I've always had a bit of love/hate with the site. One, they have great knowledge, and it can be pretty interesting to see new guitars, etc. BTW, I haven't been on the amps portion in a very long time...probably about 6 months after getting my Axe-FX. I spend all of my time in the Guitars section.

However, the Marsha comparison was the final back breaker. So many yahoo's jumping in with qualifications on whether it sounded 'real' or not made me angry enough to just go away. It sill amazes me that musicians, (who are SUPPOSED to be open minded due to their art,) are decidedly vicious and snide when it comes down to gear. Granted, 90% of the people on TGP would strain to be called 'musicians', as they are white collar professionals, bedroom players, and sometime weekend warriors. (All like me for full disclosure, but I try not to hold other peoples gear in scorn because it's not MY cup 'o tea.)

Its' like they need validation of self by attacking other things. Axe-FX aside, gear snobbery extends to everything...cheap guitars are scorned, god forbid mention you like Crate amps, and prepare for a full on flame-fest if you utter 'Dumble'. Hell, I've seen folks get overly emotional about the type of cable they use.

Normally I take this in stride, as it's the internet, and anyone can be a knowledgeable god on the keyboard, but for some reason it's taken to the Nth degree there.

Oh, I'll still visit occasionally, but I've decided that I don't have that much time in my life to put up with things that piss me off.

No, there is no reason for this rant. Just an observation. (Sorry Scott, this is no reflection upon you, and I'm not trying to insult your brainchild there.)

Ron
 
It's a cool site and I still visit occassionally - mainly to use the search function when I'm trying to research the amps in the Axe-FX.

There's a lot of cool folks and great info there, but it's tough to sort through all the pissing contests about silly stuff to find it sometimes. For example, I was trying to get some more info on the Matchless Chieftain the other day, and everytime I found a promising thread it quickly spiraled into a silly argument about whether or not the Sampson era Matchless amps are amazingly better or not. That stuff gets old, but there's still a lot of good information to be found there if you don't mind digging around a bit.

I use it a lot for doing my homework on gear. With the recent firmware updates, I find the Axe-FX amps much closer to their physical counterparts. So when I'm trying to find a new sound or work with an amp model that's new to me, it's a lot of help to find out how people are using the real amp.

Some of the stuff people obsess about there is funny though.

D
 
I like to read any thread Zach Vex or Dave Barber post in because they get hilarious.

Otherwise I pretty much stick to the Digital forum now. Occasionally I'll ogle guitars in the for sale section or post in a pub post but that's about it.
 
I'm with Ron on this I visit occasionally and post rarely because of the issues that some over their have. But it is still a good place to research gear.
 
Yes, there definately is SO much good information there, and there are alot of really good people. But that Matchless thread is the type of thing that makes my skin crawl (it got similarly nasty over the *new* AC30CC vs. the old ones.)

Ah well.
 
It's an interesting phenomena.

I read all sorts of things about what TGP 'is' and it's a LOT of things to different folks, so that's good and bad.

I don't really get upset about folks liking it or not - or their opinion of me, though there are folks that assume I am bat-shit insane over gear I use, or enforcing whatever rule they've broken when I have to do so. It's all just not reality.

Truth is, like this forum, it's just what you make it. Letting other folks 'upset' you emotionally because of words on a screen, well, that says to me you need to push the keyboard away and leave forums for a spell. We make our moderators do that from time to time, otherwise they would go bat-shit crazy.

Forum burn-out is real, IMHO, and you need to monitor your time spent on them. Balance in all things.
 
There's actually a lot more Axe hate over at the Harmony Central forums, so don't go over there. ;)

I really don't understand the tube amp guys jumping in to piss on our choice of gear. You don't see Axe guys on the tube amp forums bagging amps. But as far as I am concerned, anyone who bags the Axe is tone deaf, doesn't know how to tweak modelers, or more likely, has judged it only based on clips played on computer speakers.

Even when I was resisting buying the Axe, I never bagged it. I don't go over to the Line6 or Boss forum and bag their gear now that I have an Axe. I don't get it at all.

JWW
 
There's a lot of Axe hate at HC, but there's a small pocket of love (relatively speaking) on the Amp forum. HCFX is out for obvious reasons. HC in general is like 4chan with better grammar (usually) and less child porn. For me it's a toss up between that and the pissing contents and arrogance that pervades a lot of threads at TGP. They both have their uses, and TGP really can't be beat for the breadth of useful knowledge available - a lot of cats there seem to put way more thought into technicalities than what an "artist" ever really needs to. That's good, though, we need both theoretical and applied folks in everything. I wish these forums were more active, you cats seem like good people. :cool: I've spent most of my time here the past two weeks or so trying to decide whether or not I wanted to invest... and my Ultra should be here Tuesday.
 
Scott Peterson said:
Truth is, like this forum, it's just what you make it. Letting other folks 'upset' you emotionally because of words on a screen, well, that says to me you need to push the keyboard away and leave forums for a spell. We make our moderators do that from time to time, otherwise they would go bat-shit crazy.

Forum burn-out is real, IMHO, and you need to monitor your time spent on them. Balance in all things.
Click to expand...

Well Scott, I think it's unrealistic to say that you can't get upset about words on a screen. Does it make me lose sleep or think about it away from the keyboard? Nope. Not at all. But the mentality of folks who are able to say things on a board that they wouldn't ever dare to say sitting across from you in a pub irks me. Yes, it's an internet thing, but IMO saying nothing sometimes is like tacit acceptance. I'll respect opinions, but many folks present their opinion as FACT, which I'll call out all the time.

And you are EXACTLY right about Forum burnout. I realized this about a year ago, and resigned myself to reduce the amount of time there. I have this forum up, maybe HRI, and check them roughly twice a day (at work) for anything new, to learn something, or to help someone. Used to be I'd refresh every 1/2 hour...weaning off. I found that I was too damn invested in some of the conversations on TGP, too willing to take on 'haters', so rather than get pissed and mouth (type?) off, it's a better thing to stay away.

Ron
 
electronpirate said:
It sill amazes me that musicians ... are decidedly vicious and snide
Click to expand...

It isn't just musicians... I find a lot of people use online life as a way to vent the frustrations and insecurities which they are unable to face in real life. The web is their whipping boy, and the abusive condescending persona an ego-feeder. The fact that we tend to be more contented and friendly is one of the reasons I like this forum so much. Maybe that's a benefit of being happy with our Axes-Fx? Fractal Audio Saves the world!
 
Matman said:
electronpirate said:
It sill amazes me that musicians ... are decidedly vicious and snide
Click to expand...

It isn't just musicians... I find a lot of people use online life as a way to vent the frustrations and insecurities which they are unable to face in real life. The web is their whipping boy, and the abusive condescending persona an ego-feeder. The fact that we tend to be more contented and friendly is one of the reasons I like this forum so much. Maybe that's a benefit of being happy with our Axes-Fx? Fractal Audio Saves the world!
Click to expand...
Peeps "real" personalities come out when they can hide behind a keyboard.
Put us all in the same room and................ :p
 
electronpirate said:
Scott Peterson said:
Truth is, like this forum, it's just what you make it. Letting other folks 'upset' you emotionally because of words on a screen, well, that says to me you need to push the keyboard away and leave forums for a spell. We make our moderators do that from time to time, otherwise they would go bat-shit crazy.

Forum burn-out is real, IMHO, and you need to monitor your time spent on them. Balance in all things.
Click to expand...

Well Scott, I think it's unrealistic to say that you can't get upset about words on a screen. Does it make me lose sleep or think about it away from the keyboard? Nope. Not at all. But the mentality of folks who are able to say things on a board that they wouldn't ever dare to say sitting across from you in a pub irks me. Yes, it's an internet thing, but IMO saying nothing sometimes is like tacit acceptance. I'll respect opinions, but many folks present their opinion as FACT, which I'll call out all the time.

And you are EXACTLY right about Forum burnout. I realized this about a year ago, and resigned myself to reduce the amount of time there. I have this forum up, maybe HRI, and check them roughly twice a day (at work) for anything new, to learn something, or to help someone. Used to be I'd refresh every 1/2 hour...weaning off. I found that I was too damn invested in some of the conversations on TGP, too willing to take on 'haters', so rather than get pissed and mouth (type?) off, it's a better thing to stay away.

Ron
Click to expand...

Unrealistic to say you should not get upset, but necessary in order to keep the web and forums in perspective.

You are right; the lack of tolerance for differing opinions is one of the most maddening things you can come across. And the energy you must expend in keeping the 'high' road (I am expected to keep the 'high road' as co-owner and co-administrator of TGP) to deal with the trolls can be exasperating.

I don't suffer fools well; and when I smack back, the repercussions are long lasting and not easily forgotten. It's an interesting two-edged sword for sure. If someone calls me an asshole, it's fine. If I call him an asshole back, I'll be roasted at the spit as 'out of control' 'power mad' 'control freak' 'drunk with power'.

I see it all as humor mostly; I don't get wound up anymore... compared to some things in the past; even when I've gotten death threats and such. I've had some of the more 'interesting' stalkers call me on the phone at work (the work to track down my contact information and actually have the balls to call me on the phone) to rip me up and down verbally. You still cannot take it seriously. I've had guys threaten to show up at gigs to 'handle me' and such in the past... I mean, really?

The guys at HRI (someone suggested that place) are really cliquish, though I am a long time member and enjoy that forum. It's cool, but the clique there is pretty much not digging on non-HRI folks speaking up much.

It's interesting that all these phenomena didn't even exist to a large extent even 10 or 15 years ago like this.
 
The problem with this kind of medium (email etc) is that there's no intonation or gesture so everything said is very open to interpretation. A casual remark can much too easily be read as a vicious attack. For whatever reason, people seem to assume the latter and then respond along those lines.
I remember reading about an interesting feature (on youtube iirc... maybe it's still there?) whereby your comment could be read back to you before you posted it. The improvements on posts was remarkable. Now I read before hitting sned... I mean send!
 
tgunn said:
The problem with this kind of medium (email etc) is that there's no intonation or gesture so everything said is very open to interpretation. A casual remark can much too easily be read as a vicious attack. For whatever reason, people seem to assume the latter and then respond along those lines.
I remember reading about an interesting feature (on youtube iirc... maybe it's still there?) whereby your comment could be read back to you before you posted it. The improvements on posts was remarkable. Now I read before hitting sned... I mean send!
Click to expand...

A good point. Sarcasm and jokes are dependent upon the skill of the speaker/typist...even across continents it gets muddled.

Yes, it's interesting (but I should not be surprised), that people are as clicky and entrenched as the 'real world'. In a way, it's like grade school and high school, you can TALK to anyone, but more likely than not they'll kick you just to show their friends they can...

And don't get me wrong, I have perspective on it. I walk away from the keyboard and it's done for me. But on the other hand you'd think people would be more comfortable BECAUSE of the internet. No preconceptions about height, weight, age, color, etc. But maybe folks just have an outlet to dish crap on folks they are never able to at work/home/school etc.

Boy does THAT sound cynical.

I don't envy your position Scott, and I see how your achieved your perspective...I would be the same way on that particular board. I'm glad this board has relatively little rancor. I generally don't hold back on an opinion here, but I DO use much more care in the posts I place as a moderator...
 
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