Where is everyone ?

[peskypesky]

I check in. Post occasionally. Would love for the forum to be more active, but it is what it is. This community has taken body blow after body blow, and with each one, like a boxer, we wear down.

Lately, I spend most of my forum time on the Steve Hoffman forum talking about music.

[uglyvw]

Hey guys. I still tune in every so often to see what's going on. Working from home a good bit, and some side work along with kids keeps me from checking in here as often. Been playing quite a bit actually. Some home time has been on cleaning out some clutter and purging some stuff. I'm looking at thinning the heard a bit, but you know how that is, so I've ended up working on a few guitars that haven't gotten much attention in a while.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Hey guys. I still tune in every so often to see what's going on. Working from home a good bit, and some side work along with kids keeps me from checking in here. I'm looking at thinning the heard a bit, but you know how that is

Yeah, the wife is gonna draw the line at getting rid of some kids for sure.

[RiverDog]

What's up guys. I'm still around, too. I haven't touched a guitar in months, except to sell. Been a rough year for me and the mood just hasn't been there. Although, checking back in here it appears I'm not alone in that sentiment. I hope all you guys are hanging in there. At the moment I'm preparing for my first colonoscopy in the morning. So much fun. I'll try and be better about checking in. I miss y'all.

[uwmcscott]

What's up guys. I'm still around, too. I haven't touched a guitar in months, except to sell. Been a rough year for me and the mood just hasn't been there. Although, checking back in here it appears I'm not alone in that sentiment. I hope all you guys are hanging in there. At the moment I'm preparing for my first colonoscopy in the morning. So much fun. I'll try and be better about checking in. I miss y'all.

Good luck on the scope...had to have my first one not too long ago. The prep is way worse than the actual event.

[JimyTheAssassin]

What's up guys. I'm still around, too. I haven't touched a guitar in months, except to sell. Been a rough year for me and the mood just hasn't been there. Although, checking back in here it appears I'm not alone in that sentiment. I hope all you guys are hanging in there. At the moment I'm preparing for my first colonoscopy in the morning. So much fun. I'll try and be better about checking in. I miss y'all.

Good luck with the test!

Better days will come. I keep reminding myself to be happy with my family and loved ones good health. Gotta count your blessings where you have them and such, right? I know we all miss having things the way they were, but its just “different good” now . In the meantime I just try to keep some humor on tap to help break up the doldrums of being home too much.


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[nomadh]

I just realized I hadn't checked in in 4 days. Maybe more. Certainly not like used to. Plus works been picking up and I'm still in the middle of a big septic scare plus heater and plumbing problems at the rental.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I just realized I hadn't checked in in 4 days. Maybe more. Certainly not like used to. Plus works been picking up and I'm still in the middle of a big septic scare plus heater and plumbing problems at the rental.

As in septic tank or septic shock ?

[BrianSkeezer]

I just realized I hadn't checked in in 4 days. Maybe more. Certainly not like used to. Plus works been picking up and I'm still in the middle of a big septic scare plus heater and plumbing problems at the rental.

That rental has been causing you nothing but problems in the past year.

[nomadh]

Septic tank on my home. I'm hoping the leach lines aren't shot. Aside from the cost I've so landscaped the yard that new lines would destroy everything. Plus all the fences for my wife's animals.
As for the rental, I have 3 so added up yea, a lot of problems. This time it's a $2700 heater. But I just paid the mort off so its finally paying me. Except of course not for a few more months.

[RiverDog]

What's up guys. I'm still around, too. I haven't touched a guitar in months, except to sell. Been a rough year for me and the mood just hasn't been there. Although, checking back in here it appears I'm not alone in that sentiment. I hope all you guys are hanging in there. At the moment I'm preparing for my first colonoscopy in the morning. So much fun. I'll try and be better about checking in. I miss y'all.

Good luck on the scope...had to have my first one not too long ago. The prep is way worse than the actual event.

Thanks man. Turns out the prep didn't clean me out enough for the doc to see all that he needed to so I gotta do it again, but in a year, which I guess I can live with.

[RiverDog]

What's up guys. I'm still around, too. I haven't touched a guitar in months, except to sell. Been a rough year for me and the mood just hasn't been there. Although, checking back in here it appears I'm not alone in that sentiment. I hope all you guys are hanging in there. At the moment I'm preparing for my first colonoscopy in the morning. So much fun. I'll try and be better about checking in. I miss y'all.

Good luck with the test!

Better days will come. I keep reminding myself to be happy with my family and loved ones good health. Gotta count your blessings where you have them and such, right? I know we all miss having things the way they were, but its just “different good” now . In the meantime I just try to keep some humor on tap to help break up the doldrums of being home too much.


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Thanks Jimmy. I try to remind myself of those things. I'm alive, I have a job, and I have my family.

[nomadh]

I fear the way threads have had a bad habit of disappearing around here that
people have started questioning whether they want to post here, or not.

disappearing here? Doesn't that just happen on fakebook and twittered?

[Frozensoda]

I don’t come as often as I would in the past.
I just don’t have anything to add and I’ve been dealing with health issues (TMJ, tinnitus, carpal tunnel, and on and on and on.)
What a drag it is getting old...

[nomadh]

I usually take a look at new post first and lately very little content to check out. This morning I looked and just 1 post Buddha listed some pups for sale. When there are a few post displayed not much about gear, or road stories, or gigs or even practice seems to me there're more post about other things. I use to be excited about seeing what everyone was doing music wise and a lot about guitars and gear and musicians. Now it seems to me it's becoming more a platform for rants about things that don't interest me. For awhile I thought it was everyone getting over the momo invasion but now I think we're down to just a handful of folks that are hanging on. I know this may not be popular but IMO if it doesn't change we're done. If I counted right 261 people have signed up that's not many for a forum but out of those a goodly amount have never posted or just 1 or 2 post.I have no idea how to do this but we need to recruit new blood maybe if we take a few minutes each day to post with pictures about guitars, bands gigs anything that has to do with music and others will find us and see us as a place they would like to join and participate. Anyway I hope I didn't make anyone angry.

This big hit to us is we had this huge history of interesting details and anyone searching google would come here. After a few hits or if wanting more details they would sign up. Thats gone now. And we sure don't generate content like we used to. They may sign up at momo but then hit the dead zone and never get here. I sure would like to see a lawyer sue for our content back.

[Blackened]

I'm here as well. Don't play much anymore due to a hand injury in September 2019. I pop in now and again, but not like I used to. Someone mentioned how this forum has managed to stay together after years of being battered by ownership handoffs, domain name changes and so on. I've been a part of these forums (On and Off) since 2005... Others even longer! So much has changed in that time on the forums as well as outside of them.

Like many of you I am working from home and working with my 9 year old son who is schooling at home. We bought a new house right before Covid started and we are slowly working through repainting and doing the minor repairs you encounter with a home when you buy it. This place was built in '53 so there's been lots of updating we've been doing. I've also got cars and motorcycles to maintain (Yes, you still have to tend to your bikes in the Winter!) and my boy's 4-wheeler as well as a recent affliction with playing RDRO with some buddies I've known for most of my life. There is a lot going on and it feels like the older I get the more divided my time becomes.

I guess that is just the way it is.

Still have all of my guitars including my prized PS-924 in Quilted green with the original "before they ruined it" body shape! It is still my go-to when I occasionally pick up and noodle. About a month or two ago I rebuilt my old DLX2800 and gave it to my wife. She absolutely loves it.

That's pretty much all I've got...

[Blackened]

This big hit to us is we had this huge history of interesting details and anyone searching google would come here. After a few hits or if wanting more details they would sign up. Thats gone now. And we sure don't generate content like we used to. They may sign up at momo but then hit the dead zone and never get here. I sure would like to see a lawyer sue for our content back.

I'm certainly no lawyer but I don't think we would have a legal leg to stand on. The old owner sold it to a new owner who is entitled to do whatever he wants with it. We may not like it, but I can't imagine there is much we could do about it.

[sabasgr68]

This thread has a lot more going on than what it appears.

Change of ownership has left its marks and scars, but we've been together somehow, most of us. I've been part of AGF since 2010 or 2011, don't remember now.

It's great that we still have this place. I see it now more of a "our place", and not a public forum. What's happening with the forum, maybe it is not about us really, maybe is about the whole situation in general. Maybe less people are into real music - meaning, playing musical instruments for real, not creating music with sampled sounds -. It takes time to learn to play anything. It means commitment, discipline. Forget about it, that's too much for most people today. Few examples of young people grabbing an instrument.

And, this pandemic, and work from home, and not going out, and etcetera, has really affected us all. Some handle this better, some don't. Or better, some CAN handle it better, some CAN'T.

Add to it situations like in my country, and you got a worse scenario. Really, it takes a lot of soul and spirit to smile every day and not fall apart. Some have family to get support, some have God - count me in -, some have inner strenght, some have a great spouse, some have the music inside - sometimes, just being able to play some music has revived my heart several times, since forever, but most especially now -, and still, it takes a lot of that to stand strong, for us and for our loved ones.

Life has changed. I've always said this, but I'm so happy to have come to this place, and still being here.

I would love to visit each one of you and get to know you more, share things, talk about the things we agree and enjoy; and also, talk about the things we disagree; trying to understand, rather than to argue, why you believe in what you believe, and viceversa.

We've come to know more of each other than just being in love with guitars. That's what I value the most.

My uncertain life for the last 4 years - the ugliest I have lived, and it still has not stopped yet - has made that I give more importance to things that I haven't before.

So, maybe we're not here as often as we did, and there's less traffic of content, but we have a feeling for this place. We can't be here all day, we all have things to do. I haven't played guitar much lately really, as many have said. Sometimes I wonder what would have been of my life had I chose to go the music way in my life. I still think on what if I start right now a musical path, as it is what I really enjoy doing. I love cars, engines, though I haven't touched one in my life, but that's my other passion, to build engines and work in a car factory. Don't think it can happen now, but music, maybe there's still a chance. And I'm not talking of being famous, but just make a go in music. Playing in small places, when this lockdown ends. Well, not sure if it would be viable here.

Well, this went out of the route.

Again, where is everyone? We are here. While life is passing, we are here.

Maybe I'm sentimental right now. Well, this is the perfect place to express myself. Things are happening way too fast and too much lately.

I'll always have a smile for everybody here, even though I may not be smiling inside of me.

AGF are special letters.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I hate to say this...buy maybe the forum needs to start selling adspace....liven things up a little and maybe bring in some new blood from searches.

I love this forum and the personalities that keep it alive and sane. From Mickey to To be or not to be John, to Not Enough Cats, to Pesky (He's not banned again, right ?), to Sabas who always brings a measured and sane 'fatherly' tone, to all the rest too numerous to mention here.

I'm going to start posting more life's daily occurance stuff:

Today heading to the Home Improvement store for some house maintenance supplies...maybe some are interested. THen to the huge Garden Center to buy some plants and accessories. Most of all I (and I think many of us here) would be interested in the daily events of life in differing aspects around the world. Let's make it a tour de Force of daily interesting stuff.

I mean...I come here (and another forum specific to Thai expats) to kill the boredom....I can use Google for everything else...it's the content of the mundane and ordinary which may not be ordianry to the rest of us that I find interesting.

[nomadh]

If we want to generate posts we should just start talking politics again.

[tonebender]

Life has changed a lot for me over the last year. We sold the farm January 6, 2020 and have spent the last year setting up the new home. It has kept me pretty busy and I have spent less time here. I still look around from time to time, like now and read a few posts. I try to stay in touch with a few friends here through email or messenger. I was a week or two behind the mass exodus and creation of this new home for all of us but @Mickey kept me in tune. Couple the move with the fact that I retired from the band and took a lot of time off from playing music, shopping for gear, etc., my time here fell off. I made up my mind just today to find a duo partner. I had been playing with a couple guys from my first band but they are not consistently available. One is in another band that takes priority and has very limited time due to kid commitments. Family first. The other is a band whore who plays with any number of bands at any given time so he is really hard to nail down for a gig date. If I can find someone dedicated to the effort maybe I will get back into the swing of old.

[MichaelR]

Yup I'm still around although life has stagnated it seems for me. I have always, it seems, set my guitar down for awhile and then picked it back up, I seem to be in one of those phases. We had a fun year here with ONE day of rain all year, Covid precautions, a Crazy election with much family division over it, computer problems and ....................no ammunition for plinking =( . On the upside I woke up this morning and was able to make coffee and watch the sunrise once again on the snow capped Mingus Mountain, cause it finally rained and then turned to snow. I hope this board will remain for yet another year to maybe this is an omen.

[dearlpitts]

Im back to praticing daily. And learning one song each day.,3 days straight now.Feel much better.

[watercaster]

I'm here. Haven't checked in all but maybe five times since the move. Been busy with house renos. Lucky to noodle an hour at night three times a week. Fingertips getting soft. Have not bought anything in two years now. Oh yeah...forgot. Got a puppy back in late november. She is a Mountain Cur mix. Basically a hound. Good rescue dog.

[Mossman]

I hate to say this...buy maybe the forum needs to start selling adspace....liven things up a little and maybe bring in some new blood from searches.

Advertising doesn't bring traffic, or show up in search results (search engines don't regard advertising as "content"), and you need to have traffic first before anyone will pay for advertising, anyway.

Search engines like daily, fresh content. We just need to post more, even if it's mundane. The more guitar related stuff the better. Non guitar-related stuff isn't bad for SEO, but nobody who's looking for guitar info is going to find this site because I posted a thread about my tinnitus. Videos are good for SEO too. That's part of the reason why I've been making cover videos, instead of just posting audio tracks. I also think it's more entertaining and informative to watch someone play something, than just listen.