"Yeah, in hand-to-hand combat, you definitely want a Strat or Tele." Pat Travers, Vintage Guitar Magazine, June 2015, Page 91.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Is he implying if he hits you it's "Boom Boom, Out go the lights".

JONPAUL wrote:

--several anonymous members of SG101

Maybe those anonymous members could set the example by writing something about musical content, etc. themselves. I doubt anybody's preventing them from doing so, and I'm confident their contributions would be warmly welcomed. But you know, it's a lot easier to bitch while scratching one's behind than to actually do something....

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

JONPAUL wrote:

"WTF is wrong with SG101? All anyone talks about is gear, gear and gear. Doesn't anyone care about the actual musical content or technique or theory anymore? I'm considering quitting the forum."

--several anonymous members of SG101

Perhaps this should be in a thread on its own. Just IMO.

I will unmask myself and admit to being one of the anonymous folks that JP is quoting. I text and chat and speak with quite a few members of this community, and I know for certain that I am not the only one feeling the above sentiment. In fact, I am merely one of many. But I feel that its time to speak up.

I dont wish to single out Noel, which is why I think that this should be in another thread, but I feel that the forum content in general has taken a noticeable dip in quality and an even more noticeable dip in relevance.

There are literally thousands of guitar gear enthusiast forums and facebook groups out there today where every pedal and every reverb pan and every pickup can be discussed ad nauseam. But there is only one central place where we can come together to discuss our beloved genre of Surf! Certainly gear is a part of the genre. In fact, it is a necessary part if a musician wishes to achieve that sound we love so much. But there are other elements that warrant further discussion and are much more relevant to the genre as a whole.

How many other music sites are out there that have ORIGINAL musicians as users contributing? Paul Johnson has posted here! Eddie Bertrand (RIP) was an active member! John Blair is an active member! Insect Dave is an active member! We also have third wave maestros like Ivan and Slacktone Dave and Norm, not to mention all of the current and recent bands from literally ALL OVER THE WORLD posting and interacting on this forum. What other music genre site can claim such a fantastic and precious resource? But we squander such a resource when so much of the time is talking about gear.

This genre is so incredibly rich in history! Even in recent history, we've had MONUMENTAL albums released! The MUSIC is alive and continuing to thrive despite the state of the modern Rock & Roll music industry and decline of music sales and live-music attendance in general. And new compilations of the classics still come out, cutting deeper and deeper into the rarities and obscure songs that are exciting to discover all of these decades later.

We have international conventions and festivals and weekend long shows, and we have the gentlemen that put them together right here in these forums that we can interact with and provide direct feedback to! We have current local and global radio show DJs, published historians, documentary film producers, genre defining and revival generating ORIGINAL MEMBER musicians, record company reps/execs, modern and active bands posting live show information and even studio diary/blog threads and album release info! We have all this to interact with and learn from!! And yes, we even have gear vendors that we can purchase directly from. Not to mention the many talented amateurs and up and coming musicians with new content and new ideas to generate new music and excitement for the genre!! We have all of these precious resources, and yet we have threads about pan comparisons and and pedal questions and individual gear purchases. It blows my mind!

Ivan is right. It is easier to bitch about it than to generate the quality content you find lacking. But Jonpaul isn't some amateur enthusiast that is monday morning quarterbacking and deliberately trying to rain on people's parades. There are few in the world who do more for the genre than him. He is in A TON of bands, plays countless live shows, puts together music for MULTIPLE radio shows EVERY WEEK, is currently assembling information for and writing a discography for the revival releases, and assists Jeff in countless ways in putting together the SG101 convention. He dedicates his life to Surf, so if anyone is in a position to bitch, its him!!! Perhaps thats why he is also a sounding board for many in the community who feel let down by the current state of things.

This is just my two cents. Feel free to throw the two pennies back at me as hard as you can. Perhaps I deserve it. But I will not unsay anything.

Again, this thread isn't aimed at Noel, although I think he might benefit from the understanding that enthusiasm and energy aren't always reason enough to post something (a lesson Preston only learned after being yelled at a lot, haha). But that is just my opinion. No offense is intended as I'm sure he's a great guy with his heart in the right place.

Last edited: Apr 18, 2015 15:04:57

... and while I originally thought a place to put interesting quotes about and by musicians and music would be light-hearted and entertaining, I'm more than happy to change this topic to "Let's Discuss Discussing Music" or something. Or someone can create one.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Hmm. Boy was that thread title a tease.

I'm still in the stage of getting over the "getting-over-myself" stage so as to suck it up & upload an original song I wrote. It's mine (although maybe somewhere I don't understand it's an amalgam of things I'm not aware of). It had a simple memory as inspiration. And it took several weeks; this writing shit is hard for someone whose brain hemispheres don't seem to do that well. So at some point I'll put that teency-tiny 1 minute 45 seconds of my life "out there." It's mine, but I owe many here for even undertaking it in the first place. So thank you for that.

Now please proceed to the periodic minor implosion that most internet fora undergo from time to time, yet manage to survive, and have a very surf day.

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

josheboy wrote:

but I feel that the forum content in general has taken a noticeable dip in quality and an even more noticeable dip in relevance.

Yes, and I blame a decline in traffic and regular posting from a handful of users that once posted all of the time. Blame is a strong word, as no one should be obligated to post here.

The issue isn't even gear talk, it seems most of my posts are just answering questions about gear. Not even talking about gear, just answering questions of which my the standard answer is "it is really personal preference".

Music is a very personal thing, gear isn't. It is almost rude to be anything but passionate about music. "Yeah, that release was just okay. I wish they had fixed this, not done that, ditched the sax". You just can't say things like that. So music threads die out quickly here because it is hard for a tight knit community to do anything but be "rah, rah!".

Surf music, is like any other genre I like. And that is, there is a lot of amazing music but there is also some stuff I just do not care for. I've only ever expressed displeasure for one surf band on these forums because that album was so bad...(they don't post here).

The shortest threads I start are about music. I've done recollections about Tsar Wars, Cosmonauti, and It's Go Time recently and the thread is strong for a day and then... good night.