trinityamps.com

I am truly sorry for ANY punishment that you have endured here or at 18watt.com. I assure you that other than what was said in our thread I had nothing to do with it. As of right now I have not been suspended from 18watt. I do not think you said anything that should warrant your suspension from 18watt but as Pete said...."their forum...their rules!".

As for the BBQ thing...again...I am sorry for ever getting involved. This bickering between us has caused nothing but grief for both of us.

I fear that it may be too late for this but FWIW I am sorry and will no longer involve myself in discussion on this topic! or bashing TW! I still feel the same way towards him but I will not voice my feelings again!

Greg,
as I have always suspected, you are a class act. I hope you realize that I wasn't trying to bicker with you at all nor was I trying to insult anyone at 18 watt but just make a point. I was just shocked that the new site rules included not helping tube newbies who's stroke of luck it was to purchase a BBQ kit. I am amazed that I was booted for simply saying "Why can't we help this guy it violates no laws." It certainly seems that the admins of the site are taking out their angst on innocent newbies.

This whole thing started with the disrespect of others by one individual. Just for a moment put yourself on the receiving end of those attacks and think of what it would be like when you have your whole future and the future of your family riding on your Tube amp related business instead of it being a hobby or side business. Over reaction? Maybe. Poorly thought out response? For sure. I wish it could all stop and everyone could just get along. I do however understand what it would be like to google your own name and have a bunch of negative crap come back.

This type of battle does not belong in the Tube community and it is poisoning the atmosphere of cooperation we normally see. The fact that I was booted without so much as an email is just amazing to me and represents the poisonous environment that has been created. Nitro seems to think my "Boring thread" post was intended to insult or belittle the site, but that was just my way of saying "Hey, anybody got a new twist going?" I don't think he would think that way if it weren't for this current battle line situation. Jeez, you can't even fart in the room without someone blowing your head off. In my opinion, the site admins (well let me focus that a bit as it appears to be mostly Mark D) are continuing to fuel this monster by over reacting and by being ruthless in their topic control and suspension power. Saying "Take your stinkin' BBQ kit question somewhere else" is something I would expect to hear from an 8 year old not an adult. I know that some folks are stressed out, but it is in trying times that true charactor will surface.

As far as you and I are concerned, we're good. As far as me an 18, I'll be fine without it. I'll help newbies somewhere else. If bnwitt can do it so can I. Frankly I think I'm in good company. With the exception of his diatribe against the Bush bashers and commercial sellers in the 18 temple his posts were always helpful, and continue to be on the Hoffman forum. It's amazing how all the good is so easily forgotten in an instant. He sent me an email once that summed it up like this: "One aw sh** ruins a million ataboys." I guess I just had my 18 aw sh**. Oh well life is good and it goes on.
Cheers

I agree with what you're saying about the attacks on TW BUT take it a step farther. Why should the 18watt admins recieve threats because of what Aaron said or did. It's wrong on both sides. Also my comments about TW are not based on this incident alone.

There is some discrepancy as to what transpired. TW says he did not request that his products not be discussed at 18watt and 18watt says he did! The fact is...right or wrong...the admins decided this is the best course of action for now. We don't know all the details. Let's let it be!

I spoke to one of the admins about your suspension. I am told that if you agree to not mention this situation anymore you are welcome to continue at the forum. They simply want this to be over and they don't want anyone bringing it up anymore. Whether you want to go back is up to you!

Also keep in mind that things are still hot right now. In time people will cool down and things will get back to normal.

It's over...let's get back to building!

Greg,
I appreciate your comments. I have no alliegance to either side of the debate. I don't think disparaging comments against non-public persons are appropriate in a public forum regardless of whom they are about. I didn't see the 18 site posts by BBQ where he attacked someone or their products, but I only came around every few days so I might have missed them. I did see JA's remarks which went on and on and on. I can't thumbs up or down BBQ as I've had limited exchange with him in a normal business relationship. I can say, that from my perspective, JA was out of line. I also believe that is just part of his persona and it should not be punishable by death or defamation.

The sad thing in all of this is the banning of the BBQ kit buyer from the assistance of the experienced builders at the 18 site. Unless the home page specifically states "We'll help builders of any kit troubleshoot and tweak their amp as long as they don't mention the kit supplier's name", how is a newbie to know this? Maybe soon the discrepancy regarding this will be clarified.

I appreciate your effort on my part towards re-instatement at 18 and I know you didn't have to do that. I think that I'll wait awhile until tensions are not so high though. I don't feel comfortable in high tension zones which is one of the reasons I'm no longer with the first wife.

Have a great weekend and I'm off to finish an AC30.

Now here's what we should be talkin' about! I love AC30's

Hi, billabong...I wasn't implying that you were trying to insult or belittle the site with the "boring" thread..I was trying to make the point that you sounded like you were already bored with 18watt. Boredom leads to apathy...apathy leads to negativity...that was the connection I was making...not that you were going out of your way to slam the site. Sorry if it came out that way. Anyway, hope you decide to come back at some point. I will say that the forum is definitely taking on a weirder vibe since the mandatory registration went into effect....doesn't seem to be as amp focused as it was when I joined...or at least that's the vibe I get...maybe it's because I was used to the same folks posting all the time but now all the lurkers are being forced to register so there are alot of strangers now and noone bothers to research past threads for information.

Now this is just maddening...Billabong, I didn't even realize you were banned?!!! This just pisses me off!

I don't care what anyone says, what TW did was wrong. He should have directly gone after JA. (assuming that was truly the catalyst) To make an entire community suffer for the actions of a very select few is rediculous and childish.

The fact that the admins over at 18w are *so* spooked to take this kind of action only points more the fact that TW issued a truly humungously massive threat. The guy will never see business from me, ever.

This is going to be a big problem in the future...

I'm a huge advocate of not-overmoderating a forum. The very day you start forcing people to conform to a particular patern of speech, ethics, rules...and strictly enforce them, is the day you start seeing site traffic drop significantly. Being a former web developer and having managed some pretty high traffic sites, like journeymusic.com, I've seen this exact scenario play out. As soon as a handful of overzealous whackjob Perry Zombies were brought on board to handle the day to day, the place went into the sh*tcan faster than you can say 'Stone In Love'.

I would be shocked if 18watt's traffic hasn't already seen a plunge. (maybe that's good, since the transfer bills will be lighter, dunno)...

Regardless, as I predicted, things have surely changed over at 18. People are still walking on eggshells, very afraid of what to say and or do. The more I see this play out, the more I wish that s2 was running the place...because he would have told TW where to shove this so called threat...and how deeply to shove it before twisting it off.

Yes I think you're right. Now imagine if bnwitt was running it. Holy crap, sparks would have flown. But in all honesty it really ought to be Plexi running the site since he's been the main contributor of all the mods, and variations plus he's been the most active helpful poster. If you ask me, the best thing I've gotten out of the 18 has been my exposure to that excellent Kentucky dude.

Man I remember when 18 was just a yahoo group. Just think of what that little site has done over time. It forced Marshall to see the financial viability of reissuing a true PTP version of the amp (rather then another PCP reissue) and caused a major rift in the tube world. You've got to admit that is some pretty powerful influence for one website.

Hey Nitro, my boredom post (as I said) was my way of shaking the tree for some more inspiration. I still think a 36 Watt version with tremolo and reverb (and TMB tone controls of course)would be half of the perfect gig rig. The other half being a Double deluxe with a Revibe unit in front.

You want the perfect gig rig? You should check out Bob Ingram's Dumble ODS clone over at the twreck forums. That thing blew us all away at heebgb's place a few weeks ago.

I'm pretty easy going, in fact I am the original laid back dude but I can't cope with the new rules and the bombarding of the board with "Hello, just activating my account" messages. 18Watt was always my first port of call but I find I am now spending more time here, at the Trainwreck site and s2. I still believe the wealth of information in the 18Watt site is fantastic however most of the gurus are also cruising the other forums. I don't like to see people banned and as has been mentioned the vibe is just not right there any more I appreciate the hard job the administrators have and I do hope they get it right in the end.
Nigel

Nitro,
where can the info on his amp be found on the site? And how many watts is the thing?

I wanna hear more about this!

Billabong,

Clips and a layout here:

http://maximoaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=572

It's got a dumble and fender channel, has reverb, can go from clean to OD in a big way....very versatile but can be a little confusing...lots of knobs...heh.

Oh, I want that one

SPAM!!