Welcome to VGuitarForums

Started by Slackjaw, January 23, 2008, 09:27:45 AM

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Slackjaw

Any feedback is welcomed!! 

You may post any bug reports or feature requests in the Feature Reqests forum.  I will address them and report back in that forum.

Onward!
My Rig: Brian Moore i2.13 > Guitar Rig 4 and Roland GR-09 > Ableton Live 8 Suite > Alesis  MasterControl > Little Dot 1+ > Allesandro MS-1 Headphones > My Head > My Soul

Elantric

#1
When I saw that Zoom users had to create and host their own Zoom User forum,
http://zoomforum.us/

I realized the VG-99 needed one badly!

Thus the creation of VGuitarForums in Jan 2008 Which has side benefits that we are not Moderated or spoon fed the corporate party line, and we allow outside thinking and deserved criticism - thus we have the important concept of freedom, which is becoming more rare with each passing day.


Roland came real close to providing the greatest Toolset for modern guitarists with the VG-99 - we are here to fill in the missing bits, and workarounds, and because most of us love guitar technology -regardless of the supplier.
---
EDIT Oct 30, 2012

Well - the story of how VGUitarForums was created is a bit long, and there were a few helpful folks besides myself who helped kick start and assist ongoing issues behind the scenes along the way (Aure, HippieTim, SlackJaw, MCK ).

Basically I grew extremely frustrated that the principal method for VG-99 users to interact was Yahoo Groups.

Aure Prochazka was running the Yahoo VG-8 Group / Mail list  - in parallel with www.VG-8.com.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/vg-8/

Eventually around 2007, Aure's interests in life changed and he promoted several members to "Co-Moderate" the Yahoo VG-8 Group, as each and every post (and replies) in all threads there had to be "pre-approved" by one of the acting moderators before any post went "live" on the list. The argument in favor of this philosophy was it helped prevent SPAM, but it also relied on a 24 /7 "live body" to monitor all posts. However all too often a Mod would go on vacation, and many days would go by and it would appear that there was zero traffic on the Yahoo VG-8 list, then randomly the next day there would be a flood of new posts, as one of the Mods would finally log in and start approving the backed-up posts.       

Needless to say, many meaningful  / heated technical discussions often lost continuity - and some replies with crucial reply information either would get lost, or simply deleted by the "acting Moderator of the day"   

I was very frustrated with this situation, because the Roland VGuitar Systems (VG-8, VG-88, VG-99, etc.) are indeed extremely daunting to most guitarists and require a significant commitment to learning Audio  / Sound Design concepts to get the most from these tools.

Side note - In 2007 I purchased a Canon HV-20 Hi-Def Camcorder and discovered a great interactive online community

http://www.hv20.com/forum.php

Also Line-6 had a really active User Forum too

So I thought the Roland VGuitar systems and specifically the VG-99 deserved to have an equally powerful online community and "Vbulletin or PhP" type user forum, where anyone could join, learn, contribute, ask questions, share files, patches.

After the VG-99 was announced at the 2007 Winter NAMM, I knew this was going to be a big game changer - so I approached Roland US with a request that I thought the time was right for them to host a Roland User Forum on their www.RolandUS.com site.
But I was told by many people high up the food chain at Roland US that hosting a User Forum would be technically and financially impossible -the idea was  rejected. Remember this was back in the days when all Roland Owners Manuals had to be purchased  - there were no free Adobe PDF downloads until mid 2007

So I started a Yahoo Group called "VG-99Users" -

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/vg-99users/

First rule was that once I trusted a new member, I would no longer moderate his new posts. After 3 months our membership grew to nearly 1000, in large part because open discussions could occur 24/7  - and (a Vital point) Each member had the power to present clarity of his/her opinion  - nobody was the "master"  - any idea could be freely shared.

Eventually I solicited help to establish moving the community out of the yahoo eco-systems. Remember Microsoft now owns Yahoo, and the Yahoo Groups could easily be shut down with very little notice - rather like E-Groups died back in the late 1990's     


HippieTim helped with the first stab at co-creating and web hosting this community, but soon we discovered bandwidth  / cost issues with file sharing.

In Early 2008, SlackJaw offered a SMF Forum solution, and this version of the Forum you are reading here now was created. I spent a few weekends dumping my brain and posting numerous posts on all things i knew about Roland 13 pin gear, and COSM Technology - and eventually our numbers began to grow. Negotiating Group Buys with deep discounts for members of VGuitarForums for new Roland Gear helped too. 

In 2010, SlackJaw was sidelined with major medical problems, and MCK stepped in and helped me move this site transparently to a new web hosting company.

Since April 2012 - I'm now the sole owner / operator  - and despite my frequent posts, i do have other duties in life. But i'm very proud of our community, and I do check in with many other Guitar forums, I must say our group here is a refreshing destination on the web - free from the typical trolls or ego smashers that reside at those other places. 

Regarding contributions - any amount is appreciated and goes into the support kitty.  So far each year, thanks to many members contributions -  I typically break even or have minimal expense. But hey I can find numerous ways to spend $$  - but I choose to keep this site going, as I feel we have not yet reached our peak or effectiveness in furthering stringed instrument sonic exploration. And being independent and "free-thinking" is swiftly becoming a lost experience.         

I also want to thank all our Moderators here (Brent Flash, Gumtown, Germanicus, MCK, VanceG) - its very rare that we must delete a post, or straighten out a member who violates the Forum Rules - but when the occasion arrives, we do act swiftly! 

feloniouspunk

#2
Great new site guys!  Where did you guys get the cool little guitars?  I want one!!
Lots of Gear. :)

Elantric

#3
bump

scarr

#4
My first thought when I saw the place was that there are an awful lot of subforums.  I might come to appreciate the separation, but the initial reaction was that there are a lot of links to click to read new posts.

That being said, it does look nice.  ;D

Jahloon

#5
No doubt it will streamline as time goes on, and I cannot upload my avatar  :(
Producer: Village of the Unfretted - double CD
Author: Fretless Guitar - The Definitive Guide
www.unfretted.com

Slackjaw

#6
Personalized avatars have been fixed!
My Rig: Brian Moore i2.13 > Guitar Rig 4 and Roland GR-09 > Ableton Live 8 Suite > Alesis  MasterControl > Little Dot 1+ > Allesandro MS-1 Headphones > My Head > My Soul

Phaze

#7
Great site!

chipstar

#8
Yep, looks good.

later,
Chipstar

Elantric

#9
Just a tip for Navigating and finding articles  / posts of interest here at VGUITARFORUMS

Go to "HOME",

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php

then use SEARCH"

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=search2

belfast

#10
Hi All
I have been comming to this website for a good bit of time now and I really like it ! well done...
one thing would be nice, an option were you could download all uploaded patches in one big zip or at least tick them off the ones you want..
oh and maybe a shopping linkpage..with cheap pices for GK bits or other stuff  ;D

Cheers Sóren Jim Kelly

Darter

#11
If a zip of patches is posted it really should be tested first. I haven't yet downloaded patches but have read enough comments about settings being changed that I know to be careful and backup before messing with things.

Maybe a links page for known places to purchase items or have proper repairs done. Regional/local etc. Part#/serial#'s included and possibly, "Talk to Steve, not Edgar as he's too new to dealings."
e.g. (Fictional site) www.bobsconnectors.com for 13-pin GK connectors.
???

Elantric

#12
Cant join our forums?

Read this straight from our forum's  Administrator:
Quote

Glad you posted this. I approve new members on a daily basis. There is a very important field called Joining Reason. We need people to say a few things expressing why they are interested in our context. Entries like Info, Interest, To Learn etc are all too generic and will get the membership request denied. You will not hear about the rejection either. The reason for this is simple.

Unfortunately there are hordes of robots/scripts out there constantly trying to find new forums and register there with the intention of spreading spam or other nastier possibilities. We had our share of issues and not long ago our forum was even hijacked. In order to avoid these issues we implemented a number of safety measures of which one is to inquire a valid reason for joining. I don't want to list what will get you through but here are few paraphrased entries which might give you some clues. Thanks for your understanding...

Admit One
=========
New VG99 owner
Love GR-55
Need info on 13pin

Reject for sure
==========
I am a spammer robot from outer space
I love hacking websites and defacing them
Info
Interest
Learning
Recommendation etc

Elantric

Visit the new areas of VGuitarForums

For Sale > VGuitarForums GROUP BUYS
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=175.0



For Sale > GK Pickups / Tools / Accessories
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=174.0

MCK

10 year Anniversary coming up! Remembering Slackjaw fondly for all he has done for this wonderful community.