The Gear Page

[Guinness Lad]

I haven't posted here, but decided I probably should. I have an Express 5-25+, really a great amp. I have had many and Mesa is very good overall.

This post however is about The Gear Page. I find that place pretty poor with a group think mentality, in that if you argue against the consensus train of thought you will find yourself suspended and then eventually banned. I created a post in the amp section saying the 70% rule for biasing amplifiers was BS. I stated there is a range and rather than just setting it to 70% that you should experiment and find a range which works for you which doesn't cause tubes to red plate. The amount of angst and people calling me a loser was a bit much. I would defend myself, and say people like Soldano, Mesa, and many other companies don't exercise this 70% rule. Yet, again I became the problem. Eventually someone got mad and turned me in, so I was the person to get banned. Even though I didn't go after anyone personally, since what I wrote was not accepted I became the victim.

I guess I am curious to know if anyone who hangs here also goes there and sees what I do. I may hang out here more often as gear forums are rather thin. That's all I have, interested to see what people say, take care.

 

[domct203]

TGP is terrible like that, I don’t bother with it. I love this board, great group of people giving (mostly) solid advice and honest opinions.

What’s really funny is that I’ve seen claims on TGP that The Boogie Board was full of tone snobs .

Good to see the traffic picking up here, been slow for too long.

Dom

 

[Guinness Lad]

I think you can sound good with cheap or expensive gear, and I've seen people do both. I just found that I couldn't disagree with a few certain people. These coveted posters were like kicking the pope, it just wasn't accepted.

 

[SunnO)))]

Many people have shared some incredibly enlightening information there over the years. Any popular forum is going to have a lot of shyte to wade through to find the good stuff.

 

[Spinaltap11]

I have viewed the page occasionally though the years, used the search to look up old topics, but have never signed up or logged in there. I do hear of users being banned continuously.

 

[bandit2013]

I am a snob or prude. I ban you for bringing up the other forum. you have been forever shunned in the sake of Mesa boogie as you are not of the body. I have a bad sense of humor. When I try to be funny I am not and when I do not try to be funny I am. Just ignore this.... I am an idiot.

The golden rule is just a metric or standard method to get in the ball park. Not all tubes like to be operating at that point. Too cold and it will sound thin and lacking, also more susceptible to cross-over distortion. Too hot and it will get muddy at higher volumes. Different power tubes will also react to frequency differently due to change in impedances. Once you get into the ball park you can spend some more time making find adjustments to your liking. The one good thing about adjustable bias is you can correct for cathode degradation later on as the tube ages and electron emissions start to change. That is probably time to replace the tube anyways. It is much easier to have access to bias adjustment without having to remove the amp chassis.

The second thing I did when I got my Marshall Silver Jubilee was to check the bias. I had to hear it first. I had to find out where it needed to be based on the manufacturer's recommendations. It was close but on the low side. I did set it just a tad warmer.

So, is the golden rule to be 70% from the absolute maximum as listed on the data sheet? This is such a lost art that has gotten misconstrued or out of perspective.

This is just a reminder I need to get a dual channel bias probe. Would like to see where my Mesa amps are running just so I have a reference point.

 

[CoG]

I have viewed the page occasionally though the years, used the search to look up old topics, but have never signed up or logged in there. I do hear of users being banned continuously.

it's because people take themselves too seriously and get into internet flex fights over power tube biasing. I've been a member there for years but I don't post much, because I realize when I don't have much to add to a topic. there is always someone on tgp who knows more than you do. no exceptions.

it's a huge forum that's been going for a long time and the mods don't tolerate much bullshit anymore, especially because most of the banned users are the same dozen guys who have been coming back over and over for years to relitigate the same arguments. If you have thousands of daily active users you can ban a few.

 

[El Rey]

Speaking of TGP (a seemingly attractive target of hate);

Being a moderator on another forum has changed my perspective much.

There's an enormous amount of content and activity on TGP. Just like any place else, it's not perfect. We're not perfect, nobody, not me, not a one. Personally, I think TGP owners, admin, and mod team have done an excellent job building the site into what it is at the present. Being the huge community it is, I find it striking it runs as well as it does.

Sure, I've had some well deserved time-outs there. And maybe a few I thought were levied unfairly. But it's their platform. I don't pay their bills. It's their house/their rules so to speak. While I'm in their house these days, I respect their rules. Just like you expect guests in your house to respect yours. To me, that is not unreasonable at all.

Sure, they have tons of content, and I don't have to read, agree, or participate in any of it. But just like anybody else, I can pick and choose what I enjoy and do so. These days, I choose not to get into it with anybody. I don't have to comment on every damned thing, and I don't have to debate every contention either. People have emotional connections to many of their preferences. Some more sensitive to comments/criticisms of them than others. These days I make an extended effort to respect others views. We're not all going to like each other or agree on a multitude of things.

I often find it much simpler and easier to just agree to disagree and move on.

I'm sure people think I'm some kind of moronic, sycophantic, obsequious @$$-kisser/shill for being a Double Platinum Member there. I spend more time there because they have more content and a huge community. I believe they do an incredible job maintaing order in a huge community with an enormous amount of content and activity. They never asked me for any money donations (gee I wonder who's been doing a lot of that lately?....so much so I finally had to unsubscribe from all their notifications).

I maintain my Double Platinum membership there because I enjoy the site better than all the rest, and I belong to many. Meh....so what?

For years now, it's been my hopes this place would take off in popularity the same way, but it hasn't. Not that I can see.

Like I've said, I'm NOT getting into it with anybody over this. Normally, I wouldn't make these kind of slightly acerbic sounding posts. And mind you, they are just my opinions. And, had I not been spammed to death with numerous requests for money/donations from here at the Boogie Board over the past couple of months, I probably would have just held me tongue.

If this site's admins, owners, moderators want to ban me permanently for sharing these views, well.........by all means do so.

In the meantime, good luck on your crowfunding, and please know if you start generating some interesting content and activity, I'll gladly, voluntarily donate $$ and you won't have to ask me for it.

Ciao