I'm sorry to hear about this situation. Forums are communities and to see anyone kicked out of a community is a big deal to me.

I feel that my responsibilities as a site/forum owner are to be a good steward to the users and to enhance the end user experience in any way I can. It is also important to me to promote a community open to diverse opinions/perspectives.

Though this is a Stick-centric site, all are welcomed and free from any agendas. Well actually, I do have some agendas which are simply for this site to be a quality experience and to be respectful & grateful of the users who invest their valuable time and resources here.

"There's plenty of room at the top, competition is at the level of mediocrity."

First of all - let me say that I tried to sign up for Stickist.com a while ago, but I now realize that "I" didn't complete the registration process because I didn't realize the authorization link went to my spam box.

Nonetheless I am here - now.

What happened to Andy today was disgraceful. I have NEVER witnessed such disgusting behavior from a company. I in fact have stopped tapping because TT tried to get me to buy (at a "great discount" of course) one of his instruments that he considered to be the almighty of all things. The price was like $3,700 or something and was around the holidays. Well, we all know what happening around that time.

Yet, I was being told "NOT TO BELIEVE THE GLOOM AND DOOM." TT wanted $1600 for a down payment. That is more than I have paid full price for any tapper that I have (and I have a few!). I was so turned off by the overly aggressive sales push (to one of his best customers no less!) that I have not spoken with TT since and decided to give up on the whole thing all together. The instruments that I own that are made by TT's company are truly gathering dust in gig bags and a case. I can't get rid of them because of an estate planning agreement I have with my alma mater. Or else they would just be given away to "the nicest person with the best reason for wanting them."

I'm insanely angry about all of this. And Greg Howard is my sanity. Greg gets it and moves on. I have now - moved on as well.

I have two 10-string Sticks that have needed to be TLC'd forever. Building the studio and teaching school have taken up a lot of money and time (in that order). But when the time comes - hopefully for my birthday in January, I will show my respect for the first company to ever treat me nice with a "handwritten hello." Imagine getting a handwritten letter from Emmett Chapman when you are just starting out. Oh yeah!

I am forever grateful for what the Chapman Stick did for the start of my career in 1987 when I was the 1st person ever to be featured in Mike Varney's Spotlight Column with a Chapman Stick - one the very same ones I still own today.

In closing, let me say that I just like to play guitar and anything that makes it hot, funky, and full of groove. I hope to learn from this community, all the things that attracted me to the Stick in the first place.

I am Jamsire.

Jamsire,

You are a great player of strung instruments, and I think stickist.com will be even better with you on board.

Cheers,
Andy

It's cool to see Jamsire here on stickist.
I just lurk on tappistry but have also noticed post numbers falling. I think one of the appeals of the stick community is the great forums and sense that there is momentum and progress in stick playing worldwide - that "there are others".

It would be really great to see non stick tappers welcome on this site because, although I have two sticks and love them to death, I think there are some great musos and some really nice instruments in the non stick tapping circles from which it would be great to learn and cross-pollenate.

With regard to playing techniques, two hands aligned parallel to the fretboard of any instrument share some common dialogue and can learn from one another and enjoy each other's playing. And with the arrival of mirrored 4th on stick, the crossover just increased!

I'll stop myself here so as to not write too much but I feel that if we can remove the negative feelings that have plagued tappers from the past then the future will be brighter for all of us. I think we all want polyphonic 2 handed tapping to propagate into the wider community of musos and listeners and achieve the place in music history/future it deserves. We have the best chance of achieving that by pooling our knowledge, musicality and technique and having a welcoming, vibrant and diverse community.

To punish a cannibal you can do everything you want but eat him...

Cheers, Daniel.

Welcome Ernie! From now on stickist will be funkier


Cheers, Daniel.

Welcome!

Welcome Ernie,

I used to lurk over on Tappistry.ugh on occasion, read your stuff and found you to be a gentleman of the tapping world. So my feeling is we're better off with you here regardless of whether you're playing Stick, something teflon, guitar or sousaphone

I tried the olive branch a year or so ago naively thinking that any relationship could be fixed and was almost immediately labeled a "shill for Stick Enteprises" and subsequently lynched. So with all due respect to Ben ... I tried once ... I won't try a second time. Life is too short.

Hi Ernie

What a great post to wake up to. I hope you find your experience here will rekindle your interest in tapping music in a profound way. ( I'll be sure to point out to my wife that at least it's possible for me to be someone else's "sanity" ) You have a great spirit, and your good-natured funkiness will be a great asset to this community.

I have some hand-written letters from Emmett during those years as well. He's always been very supportive of the musicians who have come to his instrument and the Free Hands method. He continues to write letters daily to artists about their work and aspirations. Where he finds the time and energy I don't know. Amazing man.

While we didn't have the online community to offer us support back then, we also didn't have to wade through all the easily-generated commercial garbage that sometimes comes with it. I believe the benefits of online community far outweigh the downsides, though, and that real information will always give people the tools they need to see through even the thickest marketing smoke-screen.

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic here, but it feels like the damage TT has done to the development of the community of players is finally starting to wane and we can all focus more on what we really care about, making music and expanding the possibilities that tapping has to offer.

Welcome!


Happy Tapping,
greg

PS, I don't advocate kicking TT off this forum. Allowing him to post gives us an opportunity to tell the truth about what he does. And he has the freedom to respond. On his forum, if you get too close to the truth about him, you get censored.

It's great to see you here Ernie. I always enjoyed your insights and comments over at TT's forum, and look forward to talking with you more here. Welcome!

Kris