Official Luthiers Forum!

I'd like to chip in a few things myself- first, to Kevin Gallagher, who listed a couple of reasons why he doesn't want to belong to either ASIA or the GAL...it seems that the reason you are not too hip on joining is because you see others who join up that are either beginners, or folks who want to make themselves look more legitimate by belonging..but I can ask you- so what? Good for them if they think so much of an organization that they believe it'll make them look good if they are a member, and who can say what kind of a builder they might turn into? Also, we shouldn't join or not join because of what anothers' reason might be, but because we want to share in a brotherhood or family of other builders both alike and unlike ourselves. We can only win! I can't even explain or put into words the many things I've gotten back from membership and I couldn't really form the right words to say about being proud to be a member of both GAL and ASIA. And I'm not saying this to blast you or put you down, but simply to remind you that we join for our own reasons and not because of anyone elses'. If you aren't joining because of what you might think of some members, then you are missing out and we- the rest of the members- are missing out too because a fine builders' group is missing out on the membership and sharing which we might gain from having you aboard.

And to defend Bill a bit- I am glad he's doing what he's doing, and he has my thanks. I know from years of reading his posts on the MIMF, he just has a quick mind and a quick way of saying things and it can be easy to misunderstand his posts as being too sharp...I'm sure he didn't mean it if it seemed harsh. Mark Swanson38773.6358333333

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

The Strategic Alliance between the OLF and ASIA mentioned above is a reality. The OLF supports ASIA, as seen in the fact that a PAID OLF Membership also enrolls one in ASIA.

I might have taken that deal, but I was already an ASIA member and I already had a subscription to Acoustic Guitar magazine.

So, I'm sorry when folks misunderstood me saying hey, look, ASIA forum is up and running. I simply had dropped by to check on it. Also while there, I notice the button for technical questions which put me in touch with Paul Dempsey.

Paul assured me it was operational, and after thirty minutes of wrangling out the details, hey, he is right, it is working, or was.

Not to beat a dead horse, because it is truly offline and totally unavailable now, but I was not warned in any way not to use it by an official of ASIA.

Why did I feel okay about sharing with fellow OLFASIA members about that forum operation? Because they are not only a Strategic Alliance, they are openly part of what the OLF is all about, sharing information about building guitars. At least that's what it was all about when it started.

To get beat up by the very folks who one day are friendly and the next day want to cut my throat on open forum is confusing. And the director of my professional organization comes on and lambasts me, gee, really makes me want to serve as a volunteer under him. Sorry Bill, I just don't understand.

I'll get over it, it's my nature to be forgiving and understanding. Sorry for any hard feelings, I was just excited about my professional organization having a working forum.

Now to another point. I was invited here by a notorious and beloved part of the OLF. My picture and his are fairly close on the Luthier's Bios. Guess where he met me and invited me to this forum????? Acoustic Guitar Forum. And go look who still hosts the Old ASIA Forum, none other than Dave Skowron of 13th Fret fame.

What does that mean? It means that all of us here on the OLF are cross-pollinated. We have friends on just about every forum and in each professional organization. Many of you freely travel from forum to forum posting at will. Mario alludes to this. And I have to thank Kevin for just being a nice guy and saying his mind, he has a right in the guitar world to speak. He's earned it.

Now to touch on one last forum, the MIMF. Kind of the Mother of all guitar forums for most of us. Many of us still teeter over there and visit. I got an email just the other day telling me I was about to get cut off and dismembered. So, I logged on and posted one post to keep my slot. No I don't feel like a traitor either, because that forum has earned it's stripes and deserves to exist and live under it's own merit. I like MIMF, just as it is. Even if I'm told to go look in the library for whatever.

Okay, I'm done. Thanks all for expressing your opinions. I'm still trying to file the fallout, and when it is all sorted out in my pea brain, I'll be at peace and retire to the confines of my dusty shop to build another. See you around, Bruce

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com