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Howdy John,
I swung in for the annual peruse through the forum. I noticed a few old names like Kevin Sjostrand, and I stumbled across this post. I made a point to find the post in which Bill had made his remarks, and was immediately irritated by it. I did respond with my .02, as I felt my tenure throughout both the old and new forum gave me the warrant to do so. However, it was probably left better without. I just read your last comment (after the fact) and realized you're probably right and it is nothing to take to heart. I initially took it a bit personal, as my experience on Bill's forum was different than my experience on yours, probably for many reasons, but there was certainly never a lack of good will on this one. If the enthusiasm is gone (or lacking), it's certainly not due to any lack of anything from your end.
When I first found this forum, I was 16 years old, and very much a punk kid. Disinterested in school. I quit school in my small town and did an online diploma deal meaning I had a lot of time at home and on the computer. I stumbled across Bill's building blogs one night when I googled "how to build an acoustic guitar" at 3 am. That lead to building 5 acoustic guitars in the basement and then going to Red Wing Minnesota for their guitar repair/building program. I returned for another year to do the violin repair/building program and built a cello. I've worked in various repair shops and was never afraid of the big jobs (neck resets, back removals, ect), but ultimately out grew repairs before long (disinterested).
I had moved Atlanta originally making virtually nothing working at a hack job repair shop. During my time in Atlanta, I worked for myself doing quality repairs from my apartment. I found a maker space/shop to co-op with some very intelligent fellas, where I discovered CNC & CAD (both because of guitar related reasons), worked at various engineering firms (due to the CAD and CNC knowledge) was the "product engineer" for a company doing RD and prototyping, started a guitar building "workshop", that I taught, so that the guys who were counting down the days to retire (and build) could start the process sooner than later while maintaining the day job. I thoroughly enjoyed stringing up somebodies first guitar, and my 30 something guitar lost a bit of it's sparkle. With that said, over the past several years after moving to Colorado, I've gravitated away from prioritizing building.
I currently live in Aspen, Colorado (year round vacation), and in the organic evolution from guitar relevance, I learned CAD, I learned CNC, and then I started building CNC machines. Given what my path was like, I actually volunteer at the Highschool here and rewired their entire CNC machine (that an electrician said they couldn't run) to work on their newer system, and got a CNC laser setup in their shop so that kids get that exposure. Last year I officially had started my business here noodling around with various things with CNC and in the woodshop. Last week I was in the highschool shop helping a senior navigate his major mistakes on his (first) electric guitar build, as his scale length, neck angle, and bridge position were all wrong. I told him he was better off and if I had told him how to do it right in the first place, he would have learned nothing, but this way he would never forget.
The point of all of this is that at 29 years old, I largely credit all of my life's trajectory on this forum. Bill Cory is a name I will never forget, as he is the man that created the platform that I found. If it was not for his desire to share his experiences and knowledge, I may have never found the path that took me the way the wind has blown. At the same rate, your forum (and it's natural evolution) was the platform that evolved with me through that time. I don't know if this post was made looking for (or needing) reassurance, but I am of the belief that many people would have outgrown this forum very quickly, had you not taken it the way it has gone. Hat off to you and all of the time and work you've put in.
If I'm ever through your neck of the woods in PA, you'll certainly be the first stops, as you're just as much to thank as Mr. Cory for how much this forum had helped me find a way.
Cheers,
Dan
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