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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Nov 30, 2023 10:06:37 GMT -5
Well, if he isn't here, I'll continue to speak as though he may be reading, though that is my own choice. I was low conflict and came and went over the years anyway, so I can't claim any conflicts except raised eyebrows at obvious drama on the boards or censoring decisions. I'd seen traces of all of these traits over the years, but as has already been said, I kinda hoped it was just a 50/50 thing and that it wasn't the sum total of his personality and interactions here.
It is still very interesting to read all about this, and not at all in a gossipy way. Life lessons and all that.
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Nov 30, 2023 10:19:54 GMT -5
For me it felt like, early on, it was just something he genuinely enjoyed. I don't know if he ever made money on it, but after awhile I felt like he was in it for profit and control. I think he drove a lot of people away by being overbearing in his control.
The beautiful side effect is the community that he created. Amazing that it's still going strong in it's alternate form. Who knew, when I went searching for more info on my MIJ Contemporary Strat and stumbled across the Fender Forum that I'd still be posting here over 20 years later.
BTW - the FDP indirectly made me a much better guitar player. I'm still a hack, but a much better hack than I was before. The biggest catalyst, by far?....finding out about the Line 6 POD. I could practice without bothering my wife and kids and I could record myself and hear what I sounded like in a setting where I could really just listen to what I'd played. I never would have found the POD without the FDP....
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Post by reverendrob on Nov 30, 2023 11:22:01 GMT -5
For me it felt like, early on, it was just something he genuinely enjoyed. I don't know if he ever made money on it, but after awhile I felt like he was in it for profit and control. It was a huge, huge markup. Those MF/Sweetwater etc banner ads were NOT cheap, and expenses, shall we say, were almost nothing compared to them (including me). I don't have a full financial picture, but I know what the backend cost in total, so let's assume 3x that for accounting, crapola, and whatnot for giggles. Still a profit margin that would make a pawnbroker weep.
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jtheissen
Wholenote
Montana lurker, mostly🎸
Posts: 202
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Post by jtheissen on Nov 30, 2023 13:18:23 GMT -5
I have a pal that I met through the old FDP. He had issues with Greene and got booted more than once. My pal is a great guy, but it got to a point where Greene sent my friend a picture of reverendrob with some of his guns to allegedly intimidate/threaten him. I don't know the backstory, but I wonder if Rob knew that his picture had been used to portray him as kind of a mafia hitman/enforcer goon.
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Post by Lesterstrat on Nov 30, 2023 18:48:29 GMT -5
I have a pal that I met through the old FDP. He had issues with Greene and got booted more than once. My pal is a great guy, but it got to a point where Greene sent my friend a picture of reverendrob with some of his guns to allegedly intimidate/threaten him. I don't know the backstory, but I wonder if Rob knew that his picture had been used to portray him as kind of a mafia hitman/enforcer goon. I wouldn’t worry, you can’t shoot guns through the internet…..yet.
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Post by Leftee on Nov 30, 2023 19:09:11 GMT -5
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 1, 2023 1:32:34 GMT -5
I have a pal that I met through the old FDP. He had issues with Greene and got booted more than once. My pal is a great guy, but it got to a point where Greene sent my friend a picture of reverendrob with some of his guns to allegedly intimidate/threaten him. I don't know the backstory, but I wonder if Rob knew that his picture had been used to portray him as kind of a mafia hitman/enforcer goon. No, I'd have walked on the spot if I knew. And if he did that once, he did that MORE than once. Shall we say, VERY PISSED.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Dec 1, 2023 9:45:08 GMT -5
I have a pal that I met through the old FDP. He had issues with Greene and got booted more than once. My pal is a great guy, but it got to a point where Greene sent my friend a picture of reverendrob with some of his guns to allegedly intimidate/threaten him. I don't know the backstory, but I wonder if Rob knew that his picture had been used to portray him as kind of a mafia hitman/enforcer goon. No, I'd have walked on the spot if I knew. And if he did that once, he did that MORE than once. Shall we say, VERY PISSED. The best gun owners are the ones who know not to joke around about them. Sounds on point.
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 1, 2023 10:12:17 GMT -5
No, I'd have walked on the spot if I knew. And if he did that once, he did that MORE than once. Shall we say, VERY PISSED. The best gun owners are the ones who know not to joke around about them. Sounds on point. I certainly joke about them, but it's context. I'd never use SOMEBODY else to threaten somebody. All I can say is that's just..unforgiveable.
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Post by Vibroluxer on Dec 1, 2023 10:14:52 GMT -5
Man, I don't post other peoples pictures to the Internet let alone send them off in an email. That's BS of the smelliest degree.
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Post by SteveM on Dec 1, 2023 10:18:40 GMT -5
Just for old times' sake.
10...
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 1, 2023 10:36:39 GMT -5
Just for old times' sake. 10... Better watch out, I'll send you a PM with someone signing pickguards in the nude.
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Post by SteveM on Dec 1, 2023 11:02:06 GMT -5
Just for old times' sake. 10... Better watch out, I'll send you a PM with someone signing pickguards in the nude. Only if the pickguards are "Mint Greene"
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Post by Leftee on Dec 1, 2023 11:03:23 GMT -5
No countdown here.
It’s a different place. 😂
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 1, 2023 11:22:31 GMT -5
Better watch out, I'll send you a PM with someone signing pickguards in the nude. Watch out, they might need filing because the nut hangs - FDP strats don't come with a setup.
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chucksmi
Wholenote
Posts: 174
Formerly Known As: Offshore Angler elsewhere
Age: I saw Jerry Live
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Post by chucksmi on Dec 1, 2023 12:15:52 GMT -5
Time has whizzed by, I let stuff go,
Anyone remember the Kate Buckets Defense Fund?
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jellybones
Wholenote
Posts: 181
Formerly Known As: Gelee Bon (en francais)
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Post by jellybones on Dec 2, 2023 17:41:10 GMT -5
A little late to the thread but I never had any real issues with CG and just figured $30 every now and then was worth the camaraderie and everything I learned from others, which was a lot. Much like here, I could ask any kind of question and get informed answers.
As for some of the old folks, I met a bunch and they were good people. JimmySee is at the top of that list. He still makes time for others. He is a mensch and I hope he comes back here for a spell.
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Post by K4 on Dec 2, 2023 23:10:13 GMT -5
I got a lot of gear help from the FDP. So just about everytime a member saved me money I'd pony up another donation.
What got to me was at the beginning of the end he was pretty insistent that people pony up even though some were many years ahead of what was supposedly required.
I'll leave it at that.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Dec 2, 2023 23:15:59 GMT -5
I got a lot of gear help from the FDP. So just about everytime a member saved me money I'd pony up another donation. What got to me was at the beginning of the end he was pretty insistent that people pony up even though some were many years ahead of what was supposedly required. I'll leave it at that. This was never my experience, I was always “ahead” and was never asked to do more than that. My gripe was that new people would show up and would be pretty aggressively asked for money. It certainly was awkward and uncomfortable to me when I first arrived. Very happy this place is NOT a business.
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Post by Larry Madsen on Dec 2, 2023 23:40:40 GMT -5
Gaslighters are a pain in the (you know what).
When someone says to you, “This here place is headed toward failure AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT”.
That’s an indication you are dealing with an unhealthy situation.
Thank you Mike for helping us out of that mess. 😜
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 3, 2023 5:07:41 GMT -5
I got a lot of gear help from the FDP. So just about everytime a member saved me money I'd pony up another donation. What got to me was at the beginning of the end he was pretty insistent that people pony up even though some were many years ahead of what was supposedly required. I'll leave it at that. As if there was some giant "shutdown" cost. It was a cash grab, nothing more. With of course, the promise of "I'll make it worth your while to me", which meant...I'd get jack and knew it. It was exactly the confirmation for me that I'd made the right decision on pulling the plug.
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 3, 2023 5:39:39 GMT -5
I got a lot of gear help from the FDP. So just about everytime a member saved me money I'd pony up another donation. What got to me was at the beginning of the end he was pretty insistent that people pony up even though some were many years ahead of what was supposedly required. I'll leave it at that. This was never my experience, I was always “ahead” and was never asked to do more than that. My gripe was that new people would show up and would be pretty aggressively asked for money. It certainly was awkward and uncomfortable to me when I first arrived. Very happy this place is NOT a business. Agree with you there, it's a case of 'locking down Moe's' (which I was not a fan of, period - if it was going to be locked down it should have been 'no read either!') had the exact predictable result I told him it would have. I supported *certain* features being CM only (classifieds, photos, no plugging your business if you weren't a CM) but realistically, the site wasn't ever really paid for by CMs - it was paid for lock, stock, and barrel by the advertisers. The vast majority of profit came from them too. CMs were just gravy to pay for his new hobby d'jour. It certainly wasn't to pay me or pay for the hosting. I knew exactly what both cost because I'd negotiated one...and....Oh, wait. Membership drives occasionally? Sure. Haranguing the business people who didn't pony up and kept getting warnings? Sure. But "You've been here X and didn't Y" stuff? Sets the wrong tone. If it was that offensive, just quietly remove them. That's honestly what I would have done on the latter - if X was a vocal hellraiser after a decade+ and had no skin in the game, well, I'd stop dealing with them and send them packing. But...again, wasn't my pony. I just cleaned out the stall like a good shoeshine boy.
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Post by HenryJ on Dec 3, 2023 8:33:13 GMT -5
I got a lot of gear help from the FDP. So just about everytime a member saved me money I'd pony up another donation. What got to me was at the beginning of the end he was pretty insistent that people pony up even though some were many years ahead of what was supposedly required. I'll leave it at that. As if there was some giant "shutdown" cost. It was a cash grab, nothing more. With of course, the promise of "I'll make it worth your while to me", which meant...I'd get jack and knew it. It was exactly the confirmation for me that I'd made the right decision on pulling the plug. I was sending in my $30 like I always did before the beginning of a new calendar year, or slightly before, and Chris did me the courtesy of telling me the FDP was shutting down and actually declined my contribution.
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 3, 2023 9:44:41 GMT -5
Yep, by that point it was obvious I wasn't backing down. I literally shut it down from my hospital bed a couple hours after coming out of anaesthesia and surgery in a hospital bed!
Until I left for surgery mid-Dec of that year, I suspect he thought I'd back off or change my mind.
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Post by Lesterstrat on Dec 3, 2023 9:51:09 GMT -5
I’ve never run across it, I don’t know the name of it, etc…, but I know that a lot of old CG’s least favorite FDPers hang out on a Facebook page. I don’t think too many in this thread had too much trouble with him, regardless of what we may have thought of him or his undesirable lust for donations. That said, based on some of the tame, yet negative posts in this thread, I’m guessing it must get pretty brutal on the FB page when his name comes up. Most of the ones I’m thinking of never held their tongue at the old place. I can just imagine the FB page. Lol
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 3, 2023 10:25:05 GMT -5
I’ve never run across it, I don’t know the name of it, etc…, but I know that a lot of old CG’s least favorite FDPers hang out on a Facebook page. I don’t think too many in this thread had too much trouble with him, regardless of what we may have thought of him or his undesirable lust for donations. That said, based on some of the tame, yet negative posts in this thread, I’m guessing it must get pretty brutal on the FB page when his name comes up. Most of the ones I’m thinking of never held their tongue at the old place. I can just imagine the FB page. Lol I'm there as well. More than a few of us are.
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Post by Lesterstrat on Dec 3, 2023 10:29:45 GMT -5
I’ve never run across it, I don’t know the name of it, etc…, but I know that a lot of old CG’s least favorite FDPers hang out on a Facebook page. I don’t think too many in this thread had too much trouble with him, regardless of what we may have thought of him or his undesirable lust for donations. That said, based on some of the tame, yet negative posts in this thread, I’m guessing it must get pretty brutal on the FB page when his name comes up. Most of the ones I’m thinking of never held their tongue at the old place. I can just imagine the FB page. Lol I'm there as well. More than a few of us are. I bet some of the reading on that page would be as entertaining as a Stephen King book. Lol
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Post by reverendrob on Dec 3, 2023 10:40:52 GMT -5
It gets a little more...foul...than here.
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Post by HeavyDuty on Dec 3, 2023 17:37:16 GMT -5
It gets a little more...foul...than here. Just a tad.
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tmc
Wholenote
Posts: 907
Formerly Known As: tmc
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Post by tmc on Dec 3, 2023 18:35:21 GMT -5
I'm still looking over my shoulder for The Sleeper.
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