Tube pedal forum?

[guitarhacknoise]

I guess I would like it!
I mean is there ever too much info out there?
If it was all organized and stuff..........in one spot..........from reliable/respected sources, what would be so wrong with that.
maybe as far as saftey goes, it could be divided into two sections just like the present forum.
where as in there is a public area and a members area.
you could get to the Beginners Tube forum only as a member and then as the moderators see fit, maybe thru the use of references from fellow members, you could "graduate on to the Tube forum. (Tube Suppression)
I do see where /how this might not work:

1. more work for aron and peter.

2. It has the potential to create some sort of "elite" members only country club kind of egotism on one side and a  bitter jealousy on the other. (Tube Oppression)

All in all, I think having a tube section would be cool! All we would have to do is:
GET ALONG! (if you get my drift!)

[Hal]

if you have a seperate tube forum, ill be forced to build a tube stompbox, and that would be scarry.  I'm scared of high voltages

[aron]

No, this forum would be for low and high voltage tube pedals.

[Peter Snowberg]

I must say I'm a little on the edge about this.....

Balancing the number of sub-forums is a tricky thing. The difference between tubes and everything else seems to be enough to warrant it with the special handling precautions required and all, but I wonder how much it will segment things.

What about a forum for things that use BBDs or DSP for instance? Hmm.......

The number of posts here daily is growing more and more to the point where I can't keep up any more. A year ago I went through each and every thread, but the volume is too great now. Maybe this is just what's needed, but I don't see a ton of messages about tubes.

OK..... I guess I'm for it on a trial basis.

ramble ramble ramble......

[petemoore]

IF it creates a resource of user friendly data pertaining to Power Supplies and Transformer usage that even a hacker like me could understand, this is something I'd surely use.

[lovekraft0]

Is this really going to be worth the extra work it's going to entail to administer an extra subforum? I really haven't had a problem finding tube-related posts, nor, for that matter, have I noticed a huge number of them. As we say down here, I got no dog in this fight, so I have no problem with a separate subforum, I just don't understand the need for one. Whatever works is OK with me.

[Peter Snowberg]

More thoughts.....

In all seriousness, if we have a tube forum (which I am in favor of), I could easily see a new sub-forum for DSP in the future as it becomes more DIY friendly..... at least that's how I would do it.

Bracketing the technology by tubes, transistors&ICs, and finally DSP, breaks things up in a logical way by time and complexity. How this affects traffic is another issue but I like the breakdown by technology rather than skill level.

I think it's important to recognize the needs of beginners and dedicate some categorization to helping people get off the ground, but once you try adding sections for intermediate or advanced builders then it becomes too stratified IMHO. Some will feel like they "don't belong" in a sub-forum where most of the topics are beyond their present skill level which will hold people back. This is not what we want. Keeping things as first time/all other times removes that barrier once people master (or at least become proficient at) basic building skills

Here's my ideal breakdown:

Beginner's Area: Mostly to support 1st time builders putting together Gus' booster. If somebody has not built anything before this is an excellent way to get started and it answers most of the basic questions like how do I wire a bypass switch, etc.

DIY Stompbox Building: General area:   Transistor and analog IC based projects would go here. This sub-forum would carry the bulk of the traffic.

DIY Stompbox Building: Tube area: High and low voltage vacuum tube based effects projects with some tolerance for tiny amps that can be housed in a stompbox chassis. The Sopht Amp could easily be a tube amp sim by dumping the output into a load like an 8 ohm resistor or a 4x12 cabinet.

DIY Stompbox Building: DSP area: Let's face it, DSP will be here more and more and it will become more and more accessible in the very near future. The requirements of working with this technology will be generally much higher than with other technologies and it is able to do unique things in unique ways. SMD is the usual form factor and building without a professionally produced two layer board with plated throughs is not practical in most cases. This area also brings with it the requirement of programming and understanding some far-out math.

For Sale / Trade: Gotta have it separated because the topic is so far removed from building.

The OT Lounge: I wondered about it at the time, but separating the "lounge" threads out has proven to work very well to keep most traffic focused.

FAQ: Essential reading and reference.

Archives: Lots and lots and lots of gems here.

Just my 2 cents.

[puretube]

http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?p=132870#132870

[Regan]

Seems to me that a drawback that people are seeing is having to read through multiple forums. Is it possible to have a choice like on ampage or ax84 where you can choose to view all at once?
Regan

[The Tone God]

I guess I'll throw my opinion in. I don't think we need any new sub forums. The main forum is not being over runned by any particular topic(s) that would justify a dedicated forum.

While the idea of being able to narrow the search area for a topic seems nice most people when they perform a search will search all the forums by default especially since there is already alot of information in the general area. Unless you were to go through the archives and manually move the various threads to the appropriate topics that behavour will not change.

As pointed out there could be legal/saftey concerns as well so a warning may need to be post. I suppose a "Read this first" sticky could be put at the top but we all know that everybody who ever comes here to post reads those messages. :roll:

The amount of extra work for both the admins/mods and users, navigation wise, may make the forum less effective meaning some people might become too lazy to ask about something in the more appropriate area and just ask in the general area to be safe or get more attention. I see that happen on alot of divided forums. It even happens now on occassion with the OT and trading stuff.

There maybe need in the future for sub-forums but I don't think the time is now. Until we see pages of posts asking about specific a topic like tubes, power supplies, DSP, uC programming, etc. I don't see a justification for more forums. KISS. If we would need anything we would sooner need a seperate forum for schematic requests/posting.

A stompbox with or without tubes, ICs, or transistors is still a stompbox. I say leave things as they are for now.

Just my opinion.

Andrew

[aaronkessman]

i think it's a bad idea. it makes data more scattered instead of less scattered. a pedal is a pedal is a pedal. a digital pedal will still have some analog parts in it, a tube pedal might still have some solid state parts in it, and who's to say what's more complex? building an EH micro synth is a lot more complex than building a basic tube preamp pedal.

all the data/posts need to be searchable from one point. the amount of posts on DSP and tube pedals is not a lot and doesn't seem to necessitate a new forum.

eh, my two cents
Aaron

plus its more work for the owners/moderators/aron.

[william]

I'm kind of split between the two.  Having the HV warnings and tube posts all in one spot would be a convience.  But having posts in the wrong forum negates the advantage.    Thats all I have to say I suppose.

[RedHouse]

IMHO ...Keep it all together, it's one of the things that makes comming here an enjoyable experience, it's WAY easier to scan for posts you're interested in when they are all presented as they are now, and way easier for something to catch your attention if it's not parked somewhere out of view.

[MartyMart]

I think, if somethig is a stompbox & has a valve (tube) in it, then it is a stompox & belongs here with everything else stompbox.
If it is actually an AMP, designed to drive speakers directly, then it is what we call an AMPLIFIER and belongs 'elsewhere'.
Unless it weighs less than 200 grams in its case, that makes it an honorary stompbox :wink:

I agree fully with Paul's definition , a stompbox is a stompbox !!

Marty. :roll:

[jrc4558]

I think that it would be a good idea. There is (to my expertise) no dedicated forum that will deal with tube-based stompboxes exclusively.

[panterica]

It's a great idea, but I agree that it may slow down or "fragment" the forum.

Perhaps a section of the site dedicated to schematics, layouts, soundclips, etc. of only tube projects would be a better idea?

[frequencycentral]

Count me out. A pedal is a pedal no matter what's inside, tubes, Ge or Si trannies, FETs, MOSFETs, CMOS, 4558s, whatever.

Now here's an idea - hows about a seperate Fuzz Face clone / Tube Screamer clone forum? Now that is an area I would love to be able to not visit.

[jacobyjd]

I don't know, Rick--I'm waiting for you to design a tube fuzz face 



(nice necropost, btw...)

[frequencycentral]

I don't know, Rick--I'm waiting for you to design a tube fuzz face 

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=49696.0

(nice necropost, btw...)

Necropost - I like it! But blame panterica or snap for resurecting this corpse!

[Johan]

the forum is fine as is..otherwise we might have to subdivide into opamp forum, fet forum bjt forum...if it is a stompbox, it's a stompbox.
j