Five thousand posts

[Paul Marossy]

I'm about to hit 5000 posts myself, but I've been hanging around this forum for something like four years now...

[Xavier]

5000 posts are A LOT . Do you have a wife and/or kids?.....

Seriously, it's no wonder that this board has so much population. This is too addictive, and gives yourself more self confidence. I admit I'm hooked !!! Thanks for all the help Mark !!

[StephenGiles]

It's good to know you Mark, and no doubt our paths will cross at some time when we make it to Canadeeio!
Stephen

[Hal]

oh man you made me get all teary eyed!

:-D.  It's been great have you watch me grow up!  HAHA

[squidsquad]

Quality verbosity is a good thing!  I enjoy how you mix a little psychology/sociology in your posts.
When I see your name (along with many others)...the post is a *must read*.  Thanks brother!

[WGTP]

I'm sure I have benefitted from Mark's generosity with information as much as anyone.  His discussions on clipping thresholds, the dual op amp clippers, etc. have been very informative.  When I find myself thinking about something new (to me) I start wondering what info I can drag out of Mark, R.G, Jack, Aron, etc.  I have baited them, as I'm sure others do, and been pleased when I can get something insightful and inspiring to slap on the breadboard.  If I can get a response from several of the elders, then wow.

Being here for several years, it's funny how things go round and round.  Something will be hot for a while and then fade and someone new will come in and it starts over and new things are added and I understand stuff that I missed the first time around (for example the non-inverting vs. inverting op amp deal the other day).

A lot of this info isn't new in the world, it's just new to a lot of us here and we are all greatful to those that have helped us discover these treasures of info.  Many of us lack the time, energy, capacity to understand the underlying theories and principles of some of the electronics involved here and those that do are great about explaining in a way we can understand on a basic level.  Information IS power.  Trial and error is great, but it helps to know what to try.  Thanks to all who share.   

[Gripp]

Thank you very much for your 5000 posts Mark!
Every single one is full of information, easily read, well written and often very humorus. I just like the way your mind works.
Looking forward to the next 5000 
Best!
Pelle G 

[notchboy]

I think someone's employer must be paying them by the word.   

[aron]

I'm so happy that this forum has such excellent people such as Mark online. As you know there are a great many other people that help online here that have been helping since the very beginning.... See R.G.'s FAQ for a partial listing of names...

Just fantastic to have such great people helping out. We are very lucky!

THANK YOU!

[Mark Hammer]

Thanks to one and all.  You're embarrassing me!

[petemoore]

 Â Mark, you know you have fantastic comprehension skills, and the ability to verbalize in a highly structured manner, concise interpretions into linguistics.
 Masterful [I know you wrote you don't consider yourself a "guru", or something to that effect, but some of us still think you're getting close]  presentations geared toward the reader, which provide introductions to, or complete demonstrations of 'the law' that makes or solves most all problems, With starque terminology, demonstrating the ability to sift the tangible from the tangential.
 Here Here ... Three CheerZ for a great leader with 5000+ Masterful Posts ! ! !
 Have some accolades Mark. You earned them here.
 I, like many, came here with no knowledge of which end of a resistor is which, and thanks to the many who post, now know that contrary to any 'gold stripe' mojo, it's nothing to worry about !!!
 

[The Tone God]

Well Mark I guess its not enough just to make graphics feel bad but you have to rub it in to.

I did do some calculations on various things that would be equivalent to 5000 of Mark's average posts. Here are some of my findings:

- 1387 effect sound samples

- 2845 schematics for the "Buzz Building"

- 947 threads on pedal building "ethics"

- 233 MP3s of dogs barking "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

- 407 videos of men getting hit in the groin in various manners

- 8458 "use the search function" posts

- 72 ripped DVDs of "Glitter"

Impressive stuff Mark. Keep it up at this pace and soon you will have the same content length as the human genome.

Andrew

[bioroids]

Mark you're one of the coolest guys I know (I almost feel like I know you having read your posts all this years). Thanks for all the sharing!

Wow 5000 posts thats a lot, I think I'm less than 500(thats ten times less!)! By the way it would be cool to know when the count started.

Hey petemoore you have like 7500 posts!

Luck

Miguel

[Peter Snowberg]

Mark,

You are a scholar, a deviant, and a gentleman. 

I feel richer for having read your words over the years.

Thank you for doing that voodoo that you do so well. 

[octafish]

Thank you Mark, and happy Channukah.

[Transmogrifox]

tee hee... wasn't it Winston Churchill that remarked that "Proficiency at billiards is evidence of a misspent youth."?

Maybe Aristotle?

Wow. five thousand. And I think that my fingers are getting shorter from all the banging on the keyboard. 

Since we're praising those who have contributed much insightful information, and not only for just building stompboxes, but in teaching us to think logically and ethically, yet "outside the box", you (RG) have probably contributed an extra 2000-3000 posts worth of information with what can be found at GEOFX.  I find articles from both Mark Hammer and RG to be easy reading, yet at the same time providing sufficient depth to complete a build.  I am an electrical engineer so some concepts seem obvious to me, but I think back to before EE skool and realize that with sufficient time investment, I could have learned all I needed to know about building my own stompboxes from this forum and linked sites accessible from this forum and its members.  In addition, EE school teaches nothing about stompboxes.  I have been inspired immeasurably by the wealth of audio/FX related applications of electronics as well as the many schematics I have downloaded and analyzed.  Without this forum, my creativity and interest in musical electronic effects would have been impeded by my slowness to pick up on clever and elegant ways to do circuits the way RG and the many designers of popular pedals have done over the years...all information freely and easily available here.

I remember when I graduated from high school, I asked a technician who repaired organs about how to build a Ge fuzz from a schematic and where to get the parts.  His response was, "You can buy it cheaper and for a whole lot less trouble"...but he missed the point.  I wanted to BUILD my OWN freakin' stompbox.  I was in it for DIY.   If I had discovered this forum in '98, I think I could have had all the resources I needed to build the fuzz box for less than $15 (though I know that the available information and members has greatly increased since '98) .  In addition, I would have gained much confidence and even some useful knowlege that would have made EE101 go much more smoothly.  In fact, I think I could learn from this forum in a month more than I ever learned in 3 months of EE101.  Wasn't until my 200 level electronics courses until this stuff really started to click.  That information is also here.  The main thing I gained from school that I wouldn't get here is the motivation to sit and do my math homework and also the 300 level and higher controls, signals, telecom EE courses and Physics.  Seems like a lot, but for building stompboxes, none of that info is used.  For designing stompboxes...that's another issue, though there have been many a wonderful creation made by those who don't understand WHY it does what it does, they are just great musicians who know that it just plain sounds great.

That, I think is where Mark Hammer & RG Keen have contributed greatly:  they have cultivated an attitude of creativity and encouraged people to simply try things, even if they seem trivial and "old hat"...and that it is not an ethical crime to design something that you have no idea of why or how it works, you just know that it does and how to repeatably build it.   I have gone through many cycles of feeling excitied that I have come up with a "new" idea, later to find out that it's been in common practice for years...but to know that I thought of it outside of the knowlege of those who "beat me to it" is an excellent route to fully understanding it.  MH & RG, I think, have left much information that inspires people to have 'revelations' and be that much smarter for having discovered it on their own.

Long post--sorry--late at night and I just got to typing and couldn't stop.  All the same, it is good to take some time to reflect and make note of those who have given things to us for which we are grateful.  In addition to the satisfaction that comes from explaining things and then watching people really get it and take off with great success, it would also be a great feeling to see the written expression of the gratefulness of those who have learned from your knowlege, and to know the level to which you are esteemed by a group of people.

This thanks goes to RG, Mark Hammer, Jack, and Aron in particular, yet also to about 100 others who consistently contribute quality information to the average stompbox builder and musician through this forum.  I know I would be utterly overwhelmed by the number and nature of the responses that you have had to this post, Mark.  I thank you for your ongoing support for those at the most basic levels, and for not letting the kudos go to your head...since it is your "non-arrogant" attitude that causes you to learn the very things that people praise you for teaching openly.  Take it easy.  I hope to perhaps meet a few of the postinators here, though it's hard to come by Stompboxaholics in Juneau Alaska.  Most bands here are cover bands using Line6 amp modelling amps to get the popular sound--few try to innovate musically, thus DIY stompboxes is not an attractive thing.  All the true geeks went to computers and gaming

[petemoore]

Hey petemoore you have like 7500 posts!
  Just paying ohmage to the sacred site, I try to help out where I can.
  The hobby is something I've had to work at to overcome some of it's obstacles.
  Watching newbs coming up, some quickly passing me [in certain areas like equational math..a recent thread caused a spark that lit the fuze that blew my mind into equational reading/comprehending] helped me learn lots of the stuff, helps me understand what the question would be.
 
 

[Mark Hammer]

Over 7500 posts?!?!

Sheesh, and I thought *I* had a problem with self-restraint!

I'd like to think that when people have that much persistence, they've obviously found something they love very much.  So, petemoore, congratulations for still having fingertips, for still having enthusiasm, for still having things to say and things to ask, and for finding something you love that much.