End of an era?!

Hey there, friends…

…. there’s no way to sugar coat this so here we go… I’m going to withdraw from the site as an admin, a moderator and indeed a member, in the very near future, as I intimated in March this year in a global post.

I have been looking for someone else to take over from me but to date, no-one has indicated a willingness to take on the admin role; yes, I know there have been offers to do small parts of the job but the reality is that whilst what I do isn’t particularly difficult, the bit that Barry does is beyond me and I believe he may well be ready to pack his bags as well.

There may be enough funds in the account at the moment to roll over for another year, but if there is no admin on record what happens after that is unknown.

I feel that if no-one is found to take this on, then the website will have to be downloaded onto a hard drive or two and kept safe in case someone wants to start it up again at some time in the future; if anyone has any other good ideas, then bring it on, please!!

John

Sorry to hear that. The help I have had from this place and the warmth from the members has been fantastic. 

Old style forums are a dying breed in general, places like Discord or Facebook are much more immediate and engaging but can lose the  sense of community and open the discussion up to allow asshats to contribute as well. 

Web Hosting can cost peanuts, so rather than pack it in to a hard drive, maybe better to freeze the site and keep it hosted on the cheap somewhere. It would be a massive shame to lose all this useful information in the way that other guitar communities have disappeared.

The tone was set from the get go by our Corsair who's always showed common sense, compassion and the occasional arse kicking when needed.

He and a good number of older members who have since dropped out of the forum have graciously given of their time and knowledge to make this the great place it has been for so long.

I have been honoured to work with him and call him friend, albeit an online long distance one.

New folks are starting to appear and contribute so I hope that the Forum continues to keep the Westone legacy alive and well through them.

As for me, I too will be slowly fading away from the technical responsibilities of the website and Forum. More news will be coming about that at a later date once John and I have sorted the details.

Suffice it to say that we should have a new Captain in charge before too long.
Stay tuned.

Friends, I have been informed that our friend Dreamraven is going to take over the reins, and Barry will be walking him through the process, so that brings down the curtain on a 14 year journey for me;

I wish everyone that's left in here the very best and I am glad to have made both your virtual, and in some cases, actual acquaintance!

Bon voyage, Dreamraven

Corsair.

Thanks John for all you have done - Very much appreciated  

I can fully understand the effort that even an active moderator puts into the undertaking.  I administered two modeling sites and had to cut one out - it took just TOO much time, to the point that I had a bad burn-out.  Fourteen years is remarkable!

Thanks, John, for the great support you've provided.  Your help and knowledge will be sorely missed (but I'll wager that you won't really be completely gone ).

Pete

Thank you Corsair and Barry for asking me to take over the reins. I bow the knee to the effort put in by the both of you for the length of time that you have!

As stated by others, 14 years is an astounding reign!

I am not going to be making any major changes, and am also going to spend some time learning from you both to carry on the great work you have put in.

Please do let me know here of anything that concerns you.

Kind regards
DreamRaven
(Regular user of The Rail and a Thunder III)

An "official" welcome to the nut house Keiran!

DreamRaven will be gradually taking over all my technical duties both here and on the web site as well as general Admin obligations to the forum.

It's a lot of stuff to absorb in one go, but he has a good background in the IP technologies and more important, the interest and enthusiasm in the Westone brand, so all in all it's a very good fit.

I'll be around for awhile until the "training wheels" come off, and then my ten year development involvement will end. I still have an interest in Westone and Matsumoku and I plan to remain as a "member", and pop in occasionally so I'll still see you all once in awhile.

Onward and upwards, just like the Raven in flight!

I would be happy to contribute to the cost of this website. What does it cost a year to keep it going?

Thank you corsair for all your expert info and hard work. You will be missed!

Thank you!

We’re currently reviewing where we are at, with existing funds, versus ongoing costs to build a plan, with options on funding. The renewal of the hosting is not imminent at the moment. Watch this space!

Kind regards
Dreamraven

Hi Everyone- I have just joined the Group and received my very first Forum newsletter and just informed that one of the main men is stepping down. That's a great shame and he's obviously done a great job in keeping Westone alive and kicking. For my pains I am a well retired Westone nutter I guess with a decent collection of guitars of all makes. However, I have always had a penchant for Uncle Mat and indeed have a number of Westones ranging from Thunder 1A, 2, Concord H-111, Spectrum MX, Paduik 2 to name a few. They are great instruments to play and even though 35+ years old still sound good. Shame about the player though!! If anyone is interested I am happy to post pictures onto this site but I will need instructions as to how to do it as I'm not technically too savvy I'm afraid. I do need one or two spares like a whammy bar for my 1983
Concord H-111. Any advice for the above will highly welcome from this UK based Westone old codging Nutter. Thanks in anticipation

Hey Mr Barre Chord!

Good to hear from a new member, and we need more Westone Old Codging Nutters, especially from good ol' Blighty.

There are a couple of threads on the forum that can help newbies. The FAQs is always a good start. Here is a link to the one that details images (started by the amazing Barry):
Picture posting

The other place that is worth bookmarking is the 'Say Hello' thread, where it is traditional for new members to post the pictures of their collections:
Say Hello

Welcome to the Westone Forum. Pull up a stool, grab a cable, plug in!

 

Dreamraven

Hi there good Sir- it's the old Barre Chord Brucie in good good old Blighty - old being the operative word! Thank you for that information you've given me. I'll get unplugged and go and have a butchers and Dare I say it -a refreshingly quick response didn't even have time to make a cuppa tea!

One thing it is worth noting... you'll have to wait until 7 days after your registration before you can post images... just as a 'spammer's guard', but once that is passed, you'll be good to go!

No better place than Blighty!

Okay -thank you for that and your previous info. You are very kind.
Let me send you all the "Best of British" in your retirement from the Westone admin side but I'll bet you will keep an eye on things in the future though. Only natural and quite right too!

Bruce

It is Corsair and Barry who are stepping down, it is myself (from South Eastern Blighty) who is stepping into the fray.

I am hoping to be here for a while!

Cheers
Dreamraven

Okay - I understand now.! Trust this old codger to get things mixed up. I'm in North West Blighty - always raining and now loadsa COVID as well. I've been on lockdown for 8 months because of my Leukaemia- I'm still playing the axes tho every day for fun - at least for as long as I can. I'm sure you will do a good job in your new role. Takes a good man/woman to volunteer that's for sure.

John has done a fantastic job, and for quite the long time!  God bless you. 

John, thanks for all your efforts in keeping the reprobates in order over the years.

And a big welcome to Dreamraven as admin, John set the standards pretty high, do you have the mettle to continue, or dare I say even raise those standards? God speed sir

Amen