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[Tony Smart]

Unlike you Ken, I think that's pretty mean of them not to want to help beginners and others.
It's easy just to ignore controversial replies or topics - they can't be that thin skinned.

There are always going to be people who get the wrong end of the stick.
If we all thought like that we'd never do anything.

Having said that, I have the greatest admiration for Gerry.

[Ken Byng]

Well Tony, they are merely exercising their right to choose whether to participate or not. Gerry does check this site out from time to time, but anonymously. Brian can't be bothered as he has more important things going on in his life.

Both of them do help newbies, and have given lessons to many of the younger guys on here - as indeed I have. They do it for the enhancement of the future of the instrument. I figure that Gerry, Brian and Basil have done more over the years to promote steel guitar in the UK than any other players or persons.

It's up to the members on here to keep the posts at an intelligent level rather than issue personal insults. That is the best way of encouraging non members to participate IMHO.

[bob adams]

I get the fact that the guys who are on the road don't have time or indeed the inclination to contribute to this forum, life goes on and we are all really busy! Perhaps some simply don't feel the need to encourage other steel players, why should they? That is their choice! However there is talent here on the forum that may on occasions surpasses some currently on the road! Enough said!

Ken .. I had a lengthy chat with Gerry when he was up on tour with Albert. we had a great blether and I hope to see him at the ISGF if my 'baby sitter' agrees. These guys have a lot to offer it is a great shame they don't have the time to chip in here!!

[Nick Bidmade]

Perhaps it's this sort of unnecessary bickering that makes Gerry and BJ (and I'm sure many others) shy away from the site.
Both John's and Ken's contributions have helped me enormously to try and get to understand, hear and problem-solve pedal steel queries and I have the utmost respect for them both. Can we keep on topic, please?

[Ken Byng]

Tony - thank you for your considered and sensible thoughts. I would expect nothing less.

Bob - My lunch with Gerry and BJ was unbelievable at times when historical moments in UK steel playing were discussed. Between us we have over 150 years of involvement with steel guitar, and it was really interesting to discuss how we started playing, what our eureka moments were and how we progressed through various instruments. Gerry and Brian had a wealth of stories that were just captivating. They are both great players and I am proud to have them as friends.

[Arcada]

For future reference, if anyone wants a post deleted just fire off a quick PM to a site admin, or simply edit the subject / content (if it's still within the editable timeframe) to something obvious like "please delete".

Re everything else....may I remind all members of the site that there is an "add foe" option available - if you really can't see eye to eye with another member you can click their user name it'll give you a screen like the one below. Clicking on the "add foe" link on this screen means you will not see any of their posts....it's basically an ignore option and would help to avoid any public bickering between members, which doesn't really help anything.

Add Foe

[Arcada]

To add to the above post, I've just gone through this topic and removed any content which I felt wasn't contributing anything of value to the site.

If anyone has an issue with that, please send me a Private Message. I have the whole unedited topic saved, and it could be restored...but I'd rather not!