Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks Todd. I can't say I've ever seen this question addressed quite so directly before. Having been in the situation of whether to post or not to post many times before, it feels good to have guidelines, especially for the first timers. Very gracefully posted topic.

Thanks, Todd.
Good points.
As you know, I'm not hesitant to post!
I do find the search engine here to be sometimes 'unresponsive' and 'picky' when I try to search for past-posted info.
Perhaps I need a tutorial on using the 'search' feature? This could help a bit in avoiding getting the 'same old' questions posted.

Also, if you are giving hints on posting, please add the suggestion (to all of us- experienced or not) to make the post title specific and meaningful . Titles like 'Just a question' or 'another' or.... don't grab my attention, especially if I'm busy. I'm sure posters are missing comments from people who 'know the answer' because the title was too vague.

Not to criticise , but I do find the archive (now a bit out-of-date) at MIMF to be the quickest place to get info. I guess it represents a lot of work to organize such a thing.

Perhaps the Wiki concept needs to be explored here (suggested in another thread here recently).

Cheers
John

Good points.

There are no dumb questions, just dumb answers (of which I am sure I have issued a few) like RTFM, which I hate about as much as I hate Reading TFM.

But seriously, ask away.

Mike (I wonder if Todd was talking about me on the neck thing? )

oh...ReadTheManual ??

close!

Well, the good news is I never got lucky with any neck geometries. Yes, I have several finished and leaning up against the wall... this was the first one to get stringed up... and I did very little to it other than adjust the truss rod. 1 minute into it, I realized I was missing something.

Good points made here . Several times I have went into the search looking for somthing and couldnt find it . Only to have another person put the link in place after Ive asked the question. Having seen the link, I was seraching using wrong words/ phrase . So asking is good idea even if we are searching , because we dont always know the right terms as amatures .

1 Example , I asked about prepping and gluing thin pieces and would have NEVER known to use search term "shooting Board " SO ASK !

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Fillippo,

With all due respect, a point of clarification on the term wiki.

Wiki is a general term describing a web site that allows convenient change of the content by a reader. OLF is a wiki, as are blogs, etc.

I think what you're referring to is something like Wikipedia, which is a great idea.

A small detail, but worth noting, I think.

Pat

Good points, Todd. Posting answers can be a learning experience for the more advanced builders too.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Fillippo,

You may well be right. I based my definition from an experience with one of our computer science profs who's a web junky, at the university where I work. Around 2005, I approached him needing a grad student to set up a web site where alumni of one of our programs could exchange information, essentially a forum. He referred to it as the wiki, owing to the ease of creating web content by the users, and explained different scenarios for its use, like forums, blogs and wikipedias. Maybe it's a dated definition. Five years is a long time in web years.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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I agree that whenever someone doesn't know something and has a question, they shouldn't feel stupid for asking, BUT I would expect them to first do a little research on the web and the archives. A lot of questions that people start new threads have been answers 100 times before. If you search and still have a question, then by all means don't hesitate to post. I like it when a post starts off with "I've searched...and still aren't sure..."

The trouble with a wiki, is that anyone can make the changes, right or wrong. You are as apt to get an incorrect answer as a correct one, particularly when the sample is as small as here at OLF. I don't know if it would police itself.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

A wiki is only as good as the team of knowledgable folks monitoring it. Some time ago, as a joke, I modified Wikipedia's page on Chiggers saying that anyone running long distances in Tennessee was required to get a chigger vacination and a "dog tag" to prove they had. I then emailed the link to tons of runners in the 314 mile event. Needless to say, it caused quite a stir and reverberates to this day. It was corrected in short order, but not before mayhem ensued.

Asking for a wiki here is like asking Brock & Lance to give up what life they have left. Ever notice how the Wikipedia founder is constantly begging for money & support?

Mike

But Waddy, since there's only one right way to do anything in guitar building, and everyone agrees on what that is, I don't see that there'd be any problems.

Thanks for posting this, Todd. I'm certainly guilty of spending too much time lurking and not asking questions. Working on it. Still probably won't participate in Hesh's "show me your shop" threads." I don't think he could take it.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Well, I most def do not know what I am talking about here. If someone (say Filippo) understands the issue of wikis and feels it could be done without added cost and load on the current admins, and the admins were OK with it, and it would not start wars, I would be all for it. I like the idea. Like they say, there are always three sides to a story. Concensus views (majority/minority) will develop around anyone subject and they should both be presented.

Mike

That would be an absolute 'deal-killer' for me.
I just stay away from sites that are loaded with 'dollar rules' advertising.
(I do put up with the OLF inconvenience of having to scroll down past the sponsor list on every page).
Product recommendations from actual users are a different thing entirely.

Cheers
John