ampage Tube Amps / Music Electronics	For current discussions, please visit Music Electronics Forum.

ampage archive

Vintage threads from the first ten years

Idea for new forum

4/14/2003 11:35 PM
Mark Hammer	Idea for new forum I posted something in the effects sub-forum and over at Aron Nelson's DIYStompbox site, but since the goal is to have it here, I'll repost where all concerned parties can ponder it. There is enough of a critical mass of people who either currently have a functioning music-gear-related business, are in the mascent stages of getting one off the ground, have a hobby business on top of their day gig, or are thinking of moving in that direction, that it would be worthwhile to have a "boutique business" or "small music-gear business" forum here. All of these folks have wisdom to share or are in search of wisdom concerning things like: - tax tips - hiring people - contracts - copyright and IP - finding distributors - cutting production costs or other manufacturing costs - advertising and distribution - planning out a product line - customer relations - bulk buying - etc etc. Whether amp-builders, luthiers, pedal makers, pickup-makers, repair folks or parts-n-projects distributors, I think there is enough common interest to warrant this. Steve (TBOY), if it seems like "yet another forum to sweat over", consider collapsing all the effects sub-fora back to one. We haven't really needed a half-dozen separate fora for quite a while now. The OT/BS forum can probably fall by the wayside too for now, since it doesn't seem to be fulfilling its function anymore (which as I recall was siphoning off all the non-music stuff to keep the open forum a little more focussed). Regardless of what you think about the wisdom of cropping sub-forums, I think there is enough interest and momentum to keep a business oriented forum alive for a while. Is it appropriate? I think so. Part of the purpose of Ampage is to let folks pursue their musical interests in a way that brings enjoyment to themselves and others. For a not insignificant number of folks here, pursuing that pleasure can evolve into an interest in design and production. For an equally not insignificant number of folks here, part of the pleasure they get out of music comes from using some of the cutting-edge tools provided by those who decided to take the big leap into commercial production and were lucky enough to stay ahead of the game. So, as I see it (and you are cordially invited to differ), setting up a forum that allows people to share business-related knowledge in a non-adversarial way works in everyone's interests. If it helps people from embarking on something that might well be doomed, that's good too. I like to make sure every musician's family can make rent.

4/14/2003 11:35 PM

Mark Hammer

Idea for new forum

I posted something in the effects sub-forum and over at Aron Nelson's DIYStompbox site, but since the goal is to have it here, I'll repost where all concerned parties can ponder it.

There is enough of a critical mass of people who either currently *have* a functioning music-gear-related business, are in the mascent stages of getting one off the ground, have a hobby business on top of their day gig, or are thinking of moving in that direction, that it would be worthwhile to have a "boutique business" or "small music-gear business" forum here.

All of these folks have wisdom to share or are in search of wisdom concerning things like:
- tax tips
- hiring people
- contracts
- copyright and IP
- finding distributors
- cutting production costs or other manufacturing costs
- advertising and distribution
- planning out a product line
- customer relations
- bulk buying
- etc etc.

Whether amp-builders, luthiers, pedal makers, pickup-makers, repair folks or parts-n-projects distributors, I think there is enough common interest to warrant this.

Steve (TBOY), if it seems like "yet another forum to sweat over", consider collapsing all the effects sub-fora back to one. We haven't really needed a half-dozen separate fora for quite a while now. The OT/BS forum can probably fall by the wayside too for now, since it doesn't seem to be fulfilling its function anymore (which as I recall was siphoning off all the non-music stuff to keep the open forum a little more focussed).

Regardless of what you think about the wisdom of cropping sub-forums, I think there is enough interest and momentum to keep a business oriented forum alive for a while. Is it appropriate? I think so. Part of the purpose of Ampage is to let folks pursue their musical interests in a way that brings enjoyment to themselves and others. For a not insignificant number of folks here, pursuing that pleasure can evolve into an interest in design and production. For an equally not insignificant number of folks here, part of the pleasure they get out of music comes from using some of the cutting-edge tools provided by those who decided to take the big leap into commercial production and were lucky enough to stay ahead of the game.

So, as I see it (and you are cordially invited to differ), setting up a forum that allows people to share business-related knowledge in a non-adversarial way works in everyone's interests. If it helps people from embarking on something that might well be doomed, that's good too. I like to make sure every musician's family can make rent.

Replies:

Eric H I have had several musicians actual... -- 4/15/2003 1:09 AM
Chris ( CMW amps ) MarkCan you fill in my tax-... -- 4/15/2003 4:21 PM
Andrew Thanks for the new forum Mark! I lo... -- 4/15/2003 5:38 PM
Soren I'm with y'all for this forum. -- 4/16/2003 7:38 AM
nic fantastic forum -- 4/20/2003 7:49 AM