One love. Forum talk. Come one, come all.

[Chankgeez]

I think that is all it comes down to- where is a builder (or any business) going to get the best return on investment?

Uganda?

[sylnau]

I miss all the new Mid-Fi stuff because Doug post everything on Instagram only now. I can understand... but I hate those plateform.
Same for Dr. Sci and most builder...

[Jwar]

I enjoy forums for all those reasons as well...in depth conversations, sense of community etc. But time and resources are limited for everyone. So knowing where to focus your time and resources that will result in the most people seeing your stuff and translating it into sales is an important part of running a business. Yes, posting here will most likely result in sales as well, but it will be at a higher customer acquisition cost. I think that is all it comes down to- where is a builder (or any business) going to get the best return on investment?

What's the acquisition cost here? You mean time? Cause I don't actually know what the hosted guys pay. Do they pay? lol


I totally agree with this. I get it.


It sucks, but I get it.

Instagram is OK sometimes but Facebook can eat a dick. So can Twitter.

If it's an ILF type brand, they will do well here. So basically it has to sound like a bag with cats fighting in it or broken glass being thrown down a flight of stairs.

[Ugly Nora]

Yes, time is money. If it takes me an hour to shoot a demo video and post it on Instagram, and I get 50 orders from it, that would be cheaper than me posting the same video here and getting 5 orders.

Also, as a counterpoint to the in depth discussion superiority of forums, does a builder necessarily want to have to engage in that? Or do they just want to move product? If they have to spend time answering all sorts of in depth questions, that adds to their time/money cost of acquiring that customer.

[Jwar]

True true.

Still sucks. hah

[sylnau]

True true.

Still sucks. hah

yep.

[jrmy]

Yes, time is money. If it takes me an hour to shoot a demo video and post it on Instagram, and I get 50 orders from it, that would be cheaper than me posting the same video here and getting 5 orders.

Also, as a counterpoint to the in depth discussion superiority of forums, does a builder necessarily want to have to engage in that? Or do they just want to move product? If they have to spend time answering all sorts of in depth questions, that adds to their time/money cost of acquiring that customer.

Yeah, these are totally valid points.

I guess the next question is how much builder presence do WE need to keep ILF going as a "viable" community? I mean, I know hosted builders pay Tom... something? I think? To cover hosting fees. But I also know it's pretty nominal, and a lot of us have pitched in either through donations or merch to help cover fees in the past.

Maybe the answer isn't focusing so heavily on the builders, maybe it's just about us. If they WANT to engage, awesome! That makes it a better and richer place. And it seems that new / up and coming builders are often willing to do so, and then as they get bigger and more occupied with running their biz, they have to pull away.

But the fact is that I would be jazzed to talk about a new EQD Thingamajizzer or Dwarfcraft Great Defecator whether Jamie or Aen was posting here or not. And it's super cool when they do, but that's no longer the thing that I keep coming back for - I come back for the following things:

1) Crazy rants and ridonkulous demos in general gear
2) B/S/T
3) SECRET SATAN!!!!!!!!!!
4) Check out the music section for new toonz or grumpy reviews of albums (or to post my own stuff every couple of years)
5) To check the BILF threads and think "ah crap, maybe someday I'll have my shit together enough to get on that"
6) Looking for LaoWiz / Out Sounds builds in the Shark Tank
7) Hoping people I "internet know" will post somthing
8) Jwar rants (that's only so low on my list because my work's IT firewall blocks most of those now)

I mean, that's just me, and I'm just one user, but I think that the hosted builder subforums are a great plus, just not the main show, yaknow? Which I now realize is a total 180 from what I was getting at a few pages back, but whatever. We're just all figuring things out on this crazy ride we call life, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

[D.o.S.]

ILF is the in a very short list of "best things that have ever happened to me" and has directly lead to me having a much richer life in nearly every fashion I can think of (save, perhaps, financially). I think that for a not-small number of regular users, this is a common experience, even if the names, faces, and eras change.

That's fucking outstanding. I also think that it's a pretty big wall for people who are newer to come into - on both ends, because you gotta be cool to get into the tree fort, and because you're talking to people who have known each other for (in some cases) a decade plus. I'd say that I'm not alone in being a gleefully hostile defender of a community that I consider one of the best in the world, but obviously this is going to alienate some people. And especially when that community ostensibly is based around the buying and selling of things that go Bzzzt or Screee or Ch-Ch-BOOOM, it might not make a ton of sense as something to get riled up about.

But fuck those hypothetical people. they can go flip shit to each other on reverb or Instagram. If you want to get involved and aren't a total bellend, you're going to be fine.

[Chankgeez]

So, which of these t-shirt designs are we gettin'?

[jrmy]

So, which of these t-shirt designs are we gettin'?

TRICK QUESTION: we all know your answer is the purple one. Because purple. So there!

[coupleonapkins]

I love all you beautiful weirdos! Fudge all the InstaFBTwitteratti 5 Lyfe

[fcknoise]

About six months ago I started a job that works me 10-12 hrs a day m-f and sometimes weekends in a country on the opposite side of the globe from the majority of the members on here. But the lack of activity isn’t solely me. This is a forum based on our love of fuzz, and I think many of us have gone down the minimalism route (or at least gone down new gear routes).

So, many of us have found “our” fuzz, and we no longer need to spend our time hunting for the “perfect” fuzz. We have more free time and less binding us to this forum. And slowly we drift away as we see others do the same. People come back as they relapse into the fuzz, or they come back to return the goods they bought here, or they pop in every now and again to see how the fuzz-world has changed.

I’ll probably go full modular and disappear into the modular thread at some point, maybe even before the modular bubble bursts. But I doubt I’ll ever fully leave. The people here mean to much to me to leave

btw i've been meaning to go to sk (thats where you are right?) and i'll hit you up then

also yeah pedal community has changed, clones became boring and everything was already made. some people moved on to synths, people came here to buy the pedals that would land them sick IG likes and stuff. I don't know, but all that buying/selling/learning was part of the reason I joined, but it was never the reason I stayed. I am in daily contact with many of the people on here, and that I meet up with many from here 2-3 times a year. Secret satan makes christmas feel geniune and nice and not like consumerist and forced. Even if I don't post shit, or if my posts are only recommending timebender to every single person who asks about a delay, I still check in almost every day and keep my eye on you folks

jrmy and dos points were very sweet and good and I agree with them completely.

[fcknoise]

and yeah! lets get another t-shirt run going.

how about this for a design

a person is sitting down,

smoking a 4hp eurorack module

1-800-LOVE-FUZZ -

international hotline for eurocrack addiction

[Jwar]

It needs to be 1-900-Fuz-Love

You know, for the sexual nature of fuzz.

Also, I'd only buy that shirt if the rack was on fire.

[BetterOffShred]

I think most people who frequent here are not in fact eurorack users. A shirt with the logo would be cool. And those belt buckles again. I want one of those