Re: dispensation of wisdom (?)

[BByLng734@aol.com]

(Those of you who don't care for "editorial responses" please delete now)

    Returning from Thanksgiving weekend travels, pleasure exceeded 
disappointment as I read the mail from helpful LD listers sharing their 
experiences with various repair establishments.  Good-natured and genuine 
support -- what I expected -- I was pleased to find.
    One message was disappointing, though.  Kim Flint bookended his advice 
with misunderstanding statements regarding my disposition and concluded 
with 
exasperated, hyperbolic nattering on the subject.  It was a confusing 
response to a mannered (though repeated for emphasis) entreaty for 
informative contributions, especially from the "overseer of the operation."
    In offering a useful fuse caveat but only the most obvious service 
solution (one that is readily available on the LD site), Kim's message 
seemed 
intended both to help and embarrass (a curious passive-aggresive 
approach!).  
When I stated previously that I had "...contacted various Gibson/Oberheim 
officers (to no effect)," one willing to extend the benefit of the doubt 
could have concluded that the officer whose name, phone number and e-mail 
address are two clicks away from the opening page of LD was among those 
who 
had been contacted.
    I have received no replies to either my phone messages or e-mail's to 
Mike Ayers or to general customer support (calls to which have always been 
forwarded to someone's voicemail).  A possible reason came with a post 
immediately following Kim's:

    "[Mike Ayers] said Gibson is ~not~ accepting EDP's for repairs. [He] 
said 
they are going to work with the people at Trace Elliot as to when they are 
going to start performing repairs, but it's not right now. Apparently, the 
"guy" that they had at Gibson who was the ace repairman left the company 
and 
they need to get someone trained. Unfortunately, your options are somewhat 
limited until they get back into

production."

    Should Kim have urged me with impatience to "use my phone" before he 
himself knew for sure whether Mike Ayers and Gibson were accepting EDPs 
for 
repair?
    I had decided to cast my net wider -- among the subscribers to this 
list 
-- in hopes of gathering a broader range of opinions and experiences than 
what relying on a single unresponsive (to me, at least) source would have 
afforded me.  There's nothing deserving sarcasm or ire in that.  I'm glad 
that particular tone of the listmaster's is not usually adopted by others 
(though some do seem quick to irk -- How easy it is in responding to 
"speak" 
in such an antagonistic way to people you don't know whom you'll likely 
never 
meet!).  But I'm not discouraged, and neither are the listers; such whiny 
reproach usually doesn't shame its intended recipients into timidity but 
rather ends up reflecting poorly upon its author.
    To the sincerely helpful respondents, sincere thanks.  Keep the info 
coming!
    Rob Lang
    P.S. - The above does not diminish the "delight" I derive from the LD 
site and the list, both of which are lively and informative offerings 
dedicated to a colorful and unsung niche of music-making which we all 
love.  
Let's just think before we send!