What's Up With All The Money Questions??

[rmyAddison]

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

I know you jest, but you'll notice I have no need to "brag" by listing listing one or ten or... guitars in my signature because I have no purpose to. Just like, in your signature you claim to be..." Rich".... Actually, it's a play on my surname.

I don't list my guitars either, but I'll post pictures and answer PM questions, and I have no problem with folks who do list their instruments, or talk prices, it is a guitar forum.

Been here a long time, mostly it's a nice place, and the older I get the easier to just ignore some posts, rather than jump in and tangle with some stranger who might enjoy getting reactions for the sake of irritating folks and raising blood pressure.

Your surname is "Many"................

[CaineIsCarter]

I ate a big red candle.

[Rudals]

Originally Posted by HHP

If its rude in person, its rude online, in a letter, on the phone,in sign language, in a pictogram, or in a smoke signal.

If I asked YOU how much you paid for your most recent purchase, yes, that would be rude. But did I ask YOU or did I ask the public? The results of the poll represents AGF as a whole not YOU or ME at the individual level.

I am baffled. I'll put myself in timeout for asking such a personal question.

[beninma]

People like to establish a pecking order. In all kinds of venues and relative to all kinds of things.

Online forums often end up establishing a materialistic pecking order. It is easy to show off your materialism online, whereas the actual interest area the forum supposedly deals with is much harder to share and/or display online, and it's much harder for people to know skill levels, dedication, etc..

So the forum ends up becoming more about the consumerism/materialism. Camera forums end up focusing on who has the most expensive gear as opposed to who has the best artistic ideas or skill. Bicycling/Motorcycling/car forums end up being almost completely consumeristic as there is almost nothing online about those activities. Something like watches is completely consumerism as there is almost no utility and the expensive versions often have less utility. You try to show off your spending as a way of showing how "serious" you are. Some online communities are more local and have more "IRL" interaction and some of this would change.

When you apply this to guitars and the forum has no locality at all it's a lot easier to list gear in your signature than it is to record videos or CDs and share them. No one knows online how good you are if you don't offer anything, but it's easy to just list gear as a way to try and get people to have a good opinion of you.

All the status signaling and whatever else could be totally bogus but that's the way online stuff works. The guy with a cheap guitar could have a million dollar house with no mortgage. There are probably world famous artists who have less expensive collections than average member here.

The majority of the activity here seems to be about buying and selling gear as opposed to playing, learning, performing.. just the way it is, so no one should be surprised that money comes up a lot.

[jhmulkey]

Originally Posted by HHP

If its rude in person, its rude online, in a letter, on the phone,in sign language, in a pictogram, or in a smoke signal.

I agree, but in a way he has a point. In person, you are REALLY awkwardly put on the spot if someone were to ask you such a question, but on an internet forum, people aren't expecting an immediate answer and it's not so awkward just to ignore the query.

However, I think the core of the issue is not in-person vs. online, but as I said in my earlier post, an issue of singling an individual out vs. an anonymous poll aimed at a large audience. To me that's a WORLD of difference, and people who post such threads are not "classless" or whatever other insults people have thrown out there in this thread. Complaining about such threads is right up there with those who complain about people who post their guitars in their signature (*gasp!* ...on a guitar forum! )

[Stevied63]

While I don't generally participate in the "How much did you pay" or "What is your most expensive.." polls, I see nothing wrong with questions of that type on these forums. They do provide some (limited) demographic information for people. If you don't like the question, you don't have to read the post. But let's be honest...people put their specific guitar collections in their signatures...people talk about what guitars they own - it's not like years ago when price discovery was difficult. With the internet, you can get a pretty good idea of what someone's guitar is valued at by just knowing what they own - so if value judgements are going to be made, they will be made anyway. So asking the question directly isn't much of an intrusion, in my opinion - especially since you can ignore the question.

[Rudals]

I wish to delete my thread. I feel as if I have cause a great amount of grief to this forum. This was not my intention. I wish this forum would go back its happy status mode.

[Brick is Red]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

I don't list my guitars either, but I'll post pictures and answer PM questions, and I have no problem with folks who do list their instruments, or talk prices, it is a guitar forum.

Been here a long time, mostly it's a nice place, and the older I get the easier to just ignore some posts, rather than jump in and tangle with some stranger who might enjoy getting reactions for the sake of irritating folks and raising blood pressure.

Your surname is "Many"................

I came here thinking that people listed their instruments in their signature as a way to allow themselves to be identified by others to answer questions or give opinions from the perspective of an owner of a particular model or custom instrument. I like looking at people's lists but no one has ever PM'd me or even asked a question in a thread about my instruments. Wait, I have been asked in a thread maybe twice about a guitar I own.

I guess I never gave it enough thought. If, in fact, these lists are nothing more grown men figuratively wearing their purchasing power on their sleeve and boasting about the acquisition of shiny toys, then that is awkward and pathetic.

[Shades of Blue]

For me, there is always a small sense of guilt when I buy a guitar over say, $1500. I do also feel very guilty about owning both a very expensive Taylor, and having a Martin on order.

I don't gig, and I'm not a professional, so having $4000+ in acoustics can be a little overwhelming. Paid for? You bet! But, it's still the guilt that I could do something AMAZING for my family for $4000 or more. I'd sell them in a heartbeat to better my family though, so there is that.

So, sometimes it puts things in perspective to see that there are other players out there with expensive inventory. It doesn't justify it completely, but alleviates the guilt for a period.

[Jambi]

rogthefrog nailed it on an earlier post...

...it sounds like you're thinking of casing someone's house.



Personally I dig the art of the deal. and I LOVE it cheap guitars sound great... it usually proves the point that the player's ability is just as important as the "torrified, old growth, submersed for 100 years in pristine waters of new zealand red spruce soundboard".

Seriously, sometimes it sounds like a Starbucks order.

[Mandobart]

This is mostly a generational thing. My parents were born in the mid 1920's. They grew up in the Great Depression. There aren't a lot of people left from that time, but it was a deeply traumatic experience for those that lived through it. The extreme widespread poverty and resulting drop in living standards caused a change in social mores. The absolute rudest, most insensitive question you could ask was "how much do you get paid?" but pretty much any discussion about money was taboo. Kurt Vonnegut also talked about this in the autobiographical parts of "Palm Sunday."

Those of us raised by this generation were taught not to talk about money. I'm not offended by the "How much" posts; I know times and attitudes have changed. Just trying to shed some light on why this is still an issue for some people.

[Ricky Nelson]

Ok, I'm in. I'm still new to this forum (any forum really.. What's the rule on how long I can use that excuse?) I'm in the northeast, born to depression parents. I'm not sure there is a more "don't talk about money" upbringing. Confession - I have posted the "how much" question.

In life, I only ask that kind of thing if its a very close friend, or I sense the individual actually wants to tell me for their own reasons. Here, blessed with relative anonymity, to me its like talking to a bunch of good friends. You can ask the questions you really want to. You can be close in a distant way. Also, I'm really interested. There are models and brands I've never even heard of. Its informative and expands my knowledge base. It also helps me understand the market. Market knowledge is useful for both buying and selling (full disclosure - I'm a buy and hold). So until there's a rule, I think I'm gonna remain crass if I feel like it. Its fun to know, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Or, you could even lie to me. Now that's crass. Or I can continue to read posts and someone could talk me out of wanting to know such base knowledge HA.

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

Why do you brag and call yourself ManyMartinMan ????

Never been a bragger so I've removed those as not to give people like you something other than the topic to respond to.

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

... the older I get the easier to just ignore some posts, rather than jump in and tangle with some stranger who might enjoy getting reactions for the sake of irritating folks and raising blood pressure.

So your opinion is more important or valid because you've been here longer?

[MIPicker]

I think it's time to shut this thread down. It's getting way too chippy in here.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by beninma

People like to establish a pecking order. In all kinds of venues and relative to all kinds of things.

Online forums often end up establishing a materialistic pecking order. It is easy to show off your materialism online, whereas the actual interest area the forum supposedly deals with is much harder to share and/or display online, and it's much harder for people to know skill levels, dedication, etc..

So the forum ends up becoming more about the consumerism/materialism. Camera forums end up focusing on who has the most expensive gear as opposed to who has the best artistic ideas or skill. Bicycling/Motorcycling/car forums end up being almost completely consumeristic as there is almost nothing online about those activities. Something like watches is completely consumerism as there is almost no utility and the expensive versions often have less utility. You try to show off your spending as a way of showing how "serious" you are. Some online communities are more local and have more "IRL" interaction and some of this would change.

When you apply this to guitars and the forum has no locality at all it's a lot easier to list gear in your signature than it is to record videos or CDs and share them. No one knows online how good you are if you don't offer anything, but it's easy to just list gear as a way to try and get people to have a good opinion of you.

All the status signaling and whatever else could be totally bogus but that's the way online stuff works. The guy with a cheap guitar could have a million dollar house with no mortgage. There are probably world famous artists who have less expensive collections than average member here.

The majority of the activity here seems to be about buying and selling gear as opposed to playing, learning, performing.. just the way it is, so no one should be surprised that money comes up a lot.

If I was in a camera forum, I'd be bragging about having the longest lens.

Tony