gchiaren's forum posts 789

That was a big mess up on our part! 😬 We were making some speed improvements to the new artist page today, and introduced a bug. I noticed it about 30 minutes ago and rolled out a fix. Should be good now, let me know if any problems persist.

There are some items that just aren't going to get substantiated and should be made less specific by a certain date if they're not proven.

Completely agree, and that's a valid way to go about it.

That Frusciante Strat is a good example. Plenty of evidence that it's a mid 1950s model (Vintage Guitar mag), but nearly impossible to verify 1955 exactly. Not even Frusciante seems to know - in a video at 0:17 he refers to it as his "57". ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Hi, in trying to help, a Simon Gallup Guild Starfire bass was marked needs improvement. I found several written submits online referring to it, but no photographic evidence. Is written enough to substantiate?

Yeah! Well, I guess the question I'd ask myself is, "would I make the submission in the first place with this proof/source"?

This isn't a project that needs to be done all at once! There are many submissions without proof that need fixing.

Flagging them is just a good way to tell the Equipboard community that they need attention, and if they are to live on they should be eventually substantiated.

The way I would go about it is to just Google the artist and gear and see what kinds of things come up. Googling John Frusciante Fender Stratocaster 1955 led me to this reddit thread which gives some good videos to go off of, namely this and this.

Ok, so if you've poked around the site you might have noticed we've given a facelift to our artist pages.

Along with that, we decided it was about time to deal with the thousands of submissions around the site that don't have any proof attached to them. This was more prevalent in the early days of Equipboard, and since then we've required that proof accompany any gear submitted to an artist.

So, it's time for a gear scavenger hunt. You'll see many artist submissions that lack proof have been marked as NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. For example, John Frusciante's Fender Stratocaster 1955 was originally submitted to Equipboard without a shred of proof.

The submission details are pretty self explanatory:

John Frusciante's Fender Stratocaster 1955 was originally submitted to Equipboard without proof. If you can find a valid source, please edit this submission to override these notes and add proof.

Otherwise, rate the submission quality as "Completely Incorrect"

If you notice these types of submissions on your favorite artist(s), it's a great time to do some detective work and either substantiate them, or let's get em off of here!

Yes, I am trying to register with that name. Do I have to use another name? Thanks for the help !

Paolo, are you able to verify that you meet any of these?

https://i.imgur.com/mt7J7Gq.png

Are you trying to add yourself using the name Paolo Martorilli?

mine does that 'delay feedback set to infinite' utospacing repetition soemtimes too!

Jim and solusash, I'm interested in getting to the bottom of this one.

When it acts up, it's doing so on your mobile device? Do you mind specifying what mobile devices you use?

Also, let me know if you use a keyboard app other than your default.

I assume it's doing the funky behavior on a text input filed not unlike the one you use to respond to forum posts, yes?

Thanks so much everyone for the feedback, and I'm thrilled to report we gave the submission form a much needed overhaul!

First, you'll notice that the artist AND item field can be filled in, which makes the form more versatile.

(This means if you submit from an ARTIST like you're used to, then artist will be pre-filled. If you submit from an ITEM... you guessed it. Item will be pre-filled. Oh, and yes you can submit from an item page now!!)

Under your main Submit menu you should now see the option to Submit Gear to an Artist, which means you can do so from anywhere.

We've also unified the experience so that it works well from desktop/tablet/mobile or whatever device you choose.

And finally... you're not limited to a source link/URL! You can now directly upload an image as proof from your device.

https://i.imgur.com/dCLQpqK.jpg?1

For example, artists post Instagram stories and show their gear all the time. But it's hard to link to an Insta story, so now I can quickly take a screenshot on my iPhone, jump to Equipboard, submit to the artist and use that screenshot as a source from my photo library.

As always, feedback is always appreciated, so let us know what you think!

When the aliens invade - which I'm certain is coming up next - they will bring us the TS6. 👽🎛⚡️

Thanks so much for weighing in.

Is it fair to say that with the 3 fields all on one page - item, source, and notes - it makes it easier to hop back and forth between them and refine your submission?

Conventional wisdom says that forms are easier to use when they are split up into steps with a progress indicator.

That said, I can see that making sense for when you don't really need to go back and edit - for instance a checkout process, where you put in shipping address -> billing address -> payment info.

Submitting gear to an artist is more of a "labor of love" and chances are you want to jump back and forth between the required fields.

I don't want to put words in your mouths, but is that what I'm hearing here?

First of all, thank you SO much for the feedback. Whether you love what we're doing, hate it, or something in between, it's hugely valuable to hear what you all think. It goes a long way beyond us just looking at our analytics tools to make decisions.

(If anyone else is curious, namesuppressed is referring to the recently redesigned product page, like this one: https://equipboard.com/items/analog-man-king-of-tone-overdrive-guitar-effect-pedal)

I want to address some of your points:

Something I'm really missing in the new design is the list of people who own an item that used to be at the end of each page. I used that as a way to discover other people's Equipboards

You're right, we opted to do away with that because we honestly never felt it was that useful, but it's interesting to hear a counter-argument. If more people felt this way, it wouldn't be that hard to bring the section back.

One thing we DO want to add to the new product page - which we think might be a better way to explore other members' gear - is photos. Imagine if you were looking at some gear and could see it as part of people's gear setups... check out this example of the Tube Screamer product page:

https://i.imgur.com/maZepHg.png

The links for "reviews" and # saved are really tiny on desktop now

You're right, they're pretty small. We can make them a few pixels larger if you think that would help usability.

If I scroll down, each individual section - artists, reviews, details - completely fills a single screen of my 27" desktop monitor, even if they're completely empty with no content.

You have a good point. The empty sections with no content are large, no doubt about that. We can definitely trim away some of that whitespace, no need to take up so much vertical space.

I'm sure you folks know way more about SEO than I do

SEO is important, but not at the expense of your experience on the site. That's why feedback like this is so nice 🙂

To be honest the major motivations to redesign were:

1. Just to give the site a much needed visual refresh
2. To unify mobile and desktop more and make both experiences feel snappy and functional
3. To make browsing the pro artists that use an item MUCH better. The way it used to be - with the slider that only showed 3 or 4 at a time - was a terrible way to browse when an item accumulated a ton of artist users. In the redesign, the artist "cards" are larger and we added filtering options so that you can jump straight to an artist you care about, or sort by name or most followed.

I still love Equipboard though!

Glad to hear it, we love you too :) Curious to hear more thoughts on the product page redesign.

I don't have a preference for forms, what I'd like is for when my phone does autospacing on words, I've noticed it will repeat the last word over and over and over, and filling in any form becomes impossible.

Huh. On just Equipboard?

Thanks solusash. In most cases I don't think it's your phone. We have lots of evidence that people want to contribute more to Equipboard from their phone, so we're definitely trying to address mobile usability issues.

In terms of having a longer form or one split into different "slides" with a progress meter, do you have a preference?

I just wanted to get a quick sense from people what they prefer as far as "style" of submitting gear to an artist:

1️⃣ When you do it from desktop, the item, proof/source URL, and submission notes are presented in one long form.

2️⃣ On mobile, it's a 3-step "wizard" type process.

If we were to unify it and just pick one style, do you have a preference one way or the other? Here are screenshots if you need a visual:

https://imgur.com/a/gKJ4GZG

Any votes, opinions, or discussions are highly appreciated!

Oh man I love this question.

I would have to be my 1978 Fender Telecaster Custom, black finish, maple neck.

At the end of the day, it's a Tele with a Wide Range humbucker in the neck position. Fender produced it between 1972 and 1981, then reissued as the 1972 Telecaster Custom. Keith Richards kinda made it famous, so I guess there's that. But man, I love this guitar. If my house caught fire and I had 30 seconds to grab some stuff and get out, this guitar would definitely make the short list.

It's got Tele twang, but you can also get really smooth and creamy tones from the humbucker, and set to the middle position it's the best of both worlds. I never knew this until recently but apparently it's a couple lbs heavier than a standard Tele since Fender made it with denser wood at the time, but it still feels very light to me. It's just so easy to pick up and play.

It's like a sandwich. Even the best sandwich out there isn't exactly gourmet food, but this particular one is made with fresh baked ciabatta bread, aioli, sliced raddish, and sliced turkey breast from a turkey that was sniped from a helicopter just hours prior to consuming. That's how I feel about this guitar.

Squashed the bug! Sorry about that everyone 😬

I'll take a look

That image is of type "webp" which Equipboard doesn't quite support yet. Thanks for alerting me to that, it should tell you that when you attempt to upload!

Here's a jpg version of it that should be ok: https://im2.ezgif.com/tmp/ezgif-2-14ddfbb26a11.jpg

Temp of 37.4. Only symptom though. Don't know if it's SARS CoV-2, or if it's Flu, or if it's underlying health issues (like recurring malaria). Not going to the doctor until other symptoms present, or fever spikes to above 38. It's already got the healthcare in my area strained, I don't want to add to it if I don't have to.

That's good of you! Wishing you a speedy recovery! What part of the world are you in?

anyone catch the corona yet? I just got rhough my 14 day self-impsoed quarantine and I felt ill for about 2 days with upper respiratory symptoms but if that was the virus then its pretty pitiful.... and I smoke! How is everyone holding up?

Oh man, kinda scary but glad you're on the other side of it! Nothing here, just isolating myself, working from home. Trying to keep my usual routine intact, I'm fortunate to have a home gym so I try to hit some exercise at night. Picking up the guitar a little more often too.

New hobbies include keeping my venus flytrap alive, and tinkering with my motorcycle, making some upgrades to it, etc. I neither have a green thumb nor am I menchanically inclined, so if I get through this quarantine without having destroyed either thing that's a win for me lol

@kkolar Holy shit man, well I'm glad to hear you're ok. 20 mins to pack and leave sounds INTENSE. Looks like the case count in Croatia is still pretty low. At least you have an instrument. I'm staying as isolated as possible myself, I actually don't know what the situation is regarding post offices otherwise I'd send you some strings or whatever you needed. Do any online stores deliver to you?

@jimmarchi1 Glad you're ok so far as well. And a few synths and guitars is better than nothing!

Hey Equipboard fam,

If you don't usually open Equipboard emails... hi! I'm one of the founders of Equipboard.

Just wanted to reach out to our global community of musicians and gear geeks.

What a crazy time to be alive. Luckily, at Equipboard we're able to work from home pretty easily to keep the site going, so that's our Coronavirus update.

The room where I work at home is where I keep my guitars, amps, pedals, digital piano, etc. so there's a lot of opportunity to get distracted :)

Just wondering, anyone taking time to play more music as we're stuck at home? It's a good time to do so, whether you're just a hobbyist or diving deep into some online lessons, songwriting, or production.

Hope everyone stays well, and would love to hear from you!

❤️ from Austin, Texas, USA

ps. I saw this Tweet from producerHudson Mohawke, thought it was pretty relevant!

https://i.imgur.com/Me3aJAo.png

Been a while since I tested a Carbon Copy... how long of a delay can it do?

I have a Boss DD-6, and I use delay quite a bit in my playing. I'm frequently dialing in anything from a subtle slap back to some long soaring thing.

I like the DD-6 - it "does the job" as they say. One thing I don't like about it is the knob layout. They are small and hard to see in the dark. Typical Boss. I'm fumbling with it a lot from one song to another.

https://images.equipboard.com/uploads/item/image/2066/boss-dd-6-digital-delay-pedal-xl.jpg?v=1581676958

I'm intrigured by a simple and good delay like the MXR Carbon Copy. 3 large knobs, easy to see, nice sounding delay.

Should I make the switch? What would I be losing?

That's really strange. For some reason the SoundCloud API can't access your profile. I haven't run into this issue yet.

I just sent a message to SoundCloud support, I'll keep you posted!

Hey man! Bandcamp is an even better idea. A more popular choice too I feel. I hope you're able to get around to adding both when the time comes! =D

Bandcamp profiles are now an option! Just go to your profile settings and it's there. :)

Can you try again?

Also, make sure your Equipboard link is added to your SoundCloud profile. I'm not seeing it in the one you currently list on your Equipboard.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll take a look!

Try this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=beats+mixr+headphones+white&_sacat=0

Several listings for them there.

These should be WAY easier to find. I did a quick search on eBay and found several for sale, white ones too.

As an aside I used to own these, good looking headphones but the headband was too tight!

Man I did not see any readily available on Amazon, eBay, or Reverb.

Maybe there's one seller on Amazon.co.uk selling the orange ones? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Urbanears-04090617-Zinken-Headphones-Indigo/dp/B008W2UVOI

I tried to see if they are available anywhere locally that I could buy and then ship to you, but no luck. :(

I don't know anything about this store but it seems they might be available here? https://globalbigs.com/urbanears-zinken-on-ear-dj-headphones

Done!

I think jim has great advice there. Live sound can make you some cash AND you'll probably learn a lot.

I will not be happy with my life unless I do music (specifically production)

That's a strong statement, and if you've done some soul searching and truly mean it, get ready to grind and work. It's going to be a very entrepreneurial journey where you will make your own luck along the way.

Music courses aren't a must, but it's more about getting yourself around like minded people you can absorb knowledge and inspiration from.

If the city you're in doesn't have the right music scene for you, I know it's hard to hear but think about moving somewhere where you can get super involved. Maybe that's something you can do right after you finish school? I totally get moving is hard and geographical constraints are a real thing, but there might be a whole other world waiting for you elsewhere.

I listened to your stuff - it's good! Are you producing and singing on all of it? If you are, KEEP GOING! Social media and branding is one thing, sure, but keep making and releasing stuff. Or film yourself doing some covers and throw it up on YouTube. Anything to put yourself out there and get noticed.

Hi! Can you speak a little more about wanting to contribute to the site more? There are lots of ways to contribute to Equipboard, so if you can give a little more detail I can think about what makes sense.

The drums sound kind of anemic. I think overall it's missing some presence.

Fixed! Thanks for pointing it out.

It is a crowded field, but anything is where there's a possibility of being extraordinary. You need a lot of perseverance, a little luck (which really means just being at the right place at the right time or being ready to pounce on any opportunity), and a LOT of hustle.

It's hard to give you life advice without knowing what you have or have not done, and what your specific goals are.

What are you doing in college? Taking music courses? How involved are you in the local music scene wherever you live? What are you doing to grow your following on Insta/SoundCloud/etc?

Yup this forum works! Can you let me know what pic you're trying to use, and what artist you're trying to edit?

Got it! Ok, so I can replicate in Firefox, and not in Chrome or Safari. Very strange bug. Thanks for the detailed instructions :)

(To the Equipboard web devs: I can make the bug happen if I reload the edit page, when it reloads it pre-populates the first category as I set it before reloading, but then the other categories have no options to choose from.)

I'm a bit confused here on how to replicate.

So, I'm on the edit page of an item, and you are saying that when the page is reloaded, some funkiness happens... but why would you reload the edit page before you're done editing? If I just do a random browser refresh, the category dropdowns just reset to what they were the last time the item was saved.

What am I missing here? :)