Eric/Tubes/Doepfer/etc.

[Doug Tymofichuk]

On Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:12:43 +0000 (GMT) Paul Maddox 
<Paul.Maddox at unilever.com> wrote:

> All,
> 
>   I dont normally rise to the bait, but..
> 
> 1) I have always found eric to be helpfull guy with a great 
> deal     of knowledge and as such I hold him with a high 
> respect.

My experiences with Eric began about two months ago, when 
he responded positively to my tube challenge. I found him 
to be extremely helpful, eager to give out information, and 
easy to deal with. He even went so far as to ship me a box 
of tubes, sockets, and other components for me to 
experiment with, for absolutely no charge! And he has never 
had any problems answering my incessant emails asking goofy 
amateurish questions about tubes. If you look around at 
many tube sites on the web, you will find that he is a very 
well respected person who has contributed greatly to many 
other's efforts. He certainly has provided more support, 
information, and inspiration to me than anyone else on the 
list. (and so many of you have helped me so much! Thank you 
all!)

I think that it is pretty unfair to criticize Eric for 
his efforts with tubes. At least he is exploring new areas 
of sound generation, instead of ripping off other's work to 
sell commercially (Doepfer). What would you prefer? I think 
that he should be praised for his pioneering spirit. 
Comparing the Hellfire to a solid state circuit without 
actually hearing it and then dismissing it as nothing 
different based on a few visual sample waveforms is just 
plain stupidity IMHO. That the person who made that 
statement claims to like guitars running through tube amps, 
just makes me question their sincerity.

I will go out on a limb here and make the statement that a 
processor like the Hellfire has the potential to become a 
classic piece with the guitar/tube amp musicians. Like it 
or not. And I hope that it does! Anyone who believes that 
they can easily duplicate it's sound with solid state 
circuitry has never really *heard* the sound of tubes.

I'm not at all surprised at Eric's reaction to others 
attacking his efforts. I get criticized almost every day 
for my interests in tubes, the fact that I play 
drums/banjo, and other things. After awhile it wears 
pretty thin. From what I can tell, Eric has had to endure 
this kind of crap for many years, and I can't say that I 
would not react the same way.

So, I will continue to praise what I find noteworthy on 
this list, and I will continue to ignore those areas that 
do not interest me. Hopefully others will do the same.
----------------------
Doug Tymofichuk
dougt at cancerboard.ab.ca