it sucks to say this, but...

[Ripley7t]

All the Facebook and IM apps are killing the ole boards. I have been here for awhile as well, but back in the day, this board was really active.

[slayer]

I can attest to other boards dying or struggling as well. The Dean forum use to be awesome and the page looked great. Now the site is horrible and barely anyone posts. The classifides is basically dead. The Hamer forum is ok, but only a shell of it`s former self. The Kiesel forum gets a good amount of activity but no classifides section. I think most sell on The Gear Page, Reverb and the like now. It really stinks. I can`t stand most of the new style guitars anyway. No Djent or other stuff for this guy! Just give me a 1 Hum guitar with a Floyd or Kahler Pro and a pointy headstock and I`m a happy camper.

[xenophobe]

I think people in general don't care about forums anymore, or they'd still be here

This only one of a few forums I still visit,... that's left

This forum has even seen a bit of a resurgence as of the last couple of years. It had been consistently slower here in the past.

Personally, I think trying to put the guilt on the people running the JCF unfair, this site does not have the following that Gibson, Fender, Ibanez or ESP has, and you cannot judge it as such

Most forums have staff that actively contribute on a volunteer basis. And enough people here have paid for Platinum to at least keep the bare minimum. I'm being unfair but you're defending absentee landlords.

You can try to prove me wrong though, by setting up your own J/C forum

Try to prove you wrong? WTF? I don't have anything to prove. Fuck off? :p

The site lost what, 3-7 months of posts a while back because nobody was backing up. On a forum with paid members. Seriously, you're defending that too I guess.

[Nightbat]

This forum has even seen a bit of a resurgence as of the last couple of years. It had been consistently slower here in the past.

"a bit of a resurgence" possibly because of the takeover by fender giving the Jackson products at least a little more exposure
..but still not even close in comparison to it's "heyday"

Most forums have staff that actively contribute on a volunteer basis. And enough people here have paid for Platinum to at least keep the bare minimum. I'm being unfair but you're defending absentee landlords.

What does paying have to do with the lack of contributing posters? If I pay $50, can the administrators recruit 100 more users?
It's about this forum dying, and that has to do with the diminishing of contributing users, not with diminishing of paying users

Try to prove you wrong? WTF? I don't have anything to prove. Fuck off? :p

Pissing on the admins isn't gonna get more users, complaining that you're paying for an empty forum isn't gonna get more users
You make it sound like it will, I disagree with that notion, you make the claim, so it's up to you to prove that you are right.

The site lost what, 3-7 months of posts a while back because nobody was backing up. On a forum with paid members. Seriously, you're defending that too I guess.

No, and I don't need to, since that has nothing to do with why the forums are dying
disappearance of old posts isn't even worth mentioning. When was the last time you Necro-ed an old thread?
On average, every day is Groundhog day at the JCF, where most of the new users are simply pricecheckers merely wanting to know for how much they can unload their Jackson

Again, if this forum wants to survive, it's needs an influx of new passionate members, something the admins and your money have zero control over

[Jackson8090s]

I disagree Nightbat, our newest member almost gave up on waiting for activation, The Axe Collector. How many other people have done just that ... some features and members ideas would probably increase traffic and active membership.

I did just see a story from UG on FB where some artists shut their forums down, Mike Portnoy being one of them... due to trolling and low traffic...which was probably caused by the trolling.

[Vass]

Probably true that we're pissing in the wind hoping to see it keep going. But the lack of attention to the site surely does not help. It's an annuity for Jeremy now. It's his and he can do what he wants. The fact that he's had little to say as these threads pop up every so often says it all.

There were suggestions back in the platinum early days that an investment would be made in the site. It has done nothing but rot since then. 2 separate members only areas were opened- at net zero cost. A custom guitar generator was added. Remember that? Nothing after.

I was platinum for 3 or 4 rounds. Fool me 3-4 times I guess. I'll wait on the "whaa you're crying over $45-$60" comments. Not the point. I'm a lucky guy. It's not the amount of money that's shitty.

The admins have nothing to do with it. From what I see, they do what the can.

[toejam]

I disagree Nightbat, our newest member almost gave up on waiting for activation, The Axe Collector. How many other people have done just that ... some features and members ideas would probably increase traffic and active membership
.

The software is supposed to automatically send out confirmation emails for new members to activate memberships. Why it does not at times is beyond me. There are also spam measures put in place to keep out the bots, but that sometimes prevents newbies from posting links and pics and I have to take care of that manually. There was talk about upgrading the board not too long ago, but still don't know what's going on with that.

[xenophobe]

"a bit of a resurgence" possibly because of the takeover by fender giving the Jackson products at least a little more exposure
..but still not even close in comparison to it's "heyday"

It's "heyday" ended when the Charvel snobs and Jackson snobs ended up with the community splitting harshly. It's never recovered from that. It had nothing to do with the popularity of forums diminishing, JCF was aready dead before that started happening. JCF is an OLD board, I was here before EZBoard when it was on a crappy little url with almost no functionality.

What does paying have to do with the lack of contributing posters? If I pay $50, can the administrators recruit 100 more users?
It's about this forum dying, and that has to do with the diminishing of contributing users, not with diminishing of paying users

That's not anywhere near the context of the text you quoted.

Pissing on the admins isn't gonna get more users, complaining that you're paying for an empty forum isn't gonna get more users
You make it sound like it will, I disagree with that notion, you make the claim, so it's up to you to prove that you are right.

Wow, you're being emo. I'm not personally attacking anyone.

I am only being factual. I'm sorry, I'm not good at sugar coating the truth to make it less offensive.

No, and I don't need to, since that has nothing to do with why the forums are dying
disappearance of old posts isn't even worth mentioning. When was the last time you Necro-ed an old thread?
On average, every day is Groundhog day at the JCF, where most of the new users are simply pricecheckers merely wanting to know for how much they can unload their Jackson

Again, if this forum wants to survive, it's needs an influx of new passionate members, something the admins and your money have zero control over

It needs a functional and active Admin and moderator team. And you can't even acknowledge the truth that JFC forums actively push new users away. I've been contacted a number of times over the years by new users with issues. That wasn't the first post and it also happened to a close friend who I tried to get registered here a couple of years back. Even getting into the FB group is difficult for many.

The CJ community splitting is what actually killed this forum. All the info like MOAIP was never recreated. This is a vanilla vBulletin installation. I'm sorry you don't have the imagination to see what an inspired JCF might have looked like. I actually did volunteer time to help Jeremy getting this board set up, tested and running, creating custom main menu forum read/unread icons and stuff to make this not generic. So yeah, whatever.

[The Axe Collector]

Is there not a crazy Jackson/Charvel collector or even a dealer that would be willing to take over this website? If it had someone who was involved and cared I am sure it would be a great forum.

[VitaminG]

aah, the old MOAIP. I remember several members offered to help compile & develop it because it seemed to be taking so long. In the spirit of helping out, people were offering to bring their technical knowledge, experience & assistance to make it as kickass as we all imagined it could be. Particularly, since Jeremy mentioned being too overwhelmed with IRL stuff to really spend a lot of time on it. So some of us would help by offering to share some of that burden. But he wouldn't relinquish control. And we still don't have it.

[The Axe Collector]

So let me get this straight..the guy who owns this site has no time for it and doesn't want any help? He would rather watch it go downhill then relinquish some control?

[neilli]

yeah, that's a fair summary..

[catzodellamarina]

I visit quite often. Browse, stare at pics longer than words.. then move on. I have had a Platinum account in the past but let mine expire like some others. I basically come here as if I went to a car show. I look, admire, wish, and leave without speaking to a car owner. If I do post, I try to contribute in a meaningful way (advice, experience). Sometime I will compliment on a purchase. I'm just not one to throw out "me too!" and smileys just to look active. I do not have a FB account and have no interest. I hope this place continues.

[Vass]

I visit quite often. Browse, stare at pics longer than words.. then move on. I have had a Platinum account in the past but let mine expire like some others. I basically come here as if I went to a car show. I look, admire, wish, and leave without speaking to a car owner. If I do post, I try to contribute in a meaningful way (advice, experience). Sometime I will compliment on a purchase. I'm just not one to throw out "me too!" and smileys just to look active. I do not have a FB account and have no interest. I hope this place continues.

Me too!

[BenoA]

Interesting thread guys. Member here since 2004. One of the best place, and still. Yes, it's quieter than it used to be.

IMHO, Facebook is killing most of the forums as we used to know them.

Back in the late 90s early 2000s, I was the creator and main admin of a Line6 Pod forums. It got killed around 2003 by a troll, the forum was very not secure and used an old interface. I think I jumped in here after the full disappearance of my forum and trying to recreate a new one but with no success.

Since a few years, I feel that everything is moving to Facebook. I had no account but had to create one if I wanted to follow or post on my ex-cover-band page.

Early 2017, I created a Facebook group for the new Boss Katana amp and it grew over my expectations, we are now 2300 members and we keep adding new members everyday. Even Boss noticed it.

I'm like most of you and prefer the forum format but Facebook seems to be the new standard and as an admin, I hate the way the info flows on those pages and the search engine is pretty weak.

Anyway, I used to come here at least twice a day. I now come less often but still enjoy most of the posts. There is a "feel-good" feeling here and it's like most of us here have come from quite a same similar guitar journey.

Cheers!