John Hobbs AKA Biddlin

Sérgio said:
I can't describe how sad I am. Biddlin was a good friend of mine, definitely a special human being with an incisive intelligence and keen wits. A solid personality, which not everyone got along well in guitar forums, perhaps exactly because he wouldn't tolerate what he didn't accept.

I'll miss him a lot. Btw some of you mods will remember me pleading for a lift of his ban. I sure missed him in here.

Goodbye, my friend. You'll be remembered as a good brother of mine.
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At the time he was banned from here, I was out of state visiting with my daughter just before she passed away from cancer. I do not know what transpired, but I do know I was sad to see him leave the fold. John was opinionated and freely expressed his opinions. Perhaps if he had kept to his opinions focused on gear and not other political things, he would have still been an active member here. I miss him, I miss his talent but most of all, I miss his friendship.
 
I will miss him. We became friends on ETSG. We both had 2013 SGJs. I was a newbie to guitar forums and made the mistake of asking some newbie questions at MLP. He came to my defence. We had planned to meetup in person but it is a two day drive so it never happened. I am sad that I never got a chance to jam with him, although I don’t think I would have been able to keep up with his chops.
 
Kerry Brown said:
I will miss him. We became friends on ETSG. We both had 2013 SGJs. I was a newbie to guitar forums and made the mistake of asking some newbie questions at MLP. He came to my defence. We had planned to meetup in person but it is a two day drive so it never happened. I am sad that I never got a chance to jam with him, although I don’t think I would have been able to keep up with his chops.
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I had a very similar experience.

For having a rep for being crusty, he was cool to me. I was very green and he steered me the right direction.
 
I regard myself as John's friend.
He was always decent to me. He spoke good English,
and he wrote clearly and respected others who do.
And I respect that.

I saw a post maybe a week or two ago, maybe on ETSG
where he said he was "just trying to live..."
So I was quietly pulling for him and hoping for the best.
I'm sad he's gone.

I never got to hear him play, but from the way he talked, I'm sure
he was a fine musician. He was familiar with many genres, and
since I am too, we were kindred spirits.
I respect that too, deeply.

Sometimes I quietly wondered if he was
too quick tempered to stay long in any band...
He spent some of the last several years as care giver for his wife...
I don't know how many here know that.
Having done that myself, I have a lot of respect for someone
else who can do it. Gettin' old ain't for sissies...

He also had LOTS of experience, so that I usually listened carefully
when he would share some. He worked for years repairing and setting
up guitars, so I regarded him as a Pro when it came to guitar issues.
I also respect that.

I suggest that his "setup method" be published on this forum as a sticky,
because it answers many of the questions that new players ask.
Also, it's short and simple and it works perfectly. Even if he was banned
from this forum, his gift of this method is a fine memorial, or marker.
He could be generous, and I respect that.

I usually agreed with him, except when he'd get sore and engage
in internet remarks that I saw no reason for.
This picture shows how abrasive he could be... but it always makes
me laugh. He would offer this in the spirit of:
"Ohhhhh.... Have I offended someone?

Biddlin's Butthurt Balm.jpg

Many many times, I would exit a thread when things got stupid,
and people started calling names and/or using profanity. I have no
patience for that, and have better things to do than indulge in it.
I prefer to make my point once, and then let others speak.

But many other times, I thought:
"What we need here is a Big Barrel of Biddlin's Best Butthurt Balm..."

It's the right stuff...
Rock on John, I'll hoist a glass of Maker's Mark in your memory
once I get through my own ordeal.
 
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Col Mustard said:
I regard myself as John's friend.
He was always decent to me. He spoke good English,
and he wrote clearly and respected others who do.
And I respect that.

I saw a post maybe a week or two ago, maybe on ETSG
where he said he was "just trying to live..."
So I was quietly pulling for him and hoping for the best.
I'm sad he's gone.

I never got to hear him play, but from the way he talked, I'm sure
he was a fine musician. He was familiar with many genres, and
since I am too, we were kindred spirits.
I respect that too, deeply.

Sometimes I quietly wondered if he was
too quick tempered to stay long in any band...
He spent some of the last several years as care giver for his wife...
I don't know how many here know that.
Having done that myself, I have a lot of respect for someone
else who can do it. Gettin' old ain't for sissies...

He also had LOTS of experience, so that I usually listened carefully
when he would share some. He worked for years repairing and setting
up guitars, so I regarded him as a Pro when it came to guitar issues.
I also respect that.

I suggest that his "setup method" be published on this forum as a sticky,
because it answers many of the questions that new players ask.
Also, it's short and simple and it works perfectly. Even if he was banned
from this forum, his gift of this method is a fine memorial, or marker.
He could be generous, and I respect that.

I usually agreed with him, except when he'd get sore and engage
in internet remarks that I saw no reason for.
This picture shows how abrasive he could be... but it always makes
me laugh. He would offer this in the spirit of:
"Ohhhhh.... Have I offended someone?

View attachment 76945

Many many times, I would exit a thread when things got stupid,
and people started calling names and/or using profanity. I have no
patience for that, and have better things to do than indulge in it.
I prefer to make my point once, and then let others speak.

But many other times, I thought:
"What we need here is a Big Barrel of Biddlin's Best Butthurt Balm..."

It's the right stuff...
Rock on John, I'll hoist a glass of Maker's Mark in your memory
once I get through my own ordeal.
Click to expand...


Beautiful words, Michael.

I second that: his setup method should be a fixed thread.

And I will quote a small self bio he once wrote in a “who are you” themed thread back in ETSG, which I think should also be remembered:

“Hi, I'm John, but almost everyone except my wife and sister call me Biddlin and they're comin' around. I was born in Toccoa, Georgia, USA, grew up on the north end of Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada, living in logging camps and learning about heavy machinery occasionally vacationing with family in Texas, just in time to chop cotton.
Finished high school early, in California , with two years off for good behaviour and Anglised spelling and hit Haight-Ashbury with a guitar and fringed buckskin jacket. and the rest is a pleasant blur until around 1978, when I was in the road band for one of those self-help guru's "You're OK, now buy my new book!" revival type shows, wearing pressed, powder blue Levi's, white woven belt and open-collared work shirt, with the obligatory red scarf, tied around my neck. On a rare break, I was back home, when a friend invited me to a barbecue for a road company cast of "Fiddler." I met "Golda" and lost my single status. She did buy me a new Triumph Bonneville 750, on our next date, but I was already hooked.
Possessing no useful skills in the modern world, I went into government administration and ultimately, urban forestry and hazardous material management. Thirty years of playing grown-up worker-bee, plus surfing, biking and being a dumbass earlier, proved more than my spine and ankle could continue to support. I've had much more time to practice, since.
I'm currently playing out, on demand, doing a little instrument repair and writing…”
 
Sérgio said:
Beautiful words, Michael.

I second that: his setup method should be a fixed thread.

And I will quote a small self bio he once wrote in a “who are you” themed thread back in ETSG, which I think should also be remembered:

“Hi, I'm John, but almost everyone except my wife and sister call me Biddlin and they're comin' around. I was born in Toccoa, Georgia, USA, grew up on the north end of Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada, living in logging camps and learning about heavy machinery occasionally vacationing with family in Texas, just in time to chop cotton.
Finished high school early, in California , with two years off for good behaviour and Anglised spelling and hit Haight-Ashbury with a guitar and fringed buckskin jacket. and the rest is a pleasant blur until around 1978, when I was in the road band for one of those self-help guru's "You're OK, now buy my new book!" revival type shows, wearing pressed, powder blue Levi's, white woven belt and open-collared work shirt, with the obligatory red scarf, tied around my neck. On a rare break, I was back home, when a friend invited me to a barbecue for a road company cast of "Fiddler." I met "Golda" and lost my single status. She did buy me a new Triumph Bonneville 750, on our next date, but I was already hooked.
Possessing no useful skills in the modern world, I went into government administration and ultimately, urban forestry and hazardous material management. Thirty years of playing grown-up worker-bee, plus surfing, biking and being a dumbass earlier, proved more than my spine and ankle could continue to support. I've had much more time to practice, since.
I'm currently playing out, on demand, doing a little instrument repair and writing…”
Click to expand...
Very cool... :cheers:
 
Biddlin always had some big (BIG!) words to shoot at ya too! I think I have a pretty
good vocabulary, but Biddlin had me at dictionary sites more than once, I have to
admit. Lol. He seemed like a very well educated writer to me. - a fine Chap,
reminiscent of the old-time and classic days of the notorious greats.

Also, his spoken abstracts and analogies could be quite complex too. Sometimes
his posts took a few "going overs" to really understand them completely. Lol.

(y)
 
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Sapient said:
Biddlin always had some big (BIG!) words to shoot at ya too! I think I have a pretty
good vocabulary, but Biddlin had me at dictionary sites more than once, I have to
admit. Lol. He seemed like a very well educated writer to me. - a fine Chap,
reminiscent of the old-time and classic days of the notorious greats.

Also, his spoken abstracts and analogies could be quite complex too. Sometimes
his posts took a few "going overs" to really understand them completely. Lol.

(y)
Click to expand...
I knew him from his posts but that's all.
I remember him from Marshall Forum or Fender forum...
 
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