Gdoubleyou is one of Gearwire's MVP candidates for his work on the 440 forums. Even with such a notorious forum name, I believe Gdoubleyou knows quite a bit more about gear than our President.

What is your background?

Former guitarist - US Air force Band, electronic tech - Partime Design Media company.

How did you get started in music and what advice would you give to someone who just started?

Playing by ear in high school. Get lessons.

Who are your musical influences and what genre do you listen to most?

I primarily have a Jazz background, but came up playing r-n-b, funk, and blues.

Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea - I studied horn and keyboard players instead of gutitarist. Sort of underground jazz, Acid Jazz, nu soul.

What's your inspiration?

...just the need to explore and be creative.

What's your motivation for helping people out on forums?

I have a consulting part of my business, so I'm always looking for more knowledge, and helping is good practice.

What's your favorite piece of gear and why? What gear do you use?

Right now it's my Mac in combination with Logic 8. It IS the instrument. I have (a) rare 1961 Epiphone Howard Roberts model.

What are your favorite sources for gear-related information?

440 newsleters, Harmony Central.

What's the best music related advice you've ever given?

Learn to read music.

What's the best and worst thing about being a musician?

Performing, finding time for praticing.

What is the best and worst thing about online forums?

Trolls

What music-related topic do you think is most neglected on forums?

The art of performing, it's not all about gear.

What are the 5 forum posts/threads where you are most proud of your contributions? (Give actual URLs)

good question

Anything else you would like voters to know? Any interesting music related stories?

You can't know everything, it takes time to build knowledge.