Most of you might not remember him, as he was never very active here at TFF, but yesterday we lost a user to cancer, JDUB.
John Hobbs, AKA ‘Biddlin’, was one of the first guitar forum friends I’ve made, back when I was a beginner. Got to know him in another forum called EverythingSG and learned a lot about guitars and life. As many of you know, I am a guy to whom friends are really important. Felt deeply hurt by his passing away and thought he deserved the mention here.
John was a very intelligent and articulate man and his although his temper and strong opinions might have made him slightly hard to deal with in some forums, he was truly a good guy.
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 calls 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…”
Rest In Peace, my friend. You’ll be missed.