Time for me to retire.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 2 Jan 2023 8:54 am

I'll just echo what many others have already said, you've done something incredible for the steel guitar community. I'll never forget when I had just gotten serious about steel guitar and I found the SGF, way back in 1999. What a wonderful moment, with this resource I actually thought I might be able to learn how to play this contraption!

Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy!

Bill Terry - member #89 (and proud of it!)

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 2 Jan 2023 10:23 am

b0b -
So much has been said about your vision, standards, work ethic and dedication to a platform like none other!

Please Allow me to speak to the HEART BEAT sections of the Forum and your trust in me to moderate Gone Home and Extended Family for so many years! Thank you! - Not only for the privilege of being part of something so special, but for allowing so many (myself included) a place to safely share our hearts with one another!

b0b - you are a true jewel in my life’s box of special people!

(BTW, I just looked, and this post is my 6,758th post since July, 2003 - most were probably from moderating the HUMOR section!)

Larry Baker · Post by **Larry Baker** » 2 Jan 2023 10:55 am

Donna, you are also a real Jewel. So kind and with a big heart. I and I'm sure many others are so appreciative of your support in many ways for us steel players.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 2 Jan 2023 11:36 am

Well b0b - we have seen so many great players come and go on here, but the biggest advantage of this site has been getting to the bottom of technical issues on our brilliant instrument. Thanks for the countless hours that you have spent here keeping this site going over many years.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 2 Jan 2023 12:37 pm

Wow... 5 pages in, and I just now saw this...

b0b, you changed the world. If there's anyone who deserves to be in a Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, it's you.

Heartfelt thanks for all you've done.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 2 Jan 2023 1:22 pm

I've had the great pleasure of knowing and working with Bob Lee since 1976 or thereabouts, starting a steel guitar club in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thanks for all your efforts in starting and maintaining the Steel Guitar Forum, Bob, which has become THE worldwide water coolor for chat, arguments, debates and friendship! Now go relax!!

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 2 Jan 2023 1:50 pm

Bobby Lee, as Skip says you changed the world in a good way. I have close friends I would probably not have met if it were not for the forum. Thinking back, I recall that when I first decided to attend the ISGC in 1999 the inspiration came from something I read on the Forum, which I had just joined. I agree with some of the comments above that what you did for people was life-changing. Thanks!!!!!

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 2 Jan 2023 4:07 pm

Thank you, Bob. I feel like it’s okay to spell out your proper name now that your business handle will no longer be in use.

You saw a need and filled it. That’s the very definition of a life well-lived. Way to go!

What so many have said about you founding not just an “online help” website, but a community in the steel guitar realm of the general music brother/sisterhood, is true from my heart as well.

Good luck in your retirement. Please be well and safe. And if we ever meet, it will be a privilege to shake your hand.

PS- Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame nomination for Robert Lee, anyone?

Bob Simmons · Post by **Bob Simmons** » 2 Jan 2023 4:47 pm

WOW thanks for all your help and expertise

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 2 Jan 2023 6:31 pm

Bob, to echo the words of so many of our friends and forum family, what an incredible journey you led us through. The forum has been a lifeline to me during some sad times, and a joy to me at all times. I have followed and read through most every post, especially since retirement. I can only say a humble thank you for your years of dedication and wish you the best on your future endeavors.

Jean-Marie Raffault · Post by **Jean-Marie Raffault** » 2 Jan 2023 9:38 pm

Thank you b0b. My life has been changed since I discovered your forum.
All the best from France !

Brooks Montgomery · Post by **Brooks Montgomery** » 2 Jan 2023 10:43 pm

Better than a warm fire. b0b thanks for the best library card I’ve ever had.
Enjoy your retirement!

Brooks

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 3 Jan 2023 2:09 am

Shocking! Seriously, I'm glad the Forum will remain a family business.

What Brooks said! Such an amazing repository of talent and knowledge. B0b should be in the Internet Hall of Fame.

Terry Wood · Post by **Terry Wood** » 3 Jan 2023 3:29 am

Bob, I just read this post this morning. Some how I had missed it earlier. Thank you so much for all that you have done for Steel Guitarists the world over. You have done so much and I wish you and your family the best! I consider it a honor to have known you! Blessings for you and your family!

Mike Selecky · Post by **Mike Selecky** » 3 Jan 2023 7:11 am

I also just now read this post. bob, Thanks for all you have done to bring the community of steel guitarists together. Enjoy your well deserved retirement.

Shorty Rogers · Post by **Shorty Rogers** » 3 Jan 2023 8:08 am

I will always remember 9 Aug 1995 as an immensely significant day in my life. On that day, while attending a class at Oregon State on how to use the internet, I chanced upon something called Bobby Lee Quazar’s Steel Guitar Pages. Much to my surprise, I found links to some friends of mine. Picture of the Black Brothers, Bobby and Larry, a link to Peter Grant’s Zepher page, and other cool and unexpected steel stuff. It was also the day that Jerry Garcia died. From that beginning, I eventually became a forum member after trying to avoid joining but being a frequent lurker. Changed my life, just like it did most everybody else who has commented here. THREE CHEERS for Bobby Lee and all he has gifted to this community which he has welded together. Enjoy your retirement, sir.

Richard Alderson · Post by **Richard Alderson** » 3 Jan 2023 8:47 am

I will always maintain that one of the most important developments in the history of the Steel Guitar forum was to separate the sale of actual steel guitars from anything that was not actually a Steel Guitar, and to remove unsightly banjos, fiddles and bagpipes from the Steel Guitar Want Ads section.

I supported B0b for President in both 2016 and again in 2020, but he was too modest and declined the invitation.

I welcome the new business model, and I think that all of us can learn from Bee-Zero-Bee on how to transition our operations to other folks, as well as how to run an ethical and principles and values based operation in the first place. I also congratulate B0b on his grand-kids and great-grand kid, that's always a lifetime achievement award, and we trust that Providence will look after B0b and to keep him in good health.

Bill Erchul · Post by **Bill Erchul** » 3 Jan 2023 8:51 am

Thank you for everything, b0b, and enjoy your well-earned and well-deserved retirement. I’ve certainly enjoyed visiting the SGF regularly since joining in 2001, and what I’ve gained from this online community you created is immeasurable. So glad we had the opportunity to meet in person at SWSGA a few years ago. Thanks again.

Allen Howington · Post by **Allen Howington** » 3 Jan 2023 9:17 am

Simply said, thanks for all that you have given all of us. Now it's time for you to enjoy all of what retirement has to offer you. Take care of yourself, and know that you will never be forgotten for what you gave from your heart, and your love for the Steel Guitar.....

William Davis · Post by **William Davis** » 3 Jan 2023 9:48 am

Thank you so much for your diligence and patience in leading the Forum for so long. It is a blessing, and we are all deeply indebted to you.

Jim Fogle · Post by **Jim Fogle** » 3 Jan 2023 11:18 am

Bob,

Thanks for your diligence, time and endurance over the years. This forum is a special pace and you have been the constant presence throughout.

Jim Fogle

Dennis A Brown · Post by **Dennis A Brown** » 3 Jan 2023 12:01 pm

Bob, many thanks for your work setting up and maintaining this forum. After lurking on this forum for about eighteen months, I made the decision to buy a psg. The information and advice available here was instrumental (pun intended) in making that decision. Enjoy your retirement.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 3 Jan 2023 12:53 pm

b0b, somehow I missed this thread until this afternoon.

First, hearty congratulations on retiring! This is so well deserved!

Your little idea for a steel guitar BB has changed my life in myriad ways - including being the conduit to my second career as a writer on music. I am so grateful for this place and for your level-headed and masterful stewardship of the Steel Guitar Forum. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Jim McGinnis · Post by **Jim McGinnis** » 3 Jan 2023 2:17 pm

Bob, thank you for all you have done for the Steel guitar community. I think I have been a member since almost the beginning. You have brought us together as a STEEL GUITAR family. Your impact has been unmeasurable. Enjoy your retirement. Well deserved.

John Sims · Post by **John Sims** » 3 Jan 2023 2:35 pm

b0b,

A big THANK YOU for your hard work and dedication! Without you and this forum, I'd have given up on steel 20+ years ago. Enjoy your time off and stay well sir!

The Steel Guitar Forum

Time for me to retire.

Lessons that we can all Learn from

bOb