Welcome to SevenString,org, you're new here, so I thought I'd take the time to welcome you and teach you a few things about the site that will make things much easier for you as a new member.
A Note On The Forum's Search:
While the forum has a built in search feature it has some quirks. Namely:
-It does not work with queries of three characters or less. So if you try and look up "EMG", "RAN", "G&L", "777", "JEM", "SD", "RG7", etc. it'll return zero results.
-It works via tagging. Thus, if threads are improperly tagged, it's going to significantly limit your results.
How To Search:
This forum has been around for quite some time (going on 6/7 years now), so chances are a lot of what you're going to ask, or want to know has been covered, often many times over.
The best way to search this site is actually to use Google. Many of you may know this method already, but for those that don't, I'll explain it as clearly as I can.
First, open up a new tab in your browser, and go to Google.
Now type your search term into Google. For example, lets use "Ibanez Guitars" as the search term.
It should go something like this: Let me google that for you
Now, to get Google to seach SevenString.org for "Ibanez Guitars" you'll want to put this: Ibanez Guitars site:sevenstring,org into Google (replace the "," with a "." of course).
It should go something like this: Let me google that for you
You'll notice all the results you'll get are those from here, SevenString,org.
Please, feel free to make a thread, especially if searching doesn't bring you the results you want/need.
Necro-Bumps:
A "necro-bump" is when you post in (which "bumps" a thread to the top of the forum) a thread that's quite old and it's last post was months, or even years ago. Typically, anything that hasn't had a reply in 6 months or more, is pretty much dead. Necro-bumps are frowned on around here, especially when they are, for all intensive purposes, pointless.
For instance, say you find a thread which hasn't had a reply in a year. The thread shows a guitar that you think looks awesome. As tempting as it may be to post a comment saying "That's a really cool guitar!", that would be necro-bumping.
What does necro-bumping have to do with searching? Well, 99% of necro-bumps are from posters who find the "dead" thread via a search. So careful not to accidentally necro-bump when searching. It happens to a lot of folks though, so don't worry if you do it and then realize, you won't be instantly banned.
Is there ever a good reason to necro-bump? In fact there is. If you find an old thread and can contribute a significant amount, then feel free. For instance, say you wrote a killer song a year or two ago and recorded yourself playing it on YouTube. You then find that, that video was posted in a thread and everyone LOVED it, but the thread is almost a year old. Feel free to post that you're the creator and offer tabs and insight into your tone.
So, what are these green bars under our avatars?
These are a part of the forums built in reputation system, or "Rep". Just like reputation in the real world, you'll have a reputation that follows you around here. If someone finds a post you make to be of merit, or just plain funny/interesting, then they'll press the little "scale" symbol underneath your avatar (the picture under your name), select "approve" and have the option to write a friendly little message. This will add to your "Rep". The more rep, the more green bars.
By that same token, if someone finds your comment to be negative, stupid, or just plain not what they like, they'll choose "disapprove" when they click the scale. This will take away from your rep. Too many "neg-reps" and you're bars will be red.
Does rep really mean anything? Not really. It won't effect your abilities to post, or status on the site to a significant degree. That's not a license to be an ass, but you won't be instantly reprimanded if you have some red bars.
What if I don't agree with rep I receive? Us Moderators can't do anything to change it, but if you do receive neg-rep in bad faith, we can have a stern talking to, to the guy who did it.
A Note On The Forum's Search:
While the forum has a built in search feature it has some quirks. Namely:
-It does not work with queries of three characters or less. So if you try and look up "EMG", "RAN", "G&L", "777", "JEM", "SD", "RG7", etc. it'll return zero results.
-It works via tagging. Thus, if threads are improperly tagged, it's going to significantly limit your results.
How To Search:
This forum has been around for quite some time (going on 6/7 years now), so chances are a lot of what you're going to ask, or want to know has been covered, often many times over.
The best way to search this site is actually to use Google. Many of you may know this method already, but for those that don't, I'll explain it as clearly as I can.
First, open up a new tab in your browser, and go to Google.
Now type your search term into Google. For example, lets use "Ibanez Guitars" as the search term.
It should go something like this: Let me google that for you
Now, to get Google to seach SevenString.org for "Ibanez Guitars" you'll want to put this: Ibanez Guitars site:sevenstring,org into Google (replace the "," with a "." of course).
It should go something like this: Let me google that for you
You'll notice all the results you'll get are those from here, SevenString,org.
Please, feel free to make a thread, especially if searching doesn't bring you the results you want/need.
Necro-Bumps:
A "necro-bump" is when you post in (which "bumps" a thread to the top of the forum) a thread that's quite old and it's last post was months, or even years ago. Typically, anything that hasn't had a reply in 6 months or more, is pretty much dead. Necro-bumps are frowned on around here, especially when they are, for all intensive purposes, pointless.
For instance, say you find a thread which hasn't had a reply in a year. The thread shows a guitar that you think looks awesome. As tempting as it may be to post a comment saying "That's a really cool guitar!", that would be necro-bumping.
What does necro-bumping have to do with searching? Well, 99% of necro-bumps are from posters who find the "dead" thread via a search. So careful not to accidentally necro-bump when searching. It happens to a lot of folks though, so don't worry if you do it and then realize, you won't be instantly banned.
Is there ever a good reason to necro-bump? In fact there is. If you find an old thread and can contribute a significant amount, then feel free. For instance, say you wrote a killer song a year or two ago and recorded yourself playing it on YouTube. You then find that, that video was posted in a thread and everyone LOVED it, but the thread is almost a year old. Feel free to post that you're the creator and offer tabs and insight into your tone.
So, what are these green bars under our avatars?
These are a part of the forums built in reputation system, or "Rep". Just like reputation in the real world, you'll have a reputation that follows you around here. If someone finds a post you make to be of merit, or just plain funny/interesting, then they'll press the little "scale" symbol underneath your avatar (the picture under your name), select "approve" and have the option to write a friendly little message. This will add to your "Rep". The more rep, the more green bars.
By that same token, if someone finds your comment to be negative, stupid, or just plain not what they like, they'll choose "disapprove" when they click the scale. This will take away from your rep. Too many "neg-reps" and you're bars will be red.
Does rep really mean anything? Not really. It won't effect your abilities to post, or status on the site to a significant degree. That's not a license to be an ass, but you won't be instantly reprimanded if you have some red bars.
What if I don't agree with rep I receive? Us Moderators can't do anything to change it, but if you do receive neg-rep in bad faith, we can have a stern talking to, to the guy who did it.
Thanks for the Search tips Max. 
