PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTACTING BUMBLE...

Hey all!

I've always enjoyed corresponding with each of ya in the past, reading and answering every email personally. But after exceeding hundreds of emails a day, spending 6 hours a day doing it, the typing caused numbness and pain in my hands and started to affect my ability to play guitar. I've had this problem in the past, and need to back off on typing before the damage gets worse, and permanent. When rehearsing, recording, or touring, I stay off the computer as much as possible, and stay focused on bizz.

(Anything written below is there because I've been asked a few too many times...)

*I will not answer questions about Guns N' Roses' business - that includes album releases, tour dates, future plans, other band members, leaked songs, promo/marketing questions, etc. GNR's bizz people will give you confirmed information about GNR when they decide the time is right, in the way they want to announce it - it's not my place to step on their toes, you won't hear any GNR breaking news from me. If you don't hear confirmed info directly from GNR, it's probably just a rumor.

*I can't do personal interviews, or interviews for school projects. Simply not enough time.

*I can't give you free merch. By 'free', I mean you expecting me to pay for the manufacturing and the shipping expenses. Too many people ask for me to give them merch and my belongings (guitars, pedals, clothes, documents...) and I don't have time to pack merch and make runs to the Post Office. I can't get you other people's autographs either - it's not my place to make this kind of merch available.

*Other than attending a meet-n-greet, if you want autographed merch it's available at the BumbleStore where a portion of the proceeds goes to charity.  I'm not doing it any other way.

*Please don't give me gifts on tour.  I appreciate the kindness and good intentions, but traveling light and keeping it light is important on tour, and we can't be shipping boxes home from overseas and buying additional suitcases to accommodate all the gifts.  The best gift you can give while we're on tour is a heart-felt 'thank you' and a hand-shake.

*Please don't mail me gifts.  I truly do appreciate the kindness and good intentions, but I have no room left in my house!  My house is filled with boxes of gifts that I no longer have room for.  Sure, I can add an extension to my house just for gifts, but it'd be so much more appreciated if you just emailed 'Thank you' to me.  :)   Odds are I may not see what you send me for months as I'm touring often.  'Unsolicited' mail will not be opened or returned...

*I won't fetch other bandmembers out of their hotel room and interrupt them Skype'ing their families so they can take a photo with you in the lobby. If you see them yourself, ask them yourself, and if they want to take a pic or sign something they will.

*Please don't ask me to pass along your personal messages or introduce you to anyone else. I'm not anyone else's messenger, I don't set up anyone else's 'meet-n-greets'.

*I will not give you anyone's contact information. I will not give any travel information. It's a security risk - if some nutbag shows up at the hotel and makes a problem, security will ask 'Who told anyone our info!?', I'll say 'I told one of the 50 people that asked me for the info on Facebook & Twitter that all said << I promise not to tell anyone >>', and I'd be part of the cause of whatever damage was done.

*I can't call you, you can't call me, we can't Skype chat, we can't make plans to hang out together, I can't go to your wedding, or have dinner with your family, any of that. I barely have time to see my own family - if I had time it would be with them.

*Please don't ask me to make a wedding or birthday video for your friend/family member.  I barely have enough time to get anything done that I need to and don't have enough time to record and edit personal videos for everyone that asks for them, I get too many requests.

*I can't get you a job or intern position on the crew with any band. If you don't have experience as an instrument tech or driver or lighting guy or video guy or pyro guy or production assistant or stage carpenter or any other touring job, get 20 years of it somewhere else and prove your competency and ability to work well with others. At that point the band's tour personnel will know of your existence and ability on his/her own.

*I can't get you free or discounted musical equipment.

*If we haven't spoken since age 10, please don't ask if I can get your cousin's friend's wife's co-worker's neighbor's son free tickets and backstage passes for all his friends to next week's show. There are security issues, plus you're asking me to strain my relationship with everyone in the group by being responsible for people I don't know and have them hang where other members need their privacy and space to prepare for the show. I can't get you backstage passes to other bands' concerts either. Whatever it is you're asking for, please understand that 20 people have probably just asked me for the same in the last ten minutes.

*I can't get you tickets to shows. I can't put the hundreds of people asking me for tickets on my guest list - there is a limited amount of tickets given to our production staff by the show promoter for the band/crew's family and close friends, and there's usually not enough room on the list for them. Band members don't have tickets for shows 6 months away on other continents, that's not how it works. If a show is sold out, try contacting the person running the show.

*Please don't ask me to wear your company's shirt on stage, it feels like I'm being used as an opportunity for you to promote your own interests. I need to wear what I'm comfortable wearing, what I choose to wear, from my clothes.

*Please don't send me your company's shirts in the mail along with a request to take photos wearing them - I'm not a walking billboard, I can't be putting time into making photos for your company's promotion.

*I'm unable to donate to every charity and organization that comes to me. I will not promote any charity event or organization unless you can provide 100% proof that everything is legit and that the proceeds will go where they're supposed to.

*It's a challenge working in a time to teach one-on-one guitar lessons, with the recording and touring schedule as it is.  If I do any teaching, I'll post an announcement.

*It takes a lot of time to write out guitar parts for your favorite songs - I just don't have enough time to do it. I don't know why your guitar isn't working right, I can't diagnose the problem and fix it through emails. I can't give everyone personal advice on how to improve on the guitar, not enough time.

*I can't be a guest on everyone's album that contacts me. Time is so scarce, I have to be more choosy than I'd like to be. Also keep in mind, I do this for a living and would need to be compensated.

*People constantly send me music to listen to and review, all the time. I can't do this all day for everyone, I don't have enough time.

*I'm not looking for an intern at my recording studio. If that changes, I'll post an announcement.

*Too many people ask me to reply to Tweets and leave comments on their Facebook pages for me to oblige, I get hundreds-to-thousands of messages day and night non-stop, I can't get to it all.

*Every time I respond to messages I'm making my hands go numb and am taking time away from making music - please keep this in mind before sending a 'How are you?' message followed by a 'Why haven't you answered me yet?' message an hour later, thanks.

*I can't be your band's manager, setting up a business plan and giving contacts and continued advice. I can't get you an audition for a band, or submit your demo to a label. I can't be your band's booking agent either - I can't help you get gigs, I don't know where you should play when visiting the US.

*I will not post and promote links to your site. Too many people ask me to do this and I need my posts to be my own. If I post everyone else's sites and links for them, my own messages will be lost in the 50 other postings I make for other people.

*I can't promote your band's contest on my social media pages and tell people to vote for you. It would be unfair to the other 10 bands that also asked me.

*I AM NOT GOOGLE. Once again, I - AM - NOT - GOOGLE. Do your homework on whatever information you're looking for about music gear, the weather, cutlery, skydiving apparel, whatever it is you're looking for. I am also not CUSTOMER SUPPORT for whatever issues you have with Twitter or any online business sites. Don't ask me to do this work for you when it's something you can and should do yourself.

*I am not the official NYC or LA tourism board. Please Google the travel and nightlife information you're looking for.

*My wife is not a free online medical advice service - I will not pass along your veterinary questions to her. If you have a veterinary question, ask your vet, or if you need a second opinion, find a local vet who can do a physical exam and access the patient's medical history.

*I can't be your therapist. I'm not qualified. I can't give you daily motivational messages. It's not my responsible to keep you happy, I don't even know you.

*I will not raise your children in the event something happens to you. I will not be a godfather to children I've never met, for people I don't know. Enough people have asked these things to add this to the list. I care and appreciate the honor, but those responsibilities should be trusted to people that know you and your family personally.

*NO MEANS NO.  I do what I can, but I can't do everything for everyone.  If I can't oblige your request, for whatever reason, no explanation required, don't give me attitude and act entitled as if I'm your personal servant and I owe you - I will blow up on you, curse you the f**k out and filter all future emails straight to the trash.  Zero tolerance for spoiled brats.

Thanks so much for your understanding. :)

bbf