Been away for ages too - surprised too see the monthly assignment has died... I played on a few myself and did a few backings too. It was good fun but I think the way it was structured may have contributed to its downfall. The really experienced players may have been in the minority but I think they scared a lot of the beginners away. Some of those BT's were awesome but after Maestro Shaz or some other shredder posted a take it almost became the end of the thread (unless another high level player posted too).

There really should be 3 streams: beginner, intermediate and advanced - with voting done accordingly. And by right the instructors should be posting takes every single month too. This is an instructional site after all, surely the instructors should be showing off their talents on the monthly assignment and giving tips and advice etc.

I gave up participating because of the lack of interest - haven't been by the site much since and I see things have gotten pretty quiet. It would be a shame to let this go, I see a lot of the other top class players have gone since this thread went quiet. For me it was one of the key features that kept me coming back to the forum.

Selection of the BT's is another thing - I always thought there should have been a vote taken over what BT gets chosen. That would probably have more submissions made too, all helping to increase participation.

If the users of this forum are interested in keeping things going I can provide hosting of the tracks and a facility for comments etc - I should also be able to include a better voting system on the page too - but only if there is any real interest... Post if you want it.