Any guitar reviews you really trust?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Follow them guys who already have more than 1000 posts.
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I dont necessarily agree here. There are lot of great people on this board. But post count doesnt necessarily have anything to do it with. Some of the most biased opinions here have high post counts. But it doesnt take long of reading peoples posts and you figure out who is who. There are those that know and share there are those that regurgitate what others have said and theres the village idiot. The people I respect most are those that speak from personal experience.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

On the other hand, just some dude on youtube saying "here's my new guitar and it's awesome" isn't much better

Most amateur reviews are useless for exactly this reason.

The UK Guitarist mag said that the first Line 6 Pod sounded as good as any valve amp and the Marshall AVT head was as good, if not better, than a vintage Plexi. They carry ads for both companies.

Most professional reviews are useless for exactly this reason. Although, the sly reviewers are often adept at damning with faint praise. Sometimes you'll see one that concludes with something like, "If you're in the market for a product that does pretty much what this one does, you're in luck, because it happens to be one of fifty or so things on the market right now that does pretty much what this one does. So go check it out!"

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

I dont necessarily agree here. There are lot of great people on this board. But post count doesnt necessarily have anything to do it with.

I have to agree with this. I have nearly 5,000 posts in a year's time, just from this user name. Not counting the stuff that I've deleted. And most of it is fluff that has nothing to do with experience or knowledge that's ever going to be useful in the gear rooms. But when I do post something, it's my honest perception; I don't make stuff up.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

one's self is the only trustworthy reviewer. I am highly opinionated/biased to what I like to use and what I don't, and being this is a discussion forum, I'll opine all day long. EDIT_ doesn't mean everything I don't use sucks, just that it's not for me.

Usually I tend to throw out the negatives of even my fave gear- I used to do reviews of Archery equipment in the Archery industry , and I was able to do that sucessfully at first because I was very objective, and my reviews were sometimes a bit brutal. Your average bowhunter loved it. And like guitars, I have had dozens and dozens of bows since 1990 or so ( I stopped counting around 60). Eventually a start up company (who is now an Industry giant) asked me to be part of their marketing/shooting staff under the VP of Sales. They loved my honest feedback and critiques against competitors products as it helped improve their own equipment. I stopped doing reviews because it was a conflict of interest. Eventually, my objectivity ran afoul of loyalty to the company and my integrity (rightly so) began to come into question- by myself, as well as by the "average guy". Although I was being as honest as I thought I could be, I started to doubt myself- am I saying nice things when I shouldn't? Am I being too rough? Did I sugar-coat that? And as the company exploded in popularity, the friendly "we want your honest feedback" atmosphere disappeared and they wanted sheeple, just like every other major manufacturer. I stopped enjoying archery and the industry, and I quit it altogether. It got that bad for me. I did not like even the thought of myself losing integrity.

Bottom line, there is alot of pressure from both sides of the retail industry as a reviewer, and it's best to just stick to facts, and let the consumer decide for themselves what is best.

 

[jimo]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

[ It doesn't have to have the best workmanship or materials to make a great player, and you can mod a lot of things yourself anyways.

I think this is a very important point.....My 52 reissue feels better that my $100 Squier Bullet Strat---but so what?..I can play the Squier just fine..it doesn't have to feel the best, it still works, no big deal really---I probably play it as much as the 52 Reissue. As i always say..."If you get famous, they will GIVE you anything you want...so why drive yourself crazy now"???? hahahaha...Cheers!! JIMO

 

[blueman335]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

I believe reviews are no more useful than as a means to learn about new products and their specs in order to know what to keep a look out for to try, nothing more, nothing less.

When I bought my Michael Kelly Limited I tried I believe 7 "identical" ones. All looked and for the most part felt the same but no two WEIGHTED or SOUNDED even closely the same... It's all subjective...

+1. Absolutely. I look at reviews just to see what new things have come out. But I can't put much weight into much of what they say. It's so heavily filtered.

And your example of Michael Kelly's applies to any guitar; high end models don't have as much variation, but there's still some. It's unavoidable with anything made mostly of wood. And if 7 players each wrote a review on those 7 Michael Kelly's...

 

[blueman335]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Most of the people I know who own Gibsons look at me blankly when I ask them what pickups are in their guitar, or else they answer, "Humbuckers I think." :friday: And yet they think because its a Gibson it AUTOMATICALLY must sound better than any cheaper guitar. They also dont know how to set up their expensive toy so might be playing with crazy high action and generally playing a horrible instrument. But its a Gibson!

+1. Most players know nothing about their guitars, no matter what they spend on them. Gibsons have the potential to sound great, with a good set up & the right PU/magnet combination. But when they need a set up or the PU's just don't fit the wood's EQ, then a Gibson doesn't do him any more good than any Epi. If you have a mid-price import and can do your own set ups and swap PU's and/or mags, tone-wise you're on a level playing field with the average guy playing a high-end American guitar. That's empowerment.

You know what's better than any reviews, by anyone? Dan Erlewine's book on setting up guitars. That, and this forum for information on PU's, mags, and electronics. You can turn a so-so guitar into something nice.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

In the 70s and 80s, Guitar Player used to do what I thought was honest reviews. They could be positively vicious if something wasn't right. Their 'shootout' style reviews in the 80s and 90s were great to read, because they would list all of the bad stuff in their review model, and tear them apart if something wasn't right.
Now reviews are more like a list of features, with little editorial content. They always end with a wishy-washy sentence like 'If you are looking for a stompbox, you might want to maybe consider looking at this one'.
Many magazines are worse. I have read 1000s of reviews, and I swear, some of the reviewers never held the actual product in their hand. No editorial content, just stock pictures (some even the photoshopped mock-up prototypes), and just a list of specs.

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

I don't even read guitar reviews anymore- at least for practical reasons. If I do read one, it's simply for entertainment "oh..cool. a PRS SC58"

Having owned so freaking many guitars over the years, I guess I just could care less what someone else thinks of that particular one they received...there is just way too much variation. Not to mention what I like and what everyone else likes can be radically different- "slim fast neck" usually translates to "painful hand fatigue" for me. "narrow midrange focused tone' also usually translates as "embalmed due to a 1/2" coat of thick crappy plastic finish"

Not to mention most of the guitars I like or would want to own have proven themselves over and over again for the past 35-60 years, and there is nothing all that "new" I'm interested in.



I will read amp/pedal reviews though to get an idea of tone and features.

+1

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Every guitar magazine or website seems full of ads for the guitars they review. They also seem to give everything a minimum of 4/5. Since Consumer Reports doesn't do guitar reviews, are there any you guys trust?

It seems to me that even if they aren't directly corrupt, the guys from the mags probably know or hang out with guys from companies, like luthiers in their area, etc. and might find it hard to slag a company in press if it means guys will lose jobs, etc.

On the other hand, just some dude on youtube saying "here's my new guitar and it's awesome" isn't much better

They like to say they don;t want to waste print space on substandard gear. while there is a certain logic to that I have found too many of ther 5 stars to be more than a little lacking to trust any thing a guitar rag has to say about anything

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Nope.

My own hands = the only guitar review on the planet.

I can read the features on the tag, thank you very much.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Now reviews are more like a list of features, with little editorial content. They always end with a wishy-washy sentence like 'If you are looking for a stompbox, you might want to maybe consider looking at this one'.

+1. Things are too commercialized these days to expect to get honest assesments in a published 'review.' Trust your own instincts. Why spend your money to buy what someone else likes?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Guitar and amp reviews come about in one of two ways.
1) the magazine requests a review sample of the product because they believe that their readers will want to know about it.
2) the manufacturer offers its product to the magazine for review because the free publicity should increase sales of that product.
2.5) Both of the above.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the manufacturers, distributors, retailers and reviewers of guitars and amps. They all require your attention. They need your demand for a product to warrant their supplying of it.

Earlier, richard parker cited UK title "Guitarist" magazine as an example. Yes, they are guilty. In their defence, the tastes and bias of some of their regular contributors are sufficiently well known that it is possible to extrapolate the truth from between the lines of their gushing prose.

Bottom line, trust none of 'em. Never believe the hype.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

If I'm really interested in something, I'll read the User Reviews on Harmony Central. You have to do a lot of "reading between the lines". And then it's like Olympic judging, I throw out the high and the low score; and go from there.

:1:

Bill

 

[Markk]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

I believe reviews are no more useful than as a means to learn about new products and their specs in order to know what to keep a look out for to try, nothing more, nothing less.

This. Sometimes I pick up a guitar mag just to see what's happening in the world of guitar, but other than that, not only are the reviews worthless, the magazines are filled more with ads than with content, and the ones here went from around 6 tabs per mag to 2 yet have gotten more expensive over the last few years. A complete waste of paper practically.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

I trust my ears via youtube videos. then i trust google to provide me with many many reviews which I read then decide.

 

[Maz]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

I read the reviews on Musicians Friend and Guitar Center. In my experience the people who care enough to review on those websites actually know something about the instrument. There are a couple people on youtube who I trust. I sometimes watch the Guitar World reviews, Paul from Guitar World usually puts out some good information, but he puts too much treble in his tones.

Of course it all comes down to what I think when I actually play the piece of equipment or instrument. My friend Joe who plays rhythm and sings in my metalcore band passed a very obvious but valuable piece of information from his grandfather who has played for around 60 years to me. "When you pick up the right guitar, you will know"

Although, I'm almost done with reviews. In December I picked up a new computer, all the reviews were 4 or 5 stars. 5 months later that $1200 fried it's hard drive. Not the same as guitars but...

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

"When you pick up the right guitar, you will know"

This is what happened to me the last time that I visited my nearest Fender stockist.

Allowed myself to be "persuaded" to try an AVRI '62 style Stratocaster. Recognition on first touch.

Plugged into a Princeton Reverb re-issue. Selected bridge pickup. First rake of plectrum on strings. Confirmation!!! Big grin. Big hole in bank balance.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Any guitar reviews you really trust?

Harmony Central was really useful until some fool ruined it. Yes, there were a lot of idiotic comments but it was easy to pick out the ones worth listening to.

I haven't bought a guitar mag in years and probably will never buy one again. I used to buy both American and UK guitar mags in the 70s and 80s. The American mags I remember as having better interviews but uesless gear reviews which were usually just the manufacturer's specs. The UK guitarist mag was okay at first and the sole reason I bought a JB. The last few times I bought the UK Guitarist mag too many of the reviewers came across as patronising, sneering egotists who talked more about themselves than the products.

If I want to get a feel for a product I'll come here or to a couple of other forums. Youtube can be useful to get a rundown of a products features. In the last few years I've bought a number of items without trying them out - Microcube, Blackstar Drive pedal, Boss OD3 and a Cornford Roadhouse. I'm pleased with all of them and have based my purchases on extensive internet research.

Professional reviewers are the last people I would take any notice of.