Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

TUBEGASM

TUBEGASM

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I find it disturbing that I've learned more about cool inexpensive guitars, killer pedal mods, and DIY amps, in a couple of years kicking around on these forums than from having subscriptions to some of the major guitar publications for many years. I don't think I have ever heard mention of Agile or Edwards LP copies in Guitar World......ever. Just protecting the Big guitar brands that pay the bills? And hardly ever a negative gear review to boot, only some slightly less stellar than the rest. I still enjoy seeing new gear and song tabs, but WTF?:boggled:
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

I agree. I can't remember ever seeing a negative review on any piece of gear in the major publications. It's all about dollars and cents.
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Yep, and car magazines with glossy foldout Chevy ad's aren't going to say anything against Chevy cars, so on and so forth. Its how magazines work.

Your lucky in alot of guitar magazines to even get a "review", as half the time its a press blurb straight from the manufacter.
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Guitar Techniques...'nuff said. I stopped buying GW after a few months, because I found it a waste of money. If I'm going to shell out $10 (or so) on a magazine, I want more than tabs that can be found for free off the internet. Guitar One has had some very helpful issues, but I prefer the Guitar Techniques. It's about $15(a bit more), the magazine is full of lessons and letters/questions from players, and it comes with a 40 track CD.

Reviews in Guitar World and even G1 are laughable most of the time. If GW has comprehensive reviews, we may as well start calling nose-picking a "medical procedure".
Moreover, lessons (arguably what people buy these magazines for) in GW are too often features like, "_______teaches you how to play the riff from ______". That is almost insulting as a lesson.

Don't get me wrong... Zakk Wylde, Warren Haynes, and Dickey Betts have had some cool insights in their GW segments, but even they fall into the "play my riffs" trap every so often.

However, if reading about gear is one of your main reasons for buying the mags, Guitar Player has more comprehensive gear reviews than most.
 
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Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

i still buy lots of mags..... some from the Uk but most from the USA... my local Canadian book store Chapters has a great selection.. i find when it comes to gear reviews in most monthly Mags it only covers the more common stuff.... stuff like Edwards i'm not sure is for sale in North America or is it? if not then the mags from America would skip that stuff i'm sure...

In the UK mags i see reviews of gear i can't buy here.. Viger being one
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Any magazine that is candid about the products their readers use, will lose their advertisiers in the process. If you want honest opinions about products, talk to all the musicians you can & check out forums like this. Works the same for every magazine in any field.

"Ahhh...I get it. So it's a profit deal." Quote from Navin R. Johnson, in "The Jerk"
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

What can a guitar mag give you that you're not getting from a forum?

An experienced, educated reviewer?

Pics?

Something to read when you're on the can?
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Companies send them their guitars to be reviewed - which means they get better models then what you would find in a store. Considering the fact that they don't over-criticize anyone (maybe just to keep on getting fun gear to try out) you get too many positively biased reviews there.

But hey, I don't trust the Harmony Central reviews either... too many split humbuckers that give you classic SRV tones and too many stomp boxes that are built like a tank. I've seen a few tanks in my life... those poor stomp boxes don't stand a chance...
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Guitar magazines just point me to some new stuff I haven't noticed on the net. Then I read the reviews to see what they have to say about those stuff and if something seems interesting I begin the net research. I don't pay attention on something that's not interesting to me, no matter how good are the things they say about it. But I don't buy mags frequently. :P

But like in every magazine situation there are financial connections between them and certain companies which change from time to time.

Edit: I think reviews are just big ads. Companies count a lot on them to just let them be. They take care of them....
 
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Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Mags are good to use if you just want to see new products, about it. forget about objective reviews, never gonna happen with all the big money involved.
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Bought one, never again. Then again all guitar mags get her lots of months behind...
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

I stopped buying guitar mags about 10 years ago.
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

I suppose there is some value to the review clips that are on the included cd-roms, because you can actually hear the product, which works for amps, but when reviewing guitars you almost never see what kind of amp they play through, chances are it's not a v3112 like mine. And now that people are posting those on youtube I guess I don't need a subscription for those either.:omg:
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

I hanv't bought any mags for years either. They don't really go into great technical detail because that might just be boring munitia to many of their readers. Your much more likely to find real meat for the technical things among interested parties on a forum.

Beyond the money/advertisment angle there are other rationals for not giving highly critical reveiws of gear. The feel or the tone of something is rather subjective. They can't really give an objective reveiw, because what they might consider mud, might be rich mids to some one else, or what's ice pick in the ears, might be just clear highs to some one else..and so forth...The same applies to feel or action on a guitar. I know the action I like, is considered almost unplayable to some of my friends.
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Lake Placid Blues said:
I hanv't bought any mags for years either. They don't really go into great technical detail because that might just be boring munitia to many of their readers. Your much more likely to find real meat for the technical things among interested parties on a forum.
Click to expand...

Amen. I'm hooked on the SD forums, I check HC sometimes, but there are alot of freaks and trolls there. lol.
 
Re: Guitar mags don't give up the goods.

Metalblaze said:
Edit: I think reviews are just big ads. Companies count a lot on them to just let them be. They take care of them....
Click to expand...

You have no idea how true this is:

"For just X amount more, we will do a full page color ad before the table of contents (prime spot), and a review with quotes you can use in the very same ad"

I've seen full page ads in the middle of the review before! For magazines, I like Guitar Player, but in the past they have been guilty too- it seems overall a lot better these days than in the early 2000's.

GW's review section is just a list of specs. Their CD rom is a commercial, bought and paid for. If I read one more review that sums it up like 'If you are looking for a Strat, you might want to look at this one'...what kind of opinion is that???
 
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