What is up with Harmony-Central?

JeffB

JeffB

Let it B
The reviews section is a trainwreck....

For every good, solid review (content-wise, not neccessarily the rating), you get 5 rants, 2 where half the fields aren't filled out, half are shouting in all caps, most numeric ratings don't match the comments, and the majority seem to be written by someone who thinks he/she is some kind of comedian or feels the need to throw expletives/artist insults left and right to get a point across. :rolleyes:

I used to do technical reviews in the Archery Industry (now you know why I'm so wordy :D), so maybe I'm being a bit anal retentive, but it's really frustrating when I'm trying to learn about a particular pickup for example, and after reading 20 reviews of the Cool Rails, I feel I don't know anything more than I did before I read the "reviews".

They really need an Editor (or better one) for the reviews section.

BTW.. I keep seeing the word "emo" thrown around..is this a style/genre of music?
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

HC.... was a good idea at first, but now, even some cheap SS Crate/Peavey get rave reviews...

Too much people in there. I read them for fun now, nothing much.

We had the idea of putting up a gear review page some months ago...
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

I like to think my reviews I post there might help someone somewhere who uses that as a source exclusively. Besides most people here don't seem interested in my reviews. :blackeye:

Luke
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

To many kids, to many posters lacking in real professional experience posting reviews.

The up side is that since so many people play at home and not in a pro situation at least you can go to Harmony Central and find out what an amp or guitar will sound like in your bedroom. :laugh2:

Lew
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

The reviews at HC suffer from the same problem that amazon, Musician's Friend, and others do. People that review the equipment are usually new owners that are so excited to have their new toys they can't wait to tell everyone how cool they are. I think sometimes they're not so much a review as they are a support group for others who got suckered into buying the same piece of crap they did. They're all stuck with it so they might as well come up with some good stories about it.

Still it can be a good source of information. I try to look for patterns in the reviews. If more than one person has a complaint about a particular feature (no matter how trivial it may sound) I see that as a good indicator of a potential problem.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

Hence why I don't post any reviews there ...

then again I don't post too many reviews here, but then again ... I haven't bought much guitar stuff in the past 5 years ...

then again ...


:D:D
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

I dont trust reviews for anything at all. I am still not an experienced player, but when I need to get something I bring with someone that has experience who could give me their advice.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

poopsmith921 said:
I dont trust reviews for anything at all. I am still not an experienced player, but when I need to get something I bring with someone that has experience who could give me their advice.
Click to expand...

That's the way to go.


If I see all 10's in the review, I don't bother reading it. I scroll down and look for less biased reviews.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

I love H-C. I learned a great deal about gear on there. I'd take what I hear about on forums and look it up. It's no substitute for playing the actual amp in person, but it usually gives a solid understanding of the model at hand.

One doesn't usually see a review on their from someone who has owned the amp for years and can accurately comment on the reliability.

Tone is different to each individual as well. One person's dream tone may be Jimi Hendrix, while another is Dimebag Darrell... the ratings are all going to be relative. I bought my Hot Cat to get vintage type tones and I'd be better off selling the amp to fans of Offspring, A Perfect Circle, Thrice, Thursday etc.

The key is to take into consideration the reviews of people who show that they have experience with gear in general. If I saw a rave review of a Marshall by someone who has had a solid state Crate and a Fender Jag-stang, I wouldn't hold it as accurate as someone who has owned Suhr, Gibson, PRS guitars and Matchless, Bruno, Two Rock, Bogner, Fender etc.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

I think we should leave this site/forum exactly the way it is. The reason why harmony is such a mess is because of that review section. If we had one here, it'd just be an invitation to all the kids, who should be playing instead of writing uninformed reviews.

HACKMONEY CENTRAL

HACK = someone who sucks
MONEY = who cares, any idiot can scrape up a few bucks for gear
CENTRAL = Epicentre for talentless punters
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

the only people that can write an accurate review are good guitarist, bassists etc...
If you can't play worth a damn the gear won't be worth a damn. I have gotten rid of amps when I wasn't serious about guitar because I thought they sounded like sh*t when it was me that sounded like sh*t. I played one of my old amps the the other day an wished I'd never sold it.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

JeffB said:
I keep seeing the word "emo" thrown around..is this a style/genre of music?
Click to expand...
emo is a style of punk rock and also a style of dressing and attitudes among today's kids.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

I too discredit most of it, but look for patterns based on the reviews that seem somewhat genuine.
I love the : Im 9 but I been playing 6 months so I know my %^#$ about gear!

And: I once knew a kid, who had a friend that had a friend that once read that x-gear is a piece of crap. So it is.. Now my Memphis bolt on Lp copy with one double pickup thingy and 2 inch action RULZ! Every time I play it, I sound just like CC deville! (plug in fav one hit new metal artist here) I kid you not. This guitar makes me so much better than I am.. You have to get one. 50 stars!

Sad, because it was/is a great concept and tool. Id love to see a reviews section here, with mostly genuine folks and stringent mods.
Ill volunteer to verify. After you post your review, you have to send that piece of gear to me, so I can play it. If your review is accurate, Ill leave it, if not, Ill correct.. :)
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

nepalnt21 said:
emo is a style of punk rock and also a style of dressing and attitudes among today's kids.
Click to expand...


Man the times they are-a-changing ... back in the day (Good lord I shouldn't be saying that) emo wasn't really all that punk ... and it was always kids
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

Harmony Central is the wrecks of what was once a very good place. Their forums are the hiding place of many bitter winging hacks. Dont go their to get unbaised information period even on un-guitar related things.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

Guess I am not alone then :)

Some of the reviews are indeed well done, but they are a rarity.

The forums are....hmmmm.....interesting :D
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

I think it also depends on what you are looking for a review for. I think you'll get a better review of a Rivera Fandango, for instance than you would for a Fender Blues junior. Each are fine amps in their own right, but the Rivera is going to attract a higher level of player who understands tone. The Blues Junior may also attract that same type of player, but will also attract the kids who saw it at GC and bought it because it's the flavor of the week. Try things out and use your ears. Take the reviews with a grain of salt.
 
Re: What is up with Harmony-Central?

boonhogganbeck said:
I think you'll get a better review of a Rivera Fandango, for instance than you would for a Fender Blues junior. Each are fine amps in their own right, but the Rivera is going to attract a higher level of player who understands tone. The Blues Junior may also attract that same type of player, but will also attract the kids who saw it at GC and bought it because it's the flavor of the week.
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This is SO true!

You also have people who play something for 20 min. in GC and write up a review. I just don't get that. You don't own it, can't have practiced/gigged with it, it's probably not set up optimally, and it's only 20 min.

Before I posted my review on my Z I had owned it over a year. I had went from the giddy new feeling, to the "it's old hat" feeling, to the "I hate it" feeling, and then to the "it's an important ingredient in my tone" stage. Yeah I rated it high, maybe too high for it to be taken seriously , but it's a boutique amp and produces great tone. I have been guilty of wanting to overrate things to overcome someone else underrating but usually I can control that urge. :) I compared it to other simple amp designs (single channel with reverb) and compared to them is where I got my ratings.

Luke
 
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