Username: Password:

Author Topic: Gear Reviews (what is the point)  (Read 6336 times)

FELINEGUITARS

  • Middleweight
  • *****
  • Posts: 6609
  • London & Southeast's Number 1 BKP stockist
    • http://www.felineguitars.com
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #15 on: April 04, 2010, 09:54:15 PM »

Much truth in this

I've never seen a review that was really scathing, so I have to conclude that either

- The stock has been cherry picked
- The reviewers are inclined to give more favourable reviews or qualify and rationalise flaws to keep manufacturers sweet so they dont lose advertising revenue.

Either way it means that they arent to be trusted.


C'mon - it makes sense that a manufacturer would make sure a product was up to scratch if an influential magazine was going to revue it and expose it's merits or flaws to a wider public- if your band was playing an important showcase gig - you'd rehearse a bit first wouldn't you.

In truth I make sure every guitar that goes out plays well - and that is probably true of most small makers who care about what they do.

I think on the second point the magazines have to be sensitive and constructive in any issues or points that they raise when criticising a product. If they wrote a review that just said it sucks nobody would be happy, so wording is important - or checking with the maker to see if they got a duff one perhaps
www.felineguitars.com - repairs & custom built
Great fretwork!
Buy your BKPs & Earvana from ME!

MDV

  • Middleweight
  • *****
  • Posts: 6945
  • If it sounds good it IS good
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #16 on: April 04, 2010, 10:50:02 PM »
Oh, I'm not blaming anyone for doing it like that - If I were a manufacturer I'd make sure that everything I send for review were as good as it can be (and everything I sell for that matter edit - and something you can generally be more assured of with small builders anyway; not so much mass produce) and I'd look after my revenue sources if I were running a publication

I'm just saying that that being what happens, I dont see the reviews as representative of the stuff youre likely to pick up off the shelves or get through your door if you order a random one off the net.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2010, 10:53:24 PM by MDV »

artypaul

  • Junior Flyweight
  • *
  • Posts: 21
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #17 on: April 05, 2010, 09:48:19 AM »
To a certain extent, reviews can only ever be a generalisation. I have two or three guitars that I feel are on a par with each other, but I'll go through phases where for weeks one is a definite favourite. Then I'll pick up one of the others, and all of a sudden it will feel fresher and more interesting than it did when I was playing it day in day out. The same for amp settings - sometimes I want the familiar, and sometimes I want a change. What we all really want from our instruments is creative inspiration - and that depends as much on the context of your day's playing (mood, what you played yesterday, what sound you've got in your head today) as it does on the instrument itself. Our reviews of our own gear might change from week to week.

Added to that, what you get for your money has improved no end over the last 20 years, especially at the budget end of the market, hence the average review range being 3.5-4.5 stars. There's a lot of gear that might not be to your personal taste, but there's less that's actually definitively bad. There are certainly quality control issues (at all costs, but mostly with cheaper gear), but trying out the guitar or amp before you buy should avoid the majority of these.

I guess what a well written review is there to do is give you an idea of which pieces of gear might be worth checking out; from there it's up to you. And if you really like something that hasn't had good reviews, who cares? You're the one playing it, and the most interesting music often comes from people using gear in an unorthodox fashion. The other reason for reviews is so that we can live vicariously, by reading about expensive kit we know we'll never own but that we can still dream about. It's up to you whether that floats your boat or not.

Paul.


dave_mc

  • Middleweight
  • *****
  • Posts: 9796
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #18 on: April 05, 2010, 12:21:19 PM »
Added to that, what you get for your money has improved no end over the last 20 years, especially at the budget end of the market, hence the average review range being 3.5-4.5 stars.

I don't buy that. If computer magazines reviewed stuff based on what stuff cost 20 years ago, there'd be an uproar! Stuff IS better value now, so that's a given. We still want to know what the best stuff is, compared to what's available now, not 20 years ago.

Philly Q

  • Light Heavyweight
  • ******
  • Posts: 18109
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #19 on: April 05, 2010, 07:04:46 PM »
Every gear review seems to be rated 4/5, or occasionally 3/5 or 5/5, funny how no terrible guitars cross their pages.

It's difficult though, because there really are very few truly terrible guitars nowadays.   

A scale of 1-5 or 1-10 is pretty arbitrary.  For a start, when they give a mark out of 5, presumably that's always with reference to other guitars in the same price range.  If you measured everything on an "absolute" scale, then maybe a Chinese Squier is a 1/5 compared with a Collings or something, but that makes the Squier sound bad - which it isn't.

You could define 5/10 as "average", then mark up or down from there - but it seems unfair, since we normally expect 5/10 to mean "just about acceptable".  In fact most new guitars at any price point are well made, use decent components and are pretty well set up - more like a 7+/10.

I think the key is to ignore the "at-a-glance" star ratings and concentrate on the details of the review.


BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM

Heritage Softail

  • Junior Flyweight
  • *
  • Posts: 20
  • Heritage Softail
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #20 on: April 06, 2010, 06:06:04 PM »
I feel there are three good sources, (still need BS screening).  Self testing, peer reviews on gear forums, trade rags. 

I hit a Guitar Center 2 to 3 times a month and plug in everything interesting looking.  Check out new equipments fads.  See what the fuss is all about.  Friends in bands are good for longer term evaluations of gear.  Some are total 'fan boy' types that love anything with the latest cool brands.   Have to apply a derating factor to their comments.

I like to be in various forums and ask for a 'compare A to B' type questions.  You guys have helped me with that on this forum.  Great forum here with experienced people, informative answers, and various styles of playing represented.

Guitar rags are OK for equipment specs, but for reviews I hold them at arms length.  It is also good for me to keep in mind they are comparing like equipment in a certain price or quality band.  An excellent quality review of a 350 guitar would mean much less than a very good review of a 2000 guitar when compared to peers in a similar price band. 

The old '30 Day No Questions Asked' return policy is one of my favorite forms of gear review....  8) 

Best Regards,

Softail
I won $50,000.  Spent $45,000 on sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  The rest I wasted.

Mesa MKV, SLO

Prawnik

  • Featherweight
  • ***
  • Posts: 470
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #21 on: April 07, 2010, 01:53:01 PM »
I thought the point of gear reviews in magazines and whatnot was a form of not-so-stealth advertising, akin to product placements in movies.

dave_mc

  • Middleweight
  • *****
  • Posts: 9796
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #22 on: April 07, 2010, 05:24:13 PM »
that's what they read like, anyway :lol:

dobbins

  • Flyweight
  • *
  • Posts: 56
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #23 on: April 14, 2010, 03:26:09 PM »
Got my May edition of Total Guitar through the post today. Lo and behold, out of the 11 products reviewed, 9 got 4/5 and 2 got 5/5! I really didn't see that one coming... 

dheim

  • Welterweight
  • ****
  • Posts: 1945
  • DON'TPANIC!
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #24 on: April 15, 2010, 10:13:48 AM »
my 0.5 euros.
ratings are useless, reviews are a bit more interesting... i don't care if a neck is GREAT or 5/5 - it's all highly subjective, but if it's flat like my abdomen was some year ago or chubby like my abdomen is at the moment... (let's say an ibanez wizard against a gibson 50) a kid just focused on shredding in front of the mirror (without clothes, of course) could rate 0 my favourite neck and yet be of some use if he tells me why!
Mule, MQ, Stockholm, CS, RY, MM, PK, ANB, CNB, AWP, CWP, PiG90...

too many? ;)

jpfamps

  • Lightweight
  • ***
  • Posts: 767
    • http://www.jpfamps.com
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #25 on: April 16, 2010, 02:43:32 PM »
Magazine reviews are a good way of getting product recogniation, but from my experiences talking to a couple of people who work for magazines, they are v-v-v-v-ery careful how they word their reviews to avoid using any negative language.

One consequence of this is that you end up with a Lake Wobegon type situation where all the gear is "above average", which of course can't be the case.

dave_mc

  • Middleweight
  • *****
  • Posts: 9796
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #26 on: April 16, 2010, 08:35:57 PM »
Lake Wobegon?

But agreed.

How come computer magazines don't do that, then? I mean, I only occasionally buy one (normally when I'm buying a new PC, just to get reaquainted with them), and they slag stuff off merciliessly all the time. Bigger industry, is that it?

Prawnik

  • Featherweight
  • ***
  • Posts: 470
Re: Gear Reviews (what is the point)
« Reply #27 on: April 19, 2010, 11:47:04 AM »
It is almost a truism in the magazine publishing business that your real customers who must be kept happy are the advertisers.

The readers are an afterthought.