Guitar Magazines Are Boring Now... But It's NOT Their Fault
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Let's talk about #guitar #magazines. Do you still read them? DO you still buy them? I gave up a while ago because they'd become boring, but when I think about it, it ISN'T their fault. Here are my thoughts on why.
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Even for newer guitarists, magazines are expensive now, and there's so much info available online
I’ve got to agree John, I’m a long time subscriber to Guitarist magazine, and for years now when I receive my monthly copy I’m finished reading it in 5 minutes wondering why I still subscribe! They could be so much more diverse in terms of interviewing or featuring more lesser known established artists and upcoming guitar players from different genres. Reviewing more guitars and gear that can be afforded by the majority of readers and not just the minority high wage earner readers who can afford Murphy lab LP’s or custom shop Strats.
I stopped buying Guitarist years ago due to them continually reviewing kit that was way off in price to what the majority of the readers could ever afford and continual reviews of the next custom shop this and that, boutique pedals,boutique guitars, boutique amps etc etc..they seem to think rock stars and millionaires read their magazine.
Same here, you just saved me a load of typing!
@@petergoddard1960 😆
@@petergoddard1960 Yes I did to.I started playing in the sixties and the gear was so high end it was irrelevant to me.
I used to buy my Guitarist magazine in John Menzies.... happily listening to Neville Martin and Jan Cyrka and a notable few others on the cover CD's. Going glassey eyed at the impenetrable tabs (for my skill level at the time, certainly),, and of course spending hours drooling over the strats in the Machinehead double spread, and the fancy vintage instruments on the back pages at eye watering prices.. As great as the internet and UA-cam are,, they'll never have that smell.
Similar to you John, I would buy at least one magazine a month, after a few years it all changed, they now dealt mostly with the younger generation, and genres which I neither played or wanted to play. Also the guitar & amp reviews were boutique in nature, costing only what professionals could afford, and stuff which you could only buy online. It took be a decade to realise that I didn't need a USA spec Fender or Gibson, Martin or a Taylor. Since then I have discovered Epiphone, Vintage (JHS) etc who make incredible instruments, and to me sound as good and play just as well as the aforementioned! These magazines do not show them, and the shops do not stock them (the big ones) as their profit is in selling the high end Fender, Gibson's and PRS. Rant over TY :)
Hi John, in the 70's and 80's the FACHBLATT was my monthly magazine over here in Germany. The only "Magazine" I consume nowadays on a regular basis is your channel. As a Patron I get a lot of information and access to lots of tabs and jam tracks for quite a few Euros a month...
From Germany with best regards...
Cheers mate 👍
Gary Moore graced the front cover of Guitarist more times than anyone else - I bought the first edition back in the day and still have it, along with all the others which feature him. It’s interesting to see how the magazine changed over that time and what it’s like today…
Totally agree with you, John - it’s very corporate now, in comparison. Imho it’s somewhat self-indulgent and since its last relaunch, a few years ago, much more ‘aspirational’, with a clear focus on relatively expensive high/er-end guitars and gear.
I sometimes have a flick-through the music magazines in WHS, or at the supermarket but rarely buy any now. They do seem to be a lot more expensive and I think UA-cam has replaced them to some extent - more power to the likes of you and Steve Cassidy! 👍
Never bought a guitar magazine. They were all overseas publications and thus prohibitively expensive in my country. Especially back in the early 90s when I was a pimply teenager picking up guitar...
That's what I felt john, there's only so many times you can read about the origin of the strat /les paul /tele etc, then they took to reviewing £4000 guitars that nobody in their right mind would ever take to a pub gig, ah well it was fun while it lasted....
Like newspapers, the internet- with sound and video capability- has killed off magazines. I rarely see anyone with a physical magazine or newspaper anymore as everything is on your phone. Also, great UA-cam channels like this provide access and hands on in depth info on them. Great times...kinda.
I used to read guitarist in detail when I first started long before UA-cam. As you say there comes a point where you already know what they are telling you. Also applies to UA-cam videos once you know scales chords and music theory etc. I watch your channel more for the banter and subtle humour. Good job
I found guitar magazines always boring. I'm grateful I found a teacher or I would have chucked the guitar depending on those expensive magazines.
Used to love flicking through magazines in wh smiths or john menzies always being afraid someone would come over and say they're not a library. Now you can get hundreds of magazines on your phone for the price of one magazine per month but i rarely find anything interesting in them.
No longer read them, still have a few. My favourite one is a Guitar Player Anniversary edition with a long Frank Zappa interview. I think that also contained the floppy single where Dweezil played with his father on stage for the first time.
I probably read guitar magazines more now than I did in the 90s. I really enjoy the gear reviews and features on changing technology, which has certainly evolved over the years. Plus, my theory knowledge is still shoddy so I still have a lot to learn 😅
Yes the humour
I wish there was an archive of Guitar Sam’ comic strip.
Never find one online
My first guitar magazine was a copy of "Beat Instrumental". Bought from Smiths in London's Euston Station. I remember it had a shootout between a Les Paul and Strat, who played them , their features, pros and cons of each etc.
After I left school and started working I bought "Beat" regularly, and also "International Musician" that came out a few years later. Plus the occasional "Guitar Player". That was quite difficult to get back then.
"Guitarist" magazine and the others were many years in the future!
The magazine I bought each month was Guitar For The Practicing Musician. I liked it because there were 3 songs in tabs in every issue. It wasn't the first place I saw tabs but it was the most common. I learns about the old Blues Masters, SRV, Chris Duarte, Kenny Wayne Sheppard and Johnny Lang. I learned about different guitars and amps and what to expect if I bought one. And of course there was always some new kind of pedal. But yeah... These days I don't see anything new in the magazines (or online for that matter). It's the same for guitar lessons. I've been playing for 50 years and finding a new thing on guitar that I don't already know and interests me is a rare thing anymore. I wish it wasn't! I miss the excitement of discovering something new and exploring it, see where it leads me, learning how I can use it.
Robbie Gladwell's guitar surgery is up the road from me. Since Martyn Booth has stopped doing maintenance and repair work to concentrate on building his guitars, Robbie is the one I go to for that kind of work.
Used to love Neville Marten’s instruction and reviews
Too true John i think they went downhill when they really just became adverts for the major companies and their reviews weren't shall we say quite as rigorous as they should be. I think I've still got a couple of "FREE CDs " from Guitar Technique's in an old box in the shed . I know Mick Taylor ( THAT PEDAL SHOW NOT THE ROLLING STONES ) said he got fed up with the whole scyophantic attitude towards certain large companies. Hence he left. I used to have quite a few of the old " FLEXI DISC'S " from various comics and magazines, i believe some of them are quite valuable now ( LIKE EVERYTHING JOHN, A DAY LATE & A POUND SHORT !! ) i had one with SLADE promoting their Album " OLD NEW BORROWED AND BLUE " . By the by i had some from from some SPECIALIST GENTLEMEN'S PUBLICATIONS enough said about that on this Family show . Anyway thanks again, have a wonderful weekend. PEACE AND LOVE TO EVERYONE ❤❤.
I used to subscribe to Guitarist magazine when you got the CD with it. I used to love Neville Martin’s Blues Headlines and jamming to the backing track. Not bought it for years now, you can access all the information you need from UA-cam channels like yours and others.
I subscribed to Guitar( previously Guitar & Bass) magazine for many years and certainly bought a number of guitars and pedals on the back of that mag’s reviews. I did notice that they would rehash previous articles from time to time, but remained a loyal customer to the end when they went online a couple of years ago. However now that you can find anything demoed or reviewed online by various You Tubers I reckon I would have stopped my subscription anyway.
I fully agree.
And the eye watering price of them these days !!!!!!
I used to buy every issue of Guitar Player, then other guitar magazines
It was fun and educational
I read and re-read them, some fell apart.
They came in handy when I taught guitar
But after I stopped teaching I wound up selling mist of them.
I’d read and re-read them so many times
I did keep a few that were in good shape.
AndI have bought the odd one here and there, most recently after Jeff Beck died.
A lot of it is online now, and they take up so much space after a while.
But I still look at them when I see them in stores, but fewer places have a magazine stand these days
I had LOADS of magazines... mostly GUITARIST that came with 💿 and backing tracks. I guess technology has took over now.
I used to love Guitarist magazine. I subscribed. I think it was Dr Robert who was responsible for my favourite ever response: QUESTION "I have a Strat from the same year as Hank Marvin's. I have the same amp, I have the same Italian echo unit, I use the same strings, I even use the same plectrums, but I still don't sound like Hank Marvin. Why is this?" Dr Robert ANSWER "You are not Hank Marvin."
🤣👍 I think I remember that letter!
I remember the floppy vinyls from 'Modern Drummer' magazine 35 years ago. Today I could sit behind a kit and play a songo, mozambique, cha cha, and a handful of other flashy patterns without understanding a damn thing I was doing, just from muscle memory.
Something about the physical product that came out only once a month made the knowledge they imparted more memorable than the 100,000 lessons that are freely available instantly via the internet.
I was a major fan and saddened by the loss of "Guitar for the Practicing Musician." I wish someone could have saved Cherry Lane ...
A 'plethora' of scales and modes and all that stuff! 🤣
One of the issues I've had with guitar magzines for quite a long time now is they seem to go around a loop of interviewing the same people, while other people such as Phil Manzanera, Bill Nelson etc rarely get a look in!
i still have all my guitar mags all i have to do now is figure out how to make an expensive guitar out of them 😁.
All instructional and gear info available online these days
So where to now in the post guitar magazine era? Any suggestions?
easier to look on youtube these days. when a new songs out theres a tutorial within hours
I bought fender JD telecaster Japan out of one those magazines, used the love reading adverts , I don’t buy anymore , as for the JD sold it couldn’t get along with it , give me a JET guitar any day 😊
It's not that they're boring, it's just that they're aimed at a demographic you're no longer part of.
Only subscribed to Bass Guitar magazine that was brilliant noe defunct sadly