What would you like to see in your ideal Guitar magazine for the 21st century?

xSkarloey

Since a few of us have been picking faults in the current crop of UK guitar print-based publications, I'm interested to know what you'd really like to see in your ideal guitar magazine. 

I'm saying magazine for convenience, but one of your criteria (as I think mine might be) would be that it should be web-based only. And ideally free! 

Anyway, I'll say no more and leave it over to you. 

 

guitargeek62

Tone Report (Pro Guitar Shop and Premier Guitar team-up) does it pretty damn well if you ask me. Weekly issues, daily videos, and their iOS app is really nice to use - but I'd prefer to read Premier Guitar on an equivalent app. PG's monthly e-zine is brilliant though, just not as accessible.

Mainly, I like to see little mention of Bonamassa, Future Publishing, or "Paul" from Guitar World.

frankus

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Nudity.

Handsome_Chris

Well than you @Frankus.  It only took 5 minutes to descend to a base level.

xSkarloey

frankus;173280" said:

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Nudity.

We'll class that as 'guitar p0rn' then.

But no naked photos of a Parker Fly, okay?

frankus

All I'm saying is my wife doesn't have the blindest bit of interest in the years of Guitar Techniques gathered in the bookshelf - seems like a sensible place.

Other than that... I think I'm curing myself of playing guitar.

mart

I really enjoy some of the features that Guitarist have done recently, e.g. where they looked at the issue of copies, fakes, etc. 

I also love seeing head-to-head comparisons, like when Guitarist looked at the Bernie Marsden SE and compared it with a Gibson and, IIRC, a '59. And when they do it blind, like they did with some amps, it was even better.

I do enjoy reading some reviews, but only of stuff I'm at all likely to buy, and I can't expect an editor to be able to predict that!

Actually, I'd love to see some reviews and comparisons of old gear. You know, buy a '75 Strat and a '95 Strat and give an honest opinion of them, and their differences. Or compare old with brand new versions.

Most of the interviews with guitarists are deathly dull, or just pathetically bigging up their latest product. I find interviews with gear manufacturers, whether it's effects, amps or guitars, much more interesting. Even those could be better with a bit harder questioning, like when some effects guy bullshits about the paint on the casing changing the sound - challenge him, and see how he responds.

bertie

recipes  

ROOG

Practical projects, i.e. "lets make a ..."

Explanations on how to set up your guitar

Articles on why it is, geometry, etc

floppy plastic record stuck to the cover so you can hear samples using gramophone

How to bake a cheese wrap on your Marshall output stage

blueskunk

Well one guy id love to see in guitar mags is Joe Bonnamassa who never seems to crop up.

richardhomer

Neville Marten NOT buying another R9, that is so much better than the last one which he so foolishly thought was good enough when he bought it....

impmann

Rig run downs - in depth ones with decent pics
Reviews that don't just give 4 stars for everything
Secondhand market roundup - sort of a marketplace news page. What seems hot, what's not - this could be tied into a roundup of the crazies from eBay and Gumtree
Shop visits - secret shopper
Tone factory - how to nail the tone on a particular track (using real world gear)

Just a few ideas - I'd gladly edit the magazine if anyone would like me to. I haven't edited a mag since 2004 but I used to be rather good at it...

ThePrettyDamned

I think total guitar comes pretty close.  They're labelled as teenage, metal shredz types, but actually, they've had features in the last year on The Beatles, Clapton, Hendrix, Trivium, Metallica, Brad Paisley, Johnny Marr and Warpaint.  

And more.

That's not awful... But for the terrible quality reviews (I'd sooner look on a forum), too many ads, high price and not enough on guitar set up, modifications and terrible gear reviews.  The gear reviews are a let down, too.

I hate it when they review stuff.

And to be honest, you can just get tab books in whatever genre you want anyway.

ThePrettyDamned

Also, you can browse the web on the loo now, so I don't think mags are needed.

underdog

The one thing I'd like to see, and it'd be possible in a web based and free format, is genuine "blind" tests. 3 or 4 guitars tested from the cost spectrum of a type and reviewed without the reviewer knowing what brand or cost they are. It'd be great finding out a Vintage matched a Mex strat, or an epi beat a Gibson, something that could only happen if you don't have sponsors to please.

ThePrettyDamned

underdog said:

The one thing I'd like to see, and it'd be possible in a web based and free format, is genuine "blind" tests. 3 or 4 guitars tested from the cost spectrum of a type and reviewed without the reviewer knowing what brand or cost they are. It'd be great finding out a Vintage matched a Mex strat, or an epi beat a Gibson, something that could only happen if you don't have sponsors to please.

Funny you should say there, there was a blind amp test fairly recently and it compared a Line 6 valve amp, fender Deville and a few boutique ones.

Surprisingly, the favorite was the Fender.  

JookyChap

I think it should have the ads from Thomann where they listed prices that were a load lower than all the other ones in the mag. Used to make me laugh in Guitarist, thinking about all the other advertisers.

Does anybody read the free on-line iGuitar? I always think I'll read that on the toilet but the extension lead isn't long enough to get the PC in there...

Bellycaster

95% Off *insert desired gear* Coupons.

Serious answer is I'd like to see some of the smaller builders getting some recognition. That said I don't read them much, but I guess it's the same old Companies that get the limelight, "you scratch our back and we'll scratch yours" etc.

How cynical of me.

/:)

underdog

Trouble is with featuring the smaller builders how many people who play guitar are going to be interested and buy one? It's a catch 22 for the mags, they review the usual suspects but in reality it's because that's what we buy. I'd like reviews with out all the wine tasting balls about a breezy top end, and bottom end with a hint of plum and all the rest of the unquantifiable Shit they spew in reviews, often without telling you much about the item.

ThePrettyDamned

Not only that, give a small company a good review in a mag, and they are overwhelmed with orders, get stressed, quality drops, more inexperienced staff are taken on, waiting list increases, quality drops more... 

So that's a real risk, I think.  Small builders seem to do quite well thanks to the internet and word of mouth.  That doesn't mean making a fortune, but enough to keep them going.  

Dave_Mc

Good idea for a thread.

I'll just be rehashing what other people have said in here (and what was said in the previous thread), but that's never stopped me before (plus arguably it's rather apt to have rehashed stuff in a thread about guitar magazines! ) ).

Good articles (like the one about fakes etc.)- the kind of articles that most guitar players might find interesting as they're not really genre-specific.

A DIY section and/or information about technical stuff (like pickups, say, or wiring mods, etc.)

Better reviews- I don't want gear to be unfairly criticised but a little more objectivity would be nice, too. If everything gets 4 stars, there's no point. Likewise, as I said, I don't want unwarranted criticism or nitpicking, but if it reads like an advert it's no use.

ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION OF "This guitar is so much better than what I learnt on!". I don't care. Times move on. Computer magazines don't give every current computer 5 stars on account of the fact that it's so much better than computers in 1983. You rate against what's currently available, not some arbitrary time period in the past.

No bias in favour of the "big guys" (like Fender and Gibson). I have nothing against them, and again I don't want them to be unfairly criticised (as lurching to the other, inverse snobbery, extreme is equally useless), but I've read a bunch of reviews which (paraphrased) basically said, "it's a Fender, buy it". That's no help.

If it doesn't come with a CD then some kind of appropriate reduction in cover price. If the going rate was ~£5.50 (or whatever) when you got a CD with it, it should be a bit less without one.

No refusing to review gear for almost arbitrary reasons (e.g. refusing to review copies like Tokais)- unless the things are genuinely illegal (like with counterfeits). if it's available off the shelf from legitimate guitar shops, it should be open to being reviewed, as it's an option for guitar players in the country.

Decent variety of gear from different pricepoints to be reviewed. Not all custom shop this issue, all beginner gear next one (though I realise that stuff being reviewed is dependent on what's being released). Also a decent range, from the big guys to smaller guys.

Maybe a rundown every issue on how to put together a rig for various styles of music with, say, 3 different budgets. Some of the mags used to do that (maybe it was a one-off special article) and that was good fun.

Maybe some decent lessons for different abilities.