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

Lixarto

Dave_Mc said:

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.

Guitars are not computers. A lot of people care about guitars from the past, and few of us learned on The Vintage Classics, we learned on what we could afford in those far-off days. A significant and important distinction.

mellowsun

I must say I really like Acoustic magazine. Now, if there was somehow a mag that had their coverage of the acoustic guitar market and music scene, with an equally good amount of electric guitar coverage as well, that would hit the spot for me.

xSkarloey

Directory of open mics/ jam nights/ local live venues.

'Sacred Cows' feature where we ruthlessly dissect a legend's career to expose the hype. Part one: Eric Clapton: "When did 'God' lose his self-belief?"

'Star with a cheap guitar' where we invite a name muso to play a set on the staff Yamaha Pacifica and Marshall MG50 through a Digitech £30 effects box. (The Edge is shitting himself as we speak at the thought of this).

"Modern Classics" where Phil Harris of G+B fame and decidedly pre-decimal tastes in gear is made to listen to new music played by 20 somethibgs using japanese gear and digital modelling equipment.

"GAS attack" our regular agony uncle column where we help readers with a gear habit.

"Gear Swap" where two readers swap set ups and report on how it went.

"Wind your neck in", the definitive guide to truss rod adjustment.

"Everyman his own tech" with our resident luthier Mark D Phillips.

"Townshend Tests..." in which our celebrity gear reviewer Pete Townshend casts his eye over the latest gear, and ritually destroys products that aren't up to scratch.

EricTheWeary

Intelligent reporting. Not that they don't do that but they don't do enough - an article on fakes or valve production or sourcing tropical hardwoods or how to make money out of gigs or something that I couldn't have written after 5 minutes on google.

Suprise me - a feature on somebody or something interesting that I probably didn't know about.Possibly from a less obvious genre or way of using the guitar. I quite like Joe Bonamassa but I don't want to know more about him than his mother does and what I don't know I could google.I don't know what it's like to play in the pit for Cats or the basics of playing flamenco.They are the fecking music journalists, do some journalism.

NO LIST ARTICLES!!! EVER!!! I do not care what the top 100 guitar moments in rock are as chosen by the cleaners at Future or even the fecking readers. These things are filler. And the net is full of that kind of crap. 

Shootouts. Loads of 'em.

Basically something to read. If I want to look at pictures and read two line gear reviews the web is fine for that.

dindude

Proper comparison tests, you know without being scared of picking a favourite at the end. Guitar Player in the 90's used to round up, say, 15 valves amps in one room, it made for a great read.

Grumpyrocker

Reviews that aren't merely a reward for advertising revenue. Rather bored of seeing a Blackstar advert on one page and a four star review of the same product on the opposite one. I just don't trust the reviews in guitar magazines. 

HAL9000

As I said in an earlier thread...

For me it would have to review the kind of stuff I'm actually likely to buy and can afford (I realise this will be different for everyone but maybe each issue reviews at least one budget, one midrange, and one high-end guitar and amp).

A bit more on the makes we don't see so often such as Gordon Smith. Reverend, Burns, etc. Especially if this gives a window to British builders.

One of the things that I used to enjoy with G&B was the Private Collection regular feature. However, after a couple of years it was just more of the same. So maybe something of that ilk but not too often.

I think the techniques bit at the end of G&B is about right so I'd probably keep that.

Always enjoy the musician interviews - even those where I'm not especially a fan of their music. It's always interesting to read how they got where they are, the anecdotes, their approach, etc.

Although I play both electric and acoustic, I never read the reviews of acoustic guitars so I'd ditch those. Let them have their own magazine!

Keep reviews of new albums, books, DVDs.

Make the December issue a proper mag rather than a GotY edition.

monquixote

I'm not sure there is that much anyone can do. 

I think most guitar magazines are relying on people who've been buying them for years (in my case since about 93), but once they stop (as I have) I don't think the generation that's grown up with Youtube are ever going to be persuaded to buy guitar magazines. 

timmysoft

I'd like to read tour diaries by actual artists, not just blues hacks who play 8 shows a year and get pampered with free gear. Rig tours with current and relevant artists, we all know what Clapton is playing and what he sounds like, but how about what young british rock bands are using.

perhaps road test reviews done by people who actually do something bigger than a pub gig, i want to know how well the gear stacks up on a miserable tour.

reviews put into sections like Budget (sub £350), Mid Price( 350-800), Top End (800 - 2000) & Boutique (just for blues hacks with more money than paying gigs) and have at least one review in each of those sections for a guitar, amp and pedal / accessory. 

Perhaps some column inches with some good technical players along with hints and tips from the touring pro's. I'd also like to see a good guitar/amp tech section.

Its always nice to have a bit of history too so covering a classic bit of kit every month is a pretty cool thing

stickyfiddle

There are some good article suggestions in here so far, but not enough to make me pay for a magazine again. 

The major think I liked about Guitarist 10 or so years ago was the reviews. It gave a good overview of new gear that you couldn't easily get elsewhere. These days by the time a new bit of gear gets a review (Squier VMs, the latest Strymon Wunderböx or whatever the newest sensation in reptile-based lubricants) there's already been 10 guys on here, TGP, Offsetguitars, MLP, etc who've already bought one, gave a big review, recorded soundclips and taken a shitload of photos. No monthly magazine can compete with that.

FWIW I really like the ToneReport iOS stuff - just a quick read every week but trying to be different from the standard reviews - talking to techs, pedal builders, touring guitarists and such. That's what we want to see. I want to talk to John Mayer about ICs in pedals, string brands, subtleties of 000 vs OM acoustics for recording. That stuff.

p90fool

I don't care what's in it, just talk to me like I'm an adult.

If I'm buying a specialist magazine, you can assume that I already have a little knowledge but actually crave some more detail, if you put every single fucking article in terms my five year old can understand I have no reason to buy it.

Read Sound on Sound magazine to see how this can be done. It's written by qualified, enthusiastic industry professionals, not rockstar-fantasist tabloid hacks. They DO address newbies in certain how-to-get-started articles, but not in every single frigging one.

grungebob

All i want is honest appraisals of any gear, doesnt have to be cheap or expensive just honest opinions on it. Also some of us aint theory savie so give me a few examples on how to move scales about and a backing track to try it out over. I dont just play one style so chuck in basic examples of anything you fancy and give me a backing track to play along with.

You could chuck in some album reviews too if you want but thats not really needed.

xSkarloey

I don't think album reviews are essential either.

A lot of the reviews are of blues or heritage acts, neither of which appeal.

I do like the idea of the secret shopper. G+B used to do that. Wonder why it went?

I'd like to see some feature of the kind asking "What's all the fuss about...?" where they pick apart the pros and cons of various supposed classic pieces of gear.

EricTheWeary

monquixote said:

I'm not sure there is that much anyone can do. 

I think most guitar magazines are relying on people who've been buying them for years (in my case since about 93), but once they stop (as I have) I don't think the generation that's grown up with Youtube are ever going to be persuaded to buy guitar magazines. 

I think that's basically right.

The other thing they are doing is the specials type stuff - the How to Play Funk Guitar type things that are in the magazine racks and sell for magazine prices but are just one offs.That, to me, makes sense even for the youtube generation as so much internet stuff is bitty or little more than an invitation to pay for something else.Although, having bought one of the blues ones it now sits with all the other largely unused tutorial stuff on a shelf as it was painfully dull and just not that well explained.I think there is potential there but they need to be a bit smarter and not just churn stuff out, hoping something sticks.   

crunchman

The big problem for me is the reviews.  They do all the new models, but actually if I'm going out to buy a guitar or a pedal I'm more likely to go for something that's been out for years and won't have been covered in a recent review.

If I want a drive pedal my first port of call will be an OCD or a Tube Screamer.  Neither of these are new products and they just don't cover them.

They need to do more feature stuff - comparisons of different eras, different price points, to existing classic gear, and try to educate people to the differences.

Roland

A specialist magazine should focus on the realities of guitar playing and maintenance, and not on what the larger distributors want to sell us.  Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in what's new to market, but I don't want it rammed down my throat.  So from a middle aged reader's perspective I'd like:

Comparison reviews.  It's not about which is "better", because that's a value judgement based on a set of criteria, and each of us may have different criteria.  It's about how they are different, and why you might want to choose one over the other. One of the benefits of Which magazine is not their verdict, because that rapidly goes out of date, but the evaluation criteria which they used.

Specialist subjects. For example: Fret board radii, who uses what, pros and cons. Pickups, and why they sound the way they do.  Valve biasing, the effect if crossover distortion, and different amp types use it (here's a good example http://forum.fractalaudio.com/cliffs-notes/79049-understanding-power-tube-bias.html).

Live rigs.  I'm happy to hear who's on tour. In exchange for a bit of publicity I'd like to know what equipment they are using, and how they came to that decision.

Recording.  Again happy to accept a bit of publicity in exchange for hearing how the song was written and arranged, and how it was recorded.

Playing.  The very first dvd that Guitarist did had a video, I think it was from Thomas Blug, and it was fascinating to understand the level of detail that he thought about to get his sound. Similarly I once heard an interview where Tommy Emmanuel talked through how he played a particular piece. At one point he said (and I paraphrase) "I try to mute the 6th string with this finger, but if that doesn't quite work then I do this on the next note". Fascinating detail.

impmann

I've thought of a way of including Bonamassa so he doesn't feel left out...

"Now get out of that" - each month he is presented with a piece of gear that he must find a way of getting a tuneful noise out of. The readership could suggest the next month's piece of kit. He must find a way of making it sound good within the context of his music, and then demonstrate to the readership how he arrives at the settings etc. First month... an Audtion 15w practice amp from the mid 70s.

:-)

JAYJO

I would like a Fretboard Fanzine. Nothing glossy or expensive just a monthly rag produced by members of this forum . I think there is  enough nouse on here to produce 12 of these a year and it would be ace to see were it leads to.Everyone who wants to can have a pop at writing for it and someone who is more equal than the rest of us can decide what to go with etc!! Effing ace idea. 

only downside of the full frontal Frankus callendar. he will make every month look like January!! 

EricTheWeary

JAYJO said:

only downside of the full frontal Frankus callendar. he will make every month look like January!! 

Or February - as it is the shortest month!

Ba dum tish!

Neil

What can they do?

Guitarists are pretty much steeped in the past with their 60 year old designed guitars and use of valve technology.

I fell out of love with the guitar in the '90's and never bought a Guitarist or Guitar mag again. Since my renewed interest my wife has occasionally picked me up a copy of Guitarist when she is out shopping and it is as if I have never been away!

Thinner now because there are far less ads than there was before the general usage of the internet which in itself must have really impacted on written mags.

If I could think of a magical way to make Guitar mags better I'd say it but I'm afraid their time seems to have passed.