Do any of you still buy Guitarist?

fretmeister

I bought the latest one just because of a pedal review.

Didn't tell me anything an amateur YouTube demo told me. Won't bother again.

Loobs

You bought it just for a pedal review? Why didn't you just read it in the shop? 

DrJazzTap

I used to buy it every month when i was about 14-16. I found even then they'd recycle the same old interviews or techniques every year or so. I genuinely stopped learning anything of any use around that time. The magazine became increasingly bloated by adverts. And a lot of gear tended to get very high reviews. Still gave me my first taste of Mahavinshu Orchestra.

As a bit of a Holdsworth fanboy, I bought some old magazines which had some interviews with him in. If you look at the old magazines the level of technique and lessons given far surpass what's on offer these days. Maybe changing times and attitudes? Guitarists aren't necessarily interested in diminished sweep picked arpeggios as much these days?

Now it's some guy who strums a few chords in the latest band of the week. I'll buy the mag if the cover interests me, but only if im going on a train journey or coach trip etc. I find the magazine now, will only keep me amused for that length of time. Whereas back in the day it would be a once a month thing. Maybe forums and youtube have changed that?

JDE

@DrJazzTap - have you ever had a butcher at Just Jazz Guitar? It has some good stuff in there. Happy to send you an issue at random from my stash for you to cast your peepers over. Just ignore the typos.

DrJazzTap

Ooo if you dont mind, i can paypal you for the mag if you wanted some money towards it.

Evilmags

Like Jal, I get it or download it if I´m traveling. It has certainly dropped in quality and some of the writing is terrible. That review really does take the piss. It shows that they are financially constrained and have little idea of how to monetise things, especially given what an amateur mess  Musicradar turned out to be. Frankly what it needs is some young and hungry writers. They´d be cheaoer so hardly a risk for the publisher, given everything about the current magazine screams in dire financial stakes.

richardhomer

Dave Burrluck is undeniably a very knowledgeable writer (he wrote for IM and G & B before he was poached by Future). He also wrote the original PRS book.

I generally like his reviews - clearly in the quoted example, he didn't pull any punches - he told it like it is, in terms of Gibson's current quality. Perhaps the 'scores' are added later at editorial level? The suggestion of bias towards advertisers doesn't really convince me either - Gibson rarely advertise in Guitarist.

Some aspects of the magazine have improved. Simon 'Bradders' Bradley may have come across as a nice bloke but was neither a good player or writer. I would take any review written by him with a pitch of salt as I never considered him sufficiently discriminating to have an opinion I could respect.

The real issue is places like this. Does anyone writing for Guitarist have more knowledge about pick-ups than The Guitar Weasel, or ICBM with amps? The answer (IMHO) is 'no'. So why pay nearly £6.00 a month to read essentially the same old stuff, when you can interact FOC with experts on line?

Presentationally, I believe the magazine to be very good. Do I learn much from it, on the odd occasion I know buy a copy? No.

As I have said before, I doubt it will survive until the 35th anniversary issue. Which is a shame - but in all likelihood - an economic reality.

sted

I used to love it but have gradually become more disappointed culminating in this months issue which contains a massive survey on who uses what, I mean really? A bloody survey is the centre article? No thanks.

57Deluxe

...got the latest cos of the review of the Tone King Majesty (now renamed Royalist!)... am a big Tone King fanny...

I wrote a letter in to get star prize couple weeks back - will let you know if it is used! If not - I will enjoy using back issues as nice artistic bum-wipe...

(New Editor geezer looks like a dude from Gear Wire)

57Deluxe

JDE said:

@DrJazzTap - have you ever had a butcher at Just Jazz Guitar? It has some good stuff in there. Happy to send you an issue at random from my stash for you to cast your peepers over. Just ignore the typos.

Ooer - I love Jazz mags...!

Elx

Loobs said:

I used to love it, bought it religiously from the age of about 12 until 21 or so. 

Guitar Player (US) is a fantastic magazine. They feature a really diverse range of musicians from classic to avant-garde, to metal. Always cool gear too. I subscribed to it for a long time. They also had cool jazz lessons and what not. 

When I was 15 me and my mate were given a collection of Guitar Player magazines (1981-1991). I learned everything I know from the lessons in those magazines...I still do it, but my choice is Guitar Techniques these days...

Loobs

I need to get just jazz guitar

chrispy108

I had a subscription to Guitarist years ago (probably 16 to 19 or so), read TG when I first started playing but stopped as I preferred just messing about with the tabs I wanted online, used to read Guitar and Guitar Buyer most months too.

Stopped when the cycle of articles went round, and I added up what I spent on mags in a year!

My 'problem' is that there is more quality writing online that I want to read than I have hours in the day, so why pay for more?

Babones

I used to buy Guitar World from '91, throughout the 90s and then the odd one in the early 2000s, but when all that Nu Metal started taking over, i lost all interest completely. I only recently offloaded my collection. They were fun for reference, for the old ads and articles.

usedtobe

Loobs said:

You bought it just for a pedal review? Why didn't you just read it in the shop? 

I hate people who do that! Buy it, or don't buy it - it aint a ******* library, fella!

mellowsun

I still subscribe, but the current 30th anniversary issue was a low point. Making reader survey results the central focus was disappointing. 

My biggest beef is with the Vault. It's a real kick in the teeth to subscribers. We don't get automatic access, we have to enter words and page numbers the same as casual buyers. And having to download the videos rather than watch them streamed is straight out of the mid-90s. 

It's a disaster, and why anyone thought it was an improvement over the CD/DVD is a complete mystery. They might as well put all the content on YouTube and be done with it.

The new 'Guitarist presents Acoustic' quarterly looks pretty decent, but is clearly designed to destroy 'Acoustic' magazine (which is superior, although very hard to get hold of as hardly any branches of Smiths stock it). 

While 'Acoustic' feature smaller builders, 'Guitarist presents Acoustic' chooses to focus on Taylor and PRS (no surprises there). Which suggests that, as with the main mag, the target market are well-heeled boomers. Given that the boomers control most of the property wealth and have access to the best pensions, probably this is a wise marketing decision.

p90fool

Why on earth would I buy a specialist magazine written by people who don't know anything?  Or if they do they hide it well because they're so busy writing it in terms my mum can understand.

Don't write "P90 growl" for the bazillionth time, just fucking tell me, is it like an early 50s P90 or one from the mid-50s on? Didn't know there was a difference? Why not? It's your JOB you useless wannabe-tabloid prick...

A random example I know, but they never get any more in-depth than explaining how a humbucker works, surely it's supposed to be aimed at guitarists, not just random readers in a dentist's waiting room?

Dave_Mc

^ I have a theory on why that is. I have a vague recollection of seeing a job advert in one issue* where they wanted a writer, and they required you to have a degree in English Literature (and/or maybe Journalism), while "an interest in guitars was an advantage**". That explains a lot, if you ask me. I agree with you, I don't want to read some really well-written article which tells me nothing I don't already know about the specialist subject- while I don't want to read something which is horribly-written, the specialist subject is the priority. I'm not convinced other graduates can't write (and if they can't that's a bigger problem), not to mention a cynic would say most of the guitar magazines aren't exactly currently making Oscar Wilde jealous in the sophistication of their prose even with all their English/Journalism graduates.






* I'm actually not sure it was Guitarist, it could've been one of the other guitar mags, but I think it was Guitarist; even if not, I assume they all do something similar)

** That's paraphrased, obviously. Or it may have been "an interest in guitars is required", but it certainly wasn't required to have a degree in luthiery, or guitar playing/music, or electronics.

fretmeister

Loobs said:

You bought it just for a pedal review? Why didn't you just read it in the shop? 

I was dragging the kids around with me. I should have made them wait.

57Deluxe

Dave_Mc said: ^ I have a theory on why that is. I have a vague recollection of seeing a job advert in one issue* where they wanted a writer, and they required you to have a degree in English Literature (and/or maybe Journalism), while "an interest in guitars was an advantage**". That explains a lot, if you ask me. I agree with you, I don't want to read some really well-written article which tells me nothing I don't already know about the specialist subject- while I don't want to read something which is horribly-written, the specialist subject is the priority. I'm not convinced other graduates can't write (and if they can't that's a bigger problem), not to mention a cynic would say most of the guitar magazines aren't exactly currently making Oscar Wilde jealous in the sophistication of their prose even with all their English/Journalism graduates.

* I'm actually not sure it was Guitarist, it could've been one of the other guitar mags, but I think it was Guitarist; even if not, I assume they all do something similar)

** That's paraphrased, obviously. Or it may have been "an interest in guitars is required", but it certainly wasn't required to have a degree in luthiery, or guitar playing/music, or electronics.

/\ I used to be in PR and had a division of Hewlett Packard Networking as a client. I had a good relationship with one of the Networking magazine's editors... One day we were all sitting round after a mind-numbingly boring presentation and got talking about stuff we would rather do if we could. He pipped in he wanted to work on a classic car mag by virtue that  A) he was an editor already and    he had a 1975 VW Golf... He now is a staff writer on a Classic car mag... or 'Classic Horse & Cart' as I call it...