bob said: You're best off posting places like this. At the very least you'll be familiar with some of the regular posters and can get a bit of context from their opinion from that. You'll also have a bit of an idea of how long they've been playing and how good their other gear is.
Harmony central has a lot of reviews like this
"I've owned the original Gibson Les Paul (the one they actually made for the man himself) and a 1934 strat. I play through Jimi's amp and this squier beginner pack is better than them all. If it were stolen I would hunt the theif down and kill them!! It's also built like a tank because I think I saw some metal on it somewhere." and then 10's all round.
The main problem is people post as soon as they get new gear and are still in the 'honeymoon' period. Ask a married man how attractive his wife is when they're in the car from the wedding chapel to the airport and you'll get an awfully different response to if you ask him when they're both 45 and she's told him he's not allowed to go to the pub because he has to paint the fence.
You'll also hear a lot of talk about squiers being a mixed bag and every review will tell you that they played 400 of them in the shop, and they picked out the only good one and it's better than an American fender. Most of that comes down to the setup of the guitar. These things are generally quite consistent, especially when they haven't been played very much.
Really all I'm saying is take reviews from people you don't know with a pinch of salt. Read a few for things you have tried yourself and see how they match up to your own opinions, and get ready to spot the cliches.
On a similar note, most reviews from guitar magazines are quite useless. They frequently review products that they advertise. I don't think boss would be sending them very much money to print a bad review of a pedal when 4 pages ago was a two page advert for the same product.
Try and put it into context, and be especially beware of the honeymoon period.
Thank you for taking the time, Bob, I do appreciate it.
As someone who is still learning to play, and learning the hardware and the do's and don'ts, sage words are always grateful. I am getting to know people a bit on the forums here - I see the same names over and over - and have received useful advice over and over.
And what you point out about Harmony Central is 100% correct. I even suspect that some of the reviews a trolls, both underpraising and overpraising products.
But reviews don't answer specific questions and are more like a guide. This is definitely where I come when I have questions, even if they do not fall into the Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Jag-Stang motif that this site has. But that said, I don't care if people are biased toward Fender, because I am too.
What you say about setup is on the moeny too. I played a Jagmaster at the shop today, just to get a feel for how it plays. That said, the intonation was way off, the action was high and it was grossly out of tune, but it still felt okay.
As far as magazines go, I don't buy them at all. I'm not in the market for hardware, and at this stage I don't really need to hear about the techniques of other players. That comes after I can play three chords in a row without screwing up.
Sorry for the long reply, just wanted you to know that your advice is wise and much appreciated. As I have said before, I tend to value the opinions of people who know more than I do. 😀
