THE BEST?

[buddyhu]

I doubt that anyone asking what is “best”, believes that they will get a reply that will be objective, or that they will learn what is “best” by canvassing the AGF membership.

It is just a shorthand expression, intended to elicit input that is somewhat relevant to the person asking.

And it is very common on the internet. Try Googling a nuanced question about something, and see what results you get. Then do a simple (and sometimes grammatically incorrect) search that asks for “the best” whatever, and see what you get. Most of the time, the latter choice works better (at least, it has for me).

[jaymarsch]

I generally stay away from lists that show up on the internet ranking things from worse to best. So many things people rank are so subjective. I don’t find these lists generally very helpful. These lists can be helpful if you are looking for a blender, a lawn mower, or another product that performs a task to a set of criteria but even then not completely objective.
Thanks to the OP - best post that I have seen on the topic. :-)
Best,
Jayne

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

I see so many requests for 'the best' of stuff. How on earth can anyone state that 'xxxx' is 'the best'? A reply might offer something the respondent thinks is the best they've seen, but I think that is the extent of realistic judgement.

Originally Posted by buddyhu

I doubt that anyone asking what is “best”, believes that they will get a reply that will be objective, or that they will learn what is “best” by canvassing the AGF membership.

It is just a shorthand expression, intended to elicit input that is somewhat relevant to the person asking.

I totally agree with both. Obviously, (I hope) there is no best. But there are so many choices out there and nobody got time for that.

I suppose a reasonably accurate question might approach: I've got this new 000 XXXX guitar and I don't want to buy one set of every string on the market. I know most of you don't even own this guitar, and the ones that do might have completely different needs in terms of both string feel and tone - but what are the best strings for this beast?

But it's just too clumsy. And a great deal of the time the answer is worth about the same as asking your neighbor which beer you should drink. But I often find myself on the Google machine asking the best something or other. After reading 20 minutes of opinions you can at least eliminate some of the options and construct a decent list for a choice.

Life is messy. We'd like it to be much neater. We're funny that way.

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by Arapaho G

Aren't we just talking here?

Maybe, but what if someone says something that’s incorrect or misleading?

Could be dangerous.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

…I think it’s likely that folks are just canvassing the members of a knowledgeable forum in order to find out what the enlightened ones think is the “best”…..if a number of the people who respond point to a specific brand make or model as their idea of the best then it gives the person that posted the query an idea of what to be looking at….it’s not as foolish a question as it appears to be….besides….everyone eventually realizes the best is the one they don’t have….

My thoughts as well, Patrick. It gives people to provide their experiences within some price range to an OP.

[Mikecraig1]

Studies have proven that blue is better than brown, so buy a blue guitar.

[Jim Comeaux]

Originally Posted by kizz

Something is best until something else is better...

Anything can, at the same time, be “better” or even “best” and still not be “good”. It all depends on what standard it is being judged by.

[Robin, Wales]

I think that folks asking "what would be the best...." is a completely legitimate question to post on the AGF. The "best" is related to the stated criteria. Sometimes it takes some digging throughout a thread to find out what the OPs criteria are (because of the "I don't know what I don't know" factor) but ultimately there will be a "best" option related to those criteria.

So you could take the question "What is the best guitar for me?" as an example. It already has one criteria and that is "for me". So threads normally then have folks asking questions of the OP. It could turn out that the OP is a 12 year old kid who has saved up $350 and wants to sing some Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Taylor Swift etc songs accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar. Or it could be a 65 year old experienced player who has joined a gigging bluegrass band that single mic's on stage and the OP is looking for a dread and set-up that would be good fit for that scenario. The "best guitar" would be different in both cases - but the question "what would be the best...." is legitimate.

[Kh1967]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

I think that folks asking "what would be the best...." is a completely legitimate question to post on the AGF. The "best" is related to the stated criteria. Sometimes it takes some digging throughout a thread to find out what the OPs criteria are (because of the "I don't know what I don't know" factor) but ultimately there will be a "best" option related to those criteria.

So you could take the question "What is the best guitar for me?" as an example. It already has one criteria and that is "for me". So threads normally then have folks asking questions of the OP. It could turn out that the OP is a 12 year old kid who has saved up $350 and wants to sing some Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Taylor Swift etc songs accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar. Or it could be a 65 year old experienced player who has joined a gigging bluegrass band that single mic's on stage and the OP is looking for a dread and set-up that would be good fit for that scenario. The "best guitar" would be different in both cases - but the question "what would be the best...." is legitimate.

Agreed. It seems like a reasonable question to me.

Given the state of the universe, fretting over the word “best” in a thread asking for opinions, seems pretty benign.