Your Favorite YouTube Guitar/Gear Reviewers

[Moldstar]

There is a YouTube reviewer of sorts named Ian Meadows - he clearly works in or owns a music store, and his channel has hundreds and hundreds of amazingly consistent demos of every conceivable decent acoustic currently available. There is no talk, it's just Ian and his thousand dollar Shure condenser, playing basically the same chords, licks, and progressions across hundreds and hundreds of different guitars. He is a very good player, but he makes sure he plays in a way that displays the sound of the guitar, not the awesomeness of his chops. I find his every-growing collection of reviews invaluable.

[personatech]

Originally Posted by llew

The absolute best review I've seen is the Tony Polecastro from Music Villa some years back (pre Quinton) review of the Esteban Amber Ice guitar. In a gorilla suit no less...a classic!

Thank you for this! I needed a good laugh!

[Biosphere]

Originally Posted by Moldstar

There is a YouTube reviewer of sorts named Ian Meadows - he clearly works in or owns a music store, and his channel has hundreds and hundreds of amazingly consistent demos of every conceivable decent acoustic currently available. There is no talk, it's just Ian and his thousand dollar Shure condenser, playing basically the same chords, licks, and progressions across hundreds and hundreds of different guitars. He is a very good player, but he makes sure he plays in a way that displays the sound of the guitar, not the awesomeness of his chops. I find his every-growing collection of reviews invaluable.

Said music store:

https://acousticmusic.org/

However, sometimes these videos can be misleading by omission of commentary due to the style he plays (very lightly, based on my observations). Almost any guitar can sound acceptable if played lightly. For example, how would you rate the tone of this Eastman he is demo-ing here?



Sounds OK right? But based on my own experiences with Eastman OMs (including owning two, an E1OM and E6OM-TC), because they are short scale, they do not sound all that impressive strummed in my opinion, lacking a certain "snap" I like out of guitars of similar size (say if comparing to a Martin OM-18). Furthermore, because Eastman's bracing positioning may be standard or rear-shifted, you don't get a lot of bass out of them either. Therefore, without any commentary about these things, I can imagine some buying Eastmans online unplayed expecting a good alternative to a Martin OM or Taylor GC and then being disappointed. However, obviously it is better to at least have videos than no videos. I'm not saying his videos are not valuable, they are of certain value. But to say they are "invaluable" is hyperbole in my opinion.

[Br1ck]

I once watched a video where Boucher explained the importance of his red spruce tops, and how, being the biggest Adirondack dealer, he kept the best for his guitars. It was an informative video. Then YouTube loaded a Cormeir video that click baited Martin vs Boucher. It was a D 45 I believe. What was Cormier's first point? Well one was sitka and one was Adi, but that didn't matter much for the comparison. Turned it off there. Have been skipping his videos ever since.


I like to listen to all the great players. That is as far as it goes. I like the personable video guys. First of all it's necessary to keep interest. Music Villa does a great job of, hey, consider buying a guitar from us. Any of them, we really don't care. Whatever they have, the point is to remember Music Villa has a website. You think you will ever sound like Quentin? Dream on. Buy from us, we have almost everything and we are nice folks. That is the message.

[MaurysMusic]

Matt Chulka, Doug Young and Teja Gerken come to mind.

[davenumber2]

Originally Posted by Biosphere

Said music store:



https://acousticmusic.org/



However, sometimes these videos can be misleading by omission of commentary due to the style he plays (very lightly, based on my observations). Almost any guitar can sound acceptable if played lightly. For example, how would you rate the tone of this Eastman he is demo-ing here?







Sounds OK right? But based on my own experiences with Eastman OMs (including owning two, an E1OM and E6OM-TC), because they are short scale, they do not sound all that impressive strummed in my opinion, lacking a certain "snap" I like out of guitars of similar size (say if comparing to a Martin OM-18). Furthermore, because Eastman's bracing positioning may be standard or rear-shifted, you don't get a lot of bass out of them either. Therefore, without any commentary about these things, I can imagine some buying Eastmans online unplayed expecting a good alternative to a Martin OM or Taylor GC and then being disappointed. However, obviously it is better to at least have videos than no videos. I'm not saying his videos are not valuable, they are of certain value. But to say they are "invaluable" is hyperbole in my opinion.

I don’t need the reviewer to go through and tell me the specs. I can easily look those up.

[para_adams]

Originally Posted by Dogma

So, this would be like the reviewers who give a positive review to every instrument? Has anyone ever heard a guitar that did not sound great when played by Carl Miner?

Point well taken. He certainly makes every guitar he plays sound its best. But what his beautiful playing and recording system do it let you hear each guitar's unique voice. For those that simply adore fine acoustic guitars in general, like I do, it is wonderful.

[llew]

Originally Posted by personatech

Thank you for this! I needed a good laugh!

Glad I could help!

[Biosphere]

Originally Posted by davenumber2

I don’t need the reviewer to go through and tell me the specs. I can easily look those up.

Yes, but what I mean is, based solely on the tone you hear in the video, how does the guitar sound to you? Does what you hear in the video reflect how it sounds in your hands?

This is where a reviewer going through specs or providing their commentary is helpful, e.g., on how a short scale OM would sound compared to a standard scale OM.

[abn556]

The thing I like about Ian Meadows is he plays everything the same way and gives you multiple styles: strummed, lead, finger picked, capos…. You can go back through and listen to any number of guitars that he has demoed and see how the ones you are looking at sound on his vids. The comparsion vids are also good - like D18 vs J-45.

I also enjoy the fact that there is no dialogue to waste time and distract you. There is also no hard or soft sales pitch - just playing.

[msb100712]

Matt Chulka, Dream Guitars, Carl Miner definitely.

No love for Larry at Organic Sounds? He's great.

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I once watched a video where Boucher explained the importance of his red spruce tops, and how, being the biggest Adirondack dealer, he kept the best for his guitars. It was an informative video. Then YouTube loaded a Cormeir video that click baited Martin vs Boucher. It was a D 45 I believe. What was Cormier's first point? Well one was sitka and one was Adi, but that didn't matter much for the comparison. Turned it off there. Have been skipping his videos ever since.

I read through this a couple times and must still be missing the point. What was it that Cormier did to bother you?

I have seen a few of his videos. He can be very dogmatic which bothers some and sets him apart, but that's one of the things needed to stand out as a YouTuber. He is a really good player but I get bored easily watching anyone playing bluegrass runs on guitar. Nothing against him but I just don't enjoy bluegrass.

[Rpt50]

I am also surprised at the negative reactions to JP Cormier. I don't find him offensive at all, and I think he is actually rather insightful with regard to value vs. price in the acoustic guitar world.

But the best "guitar reviewer" of all is LowEndLobster. He only does bass guitars so he is probably pretty much unknown on this forum, but he does of nice job of demonstrating the instrument in various playing styles (e.g., fingerstyle, pick, slap) while pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the instrument. He's even uncovered some outright fraud with regard to specifications (Humbuckergate).

[Stonehauler]

I don't have a favorite because not all of them review the stuff I am looking at (for instance, how many review jumbo guitars, 12 strings, etc....not many)

That said, when I do find a channel, what I really look for is a reference. That means they need to be playing similar riffs, similar chords, similar songs between all their reviews, or at the very least, between the guitars being compared during the same review. This way, I can listen between two guitars and if I have a reference (say Martin D-18 or Gibson J-45) with XYZ as the amplification/recording gear set a specific distance from the sound hole, I can then compare how the guitars I am looking at sound compared to a standard reference.

This is an issue many, but not all YouTube reviewers face, but if you are really trying to help people decide on a guitar, this is the type of video I would be watching. If all you are doing is just listening to a bunch of guitars and not planning on purchasing one, this would get old very quickly.

[L20A]

If you like Bluegrass music, you will want to watch the reviews from the Chapman Brothers on their Youtube site, The Acoustic Shoppe.
For all other guitar reviews, I like The Acoustic Letter.