Note to Acoustic Guitar magazine

[Benjo]

I once commented in a thread here at AGF about how useless I find most professionally done guitar reviews. That they seem like they are not critical or exacting and read more like advertiser puff pieces/sponsored content. I got polite pushback and disagreements in the friendly way we do it around here. But it's interesting to see others saying a similar thing in this thread.

Like the very specific issues I've had w some of the previous guitars I've owned would almost certainly never come up in a review like in Acosutic Guitar. For example, the very sharp corner where the fretboard meets the neck on the Breedlove Concert series. I've never encountered that in a guitar before and it made it downright painful to thumb fret. That corner dug into my thumnb something fierce. It was so uncomfortable that it was a big factor in my selling the guitar. I asked a friend to try it and he agreed. That might be somewhat arcane but it's a fundamental ergonomics issue as I found out once I began playing the guitar for hours a day. I'd go so far as to call that a design flaw bc there's no need to make the corner that sharp.

Or having to sell a Taylor jumbo due to jumbo size being too big for someone 5' 8" to play sitting down fingerstle on for hours a day because of how my right shoulder was forced upwards and eventually caused severe shoulder pain.

I sure would appreciate levels of critical detail like that in a review. Even if it's just a caution that the size may be too large for many players, since the size of the Taylor wasnt a flaw in any way, just a notable factorthat limits the guitars suitability for some players.


But like others here have pointed out, gear reviews in professional guitar mags would likely never be so negative. Contrast that with computer reviews where reviewers will absolutely trash major company hardware if there's an issue or clearly call put if it's something that may only suit specific needs.

Semi related: for high end guitar reviews, especially on YouTube, i think they should be played and reviewed by players who can really play, not just strummers who can do basic arpeggios using only fingerpicks or a pick (not there's anything wrong with that, but a $10k Lowden or Santa Cruz really needs to be played by an experienced fingerstlist who has the basics or tone production using his or her nails or who can get a richer sound than is commonly produced using fingerpicks). Not throwing shade at other playing styles just saying that gutars that good should have their tonal range demonstrated in reviews.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Blackmore Fan

I'm still waiting for the FIRST review that says the equivalent of "This piece of gear is terrible and/or over-priced."

I hear this a lot on AGF, and am genuinely curious why that would be useful. Why do you want that?

Just speaking for myself, when I do reviews, what I try to do is figure out who something would be good for. There are very few pieces of gear out there that are total trash, and if there are, well, I certainly would not want to waste my time writing a review of a complete piece of junk.

But every piece of gear has a target market, and therefore also has a non-target market. At least for me, I view the reviewer's job as identifying that and letting people know.

Example: I might be reviewing a guitar with a long scale length and extra wide nut width. I could describe that guitar in several ways:

"Yuck, this guitar is terrible for people with small hands who only play in standard tuning"

or

"This guitar is worth looking at if you are a fingerstyle player who uses lowered alternate tunings and prefers the roomier feel of an extra-wide fretboard".

One sounds negative, the other sounds positive, but I'd argue the 2nd one provides more information, and actually tells people with small hands to avoid the guitar even better than the negative statement. What I discovered early in writing reviews for AG, back when we were suppose to list 3 Pros and 3 Cons for every product was that usually all the Pros were also Cons, it just depended on whose viewpoint you took.

It's easy to say something sucks. It's also easy to say something's great. The challenge is in figuring out who a piece of gear is good for, and by extension, who it might not be good for, and trying to convey that info (in an unfortunately small space in many print magazines)

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Benjo

Like the very specific issues I've had w some of the previous guitars I've owned would almost certainly never come up in a review like in Acosutic Guitar. For example, the very sharp corner where the fretboard meets the neck on the Breedlove Concert series. I've never encountered that in a guitar before and it made it downright painful to thumb fret. That corner dug into my thumnb something fierce. It was so uncomfortable that it was a big factor in my selling the guitar.

If this is truly a general defect, I'd expect a reviewer to mention it. And I've seen mentions of things like this - I recall a review I did where I pointed out a very uncomfortable handle on an amp, which seems somewhat similar. But this may be hard to catch - did you notice it before you bought the guitar? The reviewer might not notice it either. And if their size, hand-geometry, playing style, etc, is different, it might not be an issue for them - I've never seen this guitar, so I don't know how blatant the issue is. I've sold guitars that over time I just didn't feel comfortable for some reason, but it's often taken me years to realize what was going on.

Or having to sell a Taylor jumbo due to jumbo size being too big for someone 5' 8" to play sitting down fingerstle on for hours a day because of how my right shoulder was forced upwards and eventually caused severe shoulder pain.

This is almost exactly the example I posted at the same time as yours. I'd at least hope I'd call out something like this. A huge guitar might not be good for people of smaller size, and vice-versa. So telling people "this is a big guitar" would be important. A lot of this probably belongs in a general "how to choose a guitar that's right for you" article, tho. There's a certain point where you have to know what your personal constraints are. I have a similar problem with cars - so many have low roofs these days. I'm tall. My head hits the top of the car... Very few reviews will call this out, tho they may say something like "this new design is more aerodynamic", which raises my suspicions :-) Fortunately the specs are usually available so I can go look at headroom, and of course I can go to the showroom and try it out. But I don't really expect a 5'8" reviewer to warn me about headroom, they just aren't going to notice any issue. And my wife would say, small car with a low roof? Perfect!

Semi related: for high end guitar reviews, especially on YouTube, i think they should be played and reviewed by players who can really play, not just strummers who can do basic arpeggios using only fingerpicks or a pick (not there's anything wrong with that, but a $10k Lowden or Santa Cruz really needs to be played by an experienced fingerstlist who has the basics or tone production using his or her nails or who can get a richer sound than is commonly produced using fingerpicks). Not throwing shade at other playing styles just saying that gutars that good should have their tonal range demonstrated in reviews.

Funny, one of the complaints I've seen multiple times here on AGF is that the reviewers are often good players. People say they want to hear how the guitar sounds with a bad player :-) Never got that one either...

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by StringMeUp

Jayne do you get yours on an iPad?



The app seems to be all messed up. I keep getting a message I need to connect to the internet even though I have an internet connection. My subscription expires in May, but I have not been able to access the digital version in months. Has anybody else experienced this?

I have accessed it on an iPhone and a Windows laptop, not an iPad so can’t speak to any formatting issues with that. But, I have found them to be responsive in the past to emails if I had any issues. That’s been a while though so not sure what their staffing is these days.

On another note, Peghead Nation is another digital arena for guitar/string music content with lessons and reviews. I enjoy their offerings very much.
Best,
Jayne

[Norsepicker]

I've posted previously on this topic, but I just want to say how much I've benefited from Doug Young's writing, particularly on DADGAD (it's led me to search out his books), Mary Flower (I've now got a whole set of her tunes all from the magazine), Fran Guidry and Led Kaapana on Slack Key, Steve Baughman on clawhammer and Irish music, and numerous others, including articles on Piedmont Blues and Travis picking. I'm a late starter, now 75, and I confess my preference is for the hard copy magazine which probably is not the choice of younger readers, but I would suggest that magazine provides an entree to guitar, and the tradition of the instrument past us boomers is something I hope the magazine continues to encourage.

[Porltee]

I used to subscribe to the print edition, which was expensive being in the UK. For the last several years I've been digital only, but given the content of late, and the price for 6 issues, I'll be thinking carefully before renewing. I'm still mourning the demise of Frets Magazine

[brad4d8]

Interesting, this thread appeared the same day my renewal notification came in the mail. I am thinking hard about renewing or not, probably not, I just don't get $36 enjoyment out of just six issues. A few years ago, I needed shelf space and, after unsuccessfully offering them for shipping cost (I think on here as well as the LTG forum), I put them in the recycle bin. I was never as enamored by Fretboard Journal as some are. I did enjoy (and kept) my Fingerstyle Magazines and Just Jazz Guitar and subscribed to the online only version of Fingerstyle.

[RLetson]

About magazine pricing: On Monday the same mail delivery brought the new issues of AG (82 pp) and The New Yorker (76 pp). Cover price for both: $8.99. Just sayin'.

As I posted above, I started freelancing as a magazine writer in 1985, mostly in computer tech/business books. I wrote dozens of product reviews in that market, as well as features. Between '92 and '09 I wrote features, departments, interviews, profiles, and reviews for AG. (I also did a couple pieces for Fingerstyle Guitar.) I'm still writing book reviews for a niche publication. So I have at least a freelancer's view of portions of the magazine biz.

I haven't done a survey recently, but I recall the content formula runs 50-50 editorial to ads--that is, a page of ads supports a page of copy. I don't know the current figures, but the cover or subscription price never came close to paying the production costs. And those costs (overhead, printing, distribution) are much more variable than income--you can't quickly raise your price to accommodate them.

I haven't had an AG project for more than a decade now--I seem to have slipped off the Rolodexes of the various editorial teams. But I have to say that the editors I worked with there are among the best I've encountered anywhere. But then, I'm inclined to approve of editors who give me assignments and improve my copy.

As to whether the magazine's current configuration suits any particular reader, that's always a crapshoot--a publisher has to find a sustainable audience, and that was hard enough before the internet allowed any random person to set up shop as a writer, publisher, or reviewer and give away product that used to be sold.

[hamburg325]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

1. You seem to be aiming this at David Lusterman, the publisher. I doubt he reads AGF. I'd suggest mailing it to him directly. Let me know if you can't find his email.

I find this both very surprising and not surprising.

How could this publisher not be interested in AGF? The pulse of the acoustic community, etc.

Then again, the magazine's weak pulse underscores his lack of interest.

[Glennwillow]

I have found this discussion very interesting, having previously subscribed to Acoustic Guitar Magazine. I also want to comment about how much I have always appreciated Doug Young's articles and reviews in past issues of AG. I also appreciate Doug Young's comments here in this thread.

Doug Young is also a huge asset here to the Acoustic Guitar Forum.

Just sayin'...

- Glenn

[hamburg325]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I have found this discussion very interesting, having previously subscribed to Acoustic Guitar Magazine. I also want to comment about how much I have always appreciated Doug Young's articles and reviews in past issues of AG. I also appreciate Doug Young's comments here in this thread.

Doug Young is also a huge asset here to the Acoustic Guitar Forum.

Just sayin'...

- Glenn

Enthusiastically agree. Doug is a wonderful player, teacher, writer, and many other things I'm sure.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Sasquatchian

...I guess I should dig up some of those photos I shot for AG and post them here, but the posting requirements are so restrictive that it's hardly worth it.

As you are a charter member, there are no photo posting restrictions. You can upload appropriately sized photos directly from your computer. Yours would be cool to see. If you’d like to post some, the best thread to post them in would be in the “Share Your Photos” thread in the Open Mic subforum.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by hamburg325

I find this both very surprising and not surprising.

How could this publisher not be interested in AGF? The pulse of the acoustic community, etc.

I think I said that poorly. I have no idea - maybe David is glued to AGF all day. I suspect not, he is the publisher of multiple magazines, not just Acoustic Guitar, so I imagine he has a bit on his plate. But lots of people associated with Acoustic Guitar do read AGF - posts here have inspired and informed more than one article I've written, for example. So Id not be surprised if he came across or was directed to your post. But there are so many posts on AGF, few people see them all. I check in pretty regularly, and routinely come across old posts that I never saw. If you wanted to reach me, a direct email would ensure I saw it, while a post to AGF? Maybe, maybe not.

If you have a complaint or suggestion that you really want addressed, you have a better chance that it will be noticed if you send it to the person who can help rather than posting on a forum and hoping that person happens to see it. I would not post a complaint about a Taylor guitar here and expect that Bob Taylor would immediately see it and respond, for example. I'm pretty sure Bob cares about guitars and the perception of his guitars, but I don't expect that he's able to read every online post about his guitars.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by Benjo

I once commented in a thread here at AGF about how useless I find most professionally done guitar reviews. That they seem like they are not critical or exacting and read more like advertiser puff pieces/sponsored content.

I completely agree...I've never seen a bad review in those "Guitar" Magazines, and I doubt it's like former Chicago restaurant critic Phil Vettel, where one star meant "good" and you were honored to even be considered good enough to review.

[hamburg325]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I think I said that poorly. I have no idea - maybe David is glued to AGF all day. I suspect not, he is the publisher of multiple magazines, not just Acoustic Guitar, so I imagine he has a bit on his plate. But lots of people associated with Acoustic Guitar do read AGF - posts here have inspired and informed more than one article I've written, for example. So Id not be surprised if he came across or was directed to your post. But there are so many posts on AGF, few people see them all. I check in pretty regularly, and routinely come across old posts that I never saw. If you wanted to reach me, a direct email would ensure I saw it, while a post to AGF? Maybe, maybe not.

If you have a complaint or suggestion that you really want addressed, you have a better chance that it will be noticed if you send it to the person who can help rather than posting on a forum and hoping that person happens to see it. I would not post a complaint about a Taylor guitar here and expect that Bob Taylor would immediately see it and respond, for example. I'm pretty sure Bob cares about guitars and the perception of his guitars, but I don't expect that he's able to read every online post about his guitars.

It feels like AG has changed very little over the millennia. Like crocodilians. While I did direct my rant to them directly, I don't see them changing their basic editorial and design template, even with new editors coming and going. But, after years and years of seeing the same stuff, I felt the urge to speak up.