Guitarist Mag: Living in the past

Chalky

jpfamps said:

You think Guitarist is bad you should try reading Clarinet & Saxophone.

That last issue had an article on John Coltrane  (he died in the 60's!), the works of Brahms (!!), yet another article about the Selmer Mk VI (yawn, as if saxophone manufacture hasn't evolved since the 70's.

Absolutely nothing about all the exciting new clarinet or saxophone bands.

Talk about living in the past!!

Hey, my Selmer Mark VI tenor is surrogate for my lack of a 59 Burst, so don't knock it!

Funkfingers

jpfamps said:

That last issue had an article on John Coltrane (he died in the 60's!)

Coming up to the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Would anyone care to suggest any saxophonist who has consistently bettered what 'Trane did? 

JAYJO

If  Guitaarist improved i would buy it. Ive been dying to buy it. Im sick of buying newspapers to read to pass time. I would never subscribe again though as i want to buy as and when it suits. I cancelled Gutar Techniques as i have 2 years worth untouched. I didnt have the time and before  i finished with one i would have another 3. 
I would like to see them bring out one Decent Annual a year and i would buy it. If it was £30 or £40 it would still be worth it than a years worth of repeats. 

57Deluxe

I like the pretty pictures...

Ravenous

Funkfingers said:

jpfamps said:

That last issue had an article on John Coltrane (he died in the 60's!)

Coming up to the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Would anyone care to suggest any saxophonist who has consistently bettered what 'Trane did? 

Not a fan but I re-heard some of his things recently and:

(1) (incidental point) I could immediately hear the bits Allan Holdsworth must have picked up on. The influence is unmistakeable.

(2) Once you get past the flurry of crazy-fast notes, it's amazing. Weaving in & out of the chords, effortlessly.  Quite amazing stuff.

jpfamps

Funkfingers said:

jpfamps said:

That last issue had an article on John Coltrane (he died in the 60's!)

Coming up to the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Would anyone care to suggest any saxophonist who has consistently bettered what 'Trane did? 

Charlie Parker?

Jalapeno

jpfamps said:

Funkfingers said:

jpfamps said:

That last issue had an article on John Coltrane (he died in the 60's!)

Coming up to the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Would anyone care to suggest any saxophonist who has consistently bettered what 'Trane did? 

Charlie Parker?

Err ... do you have a Tardis ?

Funkfingers

jpfamps said:

Charlie Parker?

Yes, in the sense that he self-destructed in less time.

My choice for runner-up would be Wayne Shorter.

Thread hijack over.

aord43

I prefer magazines that show you how to do stuff, GT or TG, although they are variable and I buy them when they look interesting rather than every one.  The advantage over the internet is you can stick it in a stand to read the music or tab.
Guitarist seems a bit expensive too.

steer

Go to a guitar show. Take a step aside, and look at the punters. Notice anything? 

I did - the punters were mainly grey haired old men with beards containing the remnants of their breakfast, who probably love nothing more than Led Zep, Clapton and Peter Green. As a balding 40-something, I felt young. 

Guitarist magazine are probably just catering to their targeted demographic audience (rightly or wrongly).

aord43

Also: Maybe the paper magazines are preferred by oldies and middle-aged geezers like me who like the older genres of music.  So it could be that they are just catering for their readership.

jpfamps

steer said:

Guitarist magazine are probably just catering to their targeted demographic audience (rightly or wrongly).

Probably rightly if they want to stay in business.....

Ravenous

aord43 said:

I prefer magazines that show you how to do stuff, GT or TG,

Yes, when I was a regular Guitarist reader I generally worked through the examples in the back too.  They seem to have disappeared from the mag long ago, so I don't even bother leafing through it these days. (Apparently there's a digital option but what good is that to me when I've just bought a magazine?)

Philly_Q

I read Harry's original post about the content of this month's Guitarist and I honestly thought no, that was last month.  Or possibly the month before.  It is getting beyond a joke.

But I still buy it.

However, after 34 years I have finally made the decision to stop buying the paper edition and switch to digital.  I've already missed one issue so my collection is no longer complete... it's quite stressful. 

Can't say I actually like reading online, though.  I may have to get a bigger monitor.  God knows how people can read it on their phones or tablets.

Maybe I will now be able to start getting rid of all the old ones.  I can't remember what colour my carpets are...

Phil_aka_Pip

aord43 said:

Also: Maybe the paper magazines are preferred by oldies and middle-aged geezers like me who like the older genres of music.  So it could be that they are just catering for their readership.

fair point, but I'd hate the mag to die with us oldies, I'd like it to at least try to draw in some of the young 'uns. Not all young 'uns like electro-pop so I'd be happy if the mag could pull in them that like rock'n'blooze

jpfamps

Jalapeno said:

Err ... do you have a Tardis ?

Wish I did, as not only would I have infinite storage space, I could also do forward in time and get paid before I've done the job!

Blaendulais

I wish every burst was destroyed cos I am sick to death of hearing, reading and seeing them

TimmyO

Guitar mag (formerly Guitar and Bass) is the only one worth reading now imho - in fact haven't they got a *Growing* print circulation? 

Sporky

I remember - though it was probably the best part of 20 years ago - when Guitarist had Carter USM interviewed.

The next month the letters page was full of miserable old bluesers moaning about it.

Guitarist are a bit stuffed; their established readership doesn't want to know about new music, but potential new readers don't want to read the endless rehashes of content that could have been published 30-40 years ago.

Their best bet is probably to keep on tapping the historical re-enactment market.

Jalapeno

aord43 said:

Also: Maybe the paper magazines are preferred by oldies and middle-aged geezers like me who like the older genres of music.  So it could be that they are just catering for their readership.

Well they spectacularly failed in my case .....

Could be they're focussing on intermediate guitarists who've just got to (or stuck) digging into SRV/Clapton/Green/Bonamassa etc, they definitely don't cater to anyone who's moved on past that.   Dentist/Doctor/Lawyer guitar porn is poorly represented for that matter too