Guitarist Mag: Living in the past

maw4neu

My wife Michelle bought me the very same magazine as a little treat . . . . I smiled and thanked her, but haven't read it as I already know the content . . . I'm 55 now and I probably qualify for the magazines target demographic but I don't want to read the same recycled blurb I've already read 30 years + ago . . .   I want to read about "now" rather than "then" . . . Whats happening right now, who's tearing up the guitar world today, who's creating now . . . Don't get me wrong I've still got my heroes but I'm tired of guitar magazines  . . . .  

mburekenge

You think that's bad... on my travels I picked up a copy of guitar world last year. Obviously most of it was adverts, but there was a 3 page feature of joe Perry  pimping a gold plated Bluetooth speaker. Just awful.

scrumhalf

Guitarist has a market. Maybe you're not part of that market. Start your own magazine.

I stopped buying Guitar World when it became obvious that I was no longer the sort of person their magazine was aimed at.

Philly_Q

scrumhalf said:

I stopped buying Guitar World when it became obvious that I was no longer the sort of person their magazine was aimed at.

I stopped buying GW just over a year ago, for similar reasons.  I'd been buying it since the early '80s and although it features my kind of music more than the other guitar mags, the interviews and reviews are very, very superficial.

I still buy Guitarist, Guitar and Guitar Player although I'd like to kick the habit.

If I had to pick just one, it would be Guitar Player.  It doesn't necessarily feature players I like, but it does feature lots of players I've never heard of and remains interesting to read every month.

57Deluxe

Guitarist Mag: Living in the past

...not another Martin Barre feature and the history of 'his' chord...?

Danielsguitars

I wish they'd include articles and reviews from the really small makers and i don't mean eggle, he's shifting alot of guitars imo compared to the others 

I just don't buy any unless there's something specific I'm interested in

SimonC

Whenever I read Guitarist, I get the distinct feeling that the writing is by hack journalists, generic articles with very little actual interest in Guitars.

They could just as easily be writing articles for Salmon and Trout, or Simlply Knitting.

Fretwired

ICBM said:

Gassage said:

Anyone who turns right when entering an aircraft has reached the bottom of life's barrel...

(©Tara Palmer-Tompkinson)

What a pleb - flying first class on a 747? Doesn't she know that the cabin is always to the right of the door on a private jet?

Yes, but she was off to shag the pilot  and snort the odd line of coke with the co-pilot and party hard .. she always liked the idea of hanging out in the cockpit with the big cocks.

AlexC

The problem with this thread is it makes me want to go out and buy Guitairist Magazine just so I can see if it’s as bad as people are saying. 
Nobody start a thread about how badly written Jackie Collins novels are, for God’s sake! 

Keefy

Rocker said:

The magazine might be rehashing the same old stuff over and over but it is still on the shelves. So someone must be buying it. 

Sorry, that would be me. I have every issue since it started (June 1984) and have been getting it on prescription subscription for several years.

My main gripe now is that almost the only technique content is The Blues Headlines, which I'm not that interested in. Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

xchrisv

Thanks for the kind words about The Guitar Mag that are peppered throughout this thread – if any of you are at The Guitar Show next weekend then please do say hello. 

Vibetronic

Keefy said:

Rocker said:

The magazine might be rehashing the same old stuff over and over but it is still on the shelves. So someone must be buying it. 

Sorry, that would be me. I have every issue since it started (June 1984) and have been getting it on prescription subscription for several years.

My main gripe now is that almost the only technique content is The Blues Headlines, which I'm not that interested in. Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

really good point. They used to have some really good technique columns - I've still got quite a few of the old Phil Hilborne ones I cut out.

A lot of the writers/contributors for it are really good musicians, but it's just really stale now. Also far too blokey. There's loads of exciting guitar stuff out there, great new players, bands, styles, techniques if you can be arsed to look for them.

Ravenous

Keefy said:

Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

I reckon you could photocopy the good ones and make money selling them! (Obviously not, copyright etc.)

Certainly the late 80s ones I got showed me  a lot of useful twiddly bits and I still dip into those issues occasionally.

They even used to print music in lines & dots form sometimes!  Haven't seen that in the (rare) recent issues I've read.

carlos

Not all magazines are crap. I like Premier Guitar a lot. The lessons cover even obscure styles and are written by real musicians without a bit of condescension. I'd pay for a paper sub of PG, but it's 95 USD for "International" which is a bit steep compared to 24 USD for Americans.

Keefy

Ravenous said:

Keefy said:

Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

I reckon you could photocopy the good ones and make money selling them! (Obviously not, copyright etc.)

Certainly the late 80s ones I got showed me  a lot of useful twiddly bits and I still dip into those issues occasionally.

They even used to print music in lines & dots form sometimes!  Haven't seen that in the (rare) recent issues I've read.

They still show everything in both musical notation and tablature.

jpfamps

Keefy said:

Rocker said:

The magazine might be rehashing the same old stuff over and over but it is still on the shelves. So someone must be buying it. 

Sorry, that would be me. I have every issue since it started (June 1984) and have been getting it on prescription subscription for several years.

My main gripe now is that almost the only technique content is The Blues Headlines, which I'm not that interested in. Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

I expect the full song transcriptions became unaffordable with falling circulation.

crunchman

jpfamps said:

Keefy said:

Rocker said:

The magazine might be rehashing the same old stuff over and over but it is still on the shelves. So someone must be buying it. 

Sorry, that would be me. I have every issue since it started (June 1984) and have been getting it on prescription subscription for several years.

My main gripe now is that almost the only technique content is The Blues Headlines, which I'm not that interested in. Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

I expect the full song transcriptions became unaffordable with falling circulation.

You can normally go on YourTube now and find a tutorial for most well known songs as well.  It's a lot easier to follow a video than a written down tab.

Jimbro66

Ravenous said:

Keefy said:

Years ago you used to get full song transcriptions and/or solo transcriptions with backing tracks, but according to the spreadsheet I made to find them all, that stopped in 2008.

Certainly the late 80s ones I got showed me  a lot of useful twiddly bits and I still dip into those issues occasionally.

Those rear columns in Guitarist were possibly its main attraction for me. Excellent guitarists providing tips and examples in different music genres that encouraged us to learn outside of our comfort zones. It's also what introduced me to the playing and teaching of Mike Outram, but was it really all that time ago?! Jeepers!

bacchanalian

I am finding myself with time to read magazines and am really enjoying this month’s Mojo. The writing is excellent, shows diligent research and makes unfamiliar topics interesting. The guitar mags could learn from this. A long form piece that tells a story but emphasis on the guitar role. 

NelsonP

What do cellist and violin players read? Is it all Beethoven, Mozart and 18th century instruments?

Is that where guitarist magazine will be in the 2200's? The rolling stones, led zep and the 1959 les paul...