a minor issue I have with gear reviews

[madmax1012]

Actually, it's more or less the viewer comments. Now, don't get me wrong. I watch Burgs and PGS and some others, but I get kinda annoyed when someone posts something like "OMG ANDY YOU'RE MY BIGGEST INSPIRATION IN LIFE!!" seriously? Andy's a good guitarist and all, but I have a hard time imagining my life being changed by the guy. Am I alone here in my irritation of youtube gear demo idolization?

[coldbrightsunlight]

Never really noticed that (I try to avoid youtube comments), if it does happen then that's insane. They're pretty good guitarists who make videos about pedals? Hardly what I'd call life changing.

[bigchiefbc]

I agree, but find the fawning over Gearmandude to be infinitely more annoying than the PGS stuff. I'd much rather jam with Andy than with GMD.

[madmax1012]

I read a top comment on the newest PGS one of the EAR delay. and this is a direct quote, "10 dislikes??? For a video including ANDY???? Run, before I kill you all....RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!" i mean, calm the fuck down. I think that particular person might actually masturbate to the thought of Andy on a frequent basis.


and same with GMD. I've got nothing against the guy, but I definitely wouldn't pay to watch him play. AND I SWEAR TO GOD ENOUGH WITH THE "UHH IS THIS JACK BLACK DERP DERP HEHEHEHEHE I'M SO CLEVER". enough god dammit.


Sorry guys, me and sailor jerry are celebrating the end of the semester

[yallerhon]

I wrote this in the new Frazz video thread, but it goes well here too:

I am so sick of demos where the person does nothing but single-note riffs and blues licks. I get it, not all fuzz pedals work for chords, but let the viewer make their own mind up about that. Try some barre / power chords. Play with the mix / gain settings on the actual pedal and try some open chords. Don't just show me how your blues noodling sounds slightly different because you change pickups - I don't care about your guitar. I want to hear the pedal, not your soloing across the "neck humbucky" as opposed to the "bridge humbucky".

And also for those who do those reviews at home, please put some shoes on!!

Apart from those two things, I'm really grateful for those who take the time to do gear review videos and sound clips. Living in Western Australia, the options to try pedals before buying them are pretty much zero, and the exorbitant cost of shipping / return shipping means once you buy a pedal, you're pretty much stuck with it unless you want to take a big loss.

[rfurtkamp]

For me it's 'play something appropriate for the pedal' - I mean, come on, an oscillating death fuzz analog delay hybrid shouldn't probably be squelching out Chuck Berry.

Also, please for the love of god, let me hear the guitar without the pedal(s) being demo'd so I can tell what they're doing.

Double that for using the effect with some other typical effects - how well does the thing play with others, etc.

I want to hear the thing being worked by someone with half a clue, not "I turned the knobs until I sounded like AC/DC."

[bugzaney]

demos that don't effectively tweak knobs...

[rfurtkamp]

Don't need to tweak knobs, every box only has one sound.

It's what I tell myself when I'm looking at buying pedal #30somethign.

[dubkitty]

my pleas to the demo-makers of the universe:

1. please, for the love of God, tune your instrument before you start.
2. if you can't get a decent sound on your demos, don't bother. i'm looking at you, gearmandude.
3. use a relatively clean sound on the amp, especially if you're demoing fuzz/distortion. if you start out with the amp all broken up, it's hard to tell what's the fuzz and what's the amp.
4. play different settings on the pedal. like, more than one or two.
5. play chords AND lead. we do both, yo.
6. it's not helpful to just sweep each knob on a six- or eight-knob box if you leave everything else at 50% while you're doing it. i'm looking at you, Prymaxe.
7. put some shoes on. once you're on YouTube, you're not in your living room any more.
8. play first, talk later. nobody wants to listen to you spiel for three minutes before they ever hear what the pedal sounds like.

[alexa.]

+1

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Don't need to tweak knobs, every box only has one sound.

It's what I tell myself when I'm looking at buying pedal #30somethign.

exactly, like I nearly ended up collecting bass guitars, before I settled for three - a bassist really doesn't need more notes

[Chankgeez]

Actually, it's more or less the viewer comments. Now, don't get me wrong. I watch Burgs and PGS and some others, but I get kinda annoyed when someone posts something like "OMG ANDY YOU'RE MY BIGGEST INSPIRATION IN LIFE!!" seriously? Andy's a good guitarist and all, but I have a hard time imagining my life being changed by the guy. Am I alone here in my irritation of youtube gear demo idolization?

Just because you're jaded doesn't mean all the other 15 year old guitarists have to be. I think it's pretty normal for peoples of that age group to have internest heroes like that. It's probably better that they're idolizing men who make gear videos rather than some of their other options. Sure, it's annoying to us grown men, but let the kids be kids. Wot, you were never a teenager?

[spacelordmother]

It's not my dream, but I don't find it that far-fetched that some people would be super excited to be like a guy who gets paid to work in a music shop, play guitar, experiment with pedals, and share his enthusiasm with the world via the internet.

[dubkitty]

beats the crap out of sitting in a cubicle playing Angry Birds.

[DarkAxel]

the shoe thing can't be stressed enough