Bass Magazines am I missing something ?

[BigBeefChief]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='239007' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:12 AM']The bar has indeed been raised and the reviews DO reflect this. See the D'Alegria review in the current issue.

Stu[/quote]


I haven't read it yet, so will look forward to it.

Its still too little too late. It seems the reviewers are to concerned about falling out with the manufacturers.


I'm more than happy to write my own column though. Just drop me a PM.

[Stuart Clayton]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='239023' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:28 AM']I haven't read it yet, so will look forward to it.

Its still too little too late. It seems the reviewers are to concerned about falling out with the manufacturers.


I'm more than happy to write my own column though. Just drop me a PM.[/quote]

I am in no way concerned about falling out with manufacturers. If I, or any of the writers were, it wouldn't be a fair review system, and would be quite pointless. I think the system is strong, and is a good reflection of a product's value.
Stu

[Stuart Clayton]

[quote name='bassket_case' post='239012' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:20 AM']Ah. I see - hmm. Tricky. The GB is good though right? I've heard amazing things about them - I'd love to own one of those but I can't imagine me having the money any time soon!

I've just read the D'Alegria review. Ouch.

Just a comment about the mag - could we see an upright bass section soon.. or a shootout of electric upright basses? I know nothing about them and would be intrigued to see something as there doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there. I can't recall ever reading a review or article about them in a bass mag? (Apart from that cardboard box one!)[/quote]


The GB is fantastic, and I very much enjoyed it. I have two of them and play them all the time. Incidentally, no-one ever has the money for something like that - but eventually your credit card will get the better of you!

I'll pass on the comments regarding the upright bass feature - I believe something of that nature is in the pipeline already to be honest. The cardboard box bass is the Bogdon bass (I think), and although I haven't tried one myself, I think it's a great idea!

Stu

[bassket_case]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='239038' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:46 AM']The GB is fantastic, and I very much enjoyed it. I have two of them and play them all the time. Incidentally, no-one ever has the money for something like that - but eventually your credit card will get the better of you!

I'll pass on the comments regarding the upright bass feature - I believe something of that nature is in the pipeline already to be honest. The cardboard box bass is the Bogdon bass (I think), and although I haven't tried one myself, I think it's a great idea!

Stu[/quote]

Yeah. Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and go for it! (I haven't treated myself in a while!)

Yeah - that's it - the Bogdon bass! Don't think I'd be taken seriously at a gig though - and I don't think it would be much use if I caught in the rain! Still, it's all fun!

[XB26354]

I've read plenty of issue of BGM and I think it is very poor on content and journalistic standards. The lessons are a waste of paper in most cases - you could get as much from the Web. To be a paid magazine there needs to be more substance. The reviews also meander on, are often contradictory and don't really say anything that could not be gleaned from the manufacturer's Website.
Then again I got a copy of Bass Player a few months ago and it wasn't much better - it was a great magazine 10 years ago. Full up with ads too (but then at least some of them are interesting).
But then consider how the music industry has been going for players over the last 20 years - no studios to play in any more, very few professional gigs or tours, kids don't really want to play an instrument as there are loads of other forms of entertainment, and even if they do make music it will probably be with a computer.

The standard of all-round musicianship is supposed to be much higher than in the past yet there are very few players coming through. I live near Central London and there are very few gigs on even compared to 10 years ago. The US has always had a bigger appetite for live music (plus 5 times the population) but even there the same effects are doubtless being felt. As a teacher I have noticed that there are definitely less people interested in learning instruments, and those that are interested aren't really learning to be the best they can, just as a hobby - most of my newer pupils have been middle-aged beginners who love music from the 70's and 80's.

Add to this the potential global recession coming (no-one's got money to buy gear or go out and watch lots of bands) and we just have to accept that bass is really a cottage industry. Victor Wooten maybe a household name to bass players but he isn't to anyone else. The music industry has billions but less of that is going into the pockets of instrument playing musicians than at any time in history (probably!).

[BigBeefChief]

I'm I'm gonna go top myself.

[bassket_case]

[quote name='XB26354' post='239320' date='Jul 14 2008, 05:08 PM']I've read plenty of issue of BGM and I think it is very poor on content and journalistic standards. The lessons are a waste of paper in most cases - you could get as much from the Web. To be a paid magazine there needs to be more substance. The reviews also meander on, are often contradictory and don't really say anything that could not be gleaned from the manufacturer's Website.[/quote]

So who is buying BGM? Is it a case that people buy it so they have a reference point to slate on here? Confused.

[BigBeefChief]

[quote name='bassket_case' post='239358' date='Jul 14 2008, 05:39 PM']So who is buying BGM? Is it a case that people buy it so they have a reference point to slate on here? Confused.[/quote]


I buy it so I can come on here and moan about it.

I also write letters to points of view and throw rotten fruit at gay vicars.

[tauzero]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='239005' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:11 AM']It certainly was stunning. It's just not good practice for me to have reviewed it as I endorse them.[/quote]
Not just "not good practice", you could get banged up for a couple of years for doing so...

[quote]Schillings: Online Comments

This time last year a PR company was blocked from Wikipedia because it had been providing pay for edit services to its clients, something that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said was a "serious serious no-no".

Now that kind of behaviour – if done without acknowledging an interest in the posting you are making – would break the law as well as netiquette which will put a real dampner on buzz marketing.

Since May this year, new laws designed to protect consumers mean that it's now illegal to: 'falsely claim or create the impression that a trader is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession or falsely represent oneself as a consumer.' Which, in plain English, means that it's now illegal to post positive comments about a brand on blogs etc without making it clear that the post has been created by or on behalf of the brand. Likewise, it would be illegal for a PR to write a positive review about a hotel client on a travel website without disclosing why they are doing so.

Companies will also be prohibited from using buzz marketing specialists to communicate with potential customers, e.g. on social networking sites, without revealing that they are acting on behalf of the brand.

The law is "strict liability" which means it doesn't matter if the company didn't intend to break it or were only negligent: as always ignorance is no defence. Given that the maximum penalties for a breach of these rules include a two-year prison sentence (seriously!) it's probably best to get this one right. The important thing is to make sure that all postings are accompanied by a sufficient disclaimer, like the conflict-of-interest disclosures that (proper) journalists slip into their articles.

By Rod Christie-Miller, Partner at Schillings.[/quote]

[aceuggy]

[quote name='bassket_case' post='239358' date='Jul 14 2008, 05:39 PM']So who is buying BGM? Is it a case that people buy it so they have a reference point to slate on here? Confused.[/quote]

Me, for one. As I stated earlier I subscribe. Perhaps it's aimed at beginners and intermediate players rather than pro bassists. I find the content very interesting indeed, as a beginner I am thirsty for knowledge and this magazine feeds that. I have recently enjoyed the write up about the Squier VMJ and the Squier P-bass, Fender Rumble 15W package as this is the kind of gear I am playing/looking at, at the moment. There is also a new beginners how to play column as well, so I feel I am well catered for. No complaints from me. Whereas the American Bass Player mag I find a bit high brow and technical.

Edited July 14, 2008 by aceuggy

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='tauzero' post='239582' date='Jul 14 2008, 10:17 PM']Not just "not good practice", you could get banged up for a couple of years for doing so...[/quote]

Jeez. Serious stuff.

Somebody should tell Guitarist magazine.

Am I the only person who finds it odd that whenever a Cornford gets reviewed it gets 5 across the board every time?

All of the reviewers use Cornford amps. Is it because they are that good? Well... the Hellcat output transformer is poorly placed for starters - meaning that any smidgen of gain and the amp is as noisy as hell. If that's a five star across the board amp, then I'll eat my hat. The question is, can Cornford ever get a fair review from Guitarist magazine because the reviewers use them...?

Edited July 15, 2008 by EBS_freak

[XB26354]

[quote name='aceuggy' post='239593' date='Jul 14 2008, 10:31 PM']Me, for one. As I stated earlier I subscribe. Perhaps it's aimed at beginners and intermediate players rather than pro bassists. I find the content very interesting indeed, as a beginner I am thirsty for knowledge and this magazine feeds that. I have recently enjoyed the write up about the Squier VMJ and the Squier P-bass, Fender Rumble 15W package as this is the kind of gear I am playing/looking at, at the moment. There is also a new beginners how to play column as well, so I feel I am well catered for. No complaints from me. Whereas the American Bass Player mag I find a bit high brow and technical.[/quote]
You may be right. I don't think there is much education value in the teaching articles. Bass Player [b]used[/b] to do articles that roughly covered a lesson's worth of material or guest players would write about more abstract concepts (players like Anthony Jackson and Jeff Berlin - like 'em or loathe 'em they were all monster musicians). As a beginning player it would make more sense to either look on the net or pick up any of the fine teaching books that are available (or even get a teacher!) I notice also a distinct lack of transcriptions, and they don't seem to do full tracks. I guess this is partly because BGM is not designed to be a techniques magazine and partly because the budget cannot cover royalty payments.

If BGM is a casual hobbyist's read then they will surely limit who will actually [i]pay[/i] for the mag rather than browse it in a shop. If it had more substance and a less amateur look I would not just buy it but subscribe.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='XB26354' post='240157' date='Jul 15 2008, 04:02 PM']If it had more substance and a less amateur look I would not just buy it but subscribe.[/quote]

Less amateur look? It's only just advertised itself as having a "new look"!!

[Jesus]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='235578' date='Jul 9 2008, 11:23 AM']To be honest (am I the only one who types that anymore??), I think they're both pretty shoddy.

BassPlayer is full of crappy adverts using phrases like "Holdin' it down with the Dawg Pound" etc etc, and BGM lacks the bollocks to call a peice of kit sh*t when reviewing it.

I still buy both though. I think BGM has potential but needs a kick up the arse.[/quote]


Im a complete beginner, and wont pick up my first bass properly untill friday, and ive bought a couple of issues of both mags and out of the pair i preferred BGM it was just a little easier to get into with limited knowledge, but i agree with BigBeef, i still wasnt all that impressed. Maybe the more i get to the know the subject the more i'll appreciate them, but jusy like most of you, i'll continue to buy both.

[Machines]

I find some of the reviews not too enlightening and somewhat focusing on unimportant aspects of the equipment. However - it has improved recently and I find the reviews too be more impartial, although not totally. I find it very handy and use the reviews to help add direction and substance to the ones I do for Basschat.

I will continue to buy it - I feel it's better to have BGM than no magazine - it will only continue to improve. Hats off to Stuart for being transparent on here about his GB affiliation, although it might have been best mentioned in the review .

[Jesus]

On another note, I bought a copy of Guitar Buyer at the weekend, solely for a review of the Warwick Streamer LX & a piece on Steinberger and his innovations, anyway, it came with a copy of Gear (the uk's #1 free musicians magazine). Does anyone know wether Trev Wilkinson has anything to do with this mag because it was the most pro Vintage & Fret-King read ive ever had. My only surprise was that there were no Italia's in there.

[bassket_case]

[quote name='Machines' post='240182' date='Jul 15 2008, 04:27 PM']I find some of the reviews not too enlightening and somewhat focusing on unimportant aspects of the equipment. However - it has improved recently and I find the reviews too be more impartial, although not totally. I find it very handy and use the reviews to help add direction and substance to the ones I do for Basschat.

I will continue to buy it - I feel it's better to have BGM than no magazine - it will only continue to improve. Hats off to Stuart for being transparent on here about his GB affiliation, although it might have been best mentioned in the review .[/quote]

I don't know. Some of the reviews are good, some of the reviews not so. At the end of the day, I'm just taking my hat off to the guys for providing something for the UK bass playing public to read. It's better to be represented than not at all. At the end of the day, whatever people do, for example, write for bass magazines, they will always have their critics. It comes with the territory.

As for the GB review, given the news here, it's become somewhat worthless as a review.

Am I to believe that the bass is better than the review - did Stuart play it down because he plays GBs?
Am I to believe that the bass is not as good as the review - did Stuart big it up because he plays GBs?

Or is the review 100% fair? I guess we'll never know... and it wouldn't be in Stuart's interest to comment I am guessing.


GBs always seem to get great press... and to be honest, of the limited exposure I've had to the things, they certainly sound impressive. (That was GBs with EBS at last years Bass Day I am presuming)

So there you go... guess I'll have to see GB guitars myself if I want a clear indication.

[bassket_case]

[quote name='Jesus' post='240191' date='Jul 15 2008, 04:42 PM']On another note, I bought a copy of Guitar Buyer at the weekend, solely for a review of the Warwick Streamer LX & a piece on Steinberger and his innovations, anyway, it came with a copy of Gear (the uk's #1 free musicians magazine). Does anyone know wether Trev Wilkinson has anything to do with this mag because it was the most pro Vintage & Fret-King read ive ever had. My only surprise was that there were no Italia's in there.[/quote]

It's always been that way. It wouldn't surprise me if the thing was funding by Vintage (or whoever the parent company is)

[Stuart Clayton]

[quote name='bassket_case' post='240198' date='Jul 15 2008, 04:50 PM']I don't know. Some of the reviews are good, some of the reviews not so. At the end of the day, I'm just taking my hat off to the guys for providing something for the UK bass playing public to read. It's better to be represented than not at all. At the end of the day, whatever people do, for example, write for bass magazines, they will always have their critics. It comes with the territory.

As for the GB review, given the news here, it's become somewhat worthless as a review.

Am I to believe that the bass is better than the review - did Stuart play it down because he plays GBs?
Am I to believe that the bass is not as good as the review - did Stuart big it up because he plays GBs?

Or is the review 100% fair? I guess we'll never know... and it wouldn't be in Stuart's interest to comment I am guessing.


GBs always seem to get great press... and to be honest, of the limited exposure I've had to the things, they certainly sound impressive. (That was GBs with EBS at last years Bass Day I am presuming)

So there you go... guess I'll have to see GB guitars myself if I want a clear indication.[/quote]

I wouldn't like to think that you consider the review worthless. The review was 100% fair. The GB was an awesome bass to play, and I very much enjoyed my time with it. It's actually not my cup of tea in some respects - I prefer the Rumour bass to the Spitfire, but that's just me!

I'd recommend anyone that is interested in a GB to go and check them out for yourselves.

Stu

[chris_b]

Bass mags? Sorry, never read them. A long time ago I did flip through one in WH Smiths and it was full bass players I don't know from bands I've never heard of either advertising stuff I'm not interested in or boring me to death in feature articles.
Didn't move the debate on very far, sorry.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='240204' date='Jul 15 2008, 04:58 PM']I wouldn't like to think that you consider the review worthless. The review was 100% fair. The GB was an awesome bass to play, and I very much enjoyed my time with it. It's actually not my cup of tea in some respects - I prefer the Rumour bass to the Spitfire, but that's just me!

I'd recommend anyone that is interested in a GB to go and check them out for yourselves.

Stu[/quote]

I buy a LOT of guitar and bass mags and I am starting to question if I get anything other than GAS from them. OK, I have learned a lot from them and enjoy reading them. But in the end, a reviewer's opinion is only about that particular piece of equipment and how they respond to it as the person they are with the experiences they've had. I've tried and hated things reviewers have loved, and vice versa. There have been plenty of reviews that admitted other reviewers on the same magazine had different opinions.

For me, Guitar Buyer is consistently the most professionally written, designed and put together. It is also very good value for your money. I am sorry to say that BGM looks a bit amaturish in terms of copy, page layout and design. It's also very thin. Nevertheless I am a subscriber. Like someone else said on this thread, I wish there was a Bass Buyer.

Edited July 15, 2008 by silddx

[Stuart Clayton]

[quote name='silddx' post='240218' date='Jul 15 2008, 05:16 PM']For me, Guitar Buyer is consistently the most professionally written, designed and put together. It is also very good value for your money. I am sorry to say that BGM looks a bit amaturish in terms of copy, page layout and design. It's also very thin. Nevertheless I am a subscriber. Like someone else said on this thread, I wish there was a Bass Buyer.[/quote]

Hmmm, I think the layout of BGM is actually pretty decent - uncluttered, straightforward etc. I do however wish the mag was thicker - it would certainly be more to read. I guess at the end of the day we all need to remember that the 'world of bass' is considerably smaller than that of the guitarist, and therefore there just isn't enough going on to warrant a nice fat magazine every month!

Stu

[bumnote]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='240328' date='Jul 15 2008, 07:46 PM']Hmmm, I think the layout of BGM is actually pretty decent - uncluttered, straightforward etc. I do however wish the mag was thicker - it would certainly be more to read. I guess at the end of the day we all need to remember that the 'world of bass' is considerably smaller than that of the guitarist, and therefore there just isn't enough going on to warrant a nice fat magazine every month!

Stu[/quote]

i was one of the early subscribers but cancelled my subscription a few years ago. I occasionally pick up a copy from Smiths or wherever, but find theres not enough meat there.

The other thing i find difficult is the use of say white ink on a black or coloured background. I just picked up an old rickenbacker special copy, and some of the white on colour print is easily readable, and some is not so easy. I dont need glasses for reading but I really struggle to read your copy. I dont know if it varies through the print run.

I often like to read in the bath, bog, bed, whatever, sometimes inless than ideal lighting conditions. If I cant read the print easily, it takes away all the interest

[xilddx]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='240328' date='Jul 15 2008, 07:46 PM']Hmmm, I think the layout of BGM is actually pretty decent - uncluttered, straightforward etc. I do however wish the mag was thicker - it would certainly be more to read. I guess at the end of the day we all need to remember that the 'world of bass' is considerably smaller than that of the guitarist, and therefore there just isn't enough going on to warrant a nice fat magazine every month!

Stu[/quote]

Thanks Stu.

Two comments.

The page layout decisions of the BGM designer are sometimes very odd. There is sometimes a loss of continuity because of the decision to make some of the text appear as though it is in a boxout. The general design concept is a little confused and slightly different every month. There are clearly some ideas that have been appropriated from Guitar Buyer but BGM just doesn't look "slick", it looks more like a car owner's club quarterly. I can live with that but the poor spelling and grammar are unforgivable. Sorry to sound harsh.

Number two, I think bass a growing and popular market, most bands with guitarists also have bassists.

[OldGit]

[quote name='bassket_case' post='239012' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:20 AM']Just a comment about the mag - could we see an upright bass section soon.. or a shootout of electric upright basses? I know nothing about them and would be intrigued to see something as there doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there. I can't recall ever reading a review or article about them in a bass mag? (Apart from that cardboard box one!)[/quote]


The Stagg was reviewed a while back - in fact it resulted in a rush on them and a few months' shortage .. it was a good review, or good for the money anyway. but yes I'd like to see a comparison shootout for the most availble ones.
Those Bogdon basses look OK but the way the guy advertises then on my local Gumtree annoys me .. "Upright bass for £40" screams the big print "plus £50 postage from america" whispers the small print...