Rant. YouTube reviews

[thodrik]

4 minutes ago, bigsmokebass said:

@thodrik I'm completely with you there. It's the fact, even though it's considered 'free' to us (despite having to watch adverts that pay the channel) it's mis-sold to us, and as you say he's got his own brand/business to develop and doing what he does, I feel it's a mockery.

I can't say I'm subscribed but even when I see his videos come in my feed, I'm repulsed to watch him because he's just full of sh¡t!!

Ed "The Bass Whisperer" Friedland though... what a guy, what videos he used to make. I used to love seeing new videos as they were very informative and he'd play a bass in so many ways you'd see and hear all it had to offer. 

Scott though? He's the Carl Pilkington of the bass world. He's some opinionated twit who wears a single white glove to play bass. 

 

(Last person I knew who wore a single white glove in his profession.... Actually no! 😂)

In his defence though, there is a legitimate medical reason for his wearing of gloves. He explains why in one of his better videos. 

Edited March 14, 2019 by thodrik

[bigsmokebass]

May I also just add Mark from Chicago Music Exchange (CME) to the list of good reviewers of YouTube ✌🏻

 

[Skinnyman]

1 hour ago, thodrik said:

Also, I would also like to say that I generally find the Andertons videos to be useful, honest and generally not all OMG, check this AWESOME new stuff from Brand X'

That's very true - the Anderson's videos are generally very objective and balanced. I did struggle with the banter at times and wish they'd just get on with it - but then again, i am a miserable old bar steward with no sense of humour and a desperate need for people to get a bleedin' scoot on before i croak it.

Others may enjoy the ribaldry.

 

[SH73]

Instruments reviews are subjective. 10 reviewers will give 10 different reviews and  get 10 different sounds.

You can make the worst bass or guitar sound better through a good amp or sim than custom shop through a bad equipment.

 

[Woodinblack]

I would say that Scott is not a reviewer, he runs a bass educational website (which is very good). I think his spamming is excessive, but that is probably why I have nothing like the money he has made, and you don't actually have to watch it. The only way you would see his spam is if you signed up for it (which you can unsubscribe from), so not sure what the problem is.

I don't like those videos he does, but then I don't watch them so it isn't an issue. But I do watch his paid content, and he also puts out a lot of free content which has value.

If I wanted a review of a bass though I wouldn't watch him, there are plenty of people who do it. I like andertons, even though they are a company, because there videos have quality, they are interesting, they show you the thing they are reviewing and talk about it, as well as showing you all the controls and sounds in several different styles.

It is pretty hard to do a decent video, which is I guess why most people don't do them.

[Deedee]

9 hours ago, thodrik said:

Also, I would also like to say that I generally find the Andertons videos to be useful, honest and generally not all OMG, check this AWESOME new stuff from Brand X'. The classic video was the Gibson 2015 launch video with the automatic tuners. Poor 'Captain' and 'Chappers' were basically going 'ummm, yeah... this is what Gibson sent us this year...If you want to get rid of the robot tuners we can do that for you...'. Or even recently when they demoed the Orange Pedal Baby and were clearly unimpressed, which was refreshing considering that the shop was actually selling them so it was in their interest to deliver a 'wow, this is awesome' product video. Yes, they promote items, but they are a shop actively trying to sell gear so I give them a pass for that. However I find their promotional demos to be a lot more in depth than a lot of 'reviews' on Youtube.
 

Another thumbs up for Andertons here. Usually very informative without being overly gushing.

[ped]

I quite like Scott’s vids, I don’t watch them for anything other than entertainment to pass the time - it’s better than what’s on TV!

Here’s my kind of ‘review’ - great audio quality, sweet groove playing and little to no talking (I can read up on the instrument myself)

 

[Soledad]

I need to share this. WTF?

 

[Guest subaudio]

I like pretty much all of Andertons basses and bass gear reviews, but only the ones with two bassists. I don't like the fnar fnar bassist and guitarist ones at all though.

Bass whisperer is v good.

Edited May 4, 2019 by subaudio
Edit

[Stub Mandrel]

The weak point with reviews by companies that sell things is that if they are in a position to review they have to sell them too...

I sometimes review things (not instruments!) and my rule is if it doesn't make the grade I let them know why and don't write the review - why promote something not up to scratch?, In one case I didn't want to undermine a product that I know many people swear by but just wouldn't work well with me equipment, despite much help and advice from their techie).

 

[Machines]

I like this guy. No talking, same riffs most of the time and points a lot. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/indrapepenk

 

[Quilly]

There’s a guy on Chicago music exchange that’s really good. Doesn’t overdo it.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

14 minutes ago, Quilly said:

There’s a guy on Chicago music exchange that’s really good. Doesn’t overdo it.

Is that Mark? I like him but he always has to demo an extreme fuzz pedal at the end, just to throw in a few Sleep riffs.

His Alembic video was cool though. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Cosmo Valdemar

[Quilly]

10 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Is that Mark? I like him but he always has to demo an extreme fuzz pedal at the end, just to throw in a few Sleep riffs.

His Alembic video was cool though. 

A guy with a beard ? He did 2 good episodes featuring the history of the p and jazz bass 

[Delberthot]

1 hour ago, Quilly said:

A guy with a beard ? 

That's everyone at the moment surely? 😀

There are some things that you are practically guaranteed:

 

Hofner Violin bass - always played with a plectrum

Fretless - weird chordy noise involving lots of harmonics rather than playing an actual tune or making a sound that the average bass player would make at a gig

Fender Videos - Really crooked right hand wrist action

Rickenbacker - either muffled and indistinct to sound like McCartney or a ton of overdrive and played with a plectrum to sound like Geddy, Chrirs Squire or Lemmy

99% percent of the rest - slap fest that sounds like someone pushing a drum kit down a flight of stairs. These are easy to spot as the thumbnail for the video has the player with his thumb hovering over the end of the fretboard and I know to steer clear

 

Once you know this and accept this then you've less of a chance of getting annoyed.

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Delberthot

[Quilly]

Another annoying thing are the bass tutorials that show you how to play particular songs and you’re like “stop adding fancy twiddly that aren’t in the actual song” or worse, the bassline is just wrong 

[Quilly]

7 hours ago, Delberthot said:

That's everyone at the moment surely? 😀

There are some things that you are practically guaranteed:

 

Hofner Violin bass - always played with a plectrum

Fretless - weird chordy noise involving lots of harmonics rather than playing an actual tune or making a sound that the average bass player would make at a gig

Fender Videos - Really crooked right hand wrist action

Rickenbacker - either muffled and indistinct to sound like McCartney or a ton of overdrive and played with a plectrum to sound like Geddy, Chrirs Squire or Lemmy

99% percent of the rest - slap fest that sounds like someone pushing a drum kit down a flight of stairs. These are easy to spot as the thumbnail for the video has the player with his thumb hovering over the end of the fretboard and I know to steer clear

 

Once you know this and accept this then you've less of a chance of getting annoyed.

 

Valve amps always played with the gain too high and loads of overdrive 😡

[Dan Dare]

28 minutes ago, Quilly said:

Valve amps always played with the gain too high and loads of overdrive 😡

+ a lot. The point (for me at any rate) of using a valve amp for bass is that sweet, fruity tone. I'm not a bluddy guitard, so why would I want to know how dirty it can get?

[Quilly]

21 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

+ a lot. The point (for me at any rate) of using a valve amp for bass is that sweet, fruity tone. I'm not a bluddy guitard, so why would I want to know how dirty it can get?

That’s the best thing about valve bass amps, the warm and spacious tone .

[Dood]

For (good) reviewers there's a balance to try to meet. It's like, "one person trying to please the needs of 10's of thousands of viewers." I do try to meet certain criteria every single review, I do - but you know, sometimes after recording probably over 300 videos, I slip off-piste sometimes ha ha. Hopefully not to the detriment of review quality! 

 

[BassThing]

On 13/03/2019 at 23:36, thodrik said:

Also, I would also like to say that I generally find the Andertons videos to be useful, honest and generally not all OMG, check this AWESOME new stuff from Brand X'

The guitar, amp and pedal reviews are generally pretty good, but I can't abide the two plonkers who do the bass stuff. They're the only people I've seen who can make every bass sound the same (and pretty stinky poo at that). There's no variety in technique and the random knob twiddling does no justice in showing what tonal range the basses might have.

[SpondonBassed]

18 hours ago, Soledad said:

I need to share this. WTF?

 

When I saw the mattress on the floor I decided that perhaps this would not be as entertaining as I'd hoped.  Pass.

[SpondonBassed]

6 hours ago, Quilly said:

Valve amps always played with the gain too high and loads of overdrive 😡 

 

6 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

+ a lot. The point (for me at any rate) of using a valve amp for bass is that sweet, fruity tone. I'm not a bluddy guitard, so why would I want to know how dirty it can get?

You get that way from listening to the overly saturated soundtracks of too many Bollywood VHS tapes.  Guitarists aren't the only ones with the fuzzy habit you know.

[Quilly]

Ed Friedlands videos were the best IMO, wasn’t shy on calling out gears flaws. Played a variety of styles also , a fine player but you knew he wasn’t just showing off his chops 

[fleabag]

I wonder why other reviewers couldnt follow the Ed Friedland  format. He really gets the balance right