Bass Guitar Magazine

[xilddx]

[size=6][b]Bass Guitar Magazine - April 2009[/b][/size]

[font="Georgia"][color="#FF0000"][b]A magazine on a low shelf with a with a big-bottomed British blonde [/b][/color] on the cover is always going to turn heads. So when this skinny wretch turned up there was a big shortage of willing testicles.
[b]silddx draws the short straw ...[/b]

[size=7]B[/size]ass Guitar Magazine, from virtually unknown publisher Oyster House, has been around for a number of years now. It has a look and identity all of its own and with an ever decreasing popularity why is it often the last choice for many players?

[size=3][b]Quality And Features[/b][/size]
This particular issue has a high gloss finish, good spine and feels thin. Combines a few bass and amplifier reviews with a "report" from NAMM and interviews with some major name players and some we've never heard of. In addition, there are some full page glossy advertisements and some lessons at the back in how to play like someone else. There is also a five-page Fender catalogue included which is called a "Gear Roundup". There is a picture of a bass guitar on the cover obscured by a logotype proclaiming [size=7]BASS [/size]Guitar Magazine. They claim to be the UK's number one bass guitar magazine, which is true by dint of the fact it is the only UK bass guitar magazine. There are numerous typographical and grammatical errors and the NAMM review also appears to be a catalogue, but for the typographical error pointing to the fact the tea lady put it together.

[size=3]Impressions [/size]
I was unpleasantly surprised at how dull it was to read and it made my usually invigorating and leisurely morning toilet pass quickly and without note. I considered saving 90 sheets of Andrex this time, but at £3.95 an issue I felt I should read it all first. It is a thin publication with thick paper, so perhaps tomorrow. I decided to play spot the typo and was rewarded with a manufacturer's name being spelled incorrectly. A real bonus. Having spent several days with this magazine I have to admit the advertisements in Bass Player are a better, more informative read than the reviews in BGM, the only spine here is what holds the publication together.

[b]Conclusions[/b]
Without wishing to upset or denigrate the contributors, to me, this issue of [size=7]BASS[/size] Guitar Magazine was as useful as a "Do Not Touch" sign in braille, and the few reviews contained therein left me in much doubt about which bass I should state on my mortgage application form. The Fender catalogue was very interesting but unfortunately I had one already. The errors in the magazine made me feel I could not trust what little content there was, and the start of my day with my friend Armitage Shanks was unforgivably tainted.
[b]silddx[/b]

[color="#FF0000"][b]What[/b][/color] I Think
[b]Plus:[/b] Nice glossy paper with some good catalogues inside.
[b]Minus:[/b] Dull and lifeless. Serious competition from other publishers in this price range.
[b]Overall:[/b] A waste of good kebab money.

[b]SILDDX RATING OUT OF FIVE[/b]
BUILD QUALITY ****
CONTENT QUALITY *
VALUE FOR MONEY *
[/font]

[MacDaddy]

* waits for the deluge *

[josh3184]

awesome

[ARGH]

Ha Ha.

[allighatt0r]

I like the mag, and i tend to pick it up, and it gets read from front to back.

Can't say i noticed many spelling errors but i wasn't playing spot the c*ckup! I think what lets it down is the lack of readership, so less sales, less readers, less money for making the magazine better.

I'm rooting for the underdog!

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

It also has a nice smell to it. Sometimes the mag appears when you least expecty it.
When you look for it it isn't there. There have been better issues tho'.

The American Bass Player mag seems to be filled with ads and mostly
people that are unknown over here.

What would be good is if there was a dvd/cd with each issue like the g**tarists get.

[Kiwi]

It's all very well for highly critical readers to sit in their Habitat sofas with their plasma screen TVs and be uber critical about something they have no background knowledge on. However I understand that the mag changed ownership recently and, given the current economic situation, there's bound to be some cutbacks one way or another if they're planning to turn the business around and make some money out of it.

Of course if people care more about running the mag into the ground more than having a decent bass-focussed publication, then thats up to them. FWIW, they actually some major problems in even getting companies to send them review basses. Not even the manufacturers appear to be that enthusiastic. So I'd suggest that the readership have probably got [b]an opportunity[/b] to shape the publication into something that they'd be prepared to buy every month. Alternatively, there's always basschat.

Just my 2p.

[deaver]

Bass Player is just as bad proofing wise. I prefer the tutorials in Bass Guitar Magazine and you can read it in the bath.

[Rich]

Agreed. BP mag has all the cockups of BGM, with the addition of extra adverts -- so, so many adverts -- and the deliberate misspelling of 'colour'.

[steve-soar]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='449842' date='Mar 30 2009, 08:02 PM']It's all very well for highly critical readers to sit in their Habitat sofas with their plasma screen TVs and be uber critical about something they have no background knowledge on. However I understand that the mag changed ownership recently and, given the current economic situation, there's bound to be some cutbacks one way or another if they're planning to turn the business around and make some money out of it.

Of course if people care more about running the mag into the ground more than having a decent bass-focussed publication, then thats up to them. FWIW, they actually some major problems in even getting companies to send them review basses. Not even the manufacturers appear to be that enthusiastic. So I'd suggest that the readership have probably got [b]an opportunity[/b] to shape the publication into something that they'd be prepared to buy every month. Alternatively, there's always basschat.

Just my 2p.[/quote]How does one sit in a sofa?

[xilddx]

Plus, I already said I read it on the john, not in (sic) the sofa. I do not have a plasma TV in the wall on my lavatory either.

[Eight]

[quote name='silddx' post='449787' date='Mar 30 2009, 07:08 PM']Serious competition from other publishers in this price range.[/quote]
Like?

I've made criticisms about BGM in other threads, but if it didn't exist, I wouldn't be buying any bass mag at all. The others I've seen have been much much worse.

Still... I liked what you did there Silddx.

Edited March 30, 2009 by Eight

[OldGit]

I like them both and pick them up every month.

I look at the dots at the back and promise myself I'll kearn to read them properly one day.
The reviews make me laff in both and the US mag has lots on people I've never heard of but that doesn't make it uninteresting.

I agree with CK: Don't ask what your bass mag can do for you but rather what you can do for your bass mag otherwis two pages in a gu!tar mag will be all we get

[Alun]

Then again of course, you don't have to buy it

Yes, BGM does have some annoying typos but all in all, I don't think it's [i]that[/i] bad. I buy both BGM and Bass Player and enjoy both.

Cheers
Alun

[xilddx]

[quote name='OldGit' post='449907' date='Mar 30 2009, 08:54 PM']I agree with CK: Don't ask what your bass mag can do for you but rather what you can do for your bass mag otherwis two pages in a gu!tar mag will be all we get[/quote]

OK, you agree with CK, well done. My opinion is that BASS Guitar Magazine is not a bloody public service. They should get off their arses and do a proper job to gain some competitive advantage.

Next time I see a boring pub band I've paid four quid to see, I will go to their dressing room with some very helpful suggestions. Maybe I should also tell Dan Brown what I want from his sh*te novels ..

[Rich]

Luckily I borrowed the Da Vinci Code, so it didn't cost me money to find out just how appalling it is.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Rich' post='449936' date='Mar 30 2009, 09:17 PM']Luckily I borrowed the Da Vinci Code, so it didn't cost me money to find out just how appalling it is.[/quote]



I got it £1.49 from the Oxfam shop because I wanted to know what the fuss was about. I was on the tube when I finished it and without thinking chucked it on the ledge behind my seat as if it was a well thumbed copy of METRO.

[Rich]

The difference being that a well thumbed copy of METRO is more likely to be picked up than the Da Vinci Code, and has a far more plausible plot.

[BigBeefChief]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='449842' date='Mar 30 2009, 08:02 PM']It's all very well for highly critical readers to sit in their Habitat sofas with their plasma screen TVs and be uber critical about something they have no background knowledge on. However I understand that the mag changed ownership recently and, given the current economic situation, there's bound to be some cutbacks one way or another if they're planning to turn the business around and make some money out of it.[/quote]



So are you more forgiving of the crap they show on ITV because they're feeling the pinch at the moment?

As a reader, I won't make exceptions because of a sob story behind the scenes. I can only judge the mag on his contents.

Lets face it, the latest edition that I've read (with the Enfield bass on the front) was absolutely dreadful. As the OP said, it was mostly a glorified brochure. If the editor of the mag can genuinely tell me that he could not produce a better Bass magazine, then he's either a liar on incompetent. I know some contributers are members here, but if you publish something in the public domain, you set yourself up to be critiqued - so I don't feel so bad about being honest about it.

Here are some of the problems:

Full of spelling mistakes and gramatical errors
A terrible reviewing system
Truly boring journalism
A lack on opinion
Sycophantic interviews
A clear agenda to promote rubbish music schools
Formulaic journalism
rubbish
rubbish rubbish

I occassionaly buy a few guitar mags, and they are all a word apart (in a good way) from BGM. Even the rubbish guitar mag for "Nu-Metal"a and Slip-Nut fans.

Having said that, I still buy BGM. Its better reading boring, formaulaic articles about bass, than reading nothing at all. Just.

Edited March 30, 2009 by BigBeefChief

[budget bassist]

I think it's fairly interesting, i'm not too sure what you guys all have against it...

BBC, you complain about a lack of opinion. I'm pretty sure you, and everyone else would complain if they were biased towards certain things... say warwicks for example?

Edited March 30, 2009 by budget bassist

[captain black]

[quote name='deaver' post='449852' date='Mar 30 2009, 08:08 PM']Bass Player is just as bad proofing wise. I prefer the tutorials in Bass Guitar Magazine and [b]you can read it in the bath.[/b][/quote]

Yes!!!
It's not just me then.
I have to say that the only and I mean ONLY place I read BGM is either in the bath or sitting on the pot.
Don't ask me why. The wife goes mad 'cos theres a stack of them in the bathroom.
I subscribe, but I have noticed the downturn in quality and journalism recently.
But i can't get into Bass Player Magazine tho I've tried. At least it's OUR bass Mag not an ad-plastered American one.
And, hey, don't forget it's going monthly from the next issue.
Happy days.

[xilddx]

An example from March / April BGM

[i]"Music Journalist" [/i](?) Joel McIver to Dave Ellefson.

"Is your bass style in F5 different to the way it was in Megadeth?"
[size=5][b]
You are a music journalist!! You should already know!!! [/b][/size]You should ask Dave Ellefson [u][b]why [/b][/u]his approach is different!! I'm not a 12 year old, I want some depth and a fascinating, challenging interview. You might as well ask Dave Ellefson if his hair is longer or shorter in F5 than when it was in Megadeth. [size=5][b]Look at the photographs first!![/b][/size]

[i][b]My Edit: [/b]Text emphasis needed due to mod's removal of needless profanity and sheer frustration at having spent £3.95 for a waste of my time.[/i]

[b][i]Edit 2: [/i][/b] While I think about it, what is [i]needed profanity[/i]?

Edited March 30, 2009 by silddx
needless profanity

[BigBeefChief]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='449956' date='Mar 30 2009, 09:29 PM']BBC, you complain about a lack of opinion. I'm pretty sure you, and everyone else would complain if they were biased towards certain things... say warwicks for example?[/quote]


As opposed to being biased towards everything? As it stands, they seem so scared of upsetting the manufactures, that their reviews have very little value.

Stuart Clayton once claimed on here that it's because most gear these days was fit for purpose. What a load of crap! If thats the case, then the bar has to be raised! "Fit for purpose" is clearly now the norm - review accordingly!

I'm sure that even the contributers of BGM know its crap.

[ARGH]

British Bass mags have always been the reason I buy Bassplayer.

[xilddx]

[quote name='captain black' post='449979' date='Mar 30 2009, 09:40 PM']At least it's OUR bass Mag not an ad-plastered American one.[/quote]

Sorry, that's very silly indeed. I ain't paying £3.95 for a load of jolly old nonsense just because it's "British and prahhd"

[quote name='captain black' post='449979' date='Mar 30 2009, 09:40 PM']And, hey, don't forget it's going monthly from the next issue.
Happy days.[/quote]

Twice the frrrrrrrrrp for twice the money.