[quote name='BigRedX' post='1043869' date='Dec 1 2010, 02:55 PM']I'm assuming by this you mean don't knock it unless you can do better?[/quote]
Not at all; you have misinterpreted what I meant to say, or more likely I didn't phrase it well enough. I did insert a smiley in the attempt to imply some humour, and as per my subsequent post I wouln't criticise what I don't know about.
People at different levels experience things in different ways. Taking you example of artwork (although a lot of the thread appears to be more about content) I know bog all about it and occasionally notice things that I think look effective and those that merely raise an eyebrow. i.e. to the untrained eye it is less important, although as it's clearly your area of expertise you are deeply frustrated by it.
I suspect that the market for this type of publication is relatively small in circulation terms, so that a range of publications from those aimed at numpties and beginners (like me) to pros (like a number of you) may be impractical. I certainly get frustrated that sometimes reviews will refer to a particular feature of a guitar but there is no image to illustrate the point, and I have written to the magazine to ask them to see if they can improve on this. I've also requested more reviews of equipment I can afford even though I do enjoy drooling over some of the top end basses.
If you scan through the thread a lot of the posts would appear to follow the great British tradition of moaning about things without offering a contructive alternative. If everybody that has criticsed the publication here has made the same comments in the same terms to the editor then fair enough, I'll shut up and go away. But I would bet a decent wedge that this will not have been the case.
Anyway, I enjoy reading (most of) it and if it brings more people into the bass community, then that's a great result. Good luck to them.