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Rant. YouTube reviews


Skinnyman

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Why do so many YouTube reviewers feel the need to demonstrate the sound of the instrument/cab/amp with a ten minute slap-fest?

Or then there are those who don't even let you hear it and just mumble for ten minutes in some dimly lit bedroom. Or the 'professionals' with some matey banter who, again, don't let you hear it, just point at a load of knobs and sockets and read the labels to you.

Finding a sensible review where you get a decent sound file, the bass is played in a range of styles (not just bloody slap) and the key features are highlighted is virtually impossible.

</Rant>

 

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And record it with a decent audio interface, not a phone mic near a 10w combo in the corner of a kitchen.

Personally, I like to hear what a bass sounds like when spanked, but also finger style so I appreciate when they do both.

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Quite.

I don't mind if the review contains a brief demonstration of what the thing-in-question sounds like when slapped, or played finger style or picked - or even used for metal.

But there are so many out there that are just some sweaty bloke in shorts and bare feet sat in his bedroom having a ten minute slap-w#nk.

There should be a warning at the start....

 

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But some of those reviews will definitely reach out to people out there, perhaps a limited proportion of the market but I know there's been things I've been searching for in the past and no results, these days you can pretty much find anything on YouTube and will tick boxes for most. 

 

Also, who doesn't love a 10 minute slap fest with no compression? 😜😂

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My main annoyance at Youtube reviews is that a lot of them are basically adverts disguised as reviews. 

I can take a slap fest if what follows is an honest review of what a piece of equipment can and can't do, rather than the usual 'WOW THIS IS THE BEST PIECE OF GEAR I HAVE EVER SEEN (since last week's video)'. I love it when a reviewer tries a setting on an amp, instrument or pedal and actually says something along the lines of 'hmmm that setting isn't for me, lets try something else.' 

Dood's reviews are great, Premier Guitar are usually very good and while not a bass player I like the Andy guy at Pro Guitar Shop in terms of demos/reviews of guitar products. Bass Whisperer too. Other that that I really don't explore Youtube reviews that much.

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There are good ones out there, for sure. And i get that some will always give a very positive spin because they're trying to sell you the item in question - if that's clear then it's not an issue.

But a Google search of videos for 'xyz' amp will produce a lot more chaff than wheat, that's for aure.

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Can we just clear something here.... The worst thing about ANY YouTube video or review is clickbait. 

50 million techniques in one song

WIN £5,000 worth of equipment

I shred a spade with one string

Cute girl plays with G String

 

Well... Ok... Maybe the last one I threw in there but you'd still watch it regardless of the content 😉

Clickbait people. I rest my case haha. 

Edited by bigsmokebass
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I've often considered setting up my own YouTube channel, purely for bass demos played pickstyle and with no DI. Just to balance things out.

There is a chap out there doing something simlilar but his videos seem to have turned into a showcase for Darkglass and all end up sounding the same.

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Someone needs to set up something like this (but for bass guitars/amps/FX): the Zen Pro Audio 'Clipalator'.

https://www.zenproaudio.com/clipalator

If I ran an online guitar retailer I'd do just that. Give my customers opportunity to 'hear before they buy', so to speak. And using the exact same song/passage for every clip, allowing easy comparison.

There you go guitar retailers. Have that one for free 😉

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12 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Seconded.  @Dood manages to keep it interesting without being hysterical.

You're so right: @Doodjust isn't funny...  /deadpan

I like the pedal reviews where they put text on to tell you what bass settings are being used and then the hand comes in to slowly turn the dial and you can hear the change: this is usually for DG pedals, but I did see some excellent reviews of the Glou Glou pedals (probably official ones?)

Also shout out to Source Audio official reviews: tasty guitar playing and limited slap on the bass ones.

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9 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

Someone needs to set up something like this (but for bass guitars/amps/FX): the Zen Pro Audio 'Clipalator'.

https://www.zenproaudio.com/clipalator

If I ran an online guitar retailer I'd do just that. Give my customers opportunity to 'hear before they buy', so to speak. And using the exact same song/passage for every clip, allowing easy comparison.

There you go guitar retailers. Have that one for free 😉

Genius.

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10 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

Someone needs to set up something like this (but for bass guitars/amps/FX): the Zen Pro Audio 'Clipalator'.

https://www.zenproaudio.com/clipalator

If I ran an online guitar retailer I'd do just that. Give my customers opportunity to 'hear before they buy', so to speak. And using the exact same song/passage for every clip, allowing easy comparison.

There you go guitar retailers. Have that one for free 😉

Here come the 'all in the fingers' brigade who'd have you believe you can get a Stingray sound from an upright ;)

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2 hours ago, ped said:

Here come the 'all in the fingers' brigade who'd have you believe you can get a Stingray sound from an upright ;)

I've never read anywhere that anyone thinks an upright sounds like a stingray!?  they're two completely different instruments.

But, can you listen to any record and know what bass is been played?  ;)

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3 minutes ago, Tobe said:

I've never read anywhere that anyone thinks an upright sounds like a stingray!?  they're two completely different instruments.

But, can you listen to any record and know what bass is been played?  ;)

It was an extreme example but you do hear people saying ‘if I play a J or a P it doesn’t matter, I always sound like me’ 

I can very often identify the bass used on recordings, or have a good idea about the type of bass at least. 

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8 hours ago, Skinnyman said:

Why do so many YouTube reviewers feel the need to demonstrate the sound of the instrument/cab/amp with a ten minute slap-fest?

Chance would be a fine thing that I could actually do a 10 minute slap fest! 😀

Note forward: when that day comes, I promise not to record it as part of any gear review (unless I have Dood's explicit approval). I'll also try to remember to keep my left arm on the neck at all times.

</anti-rant>

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7 hours ago, bigsmokebass said:

Can we just clear something here.... The worst thing about ANY YouTube video or review is clickbait. 

50 million techniques in one song

WIN £5,000 worth of equipment

I shred a spade with one string

Cute girl plays with G String

 

Well... Ok... Maybe the last one I threw in there but you'd still watch it regardless of the content 😉

Clickbait people. I rest my case haha. 

Read this and thought, Scott Devine.

I think Scott is a good educator but his YT channel is click bait of the worst kind.  Though I'm not sure he's guilty of the last one!

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2 hours ago, ped said:

It was an extreme example but you do hear people saying ‘if I play a J or a P it doesn’t matter, I always sound like me’ 

I can very often identify the bass used on recordings, or have a good idea about the type of bass at least. 

You haven't spent enough time looking at to the various flames in forums long gone as to which songs on the middle rush albums were the Ric and which were the jazz!

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43 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said:

Read this and thought, Scott Devine.

I think Scott is a good educator but his YT channel is click bait of the worst kind.  Though I'm not sure he's guilty of the last one!

'3 reasons why six string basses suck (And how to fix it)'

*Gets a £4k bass from Yamaha especially for the video* 

What a knob jockey 😂😂

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2 hours ago, bigsmokebass said:

'3 reasons why six string basses suck (And how to fix it)'

*Gets a £4k bass from Yamaha especially for the video* 

What a knob jockey 😂😂

Yes, he certainly gets my goat at times. Most of the time I go out of my way to not watch his videos. 

Such as this, a video titled 'Aguilar Bass Pedals Review'. It is not a review. It is a promo for a giveaway for some free stuff he was sent directly by Aguilar.



In his defence though, if I was in his position and was offered a bunch of free stuff to try out, including a £4k Yamaha, I'm not going to say no. However, if I want to see an honest review of a product, I find his videos to be generally verging on useless. He is far from the only one on Youtube guilty of this.Also, I am only making this comment in relation to his Youtube videos. I cannot comment on his Bass Lessons service, which sounds like a great service and community and I am really happy that he has developed a successful business. You can argue that Youtube videos are a necessary evil of the way he needs to develop his brand/business. However, his Youtube videos really discourage me from wanting to sign up, because half of the time I can't take anything he says with any degree of credibility owing to the amount of product placement, 'giveaways' and other 'adverts' disguised as reviews or honest critiques of gear. I doubt my absence from his service gives him sleepless nights though!

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.
 

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@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! 😂)

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