YouTube Reviewers Can’t Be Trusted?

[DrewJD82]

Saw this video from @GuitarJon pop up in my feed and thought Henning did a great job discussing the “free” aspect of things and while it’s still playing, Jon has a great take on the ‘what doesn’t work for me doesn’t mean it sucks’ and trashing products at launches. Not that we’ve seen any trashing of products at launches lately here!



Good video, Jon.

My take- people put too much stock in YouTube videos. You’re never going to get the full scope of any piece of gear without playing it yourself and until you do, everything but specs is subjective and contextual. I have no problems with geartubers making money via views or bartering their time for gear. I watch gear vids for entertainment mostly and to get a frame of reference for something if I’m looking to make a purchase. I have zero interest in purchasing 85% of the gear I watch reviews/demos for, I’m just a gear dork.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I think Henning is great \m/

 

[TSJMajesty]

Well duh Drew! Tell us some stuff we don't know!

Seriously though, you're absolutely right.

 

[la szum]

"Don't trust the platform that I make a living from, and how I provide for my family."

Also something that a drug dealer or pimp would say.

They kind of are, in a way, no? Pimps and dealers? They get fronted product and then they
try and get viewers to "buy in."

And yeah, sometimes you have to try a thing in your own habitat and hands to know
if that thing is for you. All Hail The Gear Churn!

 

[DrewJD82]

I think Henning is great \m/

I use to find him highly irritating and I don’t know how I managed it, but I don’t think I heard him play a note for years, or I couldn’t make it long enough in his videos to hear him play. I can’t remember what changed my opinion, but he cracks me up now. Maybe I just had to get him more than I was.

Oh, I remember, he made that video geeking out about meeting Vai and I could relate to every single thing he said. And then when I finally heard him play I was pretty stunned because I seriously thought he couldn’t and just avoided playing because of it.

 

[DrewJD82]

"Don't trust the platform that I make a living from, and how I provide for my family."

Also something that a drug dealer or pimp would say.

They kind of are, in a way, no? Pimps and dealers? They get fronted product and then they
try and get viewers to "buy in."

And yeah, sometimes you have to try a thing in your own habitat and hands to know
if that thing is for you. All Hail The Gear Churn!

There’s probably about 1000 other things they can be compared to that’s more accurate than two ‘professions’ that are illegal in most places.

 

[the-trooper]

I watch videos for the same reasons you listed, and to get a sense how some features and specs are implemented. But for quality of product I wouldn't trust my own mother with a review as far as I can throw her, let alone youtubers who are payed to do reviews and, for 98% of them, 98% of the time everything is hunky-dory perfect.

 

[HotRats]

I watch youtube gear videos for entertainment and because I like to keep up with what's going on but trust?

I don't know, I can't see my self buying somenthing because someone I trust tell me is good, I might take a trusted opinion into account but I don't buy gear because I'm told is good. I do it because I want it (and that's it, LOL) or because the feature set match my needs and the product doesn't seem to fall apart after few months.

Youtube reviews are like any other review out there, you can't trust the single one (mainly because we don't like, need, understand things the same way) but you might get the picture of what's good and what's not reading a lot of them.

There are many good youtubers out there that in my opinion do a good work showing gear in an (as much as possible) unbiased manner or simply sharing their opinion while showing how they use those things and GuitarJon is among them.
I'm not always into his type of content but he is good at what he does.

In my opinion those who are hyper negative over youtubers, call them liars and insist that they can't be trusted because they are in the companies payrolls are simply envious.

Music community is filled with envious people and you can see that every day, everywhere in your local music scene. At least that's my experience.

 

[Snags]

Have they all be getting reamed lately? It feels like there have been so many "Look, we're not shills, we don't just say what we're told for money you know" videos from gear channels it's like some manufacturer has just released the NS-NoShill5 or something.


{Edit to add}
I should qualify that I'm not suggesting they are shills at all, and for anyone with half a brain the transactional nature of "Here's some gear you don't have to physically pay for, but please make content" is fairly obvious, and doesn't imply unavoidable bias. It just seems that there are a lot of defensive "This is my job, I take it seriously, I'm not just a gobshite for hire" videos recently. Possibly as a result of the kickstarter thingy, or possibly just because they've all been chatting about it within their networks so it's one of those momentary coincidence things.

 

[Orvillain]

I think he's spot on to be honest. Listen, I work for a manufacturer, and have spoken to Youtubers directly - Jon included - and we've discussed them doing videos for our stuff. Sometimes they are well up for it, sometimes they don't even respond, sometimes they respond and aren't particularly interested this time around, but you get them on the next.

Even companies have different motivations. Some companies literally see the thing as a business transaction. Others see it as a relationship. No company wants shills, because it reflects badly on the brand anyway.

The ideal is to have people who genuinely love your stuff and genuinely want to talk about it. I think from a product perspective, that is the thing companies are looking for - that is what I'm looking for, for BFD.

And if there are reasons why XYZ person doesn't like your gear, or your gear doesn't quite hit the spot, we need to know why. It helps us improve our products.

The worst products out there are quite often designed in a vaccuum, with no external input, by one person with a vision that hasn't been sanity checked against the needs of the public. There's also been so many flops over the years because of the zeitgeist of the industry and the creative space.

I've made some shill jokes in the past. Sure. Because sometimes it can be funny. But I've been checking myself on that recently, because it isn't really nice, and it isn't really true. It is a distortion of reality.

I do think that you can trust Youtube reviews to an extent. But ultimately it HAS to be based on your own experiences with it.

And videos do take a long time to make. To do them well takes longer. People do deserve to be rewarded/respected for the hard work they put in.

 

[Stone]

I don't buy gear because I'm told is good. I do it because I want it (and that's it, LOL) or because the feature set match my needs and the product doesn't seem to fall

Very true but I also watch gear reviews I may learn something or it may be just for entertainment , either way i dont have a problem with most Reviewers, some I do not like so i dont watch their channels

 

[James Freeman]

Am I allowed to participate in this thread?

 

[FuzzyAce]

The amazing thing is, is that it has to be said. I guess a lot of people don't get how business works? I get the "shill" part and yeah it's easy to joke about certain youtubers because of their schtick, but most of them appear to be even-handed.

 

[laxu]

I use to find him highly irritating and I don’t know how I managed it, but I don’t think I heard him play a note for years, or I couldn’t make it long enough in his videos to hear him play. I can’t remember what changed my opinion, but he cracks me up now. Maybe I just had to get him more than I was.

Oh, I remember, he made that video geeking out about meeting Vai and I could relate to every single thing he said. And then when I finally heard him play I was pretty stunned because I seriously thought he couldn’t and just avoided playing because of it.

He's a bit of an acquired taste, his humor sometimes works for me and other times doesn't. Generally his videos are well made and I like that he's also willing to throw some shade at issues in a product even if he mostly demoes what they can do. My only complaint is that he's sometimes out of tune (just the guitar) and that shouldn't end up on a video. Tune the guitar and do another take.

My take on YT is that if there's a piece of gear that I'm interested in, I will watch multiple sources and make my own decision based on those. The important bits for me are seeing how it operates, what it can do etc and how it sounds is going to vary the most from video to video.

As much as John Cordy is well liked on this forum, his playing and tones don't do a whole lot for me so I might watch his video just to see how a device operates. Tonewise I feel like I'm most aligned with Rabea Massaad and Thomas Blug (even though I use humbuckers more than single coils).

 

[DrewJD82]

He's a bit of an acquired taste, his humor sometimes works for me and other times doesn't. Generally his videos are well made and I like that he's also willing to throw some shade at issues in a product even if he mostly demoes what they can do. My only complaint is that he's sometimes out of tune (just the guitar) and that shouldn't end up on a video. Tune the guitar and do another take.

My take on YT is that if there's a piece of gear that I'm interested in, I will watch multiple sources and make my own decision based on those. The important bits for me are seeing how it operates, what it can do etc and how it sounds is going to vary the most from video to video.

As much as John Cordy is well liked on this forum, his playing and tones don't do a whole lot for me so I might watch his video just to see how a device operates. Tonewise I feel like I'm most aligned with Rabea Massaad and Thomas Blug (even though I use humbuckers more than single coils).

Ya know, I don’t think there’s a single YouTuber that hits all the tones I go for regularly and that might play a part in my overall outlook on them. Leon would be the closest for Mesa tones and Cordy for clean/EJ stuff, but there’s some gaps in there.

As I was reading that I was actually curious about the kind of music you were into as I don’t think I’ve ever read you comment on it much. I very much agree about tuning…..that’s a pretty low bar to rise above and if it’s glaringly out of tune I’ll just stop watching.

 

[jellodog]

Have they all be getting reamed lately? It feels like there have been so many "Look, we're not shills, we don't just say what we're told for money you know" videos

Some of them have gotten some grief from comments on this very forum?

 

[fretworn]

AI’s thoughts on the matter … dunno where the GF content came from … lol … wasn’t me.

 

[laxu]

As I was reading that I was actually curious about the kind of music you were into as I don’t think I’ve ever read you comment on it much.

My "thing" is in "all eras of Gary Moore" territory - blues to 1980s/1990s hard rock, mostly Marshall based tones. I dabble in other stuff too, from metal to funk (hence owning 7 and 8 strings).

When I started playing it was all about bands like Metallica, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, all the shredder virtuosos. Nowadays it would be more like say Gary Moore and Mark Knopfler.

 

[DrewJD82]

I watch videos for the same reasons you listed, and to get a sense how some features and specs are implemented. But for quality of product I wouldn't trust my own mother with a review as far as I can throw her, let alone youtubers who are payed to do reviews and, for 98% of them, 98% of the time everything is hunky-dory perfect.

This particular aspect, the quality of it, this is where logical reasoning should come into play with people- the majority of videos start with “I just got this…”, “_____ sent me”, “I’m checking out….” etc indicating they haven’t had the pedal for a long time. For a new piece of gear, it’s obvious it hasn’t been road/gig tested because it’s brand new. Pete Thorn is one of the few who will circle back to a piece of gear he’s used on the road and comment on it in that aspect, but overall that’s a big missing thing from geartubers as I know the majority I watch regularly don’t mention gigging at all.

So if I’m watching a dude who I’ve never seen on a stage, never discusses live shows and is saying “This can definitely stand up to the road”, I can’t take that all that seriously. For all I know “the road” can be the 3 miles between his place and his buddy’s place where it’s going to go on a carpeted floor at each space.

 

[Orvillain]