When it comes to the
types, quality, and depth
of guitar-freak content on the
market, we’re pretty confident
no other media outlet matches
Premier Guitar. This isn’t to
brag, it’s to urge you to explore
outside your usual PG consumption
zone. Sure, if you
grew up ogling glossy mags
at your local guitar shop or
bookstore, you may be perfectly
content to simply devour our
monthly print offering. It is,
after all, the biggest guitar mag
on newsstands each month. But
if you’re that much of a glutton,
why stop there? It’s not like
you’ve had some sort of retinal-bypass
surgery that limits how
much 6- and 4-string goodness
you can ingest. So let me tell
you about our daily specials.
Just to get it out of the way,
let’s discuss the content platform
that’s most controversial
for some of you print lovers:
Facebook. I know, I know … I
can practically hear the eyeballs
of skeptics and nonconformists
rolling around in their heads at
the mention of the vile F word.
I laud your stand against The
Man, personal-data mining, and
voyeuristic time-wasting that saps
away precious hours that would
be better spent with your guitar,
your family, or a good book.
And if you choose to remain
unyielding in giving FB founder
Mark Zuckerberg the cyber
birdie even after I call out some
of the benefits of “Liking” us on
his out-of-control brainchild,
I’ll applaud your principled
stand—but I’ll also ask you to
please not moan about our multi-platform
approach.
Here’s why we think you
principled rejecters could probably
dine with us on Facebook
without becoming Zuckerberg’s
zombie slaves or feeling all icky
about yourselves: At present,
Facebook is our most convenient,
diverse, interactive, and
up-to-date platform. Besides
notifying you of new PG articles
and videos, breaking news
updates, and killer gear giveaways
(including our famous
Stompboxtober and new Pro
Pedalboard drawings)—which
are now open to international
residents—our Facebook page
also brings you extra photos of
gear and artists that won’t fit in
the print edition. And, yes, we
even have some Facebook-only
gear giveaways. Like it or not,
Facebook is one of the most
popular websites on earth, and
if we’re going to continue to
bring you veritable boatloads
of coverage for next to nothing,
you’ve got to be cool with the
things we do there to remain
competitive. Seriously, just try it
out. Hell, you don’t even have
to use your Facebook account
for anything else: Create an
account, don’t post anything,
and simply indulge in all the
aforementioned coolness.
Who doesn’t love YouTube?
We’ve got 20 million views and counting there. If you need
your guitar fix in small doses
throughout each day, premierguitar.com is the stealthiest
route to ease the workaday
blues. Love the look of our
print mag but miss the ads and
the idea of flipping pages, try
our digital versions (digital.premierguitar.com)—which also
include bonus sections stocked
with all the web-exclusive gear
reviews from that month. Need
something to keep you occupied
in the dentist’s waiting
room? Our iPhone and Android apps put entire PG issues in
the palm of your hand. Into
Twitter? We’re there, too. We’re
also serving up choice archival
tidbits on Tumblr. In sum, we
work hard to make our multi-platform
smorgasbord pretty
damn tempting, so go ahead
and pig out—no shame here.
Ratings revised.
Okay,
let’s move on. Many of you
base buying decisions on our
reviews, so we’ve revised our
ratings system to be more practical.
Many products received
3.5–4.5 picks (out of 5) under
our previous single-score system,
which was useful for ata-
glance summations but also
obscured some nuance.
For instance, how should
a reviewer rate an affordable
guitar that has a few minor cosmetic
flaws but sends everyone
who plays it to tonal heaven?
You guessed it—they average
what might’ve been a 3-pick
rating for build quality with
a 5-pick rating for tones, and
end up with a 4 or 4.5. And
when you average assessments
of playability, innovation, feel,
build quality, and bang for the
buck, you inevitably end up
with a score that can seem like
we’re treating manufacturers
with kid gloves. We’re not. But
while some people want to see
us ruthlessly bash a product
in a cathartic rant that they
must believe will somehow rain
vicarious vengeance down upon
companies that put out crap
20 or 30 years ago, the truth is
that these days CNC construction
and the ease of internet
research—for both builders and
consumers—has exponentially
improved the overall quality of
products on the market today.
So, while you or I may pick
up a guitar or plug into an amp
or pedal and immediately know
it’s not for us, these days that’s
usually due more to whether
it fits our style and level of
pickiness than whether it truly
sucks. We also go to great effort
to make sure each product is
reviewed by a player who’s part
of the target audience. We don’t
send jazz archtops to metalheads,
and we don’t send high-gain
amps to blues dudes.
Anyway, our new rating system
includes brief summations
of a product’s pros and cons,
as well as pick ratings (0–5)
in four categories—Tones,
Build, Value, and Playability
(for instruments) or Ease of
Use (amps, effects, and other
devices) or Versatility (pickups).
Items with a total of 18 or
more picks (out of 20) win our
coveted Premier Gear Award.
We think you’ll get more out
of this, and we welcome your
feedback. Pick a platform—any
platform—and write us!