Life cycle of TH-cam channels 1. Making vids just for fun 2. Acquire an audience 3. $$$ starts coming in 4. Start chasing more eyes & more $ 5. TH-cam is now my job 6. Get desperate. 6a. Do whatever it takes to keep making money 6b. Whine about the algorithm 6c. Complain about Adsense
I think part of the reason for the huge backlash is that it's not just guitar gear TH-cam. It's fucking everything lately. Every news story I see is somehow picked by some algorithm for monetary reasons etc. I think it's starting to get to people. On a side note, I have almost every piece of guitar gear I have ever purchased and never sold a thing (WAY more than is reasonable). I have been thinking it would be fun to make some video reviews in chronological order of purchase of all the gear with anything interesting I can say about it. Not sure if that's interesting or not though.
Yeah, TH-cam, TikTok, Netflix, ... everything seems to be running stale. It's hard to get excited about stuff anymore if everything is just the same in new packaging. Regarding your review idea: I think grouping them might be more interesting. Maybe "things that I cannot live without anymore", "things that grew on me over time", "things I grew tired of quickly" and "things that I regretted buying".
Watching this just made me feel really inspired to make my first video. I've definitely had the "itch" before, but looking at the quality of the big channels definitely makes me feel like "why bother if I can't match", but I think that's a losing mindset to begin with. It should just be about fun.
@@eldoradoguitars6456 just came across your channel and really loved the vibes. Been making videos on another channel of mine and I'm gonna keep your advice here in mind. Let's keep it fun. Thanks for the inspiration. Easy like and sub 🙌🏻
Spot on. I truly noticed the change when all the gear-review guys came out with videos about the same piece of gear on the same day. They aren't trying things because they want to, it's what's being handed to them to try on that day. It's not about that guitarist and their motivations to play certain things to have fun and hear the new sounds they could get. It became about appeasing the corporations that fund their channels. Definitely NOT fun. Wanted to add a case in point: At my last gig, during the sound check, I played a chicken-pickin' kind of riff. I'm in a metal band. I did not change my settings or tone. The sound guy just needed to set levels so, it doesn't matter WHAT I play. So, I chose to play some other style for fun. Playing that kind of a lick out of the gain side of a PRS Archon; not what you'd expect, but it sure was more enjoyable than any other standard fare, warm up Metallica riff that's been done to death. I think that's the same mindset you're getting at.
There's also the all-important enshittification aspect to consider with all the tech companies you mentioned. Not central to the point here, I just don't want anyone to forget.
Agree, corporations are strangling the fun out of everything. Matter of fact corporations are simply strangling everything. They want to control EVERYTHING, employees and customers, and won’t stop, ever. P.S. I know, worked for a multinational for 26 years and they suck the soul out of everything!
People are sick of being told their gear is shyt to buy the latest thing or dig for some old vintage fairy dust. Especially since now people are having a harder time getting their hands on expendable money. Also, since it’s so hard to hear an actual recorded difference in “tones” between different price levels in gear. Your point about life being more fun back in the day before the algorithm is 100% accurate with your examples is dead on too.
Love the video! Hysterical and all true! The best are the pro TH-camrs who try to make their sponsored video look like it’s not sponsored. So lame and obvious!
I don't know. I really don't agree with this. Just because something is a job doesn't mean that it isn't fun. Sure, there are jobs that are not fun, but there also dream jobs. Personally, I don't mind that TH-camrs are paid--we all want someone to have a respectable wage. I don't mind that TH-camrs get stuff for "free"--they're making content on something that I might be interested in. If I am not interested in that product, I just don't watch. I'm not forced to watch something. I just find these types of arguments to be a little silly. People have developed an economy around social media. But economies develop in every industry. I think this is actually better for the community in general. How could a guitar youtube channel survive if they had to buy all their guitars for $0 for their time and effort in making a video? (video work can be deceptively laborious). It sounds like people are saying they are entitled to free content AND the creator should do it pro bono. Why would someone do that? People make guitars for a living, and probably have fun doing it. They also charge money--sometimes a lot of money--for their products. Does that mean they are "squeezing the fun" out of people playing guitar? No, it's just that there is an economy around guitar building. People make guitars because they love it and they hope they can make a good living at it. And they hope the end result is that everyone is happy in the process. This can be true with TH-cam reviewers too.
Wow! What a fresh take and such an eye opening discussion! Thank you for the content! I just subscribed seeing tthis video! BTW, a comparison between VH4 channel 3$4 and that Bogner would be awesome to watch!
3 things I noticed on my 2 years watching gear channels. 1- Guitar players are narcissistic and sorta dumb type of people. You ask them something and they WILL answer not addressing the question but what their mind comes to put together. Is an oDD phenomenon. Like try to find an answer to a forum question 2- Companies are milking that stupidity and ignorance. Coz we have tons of biases towards so many things is a bit ridiculous. 3- TH-camrs decided to put themselves in the middle of angsty people and capitalist companies and expect it to be all daisies and sun flowers. LOL 😅
You have a real job. That’s why you can have fun doing TH-cam. These other guys don’t, so they need to make money somehow. I sort of get it, but you’re totally right-it’s boring. I love the baseball example. You just made me realize why I stopped watching baseball after about 2005. I do like Rhett’s channel still. I think he does fun stuff, like the live to tape-no edits videos.
I like Fluff, but when I watched his vid when it came out, I kinda thought it was a little crybaby. My thought was….you’re in an elite club of great gear reviewers and now that you’re near the top of that mountain, you don’t want anyone else climbing that mountain ? 🤦🏼
16:00 What happens is that the pro TH-camrs get the first release of sponsored products from manufacturers, which may be months prior to release. The TH-camrs do the videos, they may or may not submit that video to the manufacturer prior to official release, BUT their publication of the product's video is embargoed until release date. So, if a manufacturer releases a new pedal on 30th June, you can BET there will be a flood of videos about the product in the next week.
Still irritating af to see 50 videos of the same product that is the same as the last product. The problem with music gear is that there are only so many usable effects, *actually* different guitars or amps and SO MUCH copying that once you go through the gamut once it's just endless repetition. Practice more, IMO.
So you just popped up on my feed. I used to be subscribed to several of the big channels out there, then I started noticing when something new would come out and all of those channels would have a video come out within days of each other with the same piece of gear featured. That was it for me... Great video!
The bottom line is that the reviewers etc. are all advertisers. None of these guys do reviews, they do overviews. The things that are red flags in it for me are: 1) Henning said he won't do videos about products he doesn't think are good which automatically says the "reviews" are all going to be good with the occasional negative minor thing to appear impartial. 2) No matter what they say, they are ALL part of the advertising for that product - that's what they're doing is advertising. TH-cam is an advertising platform, period. That's its purpose. I think the other thing that irritates people is seeing all these folks getting handed free gear simply to advertise for it while the rest of us have to buy the gear.
I agree. Things should be fun, fair, honest etc. But untalented, unfun, dishonest people, etc are the most useful to those who only care about money/profit.
Best cure for GAS post product review, is go find those cool sounds in the gear you already have. Can't find it, maybe the gear has a selling point for you. 98% of the time you will get something close enough.
Love this! You’re right, it’s now hard to find a guitar gear channel that can give truly objective reviews. Another thing I noticed is that your vids don’t have the annoying ads that pop up every 5(sometimes 3!) minutes that happen with monetized channels. I think this is the first time in months that I’ve watched a video uninterrupted.
Give my channel a glance if you have a minute. I don't get paid, I don't get to keep free gear, I don't have sponsorships, I don't monetize my channel and I take every piece of gear I review on stage before getting in front of the camera.
You’re essentially bumping on the central problem with the gig economy and chokepoint capitalism. Like a side hustle is one thing and it can be fun. But it is hard to scale when you are the product. One person only has so much bandwidth. And you can be successful, but you will never be rich unless you can scale. Meanwhile, corporations have created chokepoints that limit creators earning potential. Essentially the big channels are in between a rock and a hard place. And they need to make a living.
Fam you should definitely monetize your channel as long as you commit to keeping it fun. If you ever feel like you've de-railed from that objective, you can simply de-monetize it at that point but there's no reason why you shouldn't earn some money for your work. I've never seen anything on your channel before this video but the vibe I get from you is sincere, so I don't think you have to worry about strangling the fun out of what you do.
After you were part way through the lengthy baseball example, I realized three things. Firstly and most obvious to myself, I need to watch Moneyball in its entirety now. Secondly, it’s not the main reason why I don’t watch the sport on television anymore but that was a really good ranting point about diminishing the entertainment value. Lastly, I agree that “business” frequently alienate their initial base audience by trying to generate more revenue. I fortunately shunned Facebook over a decade ago before all the advertising went berserk but can still find reasons enough to endure them on TH-cam sometimes. When it pertains to “advertising” and demoing guitar & music gear, it should always be taken with a grain of salt and be considered part of due diligence if one is considering a purchase. When I see half a dozen videos show up on the same thing it piques my curiosity but it wears me thin at the same time. The simple solution for some may be to have a separate channel just for gear if they want to feel less “bridled”. Cheers!
But those guys have to make a living, man. If they don’t review products, they don’t eat. If the manufacturers gave them some latitude, it would be more interesting.
@@JM_2019 Maybe not for you, but It is for some people. These are people who have made the decision to make music their profession. They aren’t people who made a small fortune working at a start up who can do whatever they want. I just think the take in this video is disrespectful to those people.
@@Viper_75th_RR Just to be clear - im talking about influencers, not professional guitar players. Guitar playing is about guitar playing and not about influencing. Influencers just became what advertisments were in the past. No one complaints that advertisers are not liked that much. :)
New subscriber by the way. You have hit the nail on the head in so many different ways. The reason that those people are never going to do anything that they should be doing is once they realized that they're not working anywhere else and that their entire mortgage payment and everything that they used to sustain their life and taken away in a millisecond by TH-cam with no repercussions toward TH-cam at all. They know they can be squashed like a bug just 3 minutes from their last video and know that they are not paying their mortgage anymore they are not going to be able to go and fly all these wild places they're not going to be able to afford all the expensive gear that they've gotten they're not going to be able to hobnob with all these popular TH-cam you influencers. Once they got themselves so deep they knew there was no going back and they're going to have to play ball and they will until the platform just gets rid of them and shakes them off like a bad case of fleas
Sooner or later if it's crap someone will say it and sometimes that's in the comments. I want to see all the new stuff and I assume there will be bias most of the time. You don't see soda pop people telling you it's colored sugar water. It's refreshing and hip.
My biggest beef with youtube and more so insta guitar players is the 100% note for note covers or the constant EVH riffs. wheres the originallity now days? If i wanna hear a song ill go put the song on, why do i wanna see some play the song and sound exactly like the original
The best advertisement for something is quality... all those who are paid for demos and reviews are the bottom of this business. Only those who are not paid are worth watching and respecting their opinions. I only trust certain youtubers.Anyone who tells you that a product has no flaws or at least is not for a certain genre or style of gig is paid and therefore has not given an honest opinion.The money that companies give to TH-camrs is better invested in the quality of the product, so they won't need that kind of advertising. Your channel helped me in many decisions when choosing amplifiers... it doesn't matter if the decision was for or against the purchase, I knew I was listening to an honest opinion. Keep it up because honesty is something that has no price.
I don't know about "fun" per se, but anytime a genuine human interaction is turned into a commodity it is no longer genuine. Transactionalism has polluted every level of our society, just look at the state of relationships. You are no longer a human with intrinsic worth, you are ONLY an economic output value. A friend recommending a product is still doing unpaid advertisement, but it really isn't the same thing as someone acting as a salesman.
New gear videos don't feel that much different from old ones, to me. I think it's just that everything's been done. It all feels formulaic now because there's only so much you can do to demo a new transparent drive pedal. When you're in the market for a new piece of kit, the massive library of videos is very helpful. Once you're out of the market, it's annoying. That's how it goes. I hope all these youtubers keep on keeping on. Makes research easier while shopping online.
Not monetizing your channel is not smart for a couple reasons, one, you're letting TH-cam make money off the ads they place on your content. You're doing the work, and they get the money. If they are going to put ads on your content regardless of whether you are monetized or not, then you might as well make a few bucks (and trust me, it ain't much). Second, just because you don't take money from TH-cam doesn't mean your reviews are inherently "honest". I'm not implying that you are dishonest mind you, but we all have biases whether we're paid or not. I never liked SG style guitars (until very recently) so I would probably not have reviewed them honestly. I tend to review and play cheap guitars, so I may give a review that isn't as glowing for a guitar that was say, over $2000. I might be far more critical of an expensive guitar than a cheap guitar. So the whole honesty thing is moot. Plus, no one on social media believes us anyway. They think we're all corporate shills making money off the gear we talk about. So...take the money. I don't accept sponsorships, because I feel like I can't be completely honest reviewing a piece of gear that was just handed to me, but I am spending a great deal of time and my own money running this channel even as a hobby/part timer, so I will glad take my cut of the ad revenue. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. When you play a gig do you get paid?
Keep at it man. I share your sentiments with everything being not fun anymore and I also do have a lot of gear review viewership fatigue. I'm still a small channel but I've been showing and reviewing gear for over 16 years now and I've never monetized my channel, I've never been paid for a review and although some companies have sent me gear to keep (never anything expensive unfortunately), I made it clear that I would be honest with the feedback and if it sucks, I'd say as much or if it was just a really bad product, I would send it back and there would be no video. I've got some small companies who won't be sending me any more stuff but that's not really my problem. Losing a pedal or amp builder's future products is worth keeping my integrity and not losing the trust of the viewers. One way I try to differentiate myself from all the other youtube gear channels is that I won't review a piece of gear until after I take it on stage. The stage is what separates the men from the boys and I've had some stuff sound great in the studio at home but just falls apart on stage and doesn't work out at all and vice versa. Some stuff is kinda eh at home but really comes to life on stage. It's my way of not just rattling off some marketing jargon and specs that anyone can read on whatever gear seller website but a way to personally vouch for the quality of the gear and discuss real pros and cons of this stuff that you'd never really pick up on with just some quick fiddling around in a studio and it's a big reason why Zzounds reached out to me for a partnership. That affiliate partnership really made me re-analyze my formatting, my recording/video equipment, my scripting and messaging and product feedback messaging, etc. It definitely could be a slippery slope because I think at this point, the viewers have become desensitized to gear reviewers and just assume that affiliate and sponsor partners get free gear so they can't be trusted. But on the other hand, I didn't want to shake up my formatting and information/playing delivery to the point that my videos no longer felt authentic and "me". I just try to stay professional in case Zzounds want to use my stuff for their own marketing, make sure the audience always knows that whatever is in the video is not mine to keep and that what I tell them is my own 100% honest feedback and I won't sugar coat anything. I can't make anyone trust me but I can do my best to leave as little as possible to doubt.
I love that you won't do a review until you use the product onstage. That's a smart idea. I can't count how many times I liked a piece of gear at home or for recording, but that isn't practical on stage. You could make a whole series on that. Thanks for the comment!
I like watching videos of covers and gear reviews. Both have their place, but TH-cam about 15 years ago when I stopped making videos, everything just went to trying to make money. I felt I was at a advertising site. I have a love hate relationship with TH-cam anymore. I remember the community was doing music of covers and original stuff in the early 2000's to mid 2000's for me. There are good and bad to both. I don't care the gear you have or how much you have. I think that's great if that's what you want to do. Myself playing 38 years, I downsized to two amps one cabinet 2X12 and still have all my pedals and stuff though. I can make it work with what I have to play nearly anything I want. But I don't have the space, nor want to deal with that much stuff anymore. But don't let people get you down. You do you! They're just jealous you have what they want, if it's the gear you have.
You need to start picking on specific companies, transparency and shame is the only shot at bringing the fun back. We all know the primary offenders...looking at you PRS...
Years ago I posted these guys are getting free stuff and or money and got roasted that I didn’t know what I was talking about, now these guys brag about how much they make. The companies do roll outs so we see the same item in a 24 hour time frame by 56 different people and they all say virtually the same thing. Honest reviews are gone. People are afraid to speak the truth and are censored. What was just a platform to use is now stale and generic, however if someone speaks the truth like Will Gelvin, or as much as I hate him Jeff Kiesel. Jeff doesn’t think before he speaks and is obnoxious but it makes him unique.
To be honest, not much has changed. Yes, the audience is much bigger, but TH-camrs are pretty much the same as when they started. I always saw them as large scale glorified guitar salesmen. When I was a young musician, we didn't have TH-cam, forums, or even internet, lol. You learned from your friends and the people at your local music store. I learned about overdrives as a clean boost, mids, less gain, etc at my local music store from the people who worked there. At the same time, as I got older, I noticed a couple things. Almost all of them were biased to some degree. They also had a tendency to push the gear that netted the highest commission, or the gear that gave a bonus incentive for volume of sales. I think that is a big reason the Line 6 Spider was so popular. This concept has not changed much. It has just shifted over to TH-cam. The videos are not a loose as they used to be, that is for certain, but I think the biggest change is that it has gotten so obvious that people are finally starting to see it.
It’s true. If you are looking for an amp you will get flooded only with videos that are positive. When you buy the amp you get videos why this amp is shit and you need to buy a different amp. And the cycle goes on and on.
Pi42 lives in a mansion, with millions of dollars of gear, who relies on corporation's products to to keep it. Yet, he says I can trust him to be objective about 'gear', that for profit corporations GIVE HIM. Sorry, I'm just not that gullible. Riffs and beards is a mediocre guitarist, fake as a Folex, and plainly in it for the money, alone. He's not worth a damn. I have a rule, when I see a youtuber with an amp collection that's worth more than my 30ft boat, and they have no career other than youtube, I DO NOT TRUST THEM, as they can't afford them, yet still have them.
Imagine changing your pickups and having the internet hate you. Also Uber always sucked, even when it was Lincoln’s it was still just a gypsy cab. The actual thread here isn’t take away fun, it’s capitalism
A lot of us don't watch pro sports because of their adoption of the woke ideology(that took the fun out)....everything is about math, but music is math...and it is fun. Nope!
Um nah dude, people need to work/eat. It's cool if you're independently wealthy and can just have fun with this, but it's not cool to crap on people who need to put food on the table.
Totally, and I get that. What I am saying is that I think they can do both: they can make a living while making interesting videos that don't feel like the same old paid demos/reviews.
@@Ignore14 You know most of them aren't worth doing right? 😆 Typical privileged boomer, probably working one of the few jobs that doesn't suck. "Just get a jerb bro" Yeah just stop talking boomer.
I really wanted to hear your "point," but after 7 minutes (and you'd only gotten through your "baseball" example, and I have absolutely no idea to where you're going), I'm sorry, but that's it for me. Sabermetrics didn't ruin baseball. The way the teams reacted to sabermetrics ruined baseball. Analysis of and creating a team around statistics is a sound premise. MLB proved that sabermetrics aren't the problem by introducing time restrictions on various aspects of the game. I'd bet that teams still use sabermetrics despite these time restrictions. I don't usually tell people they should get to the point a bit more quickly, but I've listened to one example (and you have three more to go), and I have no idea why it took 7 minutes to explain your sabermetrics example, let alone what your final point would be or to where you are going? You know how, at the beginning of movies, you are often shown a scene (which would be the end of the movie), and then you flashback a period of time to find out how you got there? That's how you tell a long story. If you leave people in the dark and have to repeatedly say, "Now bear with me," people are not going to bother "bearing with you." In a very long video, you should tell the viewers WHAT your point is, and then tell us how you arrived at this point. Had you done that, we'd know WHY MLB, Uber (I can't recall the others) are in a video about guitars. Btw, I could've said this in much fewer words, but I was trying to make a point. Sometimes, going into too much detail is not a good thing. This is meant as constructive criticism. I'm not trying to be nasty.
It’s cool, I get your point. I tend to be long-winded and that’s a thing I’m always working on. However, there are chapter markers so you can get to the point (one is literally called "How This Relates to Guitar Gear TH-cam.") In a nutshell: the way you explained how the teams reacted to sabermetrics ruined baseball, the way youtubers have reacted to corporate marketing influence has ruined guitar gear TH-cam. That's the point.
@eldoradoguitars6456 I think I've watched enough of your point to understand where you're coming from, and I agree and disagree. Yes, it's not "fun," but I disagree with you as well. Why must it be fun? It's easy to say, "That's why I refuse to monetise my channel," when you barely rate the monetisation criteria (not a dig at you). I wonder if your opinion stays the same when you have 100k subs and you're (potentially) turning down a decent income? Maybe it's our expectations that are wrong? Nobody has the right to tell someone that what they're doing is the wrong way (which is kind of what you are saying) just because you don't like it, or are willing to do it differently. It's just another way of saying, "They sold out," which is never wrong. You're absolutely correct to keep your videos (in your assessment) "fun," and they are equally correct to exploit monetisation to earn a living. This is how a "free" world operates.
People are sick of being told their gear is shyt to buy the latest thing or dig for some old vintage fairy dust. Especially since now people are having a harder time getting their hands on expendable money. Also, since it’s so hard to hear an actual recorded difference in “tones” between different price levels in gear. Your point about life being more fun back in the day before the algorithm is 100% accurate with your examples is dead on too.
3 things I noticed on my 2 years watching gear channels. 1- Guitar players are narcissistic and sorta dumb type of people. You ask them something and they WILL answer not addressing the question but what their mind comes to put together. Is an oDD phenomenon. Like try to find an answer to a forum question 2- Companies are milking that stupidity and ignorance. Coz we have tons of biases towards so many things is a bit ridiculous. 3- TH-camrs decided to put themselves in the middle of angsty people and capitalist companies and expect it to be all daisies and sun flowers. LOL 😅
Life cycle of TH-cam channels
1. Making vids just for fun
2. Acquire an audience
3. $$$ starts coming in
4. Start chasing more eyes & more $
5. TH-cam is now my job
6. Get desperate.
6a. Do whatever it takes to keep making money
6b. Whine about the algorithm
6c. Complain about Adsense
I'm pretty much sick of watching guitar reviews and reviewers. You hit the nail on the head.
Once the accountants show up the resturant sucks .
I think part of the reason for the huge backlash is that it's not just guitar gear TH-cam. It's fucking everything lately. Every news story I see is somehow picked by some algorithm for monetary reasons etc. I think it's starting to get to people.
On a side note, I have almost every piece of guitar gear I have ever purchased and never sold a thing (WAY more than is reasonable). I have been thinking it would be fun to make some video reviews in chronological order of purchase of all the gear with anything interesting I can say about it. Not sure if that's interesting or not though.
Yeah, TH-cam, TikTok, Netflix, ... everything seems to be running stale. It's hard to get excited about stuff anymore if everything is just the same in new packaging.
Regarding your review idea: I think grouping them might be more interesting. Maybe "things that I cannot live without anymore", "things that grew on me over time", "things I grew tired of quickly" and "things that I regretted buying".
Yeah, society has basically turned into what's in the movie Wall-E where life is nothing but watching ads.
They are like a franchise s.Manual scripts.Robotic.
Watching this just made me feel really inspired to make my first video. I've definitely had the "itch" before, but looking at the quality of the big channels definitely makes me feel like "why bother if I can't match", but I think that's a losing mindset to begin with. It should just be about fun.
You already had 2 videos posted and you haven't posted any new ones in 6 years.... lol
I enjoyed how the vibe steadily got more intense as you kept talking 😂
*as the beer was drank
Haha yeah, I tend to get animated when I'm fired up lol
@@eldoradoguitars6456 just came across your channel and really loved the vibes. Been making videos on another channel of mine and I'm gonna keep your advice here in mind. Let's keep it fun. Thanks for the inspiration. Easy like and sub 🙌🏻
@@thahacksaw 😄 well I didn't want to say that, but yes! I get the same way. I talk about microphones when I drink 🍸
It’s funny, I’ve never seen a review that said “this thing is overpriced and it’s kind of sucks”
This all really hit home! Thanks for the inspiration and advice... and the rack of Marshalls 🙌🏻
“But first my clean tone..”
Short version. The pursuit of profit and money, above all else ruins everything.
Totally agree. Btw. "Eytschpi" is the German phonetical version of Henning's initials in English so his channel is pronounced simply "H P".
Thank you!
Despite watching him for years, I realized I didn't even know how to spell his channel name and never made the phonetic connection 🤦.
@@silverman169 Well that's probably Henning's kind of humour. That and his beloved animals.
@@diequietschbeus8181 Totally! I just found it kinda funny I never thought too much about the name of a guy I've been watching for years 😅.
Spot on. I truly noticed the change when all the gear-review guys came out with videos about the same piece of gear on the same day. They aren't trying things because they want to, it's what's being handed to them to try on that day. It's not about that guitarist and their motivations to play certain things to have fun and hear the new sounds they could get. It became about appeasing the corporations that fund their channels. Definitely NOT fun.
Wanted to add a case in point: At my last gig, during the sound check, I played a chicken-pickin' kind of riff. I'm in a metal band. I did not change my settings or tone. The sound guy just needed to set levels so, it doesn't matter WHAT I play. So, I chose to play some other style for fun. Playing that kind of a lick out of the gain side of a PRS Archon; not what you'd expect, but it sure was more enjoyable than any other standard fare, warm up Metallica riff that's been done to death. I think that's the same mindset you're getting at.
There's also the all-important enshittification aspect to consider with all the tech companies you mentioned. Not central to the point here, I just don't want anyone to forget.
Really liked this especially the Sabermetrics and that you lived in B'more.
Agree, corporations are strangling the fun out of everything. Matter of fact corporations are simply strangling everything. They want to control EVERYTHING, employees and customers, and won’t stop, ever.
P.S. I know, worked for a multinational for 26 years and they suck the soul out of everything!
Totally agree. I have a Bernie Sanders-style rant about the politics of this but I'm just keeping it to guitars on here :)
@@eldoradoguitars6456 Yeah baby, let’s just keep it focused on the good stuff in life, guitars, music and such!!
People are sick of being told their gear is shyt to buy the latest thing or dig for some old vintage fairy dust. Especially since now people are having a harder time getting their hands on expendable money. Also, since it’s so hard to hear an actual recorded difference in “tones” between different price levels in gear. Your point about life being more fun back in the day before the algorithm is 100% accurate with your examples is dead on too.
Love the video! Hysterical and all true! The best are the pro TH-camrs who try to make their sponsored video look like it’s not sponsored. So lame and obvious!
I don't know. I really don't agree with this. Just because something is a job doesn't mean that it isn't fun. Sure, there are jobs that are not fun, but there also dream jobs. Personally, I don't mind that TH-camrs are paid--we all want someone to have a respectable wage. I don't mind that TH-camrs get stuff for "free"--they're making content on something that I might be interested in. If I am not interested in that product, I just don't watch. I'm not forced to watch something. I just find these types of arguments to be a little silly. People have developed an economy around social media. But economies develop in every industry. I think this is actually better for the community in general. How could a guitar youtube channel survive if they had to buy all their guitars for $0 for their time and effort in making a video? (video work can be deceptively laborious). It sounds like people are saying they are entitled to free content AND the creator should do it pro bono. Why would someone do that? People make guitars for a living, and probably have fun doing it. They also charge money--sometimes a lot of money--for their products. Does that mean they are "squeezing the fun" out of people playing guitar? No, it's just that there is an economy around guitar building. People make guitars because they love it and they hope they can make a good living at it. And they hope the end result is that everyone is happy in the process. This can be true with TH-cam reviewers too.
Wow! What a fresh take and such an eye opening discussion! Thank you for the content! I just subscribed seeing tthis video! BTW, a comparison between VH4 channel 3$4 and that Bogner would be awesome to watch!
3 things I noticed on my 2 years watching gear channels. 1- Guitar players are narcissistic and sorta dumb type of people. You ask them something and they WILL answer not addressing the question but what their mind comes to put together. Is an oDD phenomenon. Like try to find an answer to a forum question 2- Companies are milking that stupidity and ignorance. Coz we have tons of biases towards so many things is a bit ridiculous. 3- TH-camrs decided to put themselves in the middle of angsty people and capitalist companies and expect it to be all daisies and sun flowers.
LOL 😅
I'm sorry I didn't hear anything you said because I was so enamored by the chrome chasis on your XTC Classic.
The only Bogner I've ever really loved
The term for the degradation and changing of online services to a lesser version for more profit like uber or Facebook is called "enshitification"
I didn't know about this! Very fascinating. I'm going to read Doctorow's article. Thank you!
You have a real job. That’s why you can have fun doing TH-cam. These other guys don’t, so they need to make money somehow. I sort of get it, but you’re totally right-it’s boring.
I love the baseball example. You just made me realize why I stopped watching baseball after about 2005.
I do like Rhett’s channel still. I think he does fun stuff, like the live to tape-no edits videos.
I like Fluff, but when I watched his vid when it came out, I kinda thought it was a little crybaby. My thought was….you’re in an elite club of great gear reviewers and now that you’re near the top of that mountain, you don’t want anyone else climbing that mountain ? 🤦🏼
It's why JHS is so entertaining. their content is fresh, full of personality, original and unique to them.
16:00 What happens is that the pro TH-camrs get the first release of sponsored products from manufacturers, which may be months prior to release.
The TH-camrs do the videos, they may or may not submit that video to the manufacturer prior to official release, BUT their publication of the product's video is embargoed until release date.
So, if a manufacturer releases a new pedal on 30th June, you can BET there will be a flood of videos about the product in the next week.
Still irritating af to see 50 videos of the same product that is the same as the last product. The problem with music gear is that there are only so many usable effects, *actually* different guitars or amps and SO MUCH copying that once you go through the gamut once it's just endless repetition. Practice more, IMO.
So you just popped up on my feed. I used to be subscribed to several of the big channels out there, then I started noticing when something new would come out and all of those channels would have a video come out within days of each other with the same piece of gear featured. That was it for me... Great video!
The bottom line is that the reviewers etc. are all advertisers. None of these guys do reviews, they do overviews.
The things that are red flags in it for me are: 1) Henning said he won't do videos about products he doesn't think are good which automatically says the "reviews" are all going to be good with the occasional negative minor thing to appear impartial.
2) No matter what they say, they are ALL part of the advertising for that product - that's what they're doing is advertising.
TH-cam is an advertising platform, period. That's its purpose.
I think the other thing that irritates people is seeing all these folks getting handed free gear simply to advertise for it while the rest of us have to buy the gear.
I don't care about commercials. Who would? What kind of debate is that anyways?
I agree. Things should be fun, fair, honest etc. But untalented, unfun, dishonest people, etc are the most useful to those who only care about money/profit.
How sad; how true
@@eldoradoguitars6456 we have to change it. It being the world. It's the only way. Keep up the good work.
Best cure for GAS post product review, is go find those cool sounds in the gear you already have.
Can't find it, maybe the gear has a selling point for you.
98% of the time you will get something close enough.
Love this! You’re right, it’s now hard to find a guitar gear channel that can give truly objective reviews. Another thing I noticed is that your vids don’t have the annoying ads that pop up every 5(sometimes 3!) minutes that happen with monetized channels. I think this is the first time in months that I’ve watched a video uninterrupted.
Give my channel a glance if you have a minute. I don't get paid, I don't get to keep free gear, I don't have sponsorships, I don't monetize my channel and I take every piece of gear I review on stage before getting in front of the camera.
@@FastRedPonyCarSubbed!
@@eldoradoguitars6456 Back at ya
Henning Pauly-> H. P.->EytschPi42-> Pronounced like H. P. Forty-two
You’re essentially bumping on the central problem with the gig economy and chokepoint capitalism. Like a side hustle is one thing and it can be fun. But it is hard to scale when you are the product. One person only has so much bandwidth. And you can be successful, but you will never be rich unless you can scale. Meanwhile, corporations have created chokepoints that limit creators earning potential. Essentially the big channels are in between a rock and a hard place. And they need to make a living.
Fam you should definitely monetize your channel as long as you commit to keeping it fun. If you ever feel like you've de-railed from that objective, you can simply de-monetize it at that point but there's no reason why you shouldn't earn some money for your work. I've never seen anything on your channel before this video but the vibe I get from you is sincere, so I don't think you have to worry about strangling the fun out of what you do.
After you were part way through the lengthy baseball example, I realized three things. Firstly and most obvious to myself, I need to watch Moneyball in its entirety now. Secondly, it’s not the main reason why I don’t watch the sport on television anymore but that was a really good ranting point about diminishing the entertainment value. Lastly, I agree that “business” frequently alienate their initial base audience by trying to generate more revenue. I fortunately shunned Facebook over a decade ago before all the advertising went berserk but can still find reasons enough to endure them on TH-cam sometimes. When it pertains to “advertising” and demoing guitar & music gear, it should always be taken with a grain of salt and be considered part of due diligence if one is considering a purchase. When I see half a dozen videos show up on the same thing it piques my curiosity but it wears me thin at the same time. The simple solution for some may be to have a separate channel just for gear if they want to feel less “bridled”. Cheers!
But those guys have to make a living, man. If they don’t review products, they don’t eat. If the manufacturers gave them some latitude, it would be more interesting.
But that‘s the issue: guitar playing was not about financing some guys livings.
@@JM_2019 Maybe not for you, but It is for some people. These are people who have made the decision to make music their profession. They aren’t people who made a small fortune working at a start up who can do whatever they want. I just think the take in this video is disrespectful to those people.
@@Viper_75th_RR Just to be clear - im talking about influencers, not professional guitar players. Guitar playing is about guitar playing and not about influencing. Influencers just became what advertisments were in the past. No one complaints that advertisers are not liked that much. :)
Excellent video ,youre so correct...and hell yes, Hennings channel name is difficult to figure out 😂
Love this Mike. Spot on.
all I care about, gear-wise, is Will It Chug?
New subscriber by the way. You have hit the nail on the head in so many different ways. The reason that those people are never going to do anything that they should be doing is once they realized that they're not working anywhere else and that their entire mortgage payment and everything that they used to sustain their life and taken away in a millisecond by TH-cam with no repercussions toward TH-cam at all. They know they can be squashed like a bug just 3 minutes from their last video and know that they are not paying their mortgage anymore they are not going to be able to go and fly all these wild places they're not going to be able to afford all the expensive gear that they've gotten they're not going to be able to hobnob with all these popular TH-cam you influencers. Once they got themselves so deep they knew there was no going back and they're going to have to play ball and they will until the platform just gets rid of them and shakes them off like a bad case of fleas
Sooner or later if it's crap someone will say it and sometimes that's in the comments. I want to see all the new stuff and I assume there will be bias most of the time. You don't see soda pop people telling you it's colored sugar water. It's refreshing and hip.
My biggest beef with youtube and more so insta guitar players is the 100% note for note covers or the constant EVH riffs. wheres the originallity now days? If i wanna hear a song ill go put the song on, why do i wanna see some play the song and sound exactly like the original
Paid gear tube is falling apart and I’m here for it. Great video!
Thank you, you are definitely on the money with this one like.
Cool vid. I agree with your thoughts. Good examples with MLB, uber etc.
The best advertisement for something is quality... all those who are paid for demos and reviews are the bottom of this business. Only those who are not paid are worth watching and respecting their opinions. I only trust certain youtubers.Anyone who tells you that a product has no flaws or at least is not for a certain genre or style of gig is paid and therefore has not given an honest opinion.The money that companies give to TH-camrs is better invested in the quality of the product, so they won't need that kind of advertising.
Your channel helped me in many decisions when choosing amplifiers... it doesn't matter if the decision was for or against the purchase, I knew I was listening to an honest opinion. Keep it up because honesty is something that has no price.
speaking the truth, it's got really really bad the last couple of months ...
I don't know about "fun" per se, but anytime a genuine human interaction is turned into a commodity it is no longer genuine. Transactionalism has polluted every level of our society, just look at the state of relationships. You are no longer a human with intrinsic worth, you are ONLY an economic output value. A friend recommending a product is still doing unpaid advertisement, but it really isn't the same thing as someone acting as a salesman.
New gear videos don't feel that much different from old ones, to me. I think it's just that everything's been done. It all feels formulaic now because there's only so much you can do to demo a new transparent drive pedal. When you're in the market for a new piece of kit, the massive library of videos is very helpful. Once you're out of the market, it's annoying. That's how it goes. I hope all these youtubers keep on keeping on. Makes research easier while shopping online.
Not monetizing your channel is not smart for a couple reasons, one, you're letting TH-cam make money off the ads they place on your content. You're doing the work, and they get the money. If they are going to put ads on your content regardless of whether you are monetized or not, then you might as well make a few bucks (and trust me, it ain't much). Second, just because you don't take money from TH-cam doesn't mean your reviews are inherently "honest". I'm not implying that you are dishonest mind you, but we all have biases whether we're paid or not. I never liked SG style guitars (until very recently) so I would probably not have reviewed them honestly. I tend to review and play cheap guitars, so I may give a review that isn't as glowing for a guitar that was say, over $2000. I might be far more critical of an expensive guitar than a cheap guitar. So the whole honesty thing is moot. Plus, no one on social media believes us anyway. They think we're all corporate shills making money off the gear we talk about. So...take the money. I don't accept sponsorships, because I feel like I can't be completely honest reviewing a piece of gear that was just handed to me, but I am spending a great deal of time and my own money running this channel even as a hobby/part timer, so I will glad take my cut of the ad revenue. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. When you play a gig do you get paid?
Keep at it man. I share your sentiments with everything being not fun anymore and I also do have a lot of gear review viewership fatigue.
I'm still a small channel but I've been showing and reviewing gear for over 16 years now and I've never monetized my channel, I've never been paid for a review and although some companies have sent me gear to keep (never anything expensive unfortunately), I made it clear that I would be honest with the feedback and if it sucks, I'd say as much or if it was just a really bad product, I would send it back and there would be no video. I've got some small companies who won't be sending me any more stuff but that's not really my problem. Losing a pedal or amp builder's future products is worth keeping my integrity and not losing the trust of the viewers.
One way I try to differentiate myself from all the other youtube gear channels is that I won't review a piece of gear until after I take it on stage. The stage is what separates the men from the boys and I've had some stuff sound great in the studio at home but just falls apart on stage and doesn't work out at all and vice versa. Some stuff is kinda eh at home but really comes to life on stage.
It's my way of not just rattling off some marketing jargon and specs that anyone can read on whatever gear seller website but a way to personally vouch for the quality of the gear and discuss real pros and cons of this stuff that you'd never really pick up on with just some quick fiddling around in a studio and it's a big reason why Zzounds reached out to me for a partnership.
That affiliate partnership really made me re-analyze my formatting, my recording/video equipment, my scripting and messaging and product feedback messaging, etc. It definitely could be a slippery slope because I think at this point, the viewers have become desensitized to gear reviewers and just assume that affiliate and sponsor partners get free gear so they can't be trusted. But on the other hand, I didn't want to shake up my formatting and information/playing delivery to the point that my videos no longer felt authentic and "me". I just try to stay professional in case Zzounds want to use my stuff for their own marketing, make sure the audience always knows that whatever is in the video is not mine to keep and that what I tell them is my own 100% honest feedback and I won't sugar coat anything.
I can't make anyone trust me but I can do my best to leave as little as possible to doubt.
I love that you won't do a review until you use the product onstage. That's a smart idea. I can't count how many times I liked a piece of gear at home or for recording, but that isn't practical on stage. You could make a whole series on that. Thanks for the comment!
Spoiler: They are shills.
I endorse this message
Brilliant and 100% Spot On!!
I started watching this and then I realized I don't give a shit about this and I am completely tired of all the YT guitar channels except Tom Bukovac.
I like watching videos of covers and gear reviews. Both have their place, but TH-cam about 15 years ago when I stopped making videos, everything just went to trying to make money. I felt I was at a advertising site. I have a love hate relationship with TH-cam anymore. I remember the community was doing music of covers and original stuff in the early 2000's to mid 2000's for me. There are good and bad to both. I don't care the gear you have or how much you have. I think that's great if that's what you want to do. Myself playing 38 years, I downsized to two amps one cabinet 2X12 and still have all my pedals and stuff though. I can make it work with what I have to play nearly anything I want. But I don't have the space, nor want to deal with that much stuff anymore. But don't let people get you down. You do you! They're just jealous you have what they want, if it's the gear you have.
It’s been a while since I unsubscribed from every TH-camr doing demo aka PUBLICITY.
You need to start picking on specific companies, transparency and shame is the only shot at bringing the fun back. We all know the primary offenders...looking at you PRS...
i watch alotta gear videos and i never heard of fluff or henning.
Forgot to say! NEXT TH-camR that uses GAMECHANGER for a product release or thumbnail, will get a 👊🏻 😊
I don't really believe TH-cam reviews . Especially when there sponsored
Years ago I posted these guys are getting free stuff and or money and got roasted that I didn’t know what I was talking about, now these guys brag about how much they make. The companies do roll outs so we see the same item in a 24 hour time frame by 56 different people and they all say virtually the same thing. Honest reviews are gone. People are afraid to speak the truth and are censored. What was just a platform to use is now stale and generic, however if someone speaks the truth like Will Gelvin, or as much as I hate him Jeff Kiesel. Jeff doesn’t think before he speaks and is obnoxious but it makes him unique.
Ola has the right formula I think. He has multiple things that he does and still seems fresh.
That’s true, he keeps it more interesting than most with his various mini series (coffe w Ola etc)
To be honest, not much has changed. Yes, the audience is much bigger, but TH-camrs are pretty much the same as when they started. I always saw them as large scale glorified guitar salesmen. When I was a young musician, we didn't have TH-cam, forums, or even internet, lol. You learned from your friends and the people at your local music store. I learned about overdrives as a clean boost, mids, less gain, etc at my local music store from the people who worked there. At the same time, as I got older, I noticed a couple things. Almost all of them were biased to some degree. They also had a tendency to push the gear that netted the highest commission, or the gear that gave a bonus incentive for volume of sales. I think that is a big reason the Line 6 Spider was so popular. This concept has not changed much. It has just shifted over to TH-cam. The videos are not a loose as they used to be, that is for certain, but I think the biggest change is that it has gotten so obvious that people are finally starting to see it.
It’s true. If you are looking for an amp you will get flooded only with videos that are positive. When you buy the amp you get videos why this amp is shit and you need to buy a different amp. And the cycle goes on and on.
Fluff doesn't even know there's a high e a b and a d string lol
Is this a millennial "back in my day" video? Young man yells at cloud? Mind = blown.
Pi42 lives in a mansion, with millions of dollars of gear, who relies on corporation's products to to keep it. Yet, he says I can trust him to be objective about 'gear', that for profit corporations GIVE HIM. Sorry, I'm just not that gullible. Riffs and beards is a mediocre guitarist, fake as a Folex, and plainly in it for the money, alone. He's not worth a damn.
I have a rule, when I see a youtuber with an amp collection that's worth more than my 30ft boat, and they have no career other than youtube, I DO NOT TRUST THEM, as they can't afford them, yet still have them.
OMG this is a legendary video. I had to subscribe!
💯
yes, fun
Imagine changing your pickups and having the internet hate you. Also Uber always sucked, even when it was Lincoln’s it was still just a gypsy cab. The actual thread here isn’t take away fun, it’s capitalism
Are you here to stop Kyle Bullshit?
It's all about the money Honey 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
A lot of us don't watch pro sports because of their adoption of the woke ideology(that took the fun out)....everything is about math, but music is math...and it is fun. Nope!
I'm non the wiser with them all anyway
Probably because no one can afford anything anymore, and we all hate you for having things we don't have 😄
I don't think anyone should be just having a TH-cam job . Go get real fucking jobs and make videos for fun
just skip to 13 mins
Baseball has always been boring
based!
Um nah dude, people need to work/eat.
It's cool if you're independently wealthy and can just have fun with this, but it's not cool to crap on people who need to put food on the table.
Totally, and I get that. What I am saying is that I think they can do both: they can make a living while making interesting videos that don't feel like the same old paid demos/reviews.
You know other jobs exist, right?
@@Ignore14
You know most of them aren't worth doing right? 😆
Typical privileged boomer, probably working one of the few jobs that doesn't suck.
"Just get a jerb bro" Yeah just stop talking boomer.
I agree
I really wanted to hear your "point," but after 7 minutes (and you'd only gotten through your "baseball" example, and I have absolutely no idea to where you're going), I'm sorry, but that's it for me.
Sabermetrics didn't ruin baseball. The way the teams reacted to sabermetrics ruined baseball. Analysis of and creating a team around statistics is a sound premise. MLB proved that sabermetrics aren't the problem by introducing time restrictions on various aspects of the game. I'd bet that teams still use sabermetrics despite these time restrictions.
I don't usually tell people they should get to the point a bit more quickly, but I've listened to one example (and you have three more to go), and I have no idea why it took 7 minutes to explain your sabermetrics example, let alone what your final point would be or to where you are going?
You know how, at the beginning of movies, you are often shown a scene (which would be the end of the movie), and then you flashback a period of time to find out how you got there? That's how you tell a long story. If you leave people in the dark and have to repeatedly say, "Now bear with me," people are not going to bother "bearing with you." In a very long video, you should tell the viewers WHAT your point is, and then tell us how you arrived at this point. Had you done that, we'd know WHY MLB, Uber (I can't recall the others) are in a video about guitars.
Btw, I could've said this in much fewer words, but I was trying to make a point.
Sometimes, going into too much detail is not a good thing.
This is meant as constructive criticism. I'm not trying to be nasty.
It’s cool, I get your point. I tend to be long-winded and that’s a thing I’m always working on. However, there are chapter markers so you can get to the point (one is literally called "How This Relates to Guitar Gear TH-cam.") In a nutshell: the way you explained how the teams reacted to sabermetrics ruined baseball, the way youtubers have reacted to corporate marketing influence has ruined guitar gear TH-cam. That's the point.
@@eldoradoguitars6456 OK... I didn't realise you had chapters (that ones on me).
I shall go back and watch the final chapter.
@eldoradoguitars6456
I think I've watched enough of your point to understand where you're coming from, and I agree and disagree. Yes, it's not "fun," but I disagree with you as well. Why must it be fun? It's easy to say, "That's why I refuse to monetise my channel," when you barely rate the monetisation criteria (not a dig at you). I wonder if your opinion stays the same when you have 100k subs and you're (potentially) turning down a decent income?
Maybe it's our expectations that are wrong? Nobody has the right to tell someone that what they're doing is the wrong way (which is kind of what you are saying) just because you don't like it, or are willing to do it differently. It's just another way of saying, "They sold out," which is never wrong.
You're absolutely correct to keep your videos (in your assessment) "fun," and they are equally correct to exploit monetisation to earn a living. This is how a "free" world operates.
Your replies are exhausting and literally made his point! Find another comment section to dump your load on
Holy crap dude whatever you’re taking that makes you speak at that speed and volume …. Half the dose
People are sick of being told their gear is shyt to buy the latest thing or dig for some old vintage fairy dust. Especially since now people are having a harder time getting their hands on expendable money. Also, since it’s so hard to hear an actual recorded difference in “tones” between different price levels in gear. Your point about life being more fun back in the day before the algorithm is 100% accurate with your examples is dead on too.
3 things I noticed on my 2 years watching gear channels. 1- Guitar players are narcissistic and sorta dumb type of people. You ask them something and they WILL answer not addressing the question but what their mind comes to put together. Is an oDD phenomenon. Like try to find an answer to a forum question 2- Companies are milking that stupidity and ignorance. Coz we have tons of biases towards so many things is a bit ridiculous. 3- TH-camrs decided to put themselves in the middle of angsty people and capitalist companies and expect it to be all daisies and sun flowers.
LOL 😅
I don't think anyone should be just having a TH-cam job . Go get real fucking jobs and make videos for fun