March 29, 2009
Acoustic Guitar Reviews – What To Look For In Guitar Reviews
Before you pick up a guitar, it makes sense to do a bit of research. This will ensure two things. The first thing is that you get the right guitar for your needs and budget. The second is that you don’t get ripped off by someone charging over the odds for a guitar be it new or second hand. This will give you an idea of what experiences people have had with a variety of acoustic guitars. There are consumer and expert reviews available. If you prefer a detailed review regarding what someone well-versed in acoustic guitars thinks about a particular brand, the expert reviews will prove helpful. Or, if you just want to know what the average person thinks about a guitar they have used, the consumer reviews will enlighten you.
People who have several years of guitar experience are qualified to write expert guitar reviews. They should have several guitars from several manufacturers reviewed. Even though they will have personal preferences, they should be able to determine the positive and negative of any acoustic guitar. Any biases should be explained. You don’t need someone with a degree in music, just someone with adequate experience playing different acoustic guitars. Its best if someone explains why their opinion should be considered.
Amateur or consumer reviews may be more idiosyncratic but this might appeal to you or even click with your current experience of guitars. Amateur reviews may not be as objective as a professional review but they may match you current understanding of musical and guitar terms and jargon and may even be more honest than a professional review.
If you want a large variety of acoustic guitar reviews, you should consider searching the internet. You will find many professional online magazines to do with guitars and music. You will also find many of the hidden gems that consist of amateur reviews that speak from the heart.
As each guitarist plays in different types of venues, different kinds of bands and has a unique style of music. A guitarist from a band that plays at wedding receptions has much different instrument preferences from a guitarist who plays in a rock band. Look for reviews for people who play in the same area that you do, or someday hope to.
If you?re using a search engine to find acoustic guitar reviews, you should know some useful shortcuts that can make your searching easier. For instance, try putting your key search phrase in quotation marks (like ?acoustic guitar reviews?). On Yahoo alone, that will reduce your hits from 17,000,000 to a more manageable 6000 or so. Then you don’t have to search through tonnes of dross and get straight to the good stuff.
A helpful hint when searching for individual acoustic guitar reviews, may work like this. If you are looking for reviews on Martin DX1 and put just martindx1, without quotes, in Yahoo search you will find approximately 38,000 hits. But, when you put quotes next to “martin dx1″ there will be only approximately 10,000.
You can also use another little trick the next time you perform a search. If you put the plus sign (+) right next to a word you want in every hit, you?ll be able to narrow your search even more. ?Martin dx1 review? will bring you about 9 hits and that is due to the fact that you?re only seeing the sites that contain that exact phrase.
Try putting “martin dx1″ + review in the search bar and you’ll get almost 500 hits. If you want to search something specific, put it in there with a plus sign attached. These search tricks to find acoustic guitar reviews will help make your guitar buying decision easier, by narrowing your search to the most helpful results.
Of course you could also go into a music shop and ask for some opinions from the salesperson but if you have done a bit of research beforehand, you are likely to get more out of the conversation.
Filed under Music by
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to comment