First Act Strat gets a 9.3 rating on Musicians Friend

[TexMexMike]

Yes, I did make this up. But, it is so hard to find an actual, believable review of any guitar these days. Especially guitars on the lower end. I guess people are so excited to have their new toy that they immeadiately go on-line and write a rave review. Don't you love the guy who considers himself to be a "PRO" musician and gives the Esteban Legacy 5 stars?

Does anyone actually go by the mass media reviews these days. And believe them?

[buckkillr8]

sometimes :rlol:

[Bytor1975]

Mike, you are exactly right. Isn't it amazing at how lucky the guitar magazines are at picking out gear to review? They NEVER get anything lousy or substandard! And as far as Harmony Central reviews, and to an extent Musician Friend reviews... worthless. Nobody wants to admit that they may have been screwed or their guitar/amp/effect isn't all that great. Of course, you do have some legitimate reviews on there, but they are lost amongst people that wrote the reviews 8 minutes after the UPS guy left it at their door, or they don't know the proper terminology for the parts!

The best review is still you driving down to Guitar Center, trying it out to see what you think, then driving somewhere else to buy it! LOL!

[TexMexMike]

Isn't it amazing at how lucky the guitar magazines are at picking out gear to review? They NEVER get anything lousy or substandard! And as far as Harmony Central reviews, and to an extent Musician Friend reviews... worthless. Nobody wants to admit that they may have been screwed or their guitar/amp/effect isn't all that great. Of course, you do have some legitimate reviews on there, but they are lost amongst people that wrote the reviews 8 minutes after the UPS guy left it at their door, or they don't know the proper terminology for the parts!

The best review is still you driving down to Guitar Center, trying it out to see what you think, then driving somewhere else to buy it! LOL!



EXACTLY!!! :nod:

[Cobalt]

Hehe I agree. I went against more reviews than you can shake a stick at and bought a Marshall MG50dfx. Now there are LOTS of bad reviews, other forums putting it down etc etc but having tried it out I loved it. I really like the clean tone, even with my old strat copy never mind my new Strat. Sure it's not great, gets a bit flaky and high ends and it's distortion isn't worth the dial on the front... but the clean channel is great, plus put a pedal in front and you've got a whole range of tones including the overdrive/distortion effects so I think it was a bargain at £80 second hand. Love the reverb too.

There was a case of a lot of guys plugged it in, cranked it up to 10 with full distortion on and wondered why it sounded crap. It does at those volumes, but keep it at a reasonable level and mic it and the cleans are beautiful. Nothing on the tube amps that I tried but then again they were 4, 5 times the price.

Plus I'm really glad I got a Mexican Strat. I know they aren't *generally* the best, but I'd like to think I grabbed one of the "gems", I don't know if it is really that good but it feels and sounds great, very playable which is all I care about... and the fact it's a black strat with maple fingerboard... *cough*

Why do you think I asked here about the Clapton Strat? Anywhere else the replies would have been:

"It sucks... but I played it once through a tin can."

or

"It's great."

or

"It's crap."

or

"Dunno, never played one"

Argh so much for review forums!!!

/rant

[X-Sample]

Playing it yourself is definately the best way to go! OR here and ask some questions.

The only way the harmony-central or musicians friend reviews are useful, are if you read every review on a product, and write down all of the bad things said (that say what is bad about the product) then you could investigate the types of problems and see if it could be faulty assembly or not.

[Jossy]

I agree with you guys. One thing i have learned from this and other serious forums (the few to say the least), it to actually check things firsthand. Nothing like it.

I make notes from your comments (good or bad), about gear and guitars. I can't try a lot of stuff where i live, but when i get the chance to do it, i just take my notes and look for things you guys said. How can i go wrong with that? :thumbsup:

Saludos.