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Ha... Friedland and "Best Bass for Metal" comment.

At 3:43 in his recent Update Video.



I was listening to it and not really paying attention. Pepsi came out my nose when I heard "What's the Best Bass for Metal".


Well played Ed... Well Played.

I also really liked the response regarding Tabs to what he plays on demo videos. Basic response was 'use your ears'.


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Heh, nice. I was fortunate enough to see Ed do a 90-minute clinic at Bass Emporium last Saturday, and it was as good and entertaining as you might expect. Some video of it will hopefully be up soon.
 
Nothing a garish, mural tatoo, a dozen piercings and character hat couldn't balance :-)))))

HA! Too true! I love Ed's reviews - he really seems like an honest, good dude.

Off Topic - I have wondered why Ed appeared to favor certain brands - for example, he has reviewed how many EBMM basses compared to, well I don't know, everything else. But something he said may have explained it - since he is not purchasing these instruments he relies on them being loaned by the manufacturer, therefore, they need to view him as a viable medium to "sell" (in their minds) their product. In order to acheive that status, he needs more of us to subscribe - which makes sense.

Turns out he likely wasn't favoring at all, Sterling Ball is probably just more willing to work with him than marketing departments from other companies. (Another reason I REALLY like owning a Stingray).
 
HA! Too true! I love Ed's reviews - he really seems like an honest, good dude.

Off Topic - I have wondered why Ed appeared to favor certain brands - for example, he has reviewed how many EBMM basses compared to, well I don't know, everything else. But something he said may have explained it - since he is not purchasing these instruments he relies on them being loaned by the manufacturer, therefore, they need to view him as a viable medium to "sell" (in their minds) their product. In order to acheive that status, he needs more of us to subscribe - which makes sense.

Turns out he likely wasn't favoring at all, Sterling Ball is probably just more willing to work with him than marketing departments from other companies. (Another reason I REALLY like owning a Stingray).

No reviewer reviews only his favorite instruments. If you want a review, you hand the guitar/bass magazine some money, give him an instrument, and he pumps out a review.

You want a better review with more in-depth analysis? You hand them some more money.

Take all reviews with a grain of salt.
 
No reviewer reviews only his favorite instruments. If you want a review, you hand the guitar/bass magazine some money, give him an instrument, and he pumps out a review.

You want a better review with more in-depth analysis? You hand them some more money.

Take all reviews with a grain of salt.
I seriously doubt it's as simple as you portray it. (I sure hope it isn't.) I worked as a journalist for quite a while, though I didn't work in the music journalism biz. Have you? I'm curious.

Regardless of the industry, when new products come out, the manufacturers want to promote them. And at the same time, publications want to review them because they know their readers are interested. Certainly, there are conflicts of interest to watch out for, but I've never worked at nor heard from former colleagues of a major publication where the content/ad-spending connection was anywhere close to explicit. I'm sure it happens at unscrupulous places from time to time.
 
Thanks for the comments all. I have certainly noticed that there seem to be more MM basses in my catalog than others... Well, here's how it works: I review for Guitar World Magazine, and now also for Bass Gear. The editor typically sends me what they want reviewed. This selection process is based on things that I am not involved in, like advertising, target markets, etc.... I do get to make suggestions for items, and naturally, I will lean toward things that interest me. Yes, I am a big MM fan, I own 3 of them, but in fact that all just happened in the last year. I always appreciated them, and while I probably reviewed 6 or so MM basses, I never wanted to own one. Until they sent the 25th over, and that one was NOT going back. Once bitten... well, now I've got two Sterling 5s as well.

So... long story short, some things are just assigned to me, others, I may have a little input, and others are independent reviews that I do on behalf of a company that hires me to demo their gear. And then, there are those times of year in between production cycles when you're lucky to have ANYTHING in house to review. But the bottom line is, if I can't play it and make it sound good... I won't do it. I'm not saying I CAN'T be bought, just that no one would pay that price!

Thanks for watching. I am mid-way through moving my studio and I've upgraded some important gear that should make the process better and faster, I expect more fun to ensue!
 

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