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Bass Player magazine

Bass Player is terrible.

If the gear reviews aren't totally influenced by the manufacturers then they are poorer writers than previously thought. Articles are only glowing insofar as professionals are concerned, and the record reviews are just pitiful.

The whole magazine looks like one big ad. Reading it will only promote want for equipment that no one really needs. I believe Talk Bass refers to this--unfortunately I might add--as GAS.

Less time in magazines and forums and more time with your bass. Who doesn't need this?

I agree that the reviews have become so vanilla. I'm sure it's fear of offending a paid sponsor. Oh well, it's all we have so I will keep my subscription.
 
I suscribe to bass player magazine on august 28th, i still haven't received any magazine.

I contacted them twice since, they always answer the same, please wait, it can take between 15 and 20 weeks to get the magazines.

I had to buy the holidays issue, the december issue and i wanted to but i won't buy the recording tips issue that just came out.

On august 28th, i also suscribe to bass guitar magazine UK. a lot more pages, many other brand reviews too... I received it on the first week of september and it was shipped from UK.

Bass player must be shipped from Mars!!!

I just sent an email asking for my money back....

I have also ran into problems with my subscription, missed several issues. same answer as you got (15 weeks). Eventually got some of them, but not all. Bass player & the company that distributes the magazine are apparently two different companies. I love the magazine, can't wait for it to arrive (though it is so small now,I read it in a about an hour!). It just doesn't very often! Great mag. Just hope it can make it through whatever you want to call this economic bag- O-crap!
Moonshine :bassist:
 
I just saw a bass player sessions thing at Borders . . . was it an extra supposed to come w/ my subscription? I e-mailed BP about it but never heard back . . .

fwiw I just started getting mags again, they've always been a disapointment to me. the guitar ones are STILL writing articles on Yngwie, Satch, Via and the guy from Dreamtheater (which they were doing when I canceled my subscription when I was a kid)

the bass one is somewhat tolerable, probably because I'm a relatively new bass player and the back story is still somewhat new. but there are a ton of cool new cats out there (by new I mean players on billboard) I love Jamerson as much as anyone, but the articles they wrote about him have no new info, in-fact I've read a good bit of them before in other publications . . .

gonna give bass gear a shot ...
 
I recently subscribed to BP Magazine, so I don't know its' past in terms of content. But, I do enjoy it now. As a relatively new bassist (2yrs), I find it it provides me with valuable insight to the world of bass guitar. The only problem I've run into is with their subscription department...I had problems getting my first issue, and they were pretty un-responsive when I inquired (Still working this issue out). But I like the mag!
 
BP is mostly a venue for vendors to show off their new products; just start noticing that whenever a player is profiled, its either the first or second question abuot their gear...and if its a short feature then nearly half the page space is gear related.

They should spend more energy increasing their online lessons, and make the enhanced online section available only to subscribers or for an additional small fee. Right now i pay around $12 a year for the magazine so my expectations are rather low, but Id be willing to pay an additional $12 if their online instruction were ramped up to bit.

Of course I would rather pay Talkbass a higher membership if they could do something similar (comprehenvise online seminars) though i think thats an investment that requires a lot of web expense to get going.
 
I bought December's issue today from Hastings, and man, the magazine is soooo thin! Any thinner than this and I wouldn't be able to see it from the side. It's only 66 pages:eek::eek:. My latest Geddy issue was 96 pages, so it's almost a 30% reduction.:bawl:

Is it the sign of the times, or a trend? I haven't bought it for some time, but I still think it's a very good mag.



As long as the content is good, i wouldn't mind it being a little thin, but I guess it's still a larger percentage of ads?
If the latter is the case , that would be very a very sorry thing to see.
Any ways. I haven't missed it much over the last couple years since last buying it.
 
I mean... Why DO people buy magazines? I'm not criticizing, I've got a bunch myself, but I can find anything I want on the internet for free of course. I guess, it's the luxury of having one to carry around and read whenever.


In my case it kind of forces me to read about stuff that I'm not necessarily interested in, and that's a good thing. With the internet, I only spend time looking only for what I like.

In this issue, I know Jamerson is mandatory for any bass player, but maybe because I don't relate to the music I never felt compelled to read about him/his playing before as much as I do for Geddy, Wooten or Patitucci. Now, I know that I'll put the effort to learn more about Jamerson.

My 2 cents.
 
The wife and kids got me a subscription last year....i didn't get three of my 12 issues....and I contacted both the magazine, and Mr. Herrera here....I was told by both i would get my back issues....that was almost 5 months ago....no magazines as of yet....

I did not renew....
 
I feel for BP Mag. It has been going downhill for awhile, not that it doesn't still have some value. I think the same can be said for a lot of print media in general and I think this is sad too. Our world will be a lesser place without the printed word.
I had the PRIVILEDGE of working at BP one summer in the mid 90's. A dear friend of mine Ned Tourney, who has since passed was the Assistant Editor of Keyboard Magazine and Keys in my band. He called one day while I was between jobs to ask if I would like to work for a few weeks on their annual gear guide. I jumped at the chance and I'll never forget it. Getting asked to come into the studio with the guys to try out a new piece of gear every day was AWESOME! I was privileged enough to be asked to be a judge on their very first 5 String bass shootout. ( I picked the Rosco by the way)
I was a subscriber for many years and I think I may subscribe again just as a show of support if nothing else. In spite of the fact a lot of it is just adds and fluff I don't think I have ever picked one up without learing something or reading about a piece of gear I hadn't seen before.
So I might just put in the same catagory as supporting live because we NEED IT !! cause if we don't all we might have left is "Live music online" !!

think about it !!

peace Capt Kirk
 
Yeah, what did happen to Bass Guitar World? I sent a subscription card in some months ago, and ??? Not on the shelves anymore either...

I used to write for Guitar World's Bass Guitar, which is (er, was) a different publication from the UK's Bass Guitar Magazine. Guitar World pulled the plug on Bass Guitar and several other magazines about two years ago. When they did this, they did pull some bass content back into Guitar World. Ed Friedland was, I believe, the only GW's BG staff that stayed on with Guitar World, and he still does reviews for them (both print and video reviews).

I am happy to say that beginning with issue #4, Ed Friedland will also be writing reviews for Bass Gear Magazine.

Let me also say that I thoroughly enjoy Bass Player and the UK's Bass Guitar Magazine, and I am a happy subscriber of both publications. IMHO, we should all be supportive of each other in this industry. I mean, we're bass players, right!?! :cool:

Tom.
 
I used to write for Guitar World's Bass Guitar, which is (er, was) a different publication from the UK's Bass Guitar Magazine. Guitar World pulled the plug on Bass Guitar and several other magazines about two years ago. When they did this, they did pull some bass content back into Guitar World. Ed Friedland was, I believe, the only GW's BG staff that stayed on with Guitar World, and he still does reviews for them (both print and video reviews).

I am happy to say that beginning with issue #4, Ed Friedland will also be writing reviews for Bass Gear Magazine.

Let me also say that I thoroughly enjoy Bass Player and the UK's Bass Guitar Magazine, and I am a happy subscriber of both publications. IMHO, we should all be supportive of each other in this industry. I mean, we're bass players, right!?! :cool:

Tom.

Was GWBG pulled because it was a non-seller? That's too bad. I liked they way they focused more on rock end edgy groups. Oh well.
 
Was GWBG pulled because it was a non-seller? That's too bad. I liked they way they focused more on rock end edgy groups. Oh well.

I don't know the full story, but I believe it was due in part to the excessive costs of putting six or more related mags on the newsstands.
 

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