• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Demo videos: must they suck?

Prymaxe is the king of demo vids.

I hate the ones that have endles narration. These videos are not about the product; they are about the videographer's ego.

My problem with Prymaxe (or other vendors) videos is that they are trying to sell you the product, and will do absolutely everything to present items in the best light. That bias makes them interesting at best, and misleading in the worst cases.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jwr
the OP question was "must they....". There are many, many great demo videos out there...so, the answer is no.

Check out Daryl on this MXR one:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
His explanation was good. I do think he's a good player, but I was just waiting and waiting for a little bit of non slap love. As someone who doesn't slap it can be difficult for me to tell what an amp will sound like normally when it's only played slap.

He definitely slapped a lot, but there was fingerstyle in there too. A lot of demos are solo stuff above the 12th fret and that's completely useless except to show off the player's prowess. I'd rather hear 7th fret and lower, but a lot of the videos are done by soloists. It's like giving a drummer a pair of chopsticks at a sushi restaurant and telling him, "No drumming".
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBKerth
Well nobody is gonna sound like me on that pedal anyway so the value is limited to begin with. Not to mention that I have no dedicated 'bass' pedals anyway, which is just as well because as a rule the guitar demos are a lot better than the bass demos in terms of showing what you can do with a pedal.
 
Well nobody is gonna sound like me on that pedal anyway so the value is limited to begin with. Not to mention that I have no dedicated 'bass' pedals anyway, which is just as well because as a rule the guitar demos are a lot better than the bass demos in terms of showing what you can do with a pedal.

100% on the "limited value," I only started doing demos because it was fun way to express my hobby. Horse can look great in the pasture, but you need to ride it a few times to really understand.

I'm not sure if your point to guitar demos holds up, I just think there are so many MORE of them to get a spectrum. You read the same kind of negative things on the guitar boards about demos: "This place only does blues licks" "this guy goes all wanker metal." Which goes back to my point about it being impossible to please everyone.
 
Bobby Vega is a great and entertaining player, but I don't like his demo videos because of his unusual style of playing. Especially when he's picking.

I love him, but the EMG demos are particularly obnoxious. Thanks for playing them in way that 95% of us never will anyway (here's my P bass with a jazz neck with a piece of foam at the bridge, my other P that I won't play fingerstyle on and something in the upper registers that you can't do...enjoy!)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dominic DeCosa
Be happy that someone took the time to go do it.
Especially if its something your interested in.

Better then nothing at all.
A video is a helpful BUT its not the be all end all.

Something is better than nothing, sure. That's why we have to hand out "Participant" trophies to any kid these days for even showing up for Soccer Practice. If you're going to go through the trouble of showing what a pedal can do, why not make it worth while? Clean audio is super easy to get. If you don't have a $30 USB mixer, you can even just go through your mic jack on your computer. Seriously, anything is better than Cell Phone audio.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts