Guitar Aficionado Hits the Shelves (to my Dismay...)

May 13, 2009 06:44 by Will Chen

Well, it’s official.  The first issue of Guitar Aficionado has hit the shelves. The cover features Tom Colicchio, a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef cooking reality show. I was tempted to flip through the pages at a local Border's but just couldn’t. To me, there is something very wrong with a magazine such as this.  I understand the requirement of advertising within magazines.  However, I’ve seen Cigar Aficionado and that magazine isn’t really about cigars. It’s about living “the good life” and very quick to attempt to make those of lesser means feel like they’re missing out. To me, that is the antithesis of what playing guitar and being a musician is about. Good music is an invitation, regardless of economic class or social standing, for people to unite. And with all the incredibly high quality affordable gear out today, more people than ever are able to express themselves musically which could have only dreamed of doing it in previous generations due to financial barriers.

FrugalGuitarist.com exists as a force to combat the elitism  propagated by those who would have you believe a six figure salary is necessary to indulge in your passion or that guitar playing has anything to do with investment portfolios and designer watches. Perhaps FrugalGuitarist.com should publish a print edition...


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May 14. 2009 23:24

While I'd certainly take a '59 Les Paul over my Korean LP clone, or a 1959 SLP Marshall over my Peavey Windsor, were the prices the same, I don't think that I would be able to appreciate them the way a Gary Moore or a Jimmy Page does. I'm just not in their class, thus my satisfaction with what I have now. I don't think, however, that their target audience even has my level of talent and appreciation for these classics. I mean, sure, they may appreciate the idea of a '59 Les Paul, but they wouldn't have the talent needed to really get the most out of the guitar. They'd probably be just as happy with an Epiphone. They spent their time studying, working hard, and running their companies, while we spent our time practicing, playing cheap gigs, working side jobs, and traveling from town to town in Ford Econoline vans. They earned their wealth, while we became talented guitarists. I don't envy them, they deserve what they earned, I could never run a Fortune 500 company. They made their decision in life, and I made mine, and I'd make the same one again. But I think that rather than purchase a hyper-expensive guitar that they wouldn't appreciate, they should get one more commiserate to their level of experience, just as a new driver wouldn't go straight to a Formula 1 racing car.

Matt

May 15. 2009 09:09

Great comment! I really think you hit the nail on the head regarding the "idea of a '59 Les Paul". However, these type of folks wouldn't be as happy with an Epi as it is important to them to own the "best in life" as judged by price tag...or so that's what magazines like these imply.

Will Chen

May 15. 2009 19:02

I meant that they would be just as happy with an Epi if they paid $20k for it and were told that it was valuable. To be fair, though, in my experience, wealthy people tend not to waste money on frivolous things or that which they cannot truly appreciate. The ones I know/have known are quite smart that they judge value not on the price tag but in terms of what they could do with it or what it meant to them. Also, they look upon the kind of people who like "the idea of a '59 Les Paul" with the same scorn that we do.

Matt

May 24. 2009 01:14

I got this free from guitar center and knew it wasn't for me when there was a small article about a strap maker whose straps start at $1000.  Thank you wrangler for my $10 strap that hasn't failed me yet.

John Gruber