Do you buy gear because of influencers?

Stuckfast · August 2023

Following on from this thread by @OilCityPickups ...

YouTube 'influencers' have become a huge part of marketing for guitars, pedals, amps, synths etc. They get to keep (and possibly re-sell on the side) the gear they 'review'. Many of the more prominent ones also require payment in order to feature a product.

Do they influence you? Have you bought gear because it was featured by TPS etc? Do you regard influencers as trustworthy?

TheBigDipper · August 2023

No.

You do need to know that something even exists in order to buy it, but that's about it. Everything else is just noise.

But I've kissed a lot of frogs trying to find my beautiful princess and I'm still kissing.... :-)

OilCityPickups · August 2023

This is interesting as I have experience from both sides of the fence here. I have a YouTube photography channel that's small to medium in size and have done some reviews etc myself. I always make it clear if I've bought the gear with my own money, and if I get sent stuff it's actually more beneficial to the channel to do a 'give away' with it to increase the channel's viewing figures.

fretmeister · August 2023

Can you define "influencer" fully please? Making sure you specifically exclude features as well as including them.

Otherwise I'm going to find this really difficult to split between reviewers / influencers / personalities / journalists / demonstrators / etc.

If Steve Vai does a vid from his studio and I like the pedal he used - is he an influencer?
Or is an Influencer only that if they haven't released any music commercially?

What are the rules?

Musicman20 · August 2023

Mostly no.

guitarfishbay · August 2023

Lots of questions there

I have bought gear because of demos/reviews showing products doing things I thought would work for me.

In some cases they didn’t work for me - usually because I lacked the understanding of how to translate how they were using them Vs how I was planning to. An example would be the Orange Tiny Terror, which in reality was underpowered for my needs at the time with my band, and overpowered and under featured for my needs at home… but I definitely enjoyed PGS Andy’s demo at the time!

As my experience and skill set has improved I’ve felt my decision making has too. I feel more confident watching a demo and understanding if I’ll get similar results. That has taken a long time though.

Do I regard influencers as trustworthy? It very much depends on the influencer themselves and to what extent they have freedom to discuss aspects I’d be interested in. Not all of them work the same way. It’s not really possible to make a blanket statement. For example the difference between a demonstrator and a reviewer matters in this discussion

I find many of Phillip McKnight’s reviews informative as he will show issues like sharp fret ends, improperly cut nuts etc, and often how to rectify them. He’s arguably an influencer but I often find his content educational which has value to me.

Ola Englund I’ll watch for riffs and humour. The value in his demos is I understand how his picking style sounds for metal and am broadly familiar with the kind of gear he reviews. So regardless of what he’s saying I feel like I can figure out if the product does what I’m looking for based on the sounds he’s getting. But again that’s based on years of knowledge and understanding.

There are plenty of situations that could be referenced to show less useful practices - someone getting a pre vetted instrument that’s been additionally QC’d/set up isn’t as useful as someone who gets the same kind of instrument I might get if I buy.

Overall it’s not the easiest topic to have a blanket opinion on. But what I would suggest is your favourite guitar heroes of the pre social media age were influencers too, and approached by brands as such. The game has changed, but it has always been played in some way

theatreanchor · August 2023

Sometimes, yes. If I like the sound of a pedal, I’ll give it a go. Sometimes I keep them, but mostly I flip them. I think that’s down to my gear too, but I also haven’t gone overboard either (I only have six pedals). I’ve learned a lot from TPS, and I have bought stuff featured on their show. That’s fine, as they’ve saved me so much time and money over the years!

ROOG · August 2023

I don't watch any guitar gear influencers, as apposed to 'dealer advertiser demos' I just haven't found myself drawn to such people, so I think that's a 'No' or maybe its a 'Yes' ? Now I'm not sure!

guitarfishbay · August 2023

fretmeister said:

Can you define "influencer" fully please? Making sure you specifically exclude features as well as including them.

Otherwise I'm going to find this really difficult to split between reviewers / influencers / personalities / journalists / demonstrators / etc.

——

If Steve Vai does a vid from his studio and I like the pedal he used - is he an influencer?
Or is an Influencer only that if they haven't released any music commercially?

What are the rules?

Agreed.

—-

IMO Vai is one of the most successful guitar influencers. Almost everyone I’ve met with a semi serious interest in guitar knows what a JEM is, even if they don’t play the style.

DrCornelius · August 2023

Yes - Andy Martin - ex PGS , now Reverb and a few other channels.

If there’s a pedal that I’m on the fence about I’ll see if he has demo’d it as I know he has the skills to show it at it’s best

RaymondLin · August 2023

Actually, I've cut way down on the videos i want on YouTube about gear in the past year. The recommendations has gone way down because even though i still subscribe to the same ones as ever. I stopped clicking on most of them.

Only really watch the odd ones, and honestly, not a single one made me got out my wallet in a long time.

soma1975 · August 2023

Everyone will tell you that advertising doesn't work on them but advertising budgets are usually far higher than r&d or manufacturing for all manner of product or media.

It's almost as if they know better than us.

As for you personally you might not buy the product because of Dave Influencer, but it got eyes on the product and at the same time pushed another company's product further down the algorithm for a time and all that is 90% of advertising's job.

Brio · August 2023

Yep I do buy stuff.
Thanks to Sophie Lloyd I have bought leather hot pants, a chest harness and a session of treatments at a local tanning salon.
I wouldn't touch that guitar of hers if you paid me though. Great player, shitty tone (IMHO).

chrisj1602 · August 2023

Don’t we all have Victory amps because Lee Anderton lied and brainwashed us on his YouTube?

No?

RaymondLin · August 2023

chrisj1602 said:

Don’t we all have Victory amps because Lee Anderton lied and brainwashed us on his YouTube?

No?

No...I have a Lazy J20 and a Bogner Atma.

Not sure I've seen them on many product launches by influencers!

I did get a Cloven Hoof because of CME demo though.

Stuckfast · August 2023

fretmeister said:

Can you define "influencer" fully please?

It's probably not a category with hard and fast boundaries, but let's say someone who:

(a) is primarily known for their online presence rather than their music
(b) receives free equipment or is paid by manufacturers on the understanding they will make content about it

Winny_Pooh · August 2023

I've definitely made a mental bookmark of things I've seen in TPS. It's usually just £££

NGD and FX recommedation threads (wazmeister and majorscale) here top what I see on YT though.

MrTee · August 2023

Not sure he counts as an influencer as I'm pretty sure he doesn't take payments for reviews, (and makes clear he buys his gear himself), but I've bought both a Strymon Iridium and Jrockett Dude purely based on our very own @JohnCordy videos. Subsequently sold that very same Dude back to the very same dude (JNC).

guitarfishbay · August 2023

Stuckfast said:

fretmeister said:

Can you define "influencer" fully please?

It's probably not a category with hard and fast boundaries, but let's say someone who:

(a) is primarily known for their online presence rather than their music
(b) receives free equipment or is paid by manufacturers on the understanding they will make content about it

So the only difference is if the music isn’t released in a specific format. Guitar gear demo songs are music, just music with a different purpose.

B applies to any musician with an endorsement deal

flying_pie · August 2023

The only channel I find of use when it comes to gear is Pete Thorn's. I'm not sure if I'd call him an influencer but I suppose he is.

And the twist is that he makes everything sounds incredible so there's absolutely no point in buying a product in the hope you'll sound like that... But if he can't make something sound incredible then we know to totally avoid it

MentalSharps · August 2023

This is one of those trick questions you can't answer successfully, like "when's the last time you beat your wife?"

In this case, however you attempt to answer it's almost impossible to escape being either delusional or ignorant.

The sheer brazenness that they're called Influencers with no irony, and this is an aspirational career for many people, is revealing. The old model of traditional advertising was already incredibly effective, judged by the sheer sums of money involved. So this new paradigm is not going to be any worse.

@fretmeister It's a great question, and I think that's the point -- you can't tell. The goal is for the influence to be as invisible as possible.

roberty · August 2023

I watch pedal demos to see the basic functions and how they work. Those sorts of demos are useful if you can't try something in person

For guitars Phil McKnight's channel is useful in terms of which factory makes which and to what standard. I feel like I am more informed about where my money is going from having watched his channel but have not acted on specific recommendations

I don't know why but pickup demos are all but useless. You need a direct A/B for it to be useful and then that is only in that particular signal chain and playing style

I prefer single channel amps and have a variety of those. None of them are very trendy or feature rich. YouTube had no say in those

Funkfingers · August 2023

No but it is gratifying when somebody publicises an idea that you always reckoned would be a good one. e.g. "Danish" Pete Honore asking Sire to build him an H7 guitar with Duncan Antiquity P90s.

digitalscream · August 2023

Only in the sense that I probably became aware of some of the gear I have because I saw an influencer (or otherwise well-known person) talking about it. The flow is awareness -> check features -> check sound -> work out whether it easily fits in my rig -> purchase. Social media is only really involved in the first step (and maybe the "check sound" bit), but their opinions never enter into my decision.

Basically, I don't care whether someone else can make it sound good - all that matters is whether I can.

Lewy · August 2023

fretmeister said:

Can you define "influencer" fully please? Making sure you specifically exclude features as well as including them.

Otherwise I'm going to find this really difficult to split between reviewers / influencers / personalities / journalists / demonstrators / etc.

If Steve Vai does a vid from his studio and I like the pedal he used - is he an influencer?
Or is an Influencer only that if they haven't released any music commercially?

What are the rules?

I think it's someone who seeks to build up a large social media following and then capitalise on it by offering access to that following to other businesses by virtue of their reach to that audience. The capitalisation could be the end goal, or it could be to fund the ongoing maintenance of their profile in pursuit of other goals including philanthropy. I see it as a business model more than a role or persona, and so is distinct from someone like an artist or comedian who heavily leverages social media to promote or deliver their core "product" or just have a connection with their fans. They ultimately still want you to buy an album or go to a show. The influencer wants you to buy pedals or protein shakes or whatever using their super special "discount code".

So no, Vai's not an influencer. He's influential, which is soooooo much more!

guitarjack66 · August 2023

Yes/No. If something catches my eye,usually a guitar as I dont have any pedals and a simple amp,I will trawl through dozens of youtube videos and online content and take an 'average' from there based on pros and cons. But ultimately it is dependent on price.

fretmeister · August 2023

Stuckfast said:

fretmeister said:

Can you define "influencer" fully please?

It's probably not a category with hard and fast boundaries, but let's say someone who:

(a) is primarily known for their online presence rather than their music
(b) receives free equipment or is paid by manufacturers on the understanding they will make content about it

How is that different from a Reviewer, or in fact a music equipment journalist?

Stuckfast · August 2023

fretmeister said:

How is that different from a Reviewer, or in fact a music equipment journalist?

In music equipment journalism you'd be expected to send the gear back and you certainly wouldn't be paid by the manufacturer to write about it. And the journalist him or herself would just be a name on a page to most people, not a personality in their own right.

Brio · August 2023

Can I suggest that the worst influencers are the best players?
Anyone heard Danish Pete make a guitar sound poor? He's very listenable to IMO. Again, when I hear Chris Buck playing I forget I should be listening to the tonez.
They need me demoing. If I can make it sound good it must be freaking amazing.

In this case, however you attempt to answer it's almost impossible to escape being either delusional or ignorant.

I always do research before I start down the influencer route.

My two recent major purchases have been a PRS SE DGT and a Halcyon Gold. It is fair to say that these received a lot of influencer coverage. Ilike the fact that you can work out what press release was sent to the channel hosts and what was underlined in red as they all quote the same facts to pad out their 'review' to the right length for YouTube. DO you know how many components there are in a Halcyon Gold? No? Well THEY all do.

These days to confirm a choice I've already made I usually just check out Andertons, Pete Thorn, Tim Pierce and John Bohllnger at Premier Guitar as they seem nice folk. I don't think I'll sound just like them when i get what they are playing. And watching them is more fun than Cash In The Attic or Bargain Hunt.

drippycat · August 2023

Yes, I'm influenced by influencers in that I might want to find out more about something they present which I didn't know about before. But I don't blindly buy anything they show. I'm my own man and I have a certificate to prove it which I bought off this bloke on YouTube.

jeztone2 · August 2023

Stuckfast said:

fretmeister said:

How is that different from a Reviewer, or in fact a music equipment journalist?

In music equipment journalism you'd be expected to send the gear back and you certainly wouldn't be paid by the manufacturer to write about it. And the journalist him or herself would just be a name on a page to most people, not a personality in their own right.

Hence my problem with Guitarist Magazine. They’ve forgotten that last bit.

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Do you buy gear because of influencers?

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