Youtube guitar celebrities

[mooncobra]

I know this topic has been on here before, but its just nuts. I guess its the personality rather than the playing or skills on guitar that makes them popular. I saw a video of rob chapman sharing the stage with steve vai at a guitar fest. chapman should be cleaning his guitars, not playing with vai. chapman plays very sterile, no feel, not much skill, and his minion rabbea massad is endorsed by every company out there and has sig models with companies like bare knuckles. truly shocking with whats happening. before this recent wave of youtube guitar personalities, guys were great players. you would hear a song and think how great that guitar part was. but I guess more power to them, dead average guitar players getting the pro treatment.

of course, I think there are a handful that are good like pete thorn, rick graham, martin miller(guy is very, very good), tim pierce, and doug Rappaport, oh and beato as well. these guys put in the time, and don't rely on overgrown personalities and bad jokes. these guys deserve everything they get.

but all the jokesters and clickbait, damn, its just sad. I know, I didn't have to click on their vids, but I wanted to see the supposed new guitar heroes, and man, I was disappointed.

 

[njshred]

It’s no different than the Kardasians. They are not models, singers, dancers, actors or comedians, but somehow they are show biz celebrities. The rules of engagement have obviously changed.

 

[Beandust]

Chapman, dude is so annoying. I cant listen to his vids no matter if hes giving shit away. Rather watch some paint dry

 

[Thunkful]

A really good video on this topic.

 

[ClintN667]

Yeah man. I said it just this week that a lot of guys are like reality tv stars. There are only a few I think I would listen to if I heard them without ever seeing their channel. If you say something critical of them then fanboys come out and say "you are just jealous". Some of us guitarist never had any aspirations of being a famous musician. I like playing guitar, fishing, and I use to love practicing Muay Thai. Never wanted to be a pro at any of them. Still I'm entitled to an opinion. I'm not in the movie industry so can I not say Uwe Boll is a shit director? Rick Graham is a killer guitarist without youtube, Ola has a definite style whether you like him or not you can pick his playing out of the crowd(as displayed in the Jared Dines collab), and there are a couple more I dig that I can't think of atm. Fluff and Rob Chapman are vanilla as hell. And with my eyes closed I couldn't tell the difference between Jared Dines, Stevie T, etc while they might be technically proficient, I don't think they could write an enjoyable song. I find myself preferring channels of guys who have a career outside of youtube like Josh Middleton, Backroom Studios, Tim Pierce, Killertonetexas and stuff JHS/wampler do. When your primary income is youtube it just seems there is very little credibility or integrity. the dollar shave club commercials in middle of videos or mobile games really kills me. I don't mind sponsored videos like "hey this video is sponsored by acme strap company" but in the middle of an amp demo I gotta hear Fluff, Fricker or whoever tell me about a mobile game that's the tits makes me automatically unsubscribe and never watch another video again. I pay YouTube extra to avoid Yousician commercials and they figured out how to make my subscription dollars useless.

 

[psychodave]

I guess it’s nice to see these people making some kind of a living on YT. Otherwise 99% of them would be unemployed vultures.

 

[skullfxr]

I don't care for most of them. I don't watch or really follow anybody tbh. If I am searching for a demo of something I am interested in, then yes, but most of them seem like royal d-bags. rdavidr, Brad the guitarologist, and uncle Doug are all really cool guys and I follow them for some things. I have been watching their videos for a long time and was an early subscriber. They post pretty good content IMO, I like the off the wall stuff rdavidr does with percussion, Brad and uncle Doug have great tech and troubleshooting stuff on cool vintage amps.

 

[ClintN667]

I love watching Brad. I dont agree with some of his stuff but I find myself agreeing with him a lot. His recent 2203 vid was really fun to watch. There is another channel I really like Blueglow Electronics that has been really useful for an electronics noob such as myself.

 

[japetus]

If people watch your videos, you will get free gear even if you suck. This is the way of the world and applies to just about everything. Stop looking for guitar heroes and focus more on becoming one.

 

[scottosan]

It's because Andertons sells more gear and a larger following. Talent is secondary

On a side note Mateus Asato is a legit YouTube guitar celeb

 

[PBGas]

There are a few guys that I check in with regularly and enjoy some of the comments and reviews. IF it is their full time occupation, then great for them for finding a way to make $$$, test our gear, get some freebies and stay home doing it.

Sounds like a great setup!

 

[mooncobra]

I guess it’s nice to see these people making some kind of a living on YT. Otherwise 99% of them would be unemployed vultures.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mooncobra]

It's because Andertons sells more gear and a larger following. Talent is secondary

On a side note Mateus Asato is a legit YouTube guitar celeb

yes, mateus asato can play, for sure.

 

[skoora]

Even though I agree mostly with the “not into it” sentiments in the thread I will say IMO Rabbea Massas has become quite a good player. He’s one of the few where I saw a lot of growth over the years. I feel he’s really moved well past Chapman. Plus he’s a lot more likeable. I don’t care for most of these people but with how difficult it is for a musician to make a living through traditional means these days (Hell, it was never easy) and the music industry being what it is, I can’t honestly fault people for using what is available to try and make a living that still involves holding a guitar. I’d rather there be a glut of these people than more “reacts to” video’s...lol
I really feel for all the kids who will never experience getting together and getting some volume happening in a room and feeling that magic when it clicks. Their first amp will actually be a modeler or straight software and one of their parents will already have groomed them for direct to online stardom with their own vanity video’s involving said child.

 

[Inearthed]

Honestly, dudes like Chapman, Ryan Bruce/Fluff, Ola, etc getting to review stuff and make halfway decent videos compared to the verifiable TRASH the big name magazines and manufacturers would release with horrid sound is a blessing. Before these dudes got into the game most of videos were complete shit. If you can play reasonably well and have a talent for making a decent looking and sounding video you can get free things sent to you to review, even more so if you have a built in following already. A lot of the highly talented musicians just don’t have the skill set or time to make videos reviewing random amps / guitars / effects pedals. Also, the Ryan Bruce / Fluff dude posted here a for a number of years and was always cool / answered questions about gear that he reviewed

That being said there are faaaaar worse offenders than Chapman & Ryan Bruce, the original rock/metal Youtube gear review personality wasn’t even mentioned and his playing is a lot worse than any of the other named people - and it’s great he makes videos because people enjoy them and get information / worth from them. Now the YouTube comedy personalities (Dines/Stevie T) don’t interest me but hey, people enjoy that stuff so good for them.

Basically tl;dr - I don’t think it’s fair to put the Youtube gear reviewers / comedy / content creator channels up against guitar heroes who make their $ through performing / studio work / teaching. It’s different markets / roles and kudos to those Youtube people for finding a way to make $ in the industry.

 

[ClintN667]

I guess we should be thankful we dont have to rely on Paul from Guitar World to demo everything

 

[stratjacket]

I understand and respect the opinions here. But I view it differently. If a person can make a living playing guitar in YT, then I think that’s great, even if they’re not a virtuoso or an awesome player or anything. I enjoy most of them, from demos to lessons to just jamming riffs. I think it’s awesome to adapt to new ways to make a living and keep guitar at the forefront of what they do.

Couple of my favorites, Signal Music Studio does a great job with theory and he’s no shredder. Uncle Ben Eller is fun to watch. David Wallimann and Troy Grady too. I only have a handful I subscribe to and watch all their videos.

 

[Goat]

YoTube!

 

[ClintN667]

I understand and respect the opinions here. But I view it differently. If a person can make a living playing guitar in YT, then I think that’s great, even if they’re not a virtuoso or an awesome player or anything. I enjoy most of them, from demos to lessons to just jamming riffs. I think it’s awesome to adapt to new ways to make a living and keep guitar at the forefront of what they do.

Couple of my favorites, Signal Music Studio does a great job with theory and he’s no shredder. Uncle Ben Eller is fun to watch. David Wallimann and Troy Grady too. I only have a handful I subscribe to and watch all their videos.

I really enjoy those guys you mentioned. Ive learned a great deal from each of those guys. I've attended a few clinics with Ben Eller, Andy Wood, and Seth Rosenbloom. Each time I left I felt motivated to pick up a guitar. I also grabbed a package from David Walliman last year which FINALLY made modes click for me. I guess for me it comes down to a personality thing. When someone is overly cocky or is trying to squeeze every dime they can out of people I tend to get irritated. Plugging a mobile game in the middle of a video is the worst. Pushing products that you know are substandard is another thing. A lot of guys were pushing Panama amps publicly but then saying what they really thought about them offline. Phil McKnight was the first person to give an honest review of those amps. Guys like Ben are giving you a ton of free contact and then having patreon pages for bonus content which I think is great. Ola has Solar guitars, his music, merchandise, and his paid membership which Im 100% behind because it's his brand. David Walliman is an excellent teacher. You can learn a ton from him for free but if you need more he offers courses. Thats respectable. But I dont for one second believe Glen Fricker plays mobile games and has the exact opinion of the game verbatim as Stevie T. Again I question why I pay for no commercials when these guys slip one in like that. Im not a fan of how Stevie T. makes a living mocking on stage fails when he himself is too scared to get up on stage. Lots of people have anxiety myself included but to make money off mocking on stage screw ups is pretty shitty when you have the ability and the offer to play live but cant get up there and do it yourself.

Im not a fan of Rob Chapman at all and its mainly due to inflated ego.

 

[mooncobra]

I understand and respect the opinions here. But I view it differently. If a person can make a living playing guitar in YT, then I think that’s great, even if they’re not a virtuoso or an awesome player or anything. I enjoy most of them, from demos to lessons to just jamming riffs. I think it’s awesome to adapt to new ways to make a living and keep guitar at the forefront of what they do.

Couple of my favorites, Signal Music Studio does a great job with theory and he’s no shredder. Uncle Ben Eller is fun to watch. David Wallimann and Troy Grady too. I only have a handful I subscribe to and watch all their videos.

troy grady is a great player with serious chops!