# Guitar Aficionado Magazine ?!?!



## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

New Magazine masquerading as a Guitar mag.
I just bought the John McEnroe issue. Never even knew this magazine existed.
I don't have an issue with the price ($10 in Canada......Guitar World is the same price here, now that's a waste of money IMO)
I was immediately struck by the advertisements in the first half dozen pages. Moet, Aston Martin, Saric (Glacial Milk!!!!!) David Yurman and Glenmorangie before the first guitar related ad. It's sort of Vanity Fair meets Cigar Aficionado. Insert guitars instead of cigars. I don't know who talked Aston Martin into placing an ad here but, they should be given a raise.
While the guitar articles are well written, I find it humorous that guitars are taken in this context. This is not a music magazine (I guess I could see that right away) it takes the music part right out of the relationship with an instrument.

However, if you want to read about Alex Lifeson's golf habit's.....looks like this rag is for you.

cheers
pete


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2010)

This is a magazine for people who never get sweat or tears on their instruments. In other words: it's not for me. :smile:


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

The John McEnroe (as in the tennis player) issue? That was probably the first clue right there. 

There seems to be an endless parade of these mags. I dont buy them much anymore. The only one I would spend any money on is total guitar or guitar techniques and only then, if they have a good song with backing track.


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## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

Very much a lifestyle magazine with guitars as status symbols. Well done for what it is but not for those for whom guitar is the lifestyle.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

OMG will you look at this dork... "John McEnroes Incredible Burst"????? Is the tag line on the front cover?


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*Yep*

Well when I first started to read it I thought okay a new mag covering guys and girls who play guitars, but it really had nothing to do with guitars or what they played just the people and who's golf score was better.
Well all I can say is that it.s not for me and thats they way it is this day is 2010, crap that really feels funny writing that now kqoct. oh well can't wait for 2011.ship
and can anybody make out what chord he is playing?????


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Ship of fools said:


> and can anybody make out what chord he is playing?????


I doubt that anybody can figure out what he is playing, but the really sad part is that he does not know either.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Actually, McEnroe has toured as a professional musician for many years. I didn't know that either till I read the article. Looks sorta like an F to me 

And his Les Paul is one of 2 known lefty 58-60 sunbursts. Good pic of it inside. McCartney has the other.

The articles were well written but, as noted, mostly not much about music or the music industry. I did find it interesting just in a 'general reading about nothing specific' sense.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> I doubt that anybody can figure out what he is playing, but the really sad part is that he does not know either.


Ha Ha I think that's the look on his face. Sort of like....WTF am I doing here? and why do I have my hand on this guitar neck? I know I own this expensive and rare guitar but don't ask me to play music on it. 
The photographer likely told him where to put his hands.


Okay that's nasty. I do know he does play guitar.

Anyone remember the Kramer ad from the early eighties?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

keto said:


> Actually, McEnroe has toured as a professional musician for many years. I didn't know that either till I read the article. Looks sorta like an F to me
> 
> And his Les Paul is one of 2 known lefty 58-60 sunbursts. Good pic of it inside. McCartney has the other.
> 
> The articles were well written but, as noted, mostly not much about music or the music industry. I did find it interesting just in a 'general reading about nothing specific' sense.


Thats the first I have ever heard of it. But calling him a touring professional might be going a little overboard. If you do that you have to also say that Johnny Depp, Kevin Bacon, Don Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Keanu Reeves, Bruce Willis and maybe even Joe Frazier are touring professionals. None of which would ever see a stage if not for the name they made in their real job.

I still think he looks like a giant dork on that cover.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I took a lot of heat on another forum for my remarks about this magazine. Suffice it to say I think it's decidedly non-musical, and elitist.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2010)

Mooh said:


> I took a lot of heat on another forum for my remarks about this magazine. Suffice it to say I think it's decidedly non-musical, and elitist.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Let me guess: The Gear Page crowd _loves_ it? So no one else can hate it?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

iaresee said:


> Let me guess: The Gear Page crowd _loves_ it? So no one else can hate it?


Thank goodness we are allowed to hate here and I think it's trash. Of course I also respect anyone out there that wants to read it. Thats just my personal opinion and I have not even leafed through it. I base that totally on the lame picture on the cover and a few people's review of whats inside.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

iaresee said:


> Let me guess: The Gear Page crowd _loves_ it? So no one else can hate it?


No actually, it was here. I don't feel any different about it. Nuff said.

Peace, Mooh.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Mooh said:


> No actually, it was here. I don't feel any different about it


Was it in this earlier thread ?:

http://guitarscanada.com/showthread.php?t=26413&highlight=aficionado


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## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

Purely designed for those who like collecting guitars to hang on the wall or display in glass cases but not play.


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2010)

bagpipe said:


> Was it in this earlier thread ?:
> 
> http://guitarscanada.com/showthread.php?t=26413&highlight=aficionado


I'm not seeing "a lot of heat" in that thread directed towards anyone.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

iaresee said:


> I'm not seeing "a lot of heat" in that thread directed towards anyone.


Yeah, something's gone now. At the time I got slagged. It may have been by PM (in which case I've deleted it) but I don't think so.

Peace, Mooh.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

I think this is a case of a magazine publisher trying to keep their ad revenue up by cross selling product placement to another market audience. Desperate times dictate desperate measures.

I can't imagine the sales will be very high...

If you want the true "Architectural Digest" style mag for guitarists then you need to look at the Fretboard Journal. I don't mind spending $15 every 3 months on that one. Gorgeous photos and very well written articles.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

you know, i havent bought a guitar magazine (or any other magazine) since i discovered the internet-
used to buy 'guitar player' all the time, kind of miss that sometimes, but in later years i used to feel sometimes cheated after forking out that kinda money on something that imparted so little content, and so much advertising.
but when i was a kid, it was my only real lifeline to the guitar playing world.

recently a work buddy gave me a bunch of pc magazines he subscribes too, and there was nothing in any of them that wouldnt be available free on the internet, excepting the ads of course.

wasnt there a video once, in the early eighties of John McEnroe jamming with les paul, and i think jeff beck? maybe it was just a photo i saw-

but i found this-

[YOUTUBE]RXUEgJuODRU[/YOUTUBE]


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

After viewing that video I can honestly say I am a better guitar player than John McEnroe, and believe me, that is not saying much, I stink.


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## rhh7 (Mar 14, 2008)

Well, the biggest difference between you and I, and John, is that he is worth over $200 million. But he sure does not look happy, does he?


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

GuitarsCanada said:


> After viewing that video I can honestly say I am a better guitar player than John McEnroe, and believe me, that is not saying much, I stink.


yes he does suck doesnt he lol.
people are cheering though
check out buddy and his tambourine lol


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

I leafed through the 1st issue of this one, with that guy from top chef. Put it back and wont bother with it again.

It was, in my best pig-latin, "rap-kay" :smile:

AJC


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

rhh7 said:


> Well, the biggest difference between you and I, and John, is that he is worth over $200 million. But he sure does not look happy, does he?


That and he got to be in an Adam Sandler movie.

And he still doesnt look happy! 

AJC


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

We had our respective dissing session about it on another forum. It's not the sort of mag or crowd I have much respect for, but then I'm the sort whose hackles are raised whenever I'm flipping through my beloved issues of "Vintage Guitar" and pass by the monthly "401k Guitar" column.

Billy Gibbons collects cars as well as guitars, but you always get the sense that he loves them each in parallel for the right reasons, and not because they sum up to some status image.

Steely Dan has a tune on "Everything Must Go" called "Things I miss the most" in which a guy has taken a soaking via a bitter and costly divorce, and has reverted to a pathetic bachelor life "curling up in bed with a girlie magazine". In the song, he laments the loss of intimacy, but he also laments giving up the finer things in life like the Audi TT, the good copper pans, the houses on the Vineyard and the Gulf Coast...and the 54 Strat. I have a distinct feeling Guitar Afficionado is directed towards those guys...pre-divorce.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

ajcoholic said:


> That and he got to be in an Adam Sandler movie.
> 
> And he still doesnt look happy!
> 
> AJC



He's just trying to look super serious in the photograph for the super serious magazine.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I thought the concept of this mag was goofy and pretentious when I first heard about it. I vowed I would never stoop so low as to buy it.

Well, I got a copy in my Christmas stocking, and guess what? I kinda like it. At least it is a refreshing change for me over the GP, GW, etc, tripe available on the newstands these days. 

Yes, it is a little too "blingy", but there are good articles and photos IMO. Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather read about a pro guitarist turned winemaker, lefties, the Hard Rock guitar collection, vintage V's, or how to identify fake Les Pauls, than the latest Norwegian death metal band or Crate amp. 

And, no, I am not a lawyer or dentist.


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

I feel weird about this, but I am compelled to come to McEnroe's defense on this one. I've certainly said some unflattering things about him, but I think he's getting bashed a bit too much.

Sure, he's foul-mouthed, bad-tempered, scowling, and probably too full of himself. But the guy was a champion athlete, and you don't get that way without a lot of discipline and practice. Skills, by the way, that are remarkably similar to those required to be a musician. And maybe he's not the best guitar player around, but if he dedicated himself to it instead of tennis all those years ago, I don't doubt he'd be pretty damn good. Fact is, he puts himself out there. On the court, he put everything he had out there, and his ego, big as it is, doesn't stop him from exposing himself onstage performing with a different skill set. He also brought a lot of energy and colour to a sport that is, let's face it, is marginally more exciting than golf or curling. He's also been a sportscaster, a talk show host, an art collector (I think?)... he has a variety of interests and works to pursue them creatively. 

I have more respect for him than all the other athletes that make a bunch of money stuffing a ball into a net or basket, and do nothing else interesting or creative. Unless you count beating up young women, making dogs fight each other, sleeping with waitresses, gambling away your fortune, or getting to know a variety of rehab centres.

I hope McEnroe reads this thread and tells all you guys to ##&@!#@$*@#($$*)#*$ right off. 

--- D


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