Still reading guitar magazines? If so, which ones?

[11top]

i used to subscribe to more. Now I just get Premier and Vintage. And I find I’m looking at them less often these days.

Are you guys still getting them? Which ones? Reading paper or on-line? Likes or dislikes?

 

[bodia]

I've been on board with Guitar World since the 80s. Guitar For The Practicing Musician was the first magazine I ever subscribed to. I still get Guitar Player and Vintage Guitar. Guitar Aficionado from issue 1 until they folded.

No tablet/on-line reading for me. Magazines or books. I have to have the real thing.

I am like you; find myself behind. I must be a year behind on Guitar World reading. I'm not a huge fan of Guitar Player. That would be the one I would let expire, I think. I am enjoying Vintage Guitar the most, of the three.

 

[matonanjin]

I used to subscribe to those both, Vintage and Premier. I dropped Vintage. I now subscribe to Premier and Guitar Techniques. My subscription to Premier is going to lapse next month and I am not going to renew it.

Guitar Techniques is obscenely expensive for those of us here in the US. But it is nothing but lessons from cover to cover, with the exception of the first few pages. I have so many piles of other learning materials I don't utilize GT as mush as I should. But I just feel it is the only guitar rag worth my investment despite its cost.

 

[Mark Ray]

Vintage Guitar
Guitar Player
Guitar World

 

[WEDGE]

I get Premier and guitar player delivered and pick up the British ones at the newsstand. Find myself not waiting by the mailbox like I used to and sometimes flop through instead of reading every single word like I used to.

I think after so many years reading them I have overloaded. I flip to the reviews or certain articles now first and go back when I can. I have read and not finished piles.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

My collection of "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" magazines from the late 80's. Ahh, how we learned songs in the days before YouTube.

 

[Glide-bpm]

Dropped them all years ago..

 

[alantig]

In no particular order...

Subs for:

Vintage Guitar
Premier Guitar
Guitar Player
Guitar World

Newsstand pick and choose for:

Acoustic Guitar (used to sub)
Guitarist
Guitar Techniques

I fell WAY behind with Vintage Guitar and Acoustic Guitar. I decided to make a concerted effort to catch up with VG about three years ago - I vowed to read one issue a week (partially by finally starting to skip articles I had pretty much no interest in), and ended up reading about 56 issues that year. I dropped the pace immensely the last two years, but I'm almost caught up. I'm closer to current with Premier Guitar and Guitar Player, and I have stayed current with Guitar World. The problem is I still buy a ton of other magazines (and books) that pile up. I've told my it's an investment in my retirement years, but she no longer buys that. One thing for sure - I won't be bored!

I wish the UK mags were cheaper - I think they're better than GP and GW.

And I still get the occasional bass and drum magazine. And subscribe to the digital version of Sound On Sound. But I prefer the physical magazine (just not the storage space it takes!).

 

[László]

I still subscribe to Guitarist and Guitar Player, the download versions. I really like staying up to date on what’s happening.

Guitarist’s product demos are linked to the pages of their reviews, and they’re very well done.

 

[Opunaesala]

Guitar World is the only one I have a subscription for. I occasionally pick up some of the more expensive ones (like Guitarist) off the rack if it looks like an interesting issue.

 

[veinbuster]

I stopped getting anything regularly about 20 years ago. I might browse one that catches my eye every few months. I mostly stopped when I realized I knew what I liked and didn’t need opinions from experts I didn’t know.

 

[Parralax view]

I've been subscribing to Premier since it was a cloth rag newsletter called Musicians hotline. I've always liked the magazine for it's rich articles and reviews. Lately however, they've gone the way of similar magazines. 12 to 20 pages of transcripts of songs, repetitive ads for the same gear every month, and worst of all, the editor has decided to become political and the arbiter of taste, clearly angering some subscribers. I'm at the last of my subscription, but may not renew simple because it's the same thing almost every issue nowadays.

 

[QuiltTop319]

Vintage Guitar

 

[walrus]

I'll go to Barnes and Noble every month at least, look through all of them, and buy the ones I want. No subscriptions.

 

[Ovibos]

I have subs to the GW and PG apps.

 

[Herr Squid]

I still have GW and GP subscriptions so they land in my mailbox on paper every month. I flip through them sometimes, look at how old everybody's gotten, marvel at how little I care about amplifier reviews anymore, and wonder why I bother.

I do pick up the electronic edition of Guitarist every so often for reading on my iPad. It's a lot less expensive than the last time I picked up the paper version, and as others have said it's really well done.

 

[Deli6505]

Like bodia, I have been with Guitar World since the 80s. I also really liked Guitar For The Practicing Musician but unfortunately, they went the way of the dodo many moons ago. I liked Guitar Player too but they were kinda hit and miss for me. Unfortunately, GW has really been lackluster for the past 15 years so i probably won't be re-subscribing this year.

 

[pac90]

Ive posted this before...i use readly subscription, so for 7.99 in uk a month get access to almost everything on my tablet. I work away from home so read a lot travelling etc

Guitarist uk , guitar techniques are in my favourites.

 

[Tone-y]

I used to buy Total guitar in the UK most months from the late 90s to the middle 00s or so, until I got fed up with its constant focus on nu-metal and kids. Then I only bought it if there was a particular song I wanted to learn. Eventually I stopped when I had a huge backlog of songs that I never got around to learning. I also bough Guitarist and guitar techniques as and when there was something in them that I was interested in.

Apart from a couple of issues of acoustic guitar bought online, I haven't bought a magazine for over 10 years.

 

[Mike Duncan]

Vintage Guitar, Fretboard Journal, and Premier Guitar.