Let's face it, most gear is bought by home players, bedroom Bon Jovi, etc. Do youtubers focus on use as professional touring and recording gear because basement Malmsteen wants something that works for the pros? Doesn't make sense to hold budget gear to this standard.  Started thinking about this with Glen Fricker and Anderton's reviews of the Line 6 Catalyst which were wholly unfair for amps at the $300 price. I found much of the criticism to be a result of lack of time spent with the device in the case of these two vids anyway.  Anyhow, shouldn't reviews be trying to reach the home player segment with how pedals, modelers, and amps work for  gameroom Gojira who just has 20 minutes after work to pick up the guitar and play without turning on the rack equipment and PA? I completely agree that equipment like  Mesa Boogie Twin Rect and Line 6 Helix should be reviewed as serious professional gear, talking about the mid-level stuff like $500 floor modelers and $300-$500 amps.

Videos I'm referring to below.  I have had much better experience with this amp both with just for fun recording and with "amp in the room" tones. They are pretty much saying a $300 amp completely fails as a professional piece of gear. Oddly enough my Catalyst has been gigged and recorded with by my son's band in venues much larger than a 60w amp should be able to. Glen Fricker seems to have gone in with an agenda since he's usually pretty good at dialing in a good chug tone.

Go to GD and look at the GAS thread or the pedalboard thread here.

It's about money.  People spend a ton of money on shit they don't need but are sold via the influence/marketing train of social media.

Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen has a Squier Jazzmaster in his equipment stack. J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.'s signature guitar is a Squier Jazzmaster. Jeff Healey prefers a black Squier strat.

I remember reading a comment on a YT video about Peavey amps. Commenter was a former roadie for a different act who had opened for .38 Special (I think? Maybe it was Molly Hatchet). He said they had a huge wall of amps and cabs on stage. But that wasn't what they were using. Behind all that, mic'ed up, were Peavey Bandit 112's that they were actually playing through. Ted Nugent used to, or maybe still does, use Peavey Classic 50's. He auctioned a bunch off about 2 years ago. A lot of people would turn their nose up at those, but the fact of the matter is they're an awesome amp and sometimes more versatile than amps which are way more expensive.

I've played some expensive guitars. But the best neck I've ever felt is on my Sire S7 and its pickups sound pretty darn good too. I think I paid ~$650 for it. I won't buy a fender or gibson these days. I can achieve everything I want with a $400 guitar and maybe some electronics upgrades, and a trip to the luthier.

The reality is, like with guns, it's often far more the Indian than the Arrow.

Practice time is not something one can purchase on Sweetwater.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, and Molly Hatchet all endorsed Peavey and they all used 160W Mace amps with JBL speakers for the guitars. Off stage they used Pacers and Bandits in their rehearsal studios but never live. Always the Maces, and always wide open.

Randy Rhodes auditioned for Ozzie's band with a little Fender Champ.  The only guy I take serious is Ola Englund...

How do you feel about the current trend of guy rating the low end, cheap Amazon guitars?  Guys like Scar My Guitar and a few others. Cheap stuff played through high-end amps and their playing ability would make anything sound good.

Outrage and negative reactions fare better for clicks and views.

Also Fricker's pov is a damn recording enginerd not a home gamer.
Sweetwater wants to sell you stuff.

Gun shit is marketed this way
Car shit,
So much is.

Don't be angry at fake windmills since you're old enough to have seen this in several places.

I love the reviews of the cheaper stuff. Its actually improved the cheap stuff like Eart.  I dont think we'd have good stuff like Sire basses and guitars without the trend toward that market with YT reviews.

Most of that content is clickbait in order to generate ad revenue. You don’t have to spend thousands on boutique gear to have something that is tour capable, but you do have to maintain it. Lots of folks forget that tone is 80% in the hands, only 20% or less in the gear.

But will it chug......

Yep. Glen's channel is focused on heavy metal recording and production, and he isn't shy about having that specific focus. He does want to help the home studio types, but doesn't care so much about just playing around, and really doesn't care about things that aren't particularly applicable to typical metal music.