This is the sort of thing that the old internet could really deliver on. Chances are, a search query could lead you to some guy's hoodie blog, and he just liked hoodies, and posted honestly about them.

Now, it's all a mess of SEO pumped affiliate link lists filled with crapware. If the query is even thinkable, there will be AI generated pages stuffed with sponsored links, ready and waiting for you. And with search engines preferring recent results, that's the type of page you'll be served.

I've had decent luck using marginalia search to seek out some of those old internet type results. Obscurity works as a barrier to corporate infiltration. Plus you get page results that don't have a million tracking and analytics scripts running on them, which is refreshing.

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I spent 3 hours reading Amazon reviews for shoes just trying to find ONE fucking pair that didn't have "falls apart in 3-6 months" as the most common review...

The state of everything is just absurd.

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago

It should go without saying that if the brand you're considering is called "Lahuekty" or "Mpanobeb" or something stupid like that you're taking a huge risk. Amazon's 'brands' are a joke.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 21 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

This is where guitars are right now.

Both Fender and Gibson are now owned by venture capitalists. Their quality of everything, from strings to picks to guitars, has plummeted across every brand they own in the last five years. It’s sad really.

You go on Reddit and people talk about the models and which one is great for this, or why they prefer it for that, but then you find some deeper dives into more recent spaces and people who know what they are talking about have moved away entirely from both brands.

If anyone is curious, you can buy a better guitar from Harley-Benton, Cort, or Jet than from Fender/Gibson and it will be 1/2 to 1/4 the cost.

[–] MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network 18 points 1 month ago

The classic "Buy a reputable brand, cut costs and coast along on the reputation until you can sell off all your shares and move on to another company". Bonus points for using ~~legalised embezzlement~~ share buyback.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I saw a headline on some guitar magazine "These are the most over priced guitars currently". Says a lot and it's true.

There's not much point in throwing money at a brand name anymore. Quality control is long gone and they all come straight out of a factory anyway. It's alright though, because factory quality is decent, and with a little know-how you can easily make them play good.

My best guitar is a $100 kit-build. Acknowledging that I'd need to do a full setup on any guitar I figured I might as well paint and assemble it myself, because I'm not going to pay several hundreds just for a paint job and a logo.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Did you like building your own? I have a used PRS SE 24, which I got for a steal due to paint scuffs, but thought about building my own.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes absolutely, I enjoyed it and might do it again sometime with a different kit.

I do have a lot of tools already so that wasn't costly, only good practice, but it did take somewhat longer than I expected.

I wouldn't attempt to make the neck and fretboard from scratch, so a kit with a good neck is a good starting point.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Did you find any useful guides online or on YouTube for getting started? I have a decent set of tools, but this would be a new endeavor for me.

Well aware this would be a “me” guitar and not something that would have much of a value to anyone else. Some people seem to think they are building their own K-Line guitar.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It was all pretty straight forward. The kit was made to be assembled with a bolt on neck all predrilled, so it was basically just shaping the body and headstock and then paint and varnish.

I did look up some painting techniques, but I really just wanted to stain the wood, so I did that with a brush and then 2 coats of varnish. I had to sand the wood first to make it more open for staining instead of paint. If you want to paint or spray paint you should probably keep or make a base coat to avoid the wood absorbing the paint.

It was a cheap stratocaster-like kit, so I wasn't too concerned with making mistakes, but I'll admit that putting the saw into a guitar was a little daunting at first.

I used a multi-cutter for most of it to make very precise cuts. And lots and lots of sandpaper by hand with different grit sizes.

It only took a few evenings to do, so it is not difficult at all, but I guess it depends on how much you want to customize it.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do you know the brand? Sounds like my next winter project.

I want to make one with normal pickups - Out1 and add a piezo bridge with a three way switch for an Out2. Some of the sounds people are getting by blending the two are incredible.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The kit I used was a Harley Benton from Thomann.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Awesome. Thank you.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No problem. Have fun.

I don't know if there's a community for this, but anyway, this is my "surf guitar".:

my guitar

It's been a few years but it still looks like the day I made it.

[–] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago

That looks amazing. Thank you for sharing.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Just get a cheap one in KMart. It’ll likely fall apart, but it still comes from the same sweatshop as your favourite brand and you didn’t pay so much for the months of wear you got.

[–] Gingernate@programming.dev 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

KMart?! What is this, 1995?

[–] gallopingsnail@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They're still kicking in Australia

[–] Gingernate@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

Nice! I will have to make the trip hahahah

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

Gotta wait for the blue light special though.

[–] AnAverageSnoot@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

When I started fishing as a hobby, I couldn't believe that it was the only hobby I've ever taken up that pretty much had unanimous recommendations for beginners. Everyone seemed to suggest the Ugly Stik GX2 on every website or forum. And there were no threads about how I should buy a more expensive rod/reel, other than a few that mentioned that I might want to upgrade the reel on the GX2 after a year or so.

Even the salesperson at the Bass Pro Shops store recommended the GX2 even though I could have afforded a bit more.

It was a completely new experience for me. I am used to having to spend at least $300-400 on initial investments for new hobbies. Fishing was only CAD$120 for everything!

[–] DSTGU@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago

My hobby (speedcubing) is like that as well. If you ask any semi competent speedcuber you will hear something along the lines of "Get the newest RS3M (9$) and maybe some lube (4$)". I love it for that.

(Of course it s all a foot-in-the-door scam to get you hooked so you buy other events but shhh)

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

depending on reddit for any kind of real world advice is a crapshoot at best

[–] ag_roberston_author 12 points 1 month ago

Even a crapshoot is better than the straight advertisements on Google.

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

I feel like here is not much better unless the advice is about technology

[–] w3dd1e@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

You buy it anyway, and it’s a great purchase. Very happy. Dog eats it a few days later and the product is discontinued. Or Is it just me?

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Whether they're trustworthy or not I'm not sure, but they've not failed me yet

I tend to go for those "2024 top 10 x" lists, jabra 65t was a very good recommendation from there, my toaster, probably a bunch of other things I've now forgotten about

[–] zod000@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

They generally aren't trustworthy overall, but many of those lists that have decent suggestions are just stolen content from more legit sources that don't SEO farm and get buried in search engine results.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Very happy with my jabra headphones as well. May not be best price for performance but they are solid enough. (85h elite and 65t active)

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

65t regular when I got it was about £80 I think, very good for the price I think

[–] thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 month ago

Same with playing cards