This Is Why Guitar Companies Do Not Like This Channel. 

i like your channel because as you say, you teach people how to solve these issues. the educational portion is what i'm here for. your guitar setup and restringing videos are seminal in the genre of guitar maintenance.

Phil, you have spent these past few years building up your credibility and, in my opinion, becoming one of, if not thee most trustworthy youtube reviewers on the platform. Simply because you're not afraid to hold these manufacturers accountable when they cut corners. It's why I try to support you wherever I can, albeit monetarily or just with a like and a comment. Please never stop doing what you're doing. You are a treasure to the guitar community.

This is EXACTLY why we watch and subscribe to your channel. You provide a service that is appreciated by so many. If the guitar companies don’t realize you’re providing an opportunity for them to improve their quality and you do it with no expense to them…then it’s their loss and we don’t want to do business with companies that are that short sighted. Keep up the amazing work you do, we appreciate you!

Thank for not selling out or ever compromising your ethics.

We love ya Phil!

This is why we like this channel and not guitar companies: guitar companies rip us off, and this channel does not AND makes us better guitarists!

Phil, thank you for being so honest! It's great you can have someone to trust to to guide you with your decisions!

Awesome post, Phil. You forgot to mention to new viewers that the last Thursday of every month one lucky winner gets a foot massage. I've been subscribed for years now but I know my day is coming. 😏

Phil, I appreciate all the time and effort you put into your videos for the guitar community. God bless you & your family, man! 👍🏻

Remember, Phil. This is what we see too. Thank you.

And this IS why we guitarists LOVE your channel!

This is an amazing montage. It needs an '80s action movie inspirational training montage backing track to it! xD Thanks for all of your hard work, Phil. We appreciate you so much.

My favourite guitar channel, period! Keep up the good work Phil!

Thanks again Phil. It's good to KYG.

Keep doing what you're doing Phil. Thanks again

Keep telling it like it is Phil, maybe the manufacturers will start taking notice and actually build good quality guitars.

I enjoy being one of your Patreon members. These clips show your honesty and level of detail you put in the evaluations, and you how fix or deal with each issue. I look for the ones where you "tweak" or deal with something because I learn how to fine tune mine and I now have a wonderful collection of tools. Thanks for all you do!

This channel helped me pick out my first "expensive" investment guitar, which is a PRS Custom 24 SE, and I have no regrets and I really love it, I have been playing my old worn out Jay Turser LT Tele for 14 yrs and I just upgraded last week. I really like how you make your videos no BS and not a sellout. Keep going Phil!

Always look forward to watching your videos Phil. Best Wishes. Mark . Chiswick. London. England.

You're doing a great job buddy! Just 3:28 - nothing is wrong with that :)

We love and appreciate you, Phil. Your feedback has helped both consumers figure out what to avoid or how to fix problems, as well as how to score deals and save money. I regularly watch new videos and can almost always find an old video you made to address a problem. I have a long way to go, but I can confidently setup an electric guitar, as well as maintaining and doing minor repairs. I am learning to feel more comfortable about doing acoustic setups, but I can surely maintain and do minor repairs too. I’ve only been playing for over four years now, but I have come a very long way in my playing skills. Part of what makes for a more skilled player is knowing how to ensure the instrument is in optimal working order and condition. Your educational videos have also saved me hundreds of bucks over the last four years of my guitar journey. Instead of going broke having to pay local guitar techs to handle all of my repair/setup/maintenance, I’ve done nearly everything myself - and my friend who benefits from my doing favors by helping her out with those things for her guitars too, lol. Your videos also lets brands see the issues on their guitars once the instruments get into customers’ hand. As is the case with technology products, sometimes things seem fine with the guitars being made while they are still in the factory. Then problems emerge once the end musician buys them at a shop or an online and the guitar is now in a new temperature/humidity environment and is now being played, so the shoddy materials, builders cutting corners, etc. starts to get noticed when the guitar can’t hold tune or the player starts noticing all the little details at home that lead to playability and other problems. When someone with your experience shows brands what these guitars are like in the real world, your advice and attention to every detail gives these companies the opportunity to course correct and improve. The end goal is to make sure potential customers are getting the best quality and performance for our hard earned money, no matter each guitars price point - there’s little to no excuse these days with advances like CNC and other machines that enable brands to make killer guitars even at the lowest price points. I know some brands get upset and feel targeted when they see you reviewing their guitars that happen to have lots of issues, but a smart company will understand that what you’re doing isn’t meant with malice, but instead meant to help them sell the best guitars they can produce. The companies have gotten angry and want nothing to do with you (and there will be more in the future, lol) are ultimately losing out on the opportunity to make better guitars and secure more sales. Thanks for your hard work and dedication to the guitar community- both players and companies alike! And thanks to your wife for handling a lot of the back and forth between these companies, including their complaints. 🤘🏻🎸😎

You have some of the best & honest reviews on YT, we appreciate it.

Now I know why I watch your channel…thx Phil!

Thank you Phil. Guitars are pricey and I don’t have the ability to try them out in stores. I can’t afford to be shipped a lemon. I’ve bought three higher end guitars in the last 3 years, and thanks to your advice and the advice of other honest RU-vidrs, I have not wasted my money. Thanks for doing what you do!

I really love that you go through and find all of the potential issues that any of us would when trying guitars in a music store! Telling us how to fix the issues to make the guitars playable is a really valuable resource - thank you, Phil!

Learned so much from you thankyou

Love you for sharing all of it. Good and bad. Thanks Phil.

I love videos like this. More honest criticism is what we need so the manufacturers will double check their work before blanketing the market with mass production lemons. Thank you for all you do as it saves some of us some hard earned cash!

I love your channel and am eally glad you've released this compilation given that some manufacturers have started coming after RU-vid rs giving honest reviews. I just a bought a t-shirt to say thanks. I hope you know how much you are appreciated.

We see a lot more and that is, what we are watching your videos for! But these parts are beneficial too! Thanks again for your great work!

This is why we trust this channel. There are far too many other "guitar" channels that never discuss the pros AND cons, but are instead infomercials for gear.

Those of us in the Chattersphere love you Phil! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

Brother PHIL, you’re my Encyclopedia Brittanica of guitars and gear technical knowledge. My go to, PERIOD!!! Thank you!⭐️⭐️❤️⭐️⭐️

One of the few RU-vid reviewers with the balls to tell it like it is and not play favorites. The best channel on RU-vid by FAR.

this is why Phil my 🐐for gear talk. I consistently come to this channel even though I'm not interested in 90% of the stuff he reviews (I'm a 1 dimensional high gain deathmetal guy lol). It's just a cool place to hangout to get a wider understanding of gear, repairs and the industry at large. Keep it up Phil!

Honest Phil, a man you can trust.

As a "veteran" I enjoyed this so much!! Thanks Phil!

I don't watch many guitar RU-vid channels. You're basically about the only one. Always enjoy your podcast. Phil, by being an honest reviewer you have captured our attention. Like you said, that's our hard-earned money and we don't want to waste it on a false review. I've continuously watched you over several years give us good opinions on gear instead of telling us how every new product is the best thing ever. Just want you to know we appreciate that.

Wow great video Phil and why I've followed you for so long which is your honesty and being real, not trying to be a "shill". You can tell you owned a Guitar Shop and cared about your customers too. Thanks for doing what you do PMK 🤟🎶

Great stuff Phil, love the channel, you are providing a real resource on gear from the perspective of not just a player but real world experience on maintenance. Thanks for what you do !

Still one of my most trusted channels after many years!

This is why we love your channel! Thank you so much, keep it up!

Bless you and all your hard work. Love this channel your passion for music, repairs and skill as a musician. Is amazing. Keep up the amazing work.

Hahaha! This is a great intro😂😂 this is why i watch your channel, keep up the good work Phil! Not forgetting the MVP Mrs McKnight🙌🏻

Phil, you are the reason I spent a buttload of money with Stew Mac for guitar maintenance tools and stuff. Since I probably will never spend more than $1500 on a guitar I want to make each one sound like a million bucks with some finessing. Thanks for your time and knowledge

I’ve watched and used your videos to make educated choices on gear. Thank you!

Appreciate your thorough and honest reviews!

It’s like a behind the scenes blooper vid…well done👍

Excellent video… like your other videos!!! You not only point out the problems, you tell, sometimes more than, one way to fix the issues.

Thank you, Phil. Your content is always informative, fair and entertaining. Keep up the fantastic work 😊

And this is why I'm subscribed to your channel. Appreciate what you do, brother

I will always love how ya look out for us, Phil. I enjoy how you showcase a value and how ya show how things with instruments should be done better!

Guitar companies may not like but this is exactly why your channel has consistently grown. Please don't ever change.

Now THAT is a great title for a video! Great as always!

Greetings, from North Carolina. I knew you would be a success on U tube, because of your integrity to the music community, at large…😊

My favourite guitar related "review" channel

Another great video on guitars. I always learn something from you.

Hi Guitar 🎸 guy nice video 📹 and workmanship

This is great! Love it, Phil! ❤

I like and support what you are doing! It's quite important for me as a coach guitarist and guitar collector. Thanks from Russia.

Warts and all. That's what we like to see, Phil.

I appreciate the honest reviews. I don't have a problem with guitars that have QC issues as long as the manufacturer owns up to it and takes care of the customer. ALL manufacturing has a certain percentage of defects - from automobiles to candy - so sometimes you might get a problem on a new instrument. If the company willingly takes it back, gets you a new one that has no defects or refunds your money, then I would do business with them again. It is when they either are unwilling to take care of you or you repeatedly get defective guitars from them on a return that you get a very sour taste in your mouth. I don't buy Gibson guitars in general, but I have purchased from Fender direct and they have ALWAYS treated me well. The guitars I have received from them have been pretty much flawless with the exception of one Strat that had a crack in the headstock (probably from shipping). They took it back no questions asked and got me a new one in two days. The same is true with Schecter and Strandberg in my experience. However, I know there are some companies that make it very hard to get help and that is where your customer experience goes in the toilet.

Phil….you are king….plain and simple. Praise Phil lol. We love you bro

Phil, You Da Man!

Honesty is always the best policy.

Love your videos, bud! Keep being awesome.

Phil, firstly, I have always loved your channel, and how you get into the "deep down/nitty gritty/nuts and bolts" of guitar gear. You're a great teacher and give great advice! You are clearly showing here in this video all the "little things" that annoy us players, no matter what skill level. To me, any guitar you have to "fight to play" is worthless to me, I don't care if it's the cheapest import, or a 1959 Cherry Sunburst Les Paul. While no factory guitar is totally 100 percent ready to play out of the box, the least the manufacturers can do is make it easy to personalize for your own use, and decent quality, no matter what price you are paying. And if the guitar companies don't like your channel, you go right on with wearing that as a badge of honor!

Wow, after watching you for all these years, I finally know what this channel is about. Thanks!

This is also why we viewers love this channel! You're doing the lords work!

It's also why everyone else loves your channel. Keep doing your thing, man. We appreciate it.

Great stuff. Really great. Never stop

I'm a world full of lies your a breath of fresh air brother, don't change!

But on the other hand, you've pointed me toward some great stuff in all sorts of price points. Sometimes knowing that while it may not be as good as a much higher end item, the flaws are not things I'm concerned with is very helpful. I'm rocking a Glary strat and Spark Go as my bedroom pair and your videos went a long way toward those choices.

We appreciate your honesty sir.

we would be lost without this channel

It’s issues like this that began popping up on every line of guitar from cheap to full blown big name custom shop models that prompted me to stop offering my luthier services to the general public and only deal with customers who get what I am explaining about what is the issue with their gear and what it takes and costs to meet (exceed) their standards. I now build effects pedals for the joy of creating a product that I can still contribute to the music community at large without the hassle.😅👍🤙🖖

craftmanship has been replaced by mass production.

Channels like yours and others are why manufacturers have stepped their game up so much over the last 15yrs. Sub 500 dollar guitars were very iffy and most honestly pretty bad when i started to learn back in 05 and i can honestly, regardless of the random issues, by and large most of it are light years ahead of where it used to be.

Very nice Phill

Brilliant video, Phil. You’re driving up the quality of products we pay for and receive. Kind of an alternative view to a paid promotion.

Awesome. But you also point out the positives. I guess companies don't notice that...

Phil your honesty, integrity and common sense comes through and that’s why you are trusted and beloved… never change! I will contribute via Patreon

And tthat's why we looooove your channel. Great work and honest work.

and THIS is why you are THE BEST.

This is why I like your channel

One thing i can attest to, is that scarf joints actually make necks stronger. Especially since most manufacturers use inferior woods these days. Not always a bad thing...

😂😂😂 Brilliant video and quite frankly, guitar gear manufacturers get away with more than other industries cause we can still love gear with imperfections. If my PC is even sniffing at an issue, Dell gets a call to sort it asap

I think the companies see all their marketing efforts laid bare and stripped away, one fixable at the factory flaw at a time. If the maker cares, it shows right out of the box.

Thanks for your work - please keep on keeping on 😊

Great content. A lot of smaller jobs can easily be done with the right tools and YOUR explanation. Thanks!

Manufactures can no longer lie with impunity.

S'up Axe man, so I saw the vid about how it's getting real rough for guitar stores ( I would have added this comment to that vid but there was no comment section available ) and I've seen the sad rise of 'least resistance'. Life's so time consuming that you rarely have time to travel and consume. Hence the saturation of online stores. How to adapt? My lameman oops, layman take... a) Stock 50 guitars, only the 5 best rated rigs for each genre new or not. b) repair/custom shop.... it could be emps fixing cust rigs or rent out benches to custs to fix thea own shit, that way you'd get a piece of all the low end repair shops c) Do like a massive group lesson where there'd be a huge projector screen showing the hour's expert teaching stuff. It could start out with the shredder of the hour on the screen and a dozen joes and janes doing lesson 1 'How to read and play tab'... lesson 2: Let's all play Tool's Schism... lesson 3: Let's all learn how to tune either by ear or by pitch pipe. 4) Etc. Also, I think it'd be worth thinking about being an online destination. So like someone would order a SG online from Guitar Ctr and wold use your address as a destination and you'd receivce the guitar from GC and optionally set it up and then tell the cust to come and pick it up. Anyhoo, there's some thoughts. If you need a web geek for an online presence to work pro bona in consideration for an opportunity to buy into the going concern in the future let me know... waltripalex@gmail.com... cheers, chin up.

Irefretted my guitar in stainless - because of you!!! 😁

This is why you’re the best Phil, keep it real always

Scarf joints get a bad rap. While it is an economy measure, it also has structural significance. I'm not sure you're aware of this but a well-made scarf joint is actually stronger than a single piece angled neck. This is due to the direction the grain runs in. During the process of building, I've tested my scarf joints by standing on the neck and they held up fine. BTW I'm well over 200lbs. I know several builders have posted videos detailing scarf joints, worth checking out. As an aside, keep up the great work you're doing, very educational and helpful.

THIS is why we appreciate this channel!

Great channel!

You Meanie! 😂 Make ‘em earn our $$$ by rising to the Standard. Keep it up.

You are a captain of consumer awareness!

Excellent video.