Harmony-central.com as we knew it is gone.

[Duff]

The awesome harmony-central.com, as we have known it, is now gone; replaced with a sorry immitation of what it once was. A really pitiful site as it now stands. Really sickening.

Supposedly motivated by a desire for the sponsor companies to make more money, quicker, the whole site it changed around and getting "reviews" is an alusive feat that I haven't fathomed but I have read that others have and it is a six stage process to get to the list of guitars, etc. manufactured by a manufacturer.

It suc*ks. There is a petition to change it back but considering the time and money the prime motivators put into this new version it is certain that the old version that we are all so familiar with is no more.

The new version seems very shallow and weak, features sponsored products and makes it difficult to search for a specific product and produces a very limited selection of reviews and ratings as far as I can get.

I find it pitiful and sickening that we have to lose such a great resource to such a pitiful replacement. Just the homepage alone looks extremely weak and inexpensive with little thought, if any put into its development.

What do you all think?

[BigJD]

As someone who has spent alot of time there in the past 6yrs,I'm pretty disappointed in the way things have turned out.
I really liked the lighting forum and spent a great amount of time on the live sound forum also.
It's how I got to know spudman on a personal basis, and learned so much more.
I'm saddened for-sure.
It's not user freindly at all any more so I find myself just skipping it all together.
I'm glad this forum is here for me to spend my time lurking through.

[Tarin]

Couldn't agree more... really bad move for HC.
Hey! HC!... you're new site is N O T U S E R F R I E N D L Y at all.

I'm sure similar bells are ringing all over the place and will get back to the same, or a similar page than before... it's a must.

[SuperSwede]

I never used the HC forum but the user review section was one of the finest websites ever. Its kinda sad that it seems to have played its last screaming solo on a scarthy push/pull nob amph that will turn on 999.999 times of 1.000.000 times. (new members: use the search function for "screaming solos")

[kiteman]

No more user reviews?

My bookmark doesn't work anymore.

[FrankenFretter***]

Like SS, I never used the forums, but often would read up on the user reviews before buying gear. That was a great resource to have. It's sad to see what has become of that site. I imagine that the folks who run HC are quickly realizing that they're going to have to make some changes pronto, or risk losing any following that they've had.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, I liked the reviews a bit (though I used a healthy grain of salt while reading), and shopped the classifieds, but did not care for the discussion forum there. Too bad it got wrecked. Probably easier for someone to start a review site from scratch than try to make them change it back I would guess.

[Jimi75]

I always felt that the reviews there did not give a realistic impression. I mean if I was about to buy something and gave a darn about the 123 different opinions on that product....well then... I hadn't bought my Les Paul, nor my mid 70's Strat, the OCD is of course the most synthetic sounding overdrive and so blah and so blah on...too much unqualified reviews, sorry, that's only my 0.2 cents.

If I read a review on this forum here, I have most of the time heard a clip of the member, knwo whcih music he likes, what kind of a player he is and so on, so the reviews here give me a way more realistic impression, plus I know that I do not face product dissing here. How obvious were some of the HC reviews? Gibson haters, Fender haters, predjudices were spread, quality review died there.

[wingsdad]

10-12 years ago or so, H-C was a valuable encyclopedic source for product reviews, although they've always been somewhat limited in value, often tainted by rants and misleading info. The evolution of manufacturers' site and other user group discussion forums, but moreso, eclectic forums such as this one into pub-like sources of more credible, valued dialog about guitars and gear gradually rendered H-C obsolete. I'd rather learn about a particular guitar or piece of gear from people I 'know' than from 'strangers'.

[Spudman***]

I used the reviews section often for many years and could certainly read between the lines. Often times there was other little information on a particular piece of gear anywhere else on the web and it helped me out a lot.

I can't understand why people don't adhere to "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I feel that site was one thing better left unchanged. It was fast and simple to navigate. Maybe they'll get enough feedback and make the changes the new site needs to survive. Who knows? For now I'll just spend more time at dresses.com.

[Brian Krashpad]

I rarely use the reviews. I'd rather rely on input form people I know, even if only from being online.

The forums are not that screwed up.

Everyone is having a cow over nothing.

Same ol' same ol'.

[Plank_Spanker]

I rarely use the reviews. I'd rather rely on input form people I know, even if only from being online.

The forums are not that screwed up.

Everyone is having a cow over nothing.

Same ol' same ol'.

Signed..........................................

[Tig***]

The reviews helped me avoid a few purchases that may not have worked out for me. Specifically, a stomp box that had a terrible reliability history.

Many reviews required a whole block of salt, not just a grain! Luckily, some reviewers had decades of experience, which made their findings a little more legitimate.

The logistics of a review section like that must have been a nightmare! That would be quite labor intensive.

[otaypanky***]

I can't understand why people don't adhere to "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

[Duff]

This move makes about as much sense as pounding on your toes with a ball peen hammer.

I feel dis-serviced and I don't like it.

This goes to reinforce the belief that another really stupid person is born every minute, or maybe second these days.

[Tig***]

This move makes about as much sense as pounding on your toes with a ball peen hammer.

I feel dis-serviced and I don't like it.

This goes to reinforce the belief that another really stupid person is born every minute, or maybe second these days.

"Think of how stupid the average person is and then realize that half of them are stupider than that."
-George Carlin

[Spudman***]

Harmony Central has now reverted back to it's original form.

[Robert****]

I noticed that yesterday. What a move! Let's make a bet. How long will it stay in its current form?

[Spudman***]

Anderton is pushing pretty hard that everyone goes to 2.0 but I know the majority of the folks like the 1.0 best and wont make the move. I wouldn't be surprised if 1.0 gets a remake or they both end up in existence.