Many Riffbound articles are called “owner reviews”. This page explains where those reviews come from, what we do and do not do, and how the site makes money. The short version: we invent nothing, we receive no free gear, and affiliate links never change our conclusions.
What an “owner review” is on Riffbound
We are not a test lab. A site run by an amateur guitarist cannot buy and measure every guitar and amp on the market, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Our review articles are syntheses of real-world feedback: what hundreds of owners and teachers write about a model, a brand or a type of gear once the novelty has worn off.
For each topic I read the threads and user reviews on the communities below, then note what comes up again and again: the strengths people mention unprompted, the complaints that appear after months of use, reported faults, and the advice experienced players give to beginners.
- r/Guitar and Ultimate Guitar: huge volume of owner feedback.
- The Gear Page: in-depth gear discussion; TalkBass for bass.
- Audiofanzine and Guitariste.com: the French-speaking communities behind our French edition.
- Manufacturers’ official spec sheets, to check pickups, scale length and electronics before we quote them.
What we refuse to do
- No fake testimonials. You will never read “Mike, 34, says…”. We summarise trends; we do not quote people we have not interviewed.
- No invented specs or prices. Prices are wide ranges observed at the time of writing, always to be checked with the retailer. If we are not sure about a spec, we leave it out.
- No numeric scores. An “8.7/10” would suggest a precision this kind of synthesis cannot offer. We prefer a three-line verdict: who it is for, who it is not for, and the alternative worth a look.
Who writes, and with what experience
Articles are written by Teddy Aribo, a guitarist since childhood, trained at the Stains municipal conservatoire (near Paris), who plays electric and acoustic guitar, piano, and sings. Teddy is not a music professional and does not claim to be: he is a committed amateur who has been through the starts, pauses and restarts most guitarists know. That experience sets the angle of the site: what actually matters when you start or buy your first serious gear, without jargon.
How the site makes money
Riffbound is free. It is funded by affiliate links: when you click “See on Thomann” and buy something, the retailer pays us a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Those links are marked as sponsored and do not influence the content: a verdict is written before links are added, and a model owners advise against stays advised against even if our partners sell it. We receive no free gear, no payment from brands, and no brand reads our articles before publication.
Updates and corrections
Gear changes: models get replaced, prices move, early faults get fixed. We update articles when the feedback shifts noticeably, and the last-modified date is shown on every page. If you spot an error or a dead link, write to contact@riffbound.com. Factual corrections come first.