This page explains how GuitarHarbor earns money, because you should know that before you take our advice.
How GuitarHarbor makes money
GuitarHarbor publishes written reviews and buying guides for guitars, basses and starter bundles. We do not sell anything ourselves and we do not take payments. When you follow a product link from this site to Amazon and then buy something, we may earn a commission on that qualifying purchase.
Our Amazon Associates statement
GuitarHarbor is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
This costs you nothing extra
The commission is paid by Amazon out of its own margin. The price you pay is the same price you would pay if you went to Amazon directly and searched for the product yourself. Using our links never adds a fee and never changes your price.
Commission does not buy a favourable write-up
No brand can pay us to be recommended, to be ranked higher, or to have criticism removed. We earn on the same basis whichever product you end up buying, so we have no reason to push one item over another. Where a product has a weakness worth knowing about, we say so.
How our coverage is actually produced
We want to be straight about this. We do not carry out hands-on testing. Our write-ups are compiled from published manufacturer specifications, retailer listing data, and feedback from owners who bought the instrument.
That approach works well for comparing specifications and features, and for surfacing the problems that owners report again and again. It is not the same thing as a reviewer sitting down and playing an instrument, and you should weigh what you read here accordingly. If a hands-on opinion matters for a particular purchase, look for one as well.
Where our links go
Outbound product links pass through a redirect address on this site before they reach Amazon. That step exists so that a click can be attributed to us. It also sets a cookie in your browser, which we explain in our Cookie Policy.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, or you want to know whether a specific page carries affiliate links, ask us through our contact page. This disclosure is reviewed periodically.