Some days...I love YouTube.

electronpirate

Axe-Master
While I love seeing the wild various things on YouTube...I've of late been hugely put off by the extreme vitriol that the venue can be used by hateful folks. Sigh.

But recently, I was informed that my rear tail light was out. Glad to hear it...since I don't want to have a pint out and get pulled over for something silly like this. My local mechanic quoted $175.00US to change it out for me as he informed me due to the Machiavellian nature of how they design the way to get to these things. Fook that. Being somewhat handy, I looked with a close eye at the area, and found that I could probably do it myself (of course it's roughly 22 degrees out while I'm doing this..)

After using the requisite tools, I hit a snag...I can loosen the area, but the whole light mechanism will NOT come free. Goddammit I will not yank at it and break some tiny piece of plastic that will inevitably cost me and additional mint to replace. Damn I'm cold...so a quick jump into the house to warm up, and decide that I'd do a quick search. Lo, and behold, some guy has already done this, and it was as simple as pulling in one direction to get things free. It works! 4 minutes to the Auto shop, and the replacement was done! Pull an unfortunate twin girl to confirm, and I'm feeling like a world beater.

Happy ending.

Now if we can just kick some of those commenters off the planet.

R
 
How to open that front loader washing machine door when the power goes out?
YouTube.
How to get the headlight out of my Subaru?
YouTube.
How to pour self levelling concrete? How to install a post? How to build a studio...
And of course, lest we forget:
How to play guitar!
:)
 
While I love seeing the wild various things on YouTube...I've of late been hugely put off by the extreme vitriol that the venue can be used by hateful folks. Sigh.

Happy ending.

Now if we can just kick some of those commenters off the planet.

Well, you can always chose not to scroll down to the comment section and only watch the vid. Makes for a happy life if that's what you want. But yeah, youtube commenters makes you want to give up on humanity.

How to open that front loader washing machine door when the power goes out?
YouTube.
How to get the headlight out of my Subaru?
YouTube.
How to pour self levelling concrete? How to install a post? How to build a studio...
And of course, lest we forget:
How to play guitar!
:)

Not to mention, how to program and use your Axe-FX. ;)
 
I've probably saved thousands of dollars, thanks to YouTube.

F-150

- Intake manifold replacement.
- ABS Module MOSFET replacement.
- Rear window leak...removal and re-seal.
- Starter replacement.
- How to install a cabin filter, when there wasn't one from the factory, in 2000.
- Fuel neck leak repair.

Dodge Caravan

- Engine light, reading codes and repairing vap. leak to clear the code. by replacing 2" piece of rubber hose, under the fuse box.
- Repaired intermittent ground issue causing data bus to send erroneous data and locking me out of the damn van, in -30 degree weather, with the engine running.

Fridge/Dryer/Washer/Sat. Receiver

- Repair coolant leak and recharge system.
- Dismantle and replace heating coil on dryer.
- Dryer PCB issues and repair.
- Washer, locked door repair.
- Washer, not spinning, drain pump clog repair.
- Sat. receiver power issues, Identify faulty caps. and replace.
- Water softener rebuild.

Guitar


- How to play!
- Guitar setups, repairs, etc.

There's many more examples.
 
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Replaced the broken water dispenser on my Samsung refrigerator.

I’ll be the fly in the ointment regarding guitar. I think it’s much better to get one on one instruction from a good teacher. The screen can’t closely watch you and catch bad technique. Those little course corrections are critical.
 
Definitely agree. Doing a cap job on an old Deluxe, tightening the pin contacts in a loose tube socket, impedance calculating on odd ohm combinations, 75 wrong and one right way to play any song, and (last but not least) the myriad of things you can do with an Axe Fx and how to do them. Add in lawnmower repairs, rebuilding power tools and pneumatic guns, the OP-mentioned auto repairs and such and you have a ton of money saving info there. The modern version of a trip to the DIY resource aisle at the library. For those who may not have lived before the internet, that’s a building with printed books arranged in an orderly manner on shelves so that you might read and gain knowledge. Like the internet, we of the silver hair club have a love/hate relationship with that too.

I also feel the buzz-kill effect of them cramming my “recommended” feed with a bunch of biased political BS, especially when I don’t watch that kind of content to make it something they should recommend, but I just ignore that, along with most of the ignorant/uninformed commentary. There’s a lot of great content there.
 
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I replaced the passenger mirror assembly on my truck (my wife ripped it off backing out of the garage) after watching a you tube video. Had to take the door apart.
 
$175 quote!!! The service industry is a sad thing these days. When I worked at a full service gas station back in the day we would change bulbs out for free while customers were getting a fill up.
 
Glad I'm not the only one.

Yes, I had forgotten that I had to look up how to change my headlamp as well. Another ridiculous amount of cowling and specialized screws just to get to it...

As far as guitar, I don't look up much stuff these days (actually look up more little piano things I want to learn...like the intro to BJ's 'Vienna') . Even with the guitar things, you definitely need to watch a few of them to see who has it 'right'. But it sure can be a timesaver when you're on the hook to learn a song quickly.
 
Yep, YouTube how tos for the win! Love em!

As for the comments, yes, they suck. I guess they’re like advanced amp controls.....as long as they’re there, people can’t help themselves from them.;) Too bad.
 
...I’ll be the fly in the ointment regarding guitar. I think it’s much better to get one on one instruction from a good teacher. The screen can’t closely watch you and catch bad technique. Those little course corrections are critical.

As a former guitar teacher, I agree with you on this, especially for someone who's just starting out.

For me, one of the great resources YouTube provides is easy access to songs that everyone in the band can learn at home before a rehearsal. Back in the old days, we'd have to wait to hear the song on the radio, then rush to hit the Record button on the cassette recorder. Because of this, we never seemed to learn the song intros quite right lol. Later, once we were playing full time and had good connections at the local rock radio station, we'd go to the studio late at night and the DJ would let us grab the albums we needed from the stack, then turn us loose in the control room with blank cassettes to record all the new songs we needed. We usually did this in exchange for a 6-pack or joint, shared with the late-night DJ in the studio.
 
I will also come down on the side of 'Get a real guitar teacher'. Once you're at a certain level, youtube is great for parsing out a riff that you just can't quite get right.

But for technique, and the WORK of what it takes to play the instrument, get a teacher.
 
I had a broken vacuum cleaner - went on YouTube - found the problem - great - just pennies to buy the part and fix with a bit of soldering ... but then somehow about an hour of rabbit holing ended up buying a 'Pooter' fart thingy and embarrassing my kids in lifts, shopping malls, McDonalds drive thrus .....

.... and yeah, I don't even look at comments on YT
 
Replaced the broken water dispenser on my Samsung refrigerator.

I’ll be the fly in the ointment regarding guitar. I think it’s much better to get one on one instruction from a good teacher. The screen can’t closely watch you and catch bad technique. Those little course corrections are critical.


While I don't discount in any way the value of a guitar teacher...I do see it as somewhat limiting (give a man a fish, as an oversimplification)

For me the value of youtube isn't in the guitar resource's available...it's in the learning how humans learn resources (teach a man to fish).
Once you understand how you work...then you can teach yourself anything you want...and in most cases, at much faster rate. I agree completely that the course corrections are critical...but they are much more effective (as studies show) when the student self evaluates the feedback loop.

I know that's not for everyone though. I can only offer my experience.
 
Once you understand how you work...then you can teach yourself anything you want...and in most cases, at much faster rate. I agree completely that the course corrections are critical...but they are much more effective (as studies show) when the student self evaluates the feedback loop.
Would you prefer a self-taught brain surgeon or one that was trained?
 
Would you prefer a self-taught brain surgeon or one that was trained?

Touche...

Obviously there are limits... But learning an instrument isn't one of them

After all, who taught you how to speak? Eat? Walk? Did you need someone "trained" for any of it?

The problem used to be access to information...access to people with a wealth of knowledge, like yourself and others on here. That's no longer the case anymore. The reality is we all have access to an enormous amount of information on any subject and we have that access with us nearly all the time. The task becomes how we apply the information, set the goal and evaluate the feedback...and the way we did it as babies as we built our operating systems is the most efficient. Our best teacher will always be the same person that taught us to speak.

Look, I hate what technology has done to social structure as much as or more than anyone and I know you share that sentiment from your other posts. I hate that people aren't valued for what they know anymore...but the democratization of information has devalued existing knowledge...much like the appliance repairman dislikes how I fixed my dish washer from learning on youtube....while he may in turn, may have just learned how to change his brakes himself in the very same manner.
 
On the flip side of this discussion, and little bit of Devil's advocate here, there are many, many fine guitarists that never had a lesson nor saw a video, or even a book.

They also may or may not have "proper" technique... whatever that actually is - who defines the proper way to paint a cloud, for example?

Does it stop them? Does it even hinder them? Does it make them more unique, and therefore maybe even more artistic?

Let's not forget that this is ART we are talking about, here... :)

Anyway, while I agree that a good teacher is a great resource, I don't agree that it's a must have.
 
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