You and your honesty is very much appreciated here!! I think it is great that you are highlighting this issue and throwing light onto it so we can see the 'behind the scenes'. You can't buy back ones integrity once it is lost - keep doing what you are doing!

Henning, you’re a smart guy and probably have already considered this, but maybe not. We all generally know each other in this community, or are at least aquatinted with each other in some way. We are aware that some of our friends and acquaintances are, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about working with you lately for a variety of reasons, some of which you state here in this heartfelt and very legitimately intentioned “state of the union” type message you are putting forth. But here is something that you and your followers can take some solace in. Our little cesspool of a marketplace can be fun, exciting, frustrating, of course, and also unintentionally revealing if you’re really paying attention. As a manufacturer, how can we learn what is going on out there? How can we anticipate a trend? How can we maybe take advantage of the possibility that the wind is beginning to blow in another direction today? One sure way is to constantly check our own temperature. Ask ourselves the hard questions, obviously, but is it really that obvious? Henning, if you want to hope that what you represent has meaning to us on the manufacturing side, it does. You are a friend, sure, but more importantly, a trusted ally without a doubt. Knowing that some of our colleagues are turning away from you and why, tells us something about where we are in the scheme of things and either how we can adjust, or just maybe why that makes us more confident about the path we are on currently. That’s a valuable bit of insight to anyone who chooses to watch, listen and learn. Thank you, and keep up the great work you most definitely are doing❤

You should charge 50% upfront and then if the company likes the review pay you the rest once you publish it. At least that way you will be paid for your time on a bad review.

Crikey mate. Don't let them get to you. I've just retired from a job thats lasted me 46 years. Some days the bosses pat you on the back, somedays they don't. Some days the punters thank you for doing your job, most days they don't. Some days the punters spit in your face, some days you can get your revenge on them. Life is full of pitfalls but you must never let it get to you. Keep doing a great job.

These companies need to hire you when developing the product, rather than when trying to get a demo made. This was particularly apparent with the recent Aero guitar debacle 😂

Well said - however, sometimes people (or should I say fanboys) don't want to hear the truth to justify their purchase...

This is EXACTLY why I'll always come to this channel first for gear reviews, and I'm not the only one. Something for brands to consider.

this is where this channel will grow even more... just a matter of time until a huge partnership spawns on something good and takes off!

Well i`d say review them any way with a disclaimer, "No its not good,Here`s the improvements that would make it good etc"

Thank you for the sincerity. I bought the UA Astra due to your video, even though you pointed out it's confusing dynamic knob layout, no midi and only 1 preset save. I bought it second hand for a great price and the sounds are fantastic. I would NOT have purchased it if I had not seen it here. You seemed to like the sounds. Your review was honest.

As a R&D engineer myself, I can add one additional layer of rant. Very often the smart and technical people most definitely know it's a crap or a horrible product. But if there are managers and CEO's that simply don't listen right from the start. I lost count how often I thought "I told you so".

There are more people on your side than you know.

This is why you are my favorite channel when it comes to guitars and gear. Your passion for sharing great products with your audience and telling the truth about a product is why I love your channel. I think what makes your channel different is you truly care about your audience and the products you review and to me it shows in the videos you make for us. I think there are alot of people who respect and trust your opinion on products. I know I do. There are always going to be companies that only care about the bottom line and not the customer or product and then there are companies that really do care about their customers and products. It is up to us as consumers to decide what companies are reputable and what companies are not. Your channel,at least to me helps me decide which companies to do business with. Your honesty is greatly appreciated by me and I'm sure alot of you viewers. Thank you for all the hard work you do to bring us products that we can trust to spend our hard earned money on. Please keep up the great work you are doing. You are a very valuable resource to alot of us who trust your honesty and opinion. Thank you HP. 🎸🤘🏻

Absolutely loving this Rant series! 😎👌

Henning, you are one of the most wonderful people ever to have existed. The work you do and then give to us is priceless. I have complete faith in everything you say. Thank you for all that you’ve done, please continue. ❤

Thank for your honesty that’s the main reason why I started following you keep going man ❤

I appreciate your honesty and integrity.

For the last 3 or 4 years if I consider buying something I always look for reviews from a few select channels and if they (yours is one of them) don't have a video about that thing it's unlikely I'm going to buy. On the other hand with free shipping and free returns the risk is quite small. But I've been banned from ordering from several stores for sending too much stuff back.

Honesty is priceless. I would rather see a musician who knows the gear speak his/hers mind on a product and not sugar coat the product for their own benefits. If your job is to review gear and you find flaws, electronic issues, or things you are not comfortable about. You have that right to voice your opinions to the companies pushing their products. Pushing a product that is quality is why your true fans respect you. Everyone is out to make $$$, but it takes a real person to think about their audience first. Maybe reviewing a product and only talking about what they could improve and not saying it is shit could help with your audience make up their minds is they want to buy that gear. The company that made or is promoting the gear would still have to pay you for your opinion, but not sew you because you worded your review not in a negative way. Voicing your opinions in more of a way to improve a product rather than ripping them apart.

Bro, I kinda want to buy the purple thing.