Sponsors and Honest Gear Reviews

Check out the links below if you want to help the channel:
My Patreon page for music and exclusives: / elmojk
The gear I most often use (the links are affiliate links): redir.love/tho...
Budget gear I recommend: redir.love/tho...
(Not so) budget gear I recommend: redir.love/tho...
Check out my music on Bandcamp: elmojk.bandcam...
For official website (and lessons), visit elmojk.com
Check out my music on Spotify: spoti.fi/2VnLgMs
Facebook: / elmojk
Instagram: / elmojkarjalainen
Twitter: / elmokarjalainen

[@MrPolevaulter]

Check out my review of the Spark 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIawfaqjlNtskNEsi=UjVOeCrXEC3vo7Lj

[@johnnorth9355]

Those who have followed you long term know that you tell it straight as you see it. Sponsers put themselves at your mercy as your face and humour say it all about what you think even if you are being polite ! Good product is always worthy of promotion however (I have more Rowland cubes than I know what to do with lol). Trust is earned (and given) and you have definitely earned it.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thanks man :)

[@Aidenbro-s2k]

Yes, he has. Elmo is one of the most decent people on YT. He could also very easily play for Y&T.

[@MrPolevaulter]

@@Aidenbro-s2k Thank you 😊

[@greatloverofmusic1]

Thank you. I'm new to the channel and ,while Elmo seems like a good dude, it's always nice get long-time viewers opinions and approval. Thanks again. Cheers.

[@muzishian]

Elmo, have you reviewed the Nux Mighty Space yet?

[@mulleygraves]

you're one of the only completely honest guitar youtubers. Please keep that up.

[@cmbrez]

I just recently subbed to your channel because of how your honesty and integrity showed in your reviews. The fact that you want to be this transparent about making sponsored videos just proves that you have integrity in spades. Cheers!

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thank you 😊

[@CliveBixby0214]

Appreciate everything you do, Elmo. KZbin needs more content creators like you

[@RickMichaelis63]

Your honest opinion is the only reason I watch your videos. Keep ‘em’ coming! Thanks a million Elmo. 🙏❤️✌️😎🎸🎶🎼🎵

[@trm2010]

No problem with sponsored videos , If it brings us better content then i'm fine with that. We can always do our own homework on a product and not just rely on youtube. Love the channel and keep up the good work Elmo.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers!

[@GabrielNacu]

Nothing wrong with sponsors Elmo as it's down to you to filter the ones you belive in. A man has gotta eat and the gears of the music business need to keep turning! Just be yourself and keep doing what you do ;) - Gabe

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers Gabe :)

[@williammolina9792]

Your honesty is what makes you big and different. Don't fall in temptation.

[@markdanielarquintillo3816]

Hi Elmo, I’m from the other part of the world, (🌏🇵🇭) keep doing what you do. Nothing wrong with taking sponsors, still I’d love to hear brutally honest and useful insights for gears/content and your channel is my go-to on that aspect. I don’t believe I’ve seen this level of transparency with content from others. Yours is a winner. Cheers!

[@anmolsingh9025]

man! this level of honesty in this day and age- thumbs up and three cheers!

[@eddycuello7184]

I ended buying some gear just because you recommended it. At the end of the day we all should understand that you need money to live and give your family the best life possible and buy some great guitars (😂). I will still trust your recommendations aint matter if esponsored or not! Thank you Elmo!!

[@RulgertGhostalker]

I vote Roland JC-22 is included in next year's "best practice amp" lineup.

[@Mildoe]

For the algorithm! I normally don’t comment on videos, but I love your honesty! Keep jamming and doing the reviews!

[@g.scottyguernsey9676]

Elmo, Its called Integrity and you have got a lot of it. That is why I subscribe to your channel. I understand it can hurt to pass up $$, but in the end, you are selling your soul and your reputation if you do not really believe in the product. Stay true, remain honest and having that strong level of integrity will eventually pay off. Rock on, brother.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers!

[@jorgefernandes6915]

You got to put food on the table man. That's it. Keep up the good work

[@PooNinja]

A mans gotta eat! You stay you Sir

[@LeifPalmin]

I trust your integrity, I belive any way you got the equipment you will say your honest opinion.

[@arrondaniels358]

You have great content, Elmo. Keep it up brother.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thanks! Will do.

[@grayghost81]

Secure the bag, sir. You're one of the best dudes doing it out here.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers!

[@woofboi2010]

Everything you’ve said about yourself and why you do what you do are the reasons why I like your channel so much. And the music of course. It’s also why I support you on Patreon. If you have a sponsor here and there I figure it’s probably something that you expect to be good anyway but yeah you gotta eat.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thanks man 😊

[@chrisjeneson3763]

Totally understandable Elmo 🎸

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers!

[@basti-fantasti]

Hi Elmo, respect!!!! I take my hat off to you!!! I appreciate your honest reviews!!! Companies that are only interested in boosting sales with "bought reviews" SHAME ON YOU!!!!! Cheers from north Germany

[@jantestowy123]

I trust in your reviews, cos they aligne with my tests.

[@billyj5080]

Be you .. ✌️

[@WhoDaF0ok1sThatGuy]

I’m not kidding Elmo, if it’s a company that you trust and isn’t shitty, then we’ve got no issue with you taking sponsors. Especially considering how much we all love this channel. It’d be another thing if you were taking a sponsorship from a company that is notoriously awful and that you couldn’t bear. Even if you take sponsorships, you’ll still be my go to reviewer since honesty is something I look for.

[@christian-van-e]

As an experienced entrepeneur I can confirm you made a good decision and video: because integrity and trust is more important then 'the quick buck' in the long run. Here in the Netherlands they say: "Trust comes by foot, but leaves by horse"....

[@MrPolevaulter]

👍

[@pablobaleani2756]

Simply the Best elmo, as always, brillant

[@earthquakemagoon2505]

You can't do it just because of the money. It wouldn't come from an honest heart and then 'they own you'. Thanks Elmo! Skål! 🎸👍😀

[@tysondog-original]

I watched your review of the Spark 2. You were totally up front and honest about being given that one. That's the difference, you are up front and honest. That, and you make people laugh as well. Your channel is based on trust, we know that, you know that, and we all know if that's broken, the channel dies. No one wants that. So, you need to make money like everyone else, if you get given something, or a good deal comes around, and you're open and honest about it, what's the issue? Keep going, you're doing great job, and will keep growing.

[@tweakrr99]

I love all your videos and you have a unique and entertaining style. Thanks for doing these! Nothing wrong with sponsors...

[@MrPolevaulter]

Glad you like them!

[@mattsikes919]

Elmo, I say this with all the respect in the world, if you say it's good, then it's good sponsored or not. Anyone who has followed your channel.for any length of time knows your honesty. It's what has kept me following your channel over the last couple years. That and your skills on a guitar😊. If you can make some money doing sponsored gear, so be it. I know from history you'll put whatever you're reviewing through it's paces and give a honest opinion of it. I also know that the WAY you demo gear is going to tell the story. Cleans, crunch, a little strymon riverside, multiple pickup options, etc. That tells the story. The way you demo something is the way I demo something. I learned to do that from you and that has prevented me from buying a lot of rubbish gear. Keep on doing what you're doing and if you can make a couple extra bucks for you and your family, don't apologize for it. You don't need to. Your fans know who you are.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thanks! Glad if I can be of help 😊

[@jcdenton168]

You are the only guitar gear youtuber I watch. As long as you are honest and you like the gear you are reviewing I don't see any problem with taking sponsors. I own spark 40 and I began not to enjoy it that much because high gain tones sound muddy and off. I was waiting patiently for your review on the spark 2. I watched your review on it and decided to pre order it, it sounded really really good. I would've liked that you would compare spark 40 vs spark 2. My first ever amp was the older roland micro cube. I was inexperienced and I wanted something better. I got a few boss katanas but refunded them because they sounded horrible to me. Then I got NUX amp, didn't like it also. Now I have spark 40 and sometimes I think that my micro cube still sounds better. I hope spark 2 will surprise me on the speaker quality. Thank you very much for your honest videos!

[@JohnDoeGuitar]

You are a good man Elmo, don't worry your channel is still one of the best 👍

[@MrPolevaulter]

I appreciate that 😊

[@Michel-r6m]

You're totally entitled to your opinion. I like your reviews, it gives me an idea to what expect of gear.

[@wesboundmusic]

Nice, sweet , short and to the point, as we've come to appreciate your reviews. Wish I could support you with more than kind words, but strapped badly since 2009 myself and fighting hard to not loose roof over my head and stocked fridge, heating, the whole nine. But your choices of picking gear is always interesting and hardly ever have I found myself disagreeing with your "final words" on any given "axe" or other item. Hope, the sponsored reviews will make it a little easier for you to keep doing your thing, I'm rooting for ya!

[@hervet]

Hello, i´ve been watching your videos for a year now, give or take and apart from the shredding lessons wich my fingers are complaining about, i've never had any doubts about the honesty of the reviews. I believe that if you say that something is good, for me its enough, whether its sponsored or not. Cheers and keep the excellent work!

[@elmarg7966]

Moneys are coming and going. Trust, once it is gone, it never returns. There is nothing wrong with sponsors video, as long as you are honest.

[@impossivel2006]

Elmo, I got a Micro Cube because it was dirt cheat and you said it was good, I got a Harbey Benton because it was dirt cheap and it's pretty good for playing at home. I'm scraping by to the point of not even thinking of buying any new gear, and I still watch all your videos, because of you. You are a fuckin entertaining guy, you play guitar like a beast and I really appreciate your content. Sponsor away my friend, if you get a shitty product you won't be able to hide it.

[@peskypesky]

I'm a big fan of your videos and your playing. I understand the economic pressures on you, but I hope just hope you can continue to give your honest opinions. And I hope you get more subscribers. You deserve a lot more.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thanks!

[@Aidenbro-s2k]

A mid-week video from the professor? The day keeps getting better!

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

The best reviews are descriptive, not prescriptive. Reviewers bind themselves in knots by recommending things when all they really have to do is provide pertinent comparisons and discussions of the present or absent features of a product, then leave it to the viewer to decide for themselves. The risk of a bad product is seldom present past the bottom of the price range and the latter are usually not the sponsored ones. Or if they are (like Glarry sending guitars to everyone a few years ago), it likely doesn't come from the sponsors one would want to keep reviewing anyway (they send low price items). I think most products are fit to purpose and the reviewer's job is more to highlight that purpose and its limits than to advise the viewer what to do.

[@davidjones6218]

You deserve the fruits of your labour elmo, ive enjoyed years of your vids, and you most certainly deserve reward for your work. Ive always loved your honesty, thats why you are my top channel on gear reviews. You also need to feed the family, so whatever you can get elmo, get it! As i say, you have deserved it buddy..💯💥💯👏👏👏

[@catch_this_mirage6564]

Thank you for your honest reviews... and your honest sponsors choices 🙂

[@kennethdarlington]

Right now, in the current state of KZbin, the only thoughtful reviews (or at least some part of the reviews) are could be only from people with zero to none subscribers. Honestly,the amount of stuff left out from the regular "reviews" are honestly shocking. And the more you trying things for yourself, the more you could not believe: how that *ucking thing could be left out from the review? Its *ucking obvious for noobs with only 10 or so hours of DAW experience. So either reviewers read the script rigorously or trying their best to omit something to get business in the future. Or they just don't care and grab the money while recording the most basic and uninvolved stuff with the least effort possible.

[@Barbarapape]

I fully understand what you are saying, we all need to put food on the table. Re Positive Grid, i made the mistake of believing all the hype on the original spark and togeather with they way the handed out free samples to most of the reviewers but at the same time kept those that had preordered waiting was a disgrace. Then when it did arrive, it clearly had issues that had not been mentioned in any review. I don't care what the current Trust Pilot or reviewer ratings are, they are not a company that i will ever buy from again. Sorry Elmo but once you have had your fingers burned you don't try again, and i take sponsored reviews with a pinch of salt.

[@MrPolevaulter]

I completely understand.

[@strangnet]

The trust in a review doesn't come down to how an item was acquired: sent for free or purchased. It comes down to the integrity and trust of the reviewer. Your experience with Positive Grid makes it understandable to not wanting anything to do with their products again until you've experienced the opposite. Just as there are a lot of others out there with the opposite experience.

[@Barbarapape]

@@strangnet With the quantity of the Spark amps that were sold, there was bound to be a few bad samples but it wasn't just a few, bad news travels fast, and there were a lot of disgruntled customers with only a few reviewers joining in to agree that Positive Grid had handled the issues badly. Yes they did release new firmware, but that failed to resolve all the problems that it had. It was the silence from what i thought were reviewers that i could trust that stuck in my throat. Now i refuse to believe them on any product review.

[@Vincentbrennan1301]

Most people are pretty savvy and if a review does not measure up to the reality of the product both the company and reviewer will suffer. I am positive that you would not jeopardise your reputation and channel for a few bucks. Keep up the good work.

[@JDStone20]

Great video! Thank you for being honest!

[@jaredcooper8158]

There's nothing wrong with having sponsors or paid gear reviews.

[@duc750duc]

Hei Elmo, thanks for the honest review of the Spark 2 and for the depict the bad things... Maybe you review some day the Unicorn from Ruokangas...😅 jatka samaan malliin

[@MrPolevaulter]

Kiitos 😊

[@farmrakmaak]

All hail the algoritm!

[@bmdshred77]

Make your money man. Most of us watch 20 to 30 reviews of something before we buy. We are smart enough to read between the lines

[@chessrootslove9916]

Yeah Elmo, I've always been a better human than capitalist...Honesty is under-appreciated by many.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Truly is.

[@jimilipi5493]

Je ne suis pas un pasteur protestant et si quelqu'un le donne quelque chose, je le prends sans que ma liberté ne soit ne soit entravé. C'est un équilibre, tant que ma survie n'en dépend pas... Nous avons confiance en toi et nous sommes incapables de te faire vivre, alors bienvenue les sponsors! 😊 Le pire serait de te voir disparaitre 😅

[@briandevitt6903]

I trust your opinion mate. I see no problem with taking the equipment under the understanding that you will speak your mind and say it's shit if it's shit. It's the Henning Pauli method. Just say it's a sponsored video.

[@nikkot3559]

Great video! Have you done a deep dive on the guitar you are holding?

[@650thunderbird]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@tymanngruter1808]

Nice shirt Elmo, various off guitarists praising their instrument as fantastic, take Jan Akkerman, he is sponsered by 25 guitar brands now, something to think about before buying? 🤔

[@BoskoCubrilo]

Please keep this up and earn some money man!

[@maxserver3985]

all products sent from companies for reviews are selected and inspected and modified. never expect to get the same quality.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Spot on.

[@ChrisKadaver]

Hi Elmo! If you had 1000 euros and had to buy only one guitar to use as your main and only guitar for the rest of your life. What would it be? :D Maybe a bit depressing thought but still interesting to hear your answer. You get to choose from both these two scenarios. One that you can buy a used one, and one scenario where you have to buy a new one.

[@blackblue1019]

I dont see a video u testing jackson guitar js series, why not?

[@MrPolevaulter]

I have tried one Jackson. Can't remember which one.

[@Aidenbro-s2k]

No. I want to see sponsored videos. There's good stuff there.

[@fernandotoledano]

where can i get that Rising Horse guitar?

[@TheDarkmore]

So you said no when they were like: "hey we give free stuff, you better give a nice review, ok?" Otherwise I would not bat an eye to get the free stuff then demolish the gear in a review if it is bad.

[@lucianotesta5019]

Can you get string and other kind of consumables as sponsors? You can't go wrong with those products.

[@purplerocket666]

Hi Elmo, i slightly disagree with some points here. I wrote you about my opinion before on patreon. Getting paid and selling out are two different points. It has a lot to do with personal character. Example: one of my ex-favourite youtubers (lets call him RM) made a comparison video about the kemper profiler and a quad cortex by neural dsp. In that video he said that the quad cortex could wipe the floor with the kemper. What an idiot. I had both and believe me nothing wipes the floor with my kemper. Some weeks later the guy had his own plugin at neural dsp. THAT is what i call a bought opinion. It says a lot about the person. My opinion about you is that i do not believe one company could buy you. I can be wrong but this is my opinion. I think you are going the right way. Thats kind of a life experience. You have to feed your family.

[@nikolajovicic7432]

hi elmo, can you tell us something about the "racing horse" necks or guitars you've got there. thanks

[@Efe.0000]

Hey elmo! I am a beginner and i will buy my first guitar. I wanna play a little bit of different genres do you think Yamaha Pacifica 112V will be good choice or do you think there are better guitar choices for that price range?

[@puppejakake8357]

Are you from Turku?

[@robertmatthews3424]

Wasn't Elmo a Muppet?

[@wxyzxdll]

Hey, get a real job. Youtubing isnt a job.