Contender for worst website - FuelRocks

[Tadpui]

Articles from this website keep popping up in my news feed, since they (on the surface, at least) pertain to my interests in music and guitars. Once I clicked on one of their articles, I was perplexed at the poor quality of the articles. Is this written by a bot/AI? Is it a very ill-informed human? Or maybe a language barrier kind of thing?

I'm thinking that it's either a brilliant trolling job trying to prove Cunningham's Law, or just barely coherent garbage written mostly by a bot. The thing is, there are actual nuggets of truth in the articles. They're just put into some sort of blender and mixed with a bunch of misinterpretations and terrible organization.

Then I clicked to go back to the home page since I'd just been linked directly to a couple of articles. And then the true majesty of this site hit me: it's an unofficial fan site for the band Fuel. I vaguely remember the band name from the early 2000s, but I don't remember anything about them. A quick search on YouTube tells me everything I needed to remember. It's like emo meets nu-metal or something. So yeah.

And for whatever reason, hung off of this fansite are gems of articles like these:

https://www.fuelrocks.com/types-of-guit ... l-strings/

https://www.fuelrocks.com/what-is-a-pha ... uitar-amp/

https://www.fuelrocks.com/the-many-bene ... tar-strap/

[Greg_L]

Articles from this website keep popping up in my news feed, since they (on the surface, at least) pertain to my interests in music and guitars. Once I clicked on one of their articles, I was perplexed at the poor quality of the articles. Is this written by a bot/AI? Is it a very ill-informed human? Or maybe a language barrier kind of thing?

I'm thinking that it's either a brilliant trolling job trying to prove Cunningham's Law, or just barely coherent garbage written mostly by a bot. The thing is, there are actual nuggets of truth in the articles. They're just put into some sort of blender and mixed with a bunch of misinterpretations and terrible organization.

Then I clicked to go back to the home page since I'd just been linked directly to a couple of articles. And then the true majesty of this site hit me: it's an unofficial fan site for the band Fuel. I vaguely remember the band name from the early 2000s, but I don't remember anything about them. A quick search on YouTube tells me everything I needed to remember. It's like emo meets nu-metal or something. So yeah.

And for whatever reason, hung off of this fansite are gems of articles like these:

https://www.fuelrocks.com/types-of-guit ... l-strings/

https://www.fuelrocks.com/what-is-a-pha ... uitar-amp/

https://www.fuelrocks.com/the-many-bene ... tar-strap/

Good lord, that phase inverter article should not be allowed for human consumption even as a parody.

[Tadpui]

Good lord, that phase inverter article should not be allowed for human consumption even as a parody.

Hahaha I specifically thought of you when I was trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about

[Greg_L]

Hahaha I specifically thought of you when I was trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about

None of that is correct about the phase inverter, nor does it even make any sense pertaining to amps in general.

[Lt. Bob]

Good lord, that phase inverter article should not be allowed for human consumption even as a parody.

lol ..... pretty terrible

[vomitHatSteve]

"The many benefits of a guitar strap"

Just the sort of article those Big Guitar Strap shills in Fuel would write! "Leave love bleeding in my hands"? More like "leave guitar strap bribes in my hands"!

[Tadpui]

I'm really torn between this stuff being written by a bot, or some poor guy with a severe brain injury. I'm mildly obsessed with it.

This gem popped up in my feed today: https://www.fuelrocks.com/the-f-string- ... beginners/

An F String B Guitar? It's total nonsense. Verbal soup repeating random incorrect things about guitar strings and tuning over and over. He's obsessed about the fact that the B string is tuned to a different interval than the rest of them. But he can't seem to ever put together a coherent sentence to describe it.

What Is The B String On A Guitar?
What is the B string on guitar? The third string is also known as the G string because it is the third string. The second string, also known as the B string, is included in the arrangement. The first string is the tenth. This string is also known as the “high E string” or simply as the “E string.” How do the strings E and B compare? The E string is the largest string on a guitar. It is made of a brass-colored metal. The second thinnest string on the B string is extremely thin (the B string is very thin). Why does my B string sound like my E string? If the strings are properly positioned, it is possible that the strings are either too tight or too loose. As a result, the letter E has a B instead of the usual E. If you need to loosen it or tighten it, just tune it until it reaches E.

Then there's another article that shows a picture of a set of black bridge pins and a set of white bridge pins for an acoustic guitar. And the entirety of the article is about acne treatments for blackheads and whiteheads. That's the kind of bizarre mistake I'd expect an AI to make.

[Armistice]

"3. Electric Guitars: Electric guitars can use either metal or nylon strings. However, if you plan on using the guitar for distorted sounds, metal strings are a better option."

Where can I get some nylon strings for my electric guitars?????

[JD01]

I'm really torn between this stuff being written by a bot, or some poor guy with a severe brain injury. I'm mildly obsessed with it.

This gem popped up in my feed today: https://www.fuelrocks.com/the-f-string- ... beginners/

An F String B Guitar? It's total nonsense. Verbal soup repeating random incorrect things about guitar strings and tuning over and over. He's obsessed about the fact that the B string is tuned to a different interval than the rest of them. But he can't seem to ever put together a coherent sentence to describe it.

What Is The B String On A Guitar?
What is the B string on guitar? The third string is also known as the G string because it is the third string. The second string, also known as the B string, is included in the arrangement. The first string is the tenth. This string is also known as the “high E string” or simply as the “E string.” How do the strings E and B compare? The E string is the largest string on a guitar. It is made of a brass-colored metal. The second thinnest string on the B string is extremely thin (the B string is very thin). Why does my B string sound like my E string? If the strings are properly positioned, it is possible that the strings are either too tight or too loose. As a result, the letter E has a B instead of the usual E. If you need to loosen it or tighten it, just tune it until it reaches E.

Then there's another article that shows a picture of a set of black bridge pins and a set of white bridge pins for an acoustic guitar. And the entirety of the article is about acne treatments for blackheads and whiteheads. That's the kind of bizarre mistake I'd expect an AI to make.

This is amazing. I'm all in.
I'm gonna get in touch to see if... my knowledge contributing strength to stability of tuners in music head of guitar.

[Armistice]

You're not the only person wondering...

Screenshot 2022-11-28 101637.png

[vomitHatSteve]

I guess it could be Fuel exploring alternate revenue streams with an ad-supported blog.

It's not like anyone is clamoring to buy their music.

[Tadpui]

You're not the only person wondering...

Screenshot 2022-11-28 101637.png

Hahaha, I was searching as well and I didn't come across that tweet. It's at least a little comforting to know that I'm not the only one that's confounded by this website. The bad news is that now that I've clicked on so many of their articles, Google keeps serving them up in my feed. So I feel compelled to read yet another brain injury piece of prose and I get even more curious as to who/what is creating these abominations.

[Greg_L]

I don't know, I've learned a lot from those articles. Thanks Fuel!

[CrowsofFritz]

So many people keep saying the phrase “invert the phase” and I just always feel compelled to ask if they have a time machine.

[Greg_L]

In the real world, the phase inverter portion of an amp exists to provide two equal but out of phase signals for the push/pull operation of the power stage...if the amp is designed that way. It has everything to do with the operation of an amp, and nothing to do with tone.

https://www.mojotone.com/blog/what-does ... e-inverter

[CrowsofFritz]

In the real world, the phase inverter portion of an amp exists to provide two equal but out of phase signals for the push/pull operation of the power stage...if the amp is designed that way. It has everything to do with the operation of an amp, and nothing to do with tone.

https://www.mojotone.com/blog/what-does ... e-inverter

Would that not be a polarity inverter?

[Greg_L]

Would that not be a polarity inverter?

Technically, yeah it probably is actually a polarity inverter. It's just been called "phase inverter" for so long that's just what it is now. It's one signal, split into two as a mirror image. Then those two get summed back together in the output transformer as one mega signal for your speakers.

[vomitHatSteve]

Would that not be a polarity inverter?

Technically, yeah it probably is actually a polarity inverter. It's just been called "phase inverter" for so long that's just what it is now. It's one signal, split into two as a mirror image. Then those two get summed back together in the output transformer as one mega signal for your speakers.

Gonna phase invert my tremolo to annoy the linguists.

[Greg_L]

Well doing some research...one explanation I've seen that makes some sense is that in an AC audio circuit (like a tube amp), polarity is called phase because AC can and often does exist riding on a positive voltage DC reference. So while AC voltage swings up and down, if it's riding high enough on a positive DC reference, even at it's lowest swing it won't dip into negative voltage. So it never really flips "polarity". They call this phase. Polarity, as a term, seems to be reserved more for DC voltage specifically. A phase inverter does use positive DC voltage to charge the plates of a tube, but it's the AC signal that carries your sound, and that AC signal is riding on top of high DC voltage. If we use a Fender Deluxe Reverb as an example, the phase inverter's AC output is riding on top of around 200 volts DC. The lower swing of the AC signal riding on top of 200 volts DC is not dipping below 0v so it never really changes polarity.

[Lt. Bob]

sure ..... that's kinda like in some recording machines like reel to reel, the AC ( audio ) rides on a bias voltage