Tony Polecastro’s TAC course for Acoustic guitar

[acoustigoat]

I did not renew my subscription last year because of the lack of new content. It was not worth the $170 or so I had paid. I'm not sure what the current rate is. I've heard rumblings of discontent about the changes with the new program.

My biggest beef right now is that I appear in one of the online ads for TAC without my express consent. I'm guessing that because I submitted a video for one of the challenges I somehow gave permission for it to be used, but I do not endorse TAC.

[penname]

Originally Posted by Batmitestar

Has anyone got an opinion on the "new and improved" website?

I am a subscriber since October 2020, although I certainly won't renew.

The new format has taken away some features I really liked.

1. You can no longer pick and choose from past lessons, be it from yesterday or last week or last month. This is the biggest drawback to me. Basically if you don't log in each day, you lose value. While this model is good in the theoretical for the learning, it's not so great in the real world, and keeps me from using the platform like I did at first.

2. The forums were all but removed--no more discussing any guitar topic, only very very specific threads run by the Stormtroopers.

I'm sure there are other differences more pertinent to other users, and some may like the changes. I'm sorely disappointed. Even asked for a refund, which was summarily dismissed with extreme prejudice.

Any other users with thoughts, good, bad, or neutral?

When it was announced that changes were coming I had a sinking feeling in my gut but vowed to give the new site a chance. Gave the new site over a month and decided to not renew. The primary reason I kept renewing was the forums and the forums were gutted with the new format. Plus a lot of technical bugs, only some of which had been fixed when I left.

[srick]

I had enrolled in their service about a week before the change over. Of course, I had no idea it was coming. IMO, the site appears to be designed by consultants, and the consultants also drove the slashing of the content. Lots of the good things that I initially saw: the forums, the gradation of lessons, the meet-up groups, the camaraderie, were slashed overnight. Many critical posts from the forums were deleted without the knowledge of the poster. The technical bugs were horrendous; the site remained glacially slow for weeks and the menus and icons were confusing at best. The feel of the site became became very generic and resembled a stock photo.

Regardless, I didn’t like what I saw, and to their credit, they honored their satisfaction guarantee. They were prompt in refunding my money.

What I still miss, is a guitar assignment every day\week that gives me a little direction. I suspect, it might be time to find a teacher.

Rick

[Batmitestar]

I'm glad to see that I'm not being an old get-off-my-lawn-style fuddy duddy. The changes suck. Especially emptying the forums and the inability to see yesterday's lesson.

Tony had me fooled for a while, thinking he was a real, genuine dude looking to help. Turns out he's got some other motivation.

And ferchrissakes pay for a faster host, man. Gosh the site is slow.

Lesson learned. (Pun intended)

[jaymarsch]

I was a participant for a couple of years on and off. It’s focus is really about building community and through keeping things doable and fun so people keep improving over time. I gleaned a few things but probably will not renew. I love his enthusiasm and I think he provides a great community for people who live in areas where it is harder to find a group of supportive guitar buds.
Best,
Jayne

[Social Exodus]

I tried the site for maybe a couple of months, whatever was offered at the time on a deal so to speak. Since I already have a TrueFire subscription with just about any kind of lesson you could possibly want, TAC seemed sort of redundant. Plus as said elsewhere I think it's geared more for beginners to intermediate players and that is a good thing for those folks because it takes you little by little towards a goal.

I left just as the new site came online so I've never seen it.

If you're looking for content that spans all genres, all styles and all levels then TrueFire is the best IMHO.

[Dakotabison]

Originally Posted by Batmitestar

I'm glad to see that I'm not being an old get-off-my-lawn-style fuddy duddy. The changes suck. Especially emptying the forums and the inability to see yesterday's lesson.

Tony had me fooled for a while, thinking he was a real, genuine dude looking to help. Turns out he's got some other motivation.

And ferchrissakes pay for a faster host, man. Gosh the site is slow.

Lesson learned. (Pun intended)

I’m not sure what you mean when you say you could no longer see yesterday’s lessons, I can still see the whole months lessons just like I alway did. I also think that Tony is genuinely a phenomenal teacher who has created a unique teaching platform. I’ve been a member since the beginning when the focus was on learning one song a month, I do miss those days and I do think they made a mistake deemphasizing the songs. I never used the forums much but I just checked, it seems like there are a large number of topics in there, doesn’t seem too different from what I remember from the past. The new site was slow but that seems to be working a lot better now.

[JERZEY]

Originally Posted by jschmitz54

I watched Tony’s 45 minute video and is seems reasonable. Wondering if any members who may have an opinion or taken his course would tell what they think of it.
Are there better courses you’d recommend?
Thanks for your responses in advance.

I did Tony's course for 2 subscription cycles...

Unless you like bluegrass a LOT and you are all ready an intermediate dont waste your money subscribing. The subscription grants you access to the daily grind content. Songs and beginner content is all extra and its very expensive. I found the entire course to be a bit of a rip off. To buy the beginner content and the sub I could have gone to lessons locally for less.

The entire ordeal was a fleecing. Do this practice routine but hey you have to go buy my other content in order to understand it so give me more money or you are sol.. Very little actual direction. Thats why I say if you are not a string intermediate TAC is bull****.

All that being said the Tony's new player courses are pretty good just expensive for what they are compared to other equally good offerings.