Deconstructing A Firefly FF-338 From the Inside Out 

I remember the Harmony and Kent brands of cheap Asian guitars! They were quite common in Cincinnati area Will's pawn shops back in the days.

Oh, def do the lemon oil trick. I did that when I first got mine out of the box and saw how dry the FB was when i first got the guitar a few years ago. Great tip ;-)

Weird the more i go into the video, im seeing a lot of things wrong on your particular guitar that i guess i got lucky and dont have with mine. My neck pocket does not have those gaps. I have great sustain on mine. The only issues with mine were a few blems and stuff like you pointed out on your top, but mine had very few. Seems yours is almost like a B-Stock or something. That concerns me because it means this is very hit or miss.

Absolutely the best comment yet! Yeah, I think the same way...why do we pay extra for "vintage aged" guitars built 6 months ago?!

Sounds like you’re pretty defensive of Firefly bud 😂 I appreciate seeing all of the details. He made sure to mention 25 times that “it’s a 200$ guitar what do you expect” I think most people want to see all the details, the nitty gritty. That level of detail is greatly appreciated by me, at least.

@DiggityBurnDank not defensive at all. In fact, I don't even own a firefly anymore.

@@hikefishmakemusic in other words it’s an opinion thing. Some people like aged guitars. If you can really play and have tone in your hands and use a guitar like an extension of your body and can just go and improvise- at that point you’d understand the point of an aged guitar built 6 months ago. You may or may not like them but you’d still *get it* at that point as to why people like them. I didn’t used to get it either. Then I played a good aged strat, and I understood it immediately. I still didn’t really want one at that point. But now that I have a custom shop strat with journeyman relic and closet classic (not rusty) hardware- i fn absolutely get it. There’s a resonance and buzzing and feel to a good aged nitro guitar that other guitars don’t have. A feel. They feel more silky and alive and buzzing. It’s almost an ASMR thing or something. When you run your fingers along the cracked nitro finish it feels like it’s made of skittles shell or m&m shell. It’s fire lol. They’re just worn in and silky. I have a non aged Gibson SG that I love just as much, but there’s definitely just something special about a fender custom shop aged guitar. If you believe in your heart that it sounds better and is better then it will be better as you’re playing it. That’s how powerful the mind of a guitar player is. Knowing that you are playing a custom shop strat or a gibson gives some ppl a boost to their playing. Confidence and comfort. Same goes for aged guitars. A lot of people seem to think it’s supposed to be a visual showoff thing- I question whether they can even play

@@WithCarePlzSounds like you're pretty offensive against the Firefly, bud. I think it's a bit anal the way he goes over the smallest imperfections as if a guitar without any imperfections is worth 20 times the price. I just care about how the frets are and the general playability. Even with some finish flaws this guitar is 90% of a $4k guitar, IMO. Change out the electronics and put in a pickup or two and the only real difference will be the finish flaws!

I agree. Top tip!

I agree completely. My epiphone casino has a broken neck (fixed) and it just sits and collects dust until it goes back in the case.

Yep. Glad to hear that you are digging your 338s. I have 2 of them as well. The spalted maple... orange/brownish. And Gold Top. They both rock, and I absolutely love them! I couldn't believe it when I got them - what you can get for that amount of cash. Crazy good.

Honestly why would you sell it? If all my guitars where like this I would still have the one that fit but I stupidly sold. Lol

@@Yakomoe I won’t lol, but I often try to justify my spending by saying I can get my money,or a good portion of it, back. It’s also the most common excuse as why to NOT do what I did, and put a bunch of money into a cheap no name guitar. I enjoy it and I’m happy though so…

Just keep your old parts! Then if you want to sell it put the old parts back on and move your good parts to another build or sell them. Like your SD pickups you could buy new for $99 you could probably get $80 when you sell them (or buy them used and lose even less!)

they would work just fine.

You can, if your patient and careful, work full-size pots into the 338s. As to tubing, I use butcher's string - works great! I put Seth Lovers in mine paired with a ToneShaper wiring kit for an ES335 including the .022uf orange caps and the treble bleeds. I added a Tusq nut, a Kaish roller bridge from Amazon and and locking tuners. I leveled, crowned and polished the frets. I didn't need to adjust the neck on mine at all. I love my 338!

@@fionacorwin5501 I just got one and I’m gonna put some Seth Lovers in mine, too. Excellent choice for hollow body guitars.

Neck pocket on 2nd guitar was the same. Truss rod seemed to work without issue and I got a good setup on both guitars. Can't assess long term prognosis on this guitar yet.

Well, I have just left things alone with the thought that as long as the neck wood has good contact with the body, that gaps won't impact sound a great deal. Adding epoxy would add a harder substrate than wood, so it would impact sound I would think. Adding wood shims would closely imitate the substrate of the body and neck and thus theoretically would retain more of the natural resonance. But in all honesty, I doubt you would hear a difference between the three options. As such, I would just let things be as they are and save the extra effort that would yield almost no noticeable gain.

Yeah, made a type and to fix it means I have to take the vid down, make the fix and republish, starting my vid stats all over again.

I didn't do anything with the gaps.

The magnetic and ohm measurement of the pickups won't change because they are wax potted. Wax potting helps prevent feedback and unwanted noise.

250K pots

Jimmy Z In seeing your mention of interest in wax-potting these, John Welch's comment above yours, mentions these FF's come wax-potted from the factory.

Jimmy Z I had mentioned wax potting, John Welch's comment, but I hadn't seen the entire vid yet, but see the video host's wax-potting paid off (he commented it improvement), and others commented too, like what factory wax-potting is more like a 'coating', not a legit wax-potting it might have been if done right at factory. Great video this, tho, and good luck Jimmy Z on your FF, and wax-potting it if you pursue that.

They have different ones not check back on their site

Wilkinson roller bridge

Please see all the links in the video description.

@@hikefishmakemusic I did...I must've missed it. Thanks.

​@@hikefishmakemusicI don't see any links to the bridge there. Thanks.

Please search for "Wilkinson locking roller bridge for Les Paul" on ebay to find the style and color you prefer.

I have never really found that coil splits or coil taps do that much to reshape the tone of the guitar, no matter what pickups or combinations employed. I can get what I need out of my fingers and the tone knob, or a pedal or two. As for shimming the neck, I would avoid it unless it is terribly out of whack.

@@hikefishmakemusic Much appreciated! Looking forward to more of your videos 🤗

A 1972 Gibson L6-S.

Ok, I didn't know a such existed 😁 Looks really nice!

I think about doing it, but haven't made the time to do it quite yet.

@@hikefishmakemusic Please do. I would like to see it, and I'm sure others would too.

I think that would be a $200-$300 cost that would not be worth it, just my opinion.

I thought about adding a Bigsby to mine, but I already have a few Gretsch guitars with Bigsby's, so I don't need another. Since it does have a center block, it would be relatively easy to add a Trem system. I would go with a model B30, but maybe a model B60 or B70 would fit. It's hard to say without actually getting your hands on those models and "test" fitting them to see which would work best.

@@hikefishmakemusic would the vibramatic no drill kit for the ES335 work on the Firefly 338

Will be in the second video. Spoiler alert: they were both of the same mediocre construction.

search for this on Ebay: “Wilkinson LOCKING ROLLER Bridge for Les Paul® Epiphone® Guitar - GOLD”

@@hikefishmakemusic Thank you, I found it.

Always good to remind folks about cold solders and its effect on tone. I seriously doubt you have a rosewood fretboard. True Brazilian rosewood is on the CITIES list (endangered species) and Indian Rosewood is typically reserved for high end guitars. Firefly guitars are most likely made with Indian Laurel, akin to Rosewood in look and feel. A clue that a fretboard is NOT made of rosewood: if the fretboard is stained very dark (like on budget guitars such as Firefly or Grote) almost as dark as ebony, then it isn't rosewood. It's a sin to stain rosewood that dark. Budget guitars stain the fretboard quite dark to hide visual imperfections and make the wood look consistent.

@@hikefishmakemusic Those wood-specs were from the FireFly web page where i got it on Amaz. I'm sure its not Rosewood if its on the endangered but that is what it reads.😉

@@adamdelarozza1985 I hear ya. Amazon also states Grote Jazz guitars made in Korea are made of Canadian maple. Really? The Korean factory who makes $189 guitars at retail would pay the expense of shipping and importing Canadian wood? I dont think so! But as I have been told, all things on the internet are true. ;^)

That's the way to do it! Always keep your old parts and label them!

isn’t that what i said with so much fewer words?

I'm going to linear pots. I don't like the log pots.

Scale length????????

Totally agree...beginners have access to WAY better guitars than the MonkeyWard and SearsRowbux guitars I could afford when I was a tyke in the late 60s and early 70s!.

@@hikefishmakemusic Have you ever seen a book by session bass player Mo Foster called 17 Watts? There are still copies around, and it's a fascinating and often hilarious history of his and others early days in music. One tale is about Jeff Beck, who made his first guitar in woodwork lessons at school. He didn't realise frets get closer together as they go up the neck, so he just spaced them out evenly all the way up. I'd have loved to hear that when he strung it up. Another famous player (I forget who - I lent my copy to a bass player many years ago and haven't got it back yet) said the action on his first guitar was so high you could play slide from underneath the strings!

Not sure which firefly you have...

@@hikefishmakemusic Oops. I have the 338 style.

I am bummed out that the volume controller the bridge pickup no longer works. Not sure why or what is the cause. Still a sweet guitar. My Tele is in the shop right now and I am loving the tone from my Firefly.

Good question. I am not a Gibson fan by-in-large, so I don't have one to tear apart to find out. Correction: I have a '72 Gibson L6-S , but it has a set-in neck, so....

baseline: there are PLENTY of videos that give sounds out of the box - i wanted this video to be different. Here’s what it sounds like: they both were marginally adequate equally (a nice way of saying it’s definitely a $200 guitar out of the box). You wouldn’t be able to tell them apart in a blind test.

@@hikefishmakemusic ✅ Did they both have the gaps in the neck joint? A big problem with cheap guitars is inconsistent or no quality control.

@@socrates2706 yes, I am preparing an upcoming video showing the gaps are consistently cut and nearly identical.

I think the better term is wax "coated". The coating I saw on the pickups could hardly be considered a good potting job. And, there WAS a distinctive sound difference comparing before I potted the pickups properly and after. So, are they wax potted out of the box? Marginal at best is a fair claim - they could stand a better potting job, as I have done.

Absolutely would be a great starter guitar.

I bought an Ibanez Artcore new and it had the worst unlevel frets I've ever seen on a guitar. I had to level the frets right out of the box. So don't expect an Artcore to really be much better quality than the Firefly.

Yes there is.

@@hikefishmakemusic essentially I want to replace the harness with large size pots with a varitone which would also include drilling a new hole on the face of the guitar for the switch. I'm hoping that all the new electronics will fit through the f hole if there is no access by the bridge pickup. Do you think that will work?

@@riadmiah3342 I am no expert here, but I would think the the F-hole openings probably won't be big enough to accomodate installing large sized pots. I tried installing push-pull pots to split the humbuckers but they wouldn't fit in the f-holes. There is no other way to get pots in the guitar as there is no back-hatch like on gibsons, etc.

Really no need to. I know of no reason to fill them up.

one, two, three…yes, threeeeee.

@@hikefishmakemusic New FFSG's by Firefly coming soon.

@@timlaine6268 no, shorties.

yeah - with a little handiwork at the guitar bench, I have a rather nice guitar that I actually enjoy playing. In fact, I just recorded a song for an upcoming project using my Firefly. I am now experimenting to make a Grote into a really nice sounding jazz box - the stock Grote ES125 clone is on-par with the stock Firefly ES-338 - just "meh".

Both of mine had the same inlay issues, so I can say that not just one, but two guitars are consistent in that matter. Have you looked inside under the neck pickup? How is the neck fitment? How about the excessive polishing compound? I can’t say i got a “miss” one as it is every bit worth the under $200 I paid for it. I’m glad you got an exceptional unit. I just played mine yesterday and thoroughly enjoy it - despite any cosmetic flaws it may have.

@@hikefishmakemusic I just went over my purple FF338 along with your video and it has none of these issues (luckily). The inlays are fitted perfectly, the pickups are not smudged or pitted, and I don't mind the Firefly logo. There may be tooling marks on the edge of the frets but I'm more impressed by how smooth the edges of the fretboard are. Still a very good review! I just bought an FFLP so I'll see how that one goes.

@@jimbopsvidz how about the gaps in the neck fitting to the body?

@@hikefishmakemusic I don't see a way to attach pictures but it looks ok to me. Now if I could only play it well.

@@jimbopsvidz does it have the 1/4" gaps I showed in my video?

Firstly, I am sorry you got a lemon Firefly. Having bought three now, 2 as gifts to young guitarists, I have not had one that is egregiously bad. Of course, I had to do a setup on each that suites my tastes, but nothing extensive. The market for decent sub-$300 guitars is now getting crowded.

I always try guitars at a store first...its a must no matter what.

@@sixstring1950 there are exceptions. I used to go to a lake house in Northern Michigan and it was the same there also...nothing. I am aware this happens.

Thanks for the suggestion as I am sure others will find it useful. Outside of RU-vid, I do not participate in any other social media platform, but I am sure the FB group is helpful. I have completely modded my Firefly with new '57 replica humbuckers, new pots and caps and cloth-coated wiring. I also put on locking tuners and a roller bridge. It's a wonderful sounding and playing guitar.

@@hikefishmakemusic thanks for your reply sir. And thanks for the videos you do. I wish more reviewers would do your style of in-depth review and not just glorify the product. Our little Facebook group is fairly new and growing but we really need to keep it growing, so too bad end I would really appreciate if you could pin my original comment. Thanks again Steve and have a great day

Hmmm, I would study that some more if I were you! Electricity is NOT sent to the guitar. Guitar pickups transmit a very weak electromagnetic signal from the pickups, sent via very thin wires to the OUTPUT jack going OUT of the guitar, then the signal is carried through the instrument cable INTO the amplifier. Amplifiers do NOT send electricity to any instrument!

Nice observation.

Even though I was hard in the review of the guitar, I actually like it and play it frequently.

Yes, the stock pups are horrible, but I disagree with your premise. I wax-potted the pickups and re-installed them - Noticeable improvement. If I were to put flat-wounds vs normal electric strings, I could agree with your premise, but the wax-potting helped considerably. Plus, I contend that ultimate tone is in the fingers, not the gear.

Not buying it. I have plenty of very old and collectable guitars with rosewood fingerboards; the wood on my Firefly is NOT rosewood and doesn't even come close to the texture of rosewood. How can a cheap $200 guitar manufacturer use very expensive rosewood when even Fender is using Pau Ferro now? Doesn't make sense that Firefly is using hard to get and expensive rosewood.