I had an original Gibson 'V' I got in the late 60's I traded my Lp custom to a guy from Seattle for it. I played it for years. Yes sir ...standing up. It's decades later and I still play standing up because it feels weird and awkward not to, LOL.
Wow, they look very nice. I'm an old dude who's owned some very classic guitars like a 70's Les Paul Custom, an Angus 60's SG, and an old Fender Tele with a DiMarzio bridge pickup that was made by DiMarzio himself when he was just starting out. I was told that pickup alone is now worth a fortune and of course the guitars are too. But here's the thing. As much as they were great guitars, they were really only great because back then there was not much competition. I did have a 70's Ibanez Explorer, one of the lawsuit models and it was very nice, but besides that, there was not a lot that could compete with Gibsons and Fenders, but now you have loads of much cheaper alternatives. What I believe happened is guys my age and older who have made lots of money over their lives ( I am not one of them!), now want to buy the Gibson or Fenders they never had or are sorry they sold and will pay almost anything now to get them, so they've driven the prices through the roof. I actually bought the Gibson SG I had from a young lawyer in 1977 so he's a perfect example of the guys paying a fortune to get these guitars back again. I never paid much for my guitars at the time, like I paid $350 for the SG in 1977 dollars (inflation adjusted says that's about $1,700 which is BS - it's more like about $900 at the very most) but that's still not a lot compared to what they sell for now, and I just think the prices for old guitars is insanely out of line and I would bet a Firefly is just as good as those guitars I had. In 1980 I started buying new guitars that were coming on the market like I bought a Washburn Eagle in 1980 and the lead guitarist in our band made fun of it, calling it a 'washrag' - he was a real Gibson purist and I'm sure there's still lot's like him around but it's all a load of garbage. Anyhow, long story shorter, my advice to younger guys maybe just starting out is just get whatever works for you at the best price you can get it and just PLAY! Eddy Van Halen made his guitar out of some reject parts and he did okay for himself! ~ cheers guys.
I've been going back and forth for several months now on the "budget" brands. Harley Benton, Xavier, Indio and firefly. This video seals the deal. Thanks Darrell, great informative entertaining video as always. I'm getting a firefly!
I have a Firefly and a Westcreek. They both are gorgeous with great necks,feel, QC however the pickups could be better yet as this price with better pickups in place far better overall deal than say Epiphone.
I am SO glad your channel came back up in recommendations! I've saw quite a few before and up until now, I was so bummed about Harley Benton discontinuing the Explorer guitar in blue when I was highly considering it and then... THEN I now know of Firefly guitars! I went to their site and looked at the Explorers and saw TWO in gorgeous blue colours, especially the metallica blue. And I said outloud, "that's my guitar." Like the guitar I HOPED I would someday find it in, shape, colour, EVERYTHING. Thank you SO much for introducing me (and everyone) else to this amazing brand! I NEVER would've found out about them otherwise!
I like the red-burst. I've been lurking in forums for a couple years now, you just confirmed what they'd been saying, that the quality and qc have improved. Thanks for reviewing, Darrell.
I got a Firefly V about 4? months ago. I love it. The neck profile is similar to my Les Paul so it feels great. Tones are great too! Build is flawless.
I bought the Les Paul version a few months ago. I've owned many Gibson Les Pauls over the years and I have 3 vintage LP's that I play regularly. So, naturally, I was curious. For $200, why not? If the guitar sucks, I can always throw it on the fire and toast its demise with a few sentimental words and a good ale. But, it didn't suck. The setup out of the box was good (not great). But, it was a lot better than the setup on the last LP that I bought. Yes, the fret edges were a tad rough. But, that's an easy fix that you can do at home if you know what you're doing. A simple YT search will provide anyone with all they need to know to file down the fret edges. Then, there's the pickups. They stunk and so did the pots. Replaced the pots with a good set of 500/250k pots with a coil split and installed a set of Duncan JB's. This guitar screams now. It plays great. Holds a tune very well. Its ability to intonate is excellent. Has great tone. I have no problems with this guitar at all. I actually play it quite a bit.
I literally just did the math this morning. And my collection of almost all of the Firefly models (including these 2), LP $220 LG $180 Dobro $160 TL $180 LV $275 LX $275 JA $175 338 $200 My memory of price,tax, and shipping is terrible but collection costs $1500-$1750. They are all Beautiful, and I’m not afraid to play wear and tear into any of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’d trade em all this minute for most any Gibson Standard LP. But not for a Studio.
They have definitely gotten better. I have a blood fade lp, the only thing I changed was those microphonic pickups. Now rockin Demarzio 36th anniversary pafs! Love it!
Thank you for this comprehensive and impartial review of this FF. I own a FFLP style guitar that was original purchased based on your review. I have made a few mods and now it’s good enough to keep forever despite only having about 350 in it. Keep it up, Darrell.
I've found with the lower end guitars are starting to do stainless frets and locking tuners still for a good price, maybe the big boys should start taking a look. They're going to start to lose some business with their prices
Owned a couple firefly out of curiosity…they were okay for the price. Hardware was a joke tho…stoptail piece legit was breaking just from string tension. Tuning was bad and pickups bad. Def just wanted to play my Gibson instead haha
I love the way these guys play and love their channels, but when they do budget guitar reviews i wonder if companies give them well setup and maintained instruments to review...
Life is too short to own and play inferior guitars. Save a little longer and get the good stuff. You know you’ll get there eventually anyway. Buy once, cry once.
@@gtrman12887 yeah possibly. It's not dgb that's to blame though , he didn't seem impressed with Hatley benton. I got the cheapest tele and I love it as stock.
It would be impressive if they managed to pull off a neck-through Firebird shape. (Even Gibson sometimes cheats and just does set neck on certain Firebird models).
Like Garrett said, they've added a FFFB heading with Firebird style guitars. Noticed it about a month ago. They had 3 colors at the time. How can one tell from a picture but it does look like it is a neck thru design. Funny I emailed them with a request to do a Firebird back in March, kept harping on the neck thru design if they had the inclination to add that to their line up. Just coincidence I'm sure. Put my vote out there for a review video.
First, this is not directed at Darrell Braun. I enjoy his channel and his content. 2 Thumbs up for that. That being said, I also think that there needs to be full disclosure regarding these guitars and the reviews. Folks like to hype these guitars up, but no one talks about the horrible customer service side. If you get a good one, you're lucky. I own 8 Firefly guitars and 5 of them were pretty good out of the box and 3 were damaged. Those metrics put me at about a 63% positive experience. The damaged guitars had Nickle sized paint chips down to the bare wood, broken electronics, etc. When I reported that to their Customer Service with pictures, they emailed me and told me what beautiful guitars they were and offered me a $10 discount or I had to pay for the return shipping. A $10 discount wouldn't even begin to cover the cost of a typical professional repair for the average player. No one should have to repair a new guitar or pay to return a damaged one. That's the game that they will play with you. Fortunately, I'm a builder and tech so I have the tools, skills and parts to make the necessary repairs. The average guitar player may not be able to do that and taking it to a tech or luthier can add about $100 to the price. If Guitars Garden isn't going to stand behind their products and get their act together with their customer service then how good are they really? So keep that in mind when you give these folks your money. You're rolling the dice. The customer experience is not always roses and chocolate. The second thing that always comes to mind and, I'm speculating here, is the question of whether or not Guitars Garden is cherry picking guitars for specific RU-vid reviewers in order to get positive reviews. It baffles me that none of these popular channels get a bad guitar. I see some of the smaller channels discussing their awful customer service. Anyway, I encourage folks to do their own research and make an informed purchasing decision. Thank you.
Great if you aren't a fan of colour. I dislike dull guitars and I think grey is about as dull as it comes. For a similar reason, I'm not fond of black guitars.
Trust me that is not silver burst I have the silver burst Firefly explorer and it's very different. The silver burst I have does not have a flame maple top and doesn't have binding on the body and it's got chrome cover double cream ceramic magnets humbuckers that don't sound that great. Maybe mines the older model and the flame top is the newer model!?
Great looking guitars, cool to see they listen to feedback from buyers too! I hope their shipping improves too, to reach a wider area. I can't order them from South America
Hello darrell, I really like these guitars. In fact almost every Firefly I've seen. The problem is that customs taxes and VAT (extra tax here in Spain) cost the same or more than the guitar itself. Keep it up with your channel, it's really fantastic
The EU duty tax... I had that problems when I sent my own guitar to my wife's in the UK... They had it sit in this place, Coventry parcelforce... Till they FINALLY got to it and then said I had to pay 85 pound duty tax to get it out from there, to my wife. I was like... It's not for sale... It's MY personal guitar... They don't listen or care.
I bought a Firefly 335 about a year ago and a Firefly Batburst LP in red just recently and love them as much as my real Gibson LP and fender strat. They all play nice but the Firefly's are a whole lot less expensive !
HAVE MY PRAYERS BEEN ANSWERED? Did my offerings work? Darrell is covering a V!!! Holy hell! Also when playing a V sitting down putt it between your legs like a classical guitar. It’s so comfortable like that. I say that as a V lover! Edit: oh noooo they put the input Jack in the worst place possible! The idea place is on the upper horn like with Jackson’s and the Dave Mustaine Gibsons.
I put a strip of stick on rubber on the lower leg. I now own 12 FF guitars for less than the cost of a Gibson LP Standard. The frets ARE NOT Stainless Steel but they are ball ended, polished pretty good and I bought 6 from their latest drop. :)
I have both the V and Explorer. Both are really good guitars, and stupid good for the money. The Explorer had some neck dive. I moved the strap button to the base of the heel - balances perfectly now. No, I dont care about the old screw hole. I play classical seated, so no issues there either. Both are stock, the only work beyond setup is the nut slots are now cut / dialed in and both are great players.
I went thru several G Explorers before getting my Les Paul Costom ... a 78 with the trem set up. I loved the Explorers but have never looked back. I wore out the original trem bridge and replaced it with a exactly the same unit. I play it every week. I also put Toni Iommi pickups (MUCH cleaner than the originals) and put push pull pots so I can switch to single pole sound on demand with out messing with the original appearance.
Thanks for the review Darrell! Based on your opinion I am interested in Firefly. At this point the only thing stopping me from buying is the lack of published specs. I want to know the string spacing at the nut, neck width, neck thickness, neck shape, and scale length. Without such basic information I have no idea if the guitar will feel comfortable enough for me to want to play or if it will just collect dust.
Agreed. Commented on Darrell's vids before about mentioning neck specs on his vids, sometimes he has in other vids but this is stopping me from taking the plunge just to have a V. Also the neck joint, he doesn't show the back of either guitar except the tuners. When he turns the guitar back around I think I see a volute. Another vid says 43 mm nut, set neck, and I don't know if the guy was including the strings LOL but said full C shape 23-24mm neck thickness which suggests it has a neck like a log LOL. It doesn't appear that thick when Darrell flips the guitar around after showing the tuners so who knows. I'll pass on it.
"The Tape Farm" did a review on this guitar, measured the neck thickness, width down the neck (53.1 mm at the 12th), nut width (43.2mm) with a vernier caliper, weight (6.8 lbs on that one, another review was 7.6 lbs, of course wood varies), measured fretboard radius (12"), neck profile type (classic C), 24.75" scale.. all on the vid ...has a volute, set neck, this guy does neck specs thoroughly. It measured a whopping thickness of .950"/24.1 mm at the first fret, .980/24.9mm at he 12th, it does have a neck like a log lol. Not for me, I like thin necks, .750-.800". Bummer, this is for someone with big hands LOL.
They have the same scale length as the real deal and I would also say the same neck specs. I have the SG copy and it has the wider thinner neck like a real Gibson and a 24.75 scale length like the Gibson. As far as whether you will like it, well, you never know about any guitar you buy online but don't have a chance to see it before you buy it.
A friend who decided to refret a guitar with stainless steel and almost instantly regretted the decision due to sheer amount of elbow grease required for the most minor of tasks. Stainless steel fretwork requires the resources of an actual factory equipment fitted workshop!
I have a Gearit semi hollow body Telecaster style guitar that I got for $91 with rounded end stainless steel polish frets that sounds great and a Toostar telecaster and a Toostar jazzmaster each for $217 that also has rounded end stainless steel polish frets that sounds great My point is you can find good budget friendly guitars under $300 with rounded end stainless steel polish frets that sounds great 🙄
Impressed to see SS frets on these but in my experience the issues with cheap imports isn't just sharp fret ends. They almost always have a few poorly laid frets that are unlevel, which in the case of SS are much harder to work with if you're not a pro and need to level them due to buzzing/dead spots. I may try the Explorer. I'd prefer the V but the volume knob is in a bad location for me.
Thank you for pointing this out. Just because a guitar has many features that you find on a high-end guitar doesn't mean it's a high-end guitar it can still be poorly constructed and poorly built. Who cares if it has stainless steel frets if the fret wire is coming out of the fretboard. Who cares about a flame Maple neck if it's unstable. Etc.
@Camilo Lopez I've tried newer imports. I thad 2 of the new epiphones (a Les Paul modern and a 335 limited edition). Both had poorly installed frets with lots of buzzing. I've been playing a long time so I was able to do a grind and polish/fret level but the average player might not be able to. I will say it seems to be a much bigger problem on Chinese made guitars. Almost every one I've played has had fret problems. Indonesian made guitars have definitely improved but still have occasional fret issues. Korean guitars have certainly been high quality for years. I'm not a nitpicker and don't expect perfection for a cheap guitar. I honestly don't care about cosmetic issues but poorly installed frets are a constant irritation. It's not as simple as swapping out cheap pickups or hardware.
@@beefnacos6258 Right on! I wish more reviewers would focus on the details. Sure, you can't expect perfection from a cheap guitar but basic playability does matter. Lots of guitars look great on paper or hanging on a wall but if you want decent action and can't work on your own guitars these things matter.
If you know how to dress frets then small details are not a problem. But the best thing is if there's something crappy with it then just pay a luthier to fix it and you'll save a fortune instead of paying for some way overpriced Gibson or whatever.
@@plane_guy6051 SS frets are harder to work with and more expensive if you pay a luthier. If you're too cheap to buy a quality guitar then you probably won't want to fork out the cash for a fret job. It can cost as much as one of these guitars.
I do ...ya have to use one horn through ya leg obviously...like a classical guitar position... But ya right it is different from say a SG or a Paul sitting down Always loved V'z
Or just buy a Epiphone V or Explorer. Never have had any problems with any Epiphone's I have bought. I would never waste money on a off brand guitar that I would never be able to get rid of.
I heard a difference. The thin neck had more "chime" to it. Noticed it more on the clean sounds. I have a thick head so maybe that affected my hearing. Great fun thanks.
How did you get those fireflies into canada? I've been trying to contact them for over a year and they will not answer and they will not fulfill an order to Canada on their website
When you know how to sit with a Vee, it's the easiest guitar to play sitting IMO. Been playing them for over 40 years..... Having said that the jack position on this Vee doesn't help and I think the switch on these Firefly Vee's is in a weird place too.
Awesome videos always enjoy seeing something different than a Fender or Gibson. Btw when are you reviewing Hamer guitars, they are low cost but great guitars for the price.
Straight out of the gate that Firefly Explorer looks much better than a Gibson Explorer and the reason why? Block inlays! Gibson‘s biggest problem is they are living too much in the past and not listening to their customers. I called Gibson several years back about the possibility of doing away with those dated looking dot inlays on the Explorer in favor of block inlays but true to form Gibson can’t see past their own noses! Personally I think the die has been cast and Gibson’s days might be numbered because nobody is shelling out the money for those high priced guitars anymore and some people are even building their own. A buddy of mine recently bought a flying V kit and when he got finished with it, it rivaled anything that comes out of the Gibson factory! He even went as far as to put a Gibson logo on the headstock and if you didn’t know any better it looks and sounds just like a real Gibson.
While I agree they are overpriced, they are hardly having problems selling. Check the Mod and Demo shops every week. They typically sell out within the day.
Yea, Gibson have had issues, but they found their market for the WAY overpriced guitars. Collectors. People who dont play them, but hang em on a wall or store them to look at or brag about. This is why the QC ducks and they don't care about it. 9 out of 10 guitars sold are just going to be shown to have Gibson on the headstock and that's about it. That 1% that they will have to fix or warranty is nothing to them.
@@xBlitzerx I agree but you know what they say about a fool and their money, right? I own several Gibsons but given how much they want for them now I doubt I’ll ever buy another.
@@leviathan_is_me My point exactly! Be it a guitar or whatever if you spend that much money on any musical instrument just to hang it on the wall and either brag or jerk off about it you’re the biggest fool of the foolish!
From the sales figures I've seen, Vs and Explorers don't really move the needle for Gibson. The company really flies or falls on the back of its Les Paul sales. Judging by anecdotal evidence of what supply is available (that is, supply appears to remain tight from strong demand), I don't think they are having any problems. Finally, you are making the same mistaken assumption that Darryl asserts with this video: namely, that somehow these guitars that cost a few hundred bucks will in any way cannibalise Gibson sales. Believe me, anyone seriously considering an authentic Gibson Explorer or Gibson Flying V is not considering these as an alternative. These are more likely to siphon buyers from Epiphone, but even then I'm not really sure it's the same segment.
Anyone else notice the Fire fly V guitars are pretty much Identical in shape to a Schecter V-1? First off that headstock, I'm petty sure it's exactly the same, look at the body. If you look closely at a V-1 they are just barely offset and this shares that exact shape with the lower wing of the body being only slightly smaller. They look like both are built from the same template.
Thanks for this and other great vids! I really like that V, hmmm, seems I can afford an electric guitar! Have loved my acoustic for a long time. Got rid of my last electric guitar around middle school, after my band broke up. We were terrible. Now 63, haha, and want to learn some riffs, rock of course! One little question: you say in several vids that you add gain. I think that is primarily using gain in the amp rather than the controls on the guitar? I'm talking about when I hear you play with some cool distortion and it sounds really great for rock. Seems to me you can only add so much gain with the guitar's controls and you may refer to the amp? THANKS! Keep up the good work, you are really helpful for people of all levels.
Totally understand the Steel frets, sounds good, but not something I know a lot about. I do find that both body styles are very awkward shapes to use unless you're standing up. What kind of pick-ups are they .. they look kinda cheap, they may not be m but they look like it. Nice clean acoustic sound though, but I agree, throw in some Duncan pickups ... you probably will do it in the end The finish looks great, yup .. good review, and i pretty much agree with everything you said,, ,, which in itself is an achievement !!!
Dean in Europe doesn't have to desist. Only Dean's US operations, in keeping with the US court case they lost. Believe it or not, Chinese-based Firefly doesn't give a crap about a US ruling for Dean Guitars.
Darrell could put a set of strings on a broom and make it sound killer. Almost any guitar played through a high end amp is gonna sound great. I am looking at picking up a new LTD Arrow 1000. This firefly V is very cool though - if it had a different shaped headstock it would be almost identical to the new Dave Mustaine signature...
Wait, I have NEVER heard anyone claim those SS frets before now, not from Firefly nor in the Facebook fan page. Are you sure they aren’t just ball-end nickel with a good polish job?
I was looking at the "58" flying v from Epiphone but wasn't sure I'd like the shape for playing so I bought one of the Firefly v guitars. Now I don't need the Epiphone.
Strange... I recently got the explorer one in green .. Has the same frets, hardware... Is a "classic" model.. but I have chrome covers on my pickups. (?) Everything else is the same. It's a great guitar... I haven't had to touch it!
Thanks for the review, Darrell! I'm curious if the headstock on the V is advantageous to the Explorer one. I assume both have a fairly high angle but I couldn't tell too well from the video. I would not like the V for playing seated but if the headstock is loads better, maybe I'd compromise.
Awesome video and thanks for the insite on Firefly....question after viewing this video I did go to there site(link in description) and boy do they have a selection....I didn't see anything with upgraded options...or is a across the board change...thanks very much and your videos are truly amazing...
I have a Firefly LP and SG and both are superb! Now these V's and Explorers have stainless steel frets! Lots of the cheaper Chinese guitar brands are using the ball end stainless steel frets. Must be a Chinese company just pumping out these rounded frets by the ton!
HIgh quality & low cost instruments? Just add fretwork and a setup, change the tuners, change the bridge, change the wiring harness and the pickups, live with some finishing problem and finally get used to a generally thiny or not great neck. Indeed, after I bought one (338) and did all the above changes, the neck was still not nice for me. I suggest going for guitars in the middle price range or buy an used one (and try it before you buy). They still keep a better value if you want to resell them.
I checked out the video description when I didn't see any of the models listed as having SS frets... hopefully they'll at least label them as such because there are at least a few EX models where I'd LOVE to get if they had the new fretwire on them
I look at all the channels reviewing cheaper guitars. A lot of them look fantastic. I just wonder what future Gibson really have with the competition from the East.
Darrell, Thank you for the great video and awesome guitars :) It seems the guitar you showing here on this video the finish and the pickups are not the same showed at the website. Do you know why or the pictures are just off and not what you actually buy?
I just went through the web site and can't find any indication about stainless steel frets. I hope Darrel can answer this one because I really want to know as well.
