I like to check one out and play it before I buy it not only that but things get damaged in shipping really bad these damn people throw this stuff around like it’s nothing and they destroy it I’ve had several things destroyed but never a guitar and I will and will never ever let a guitar be shipped to me because I’m afraid it’s gonna be all tore up by the time I get it so I don’t do that😖😖😟😠 would be OK if they went and throw everything in a round and sometimes when people on at home they steal stuff off of your porch I don’t like that either that’s one another reason why I don’t have guitars sniped Maybe if they ever got sued for that stuff their employees would quit doing it and people would stop stealing stuff I don’t know what kind of bomb would wanna steal your guitar that you worked your ass off paying for but I don’t work anymore and I’m on a fixed income so I got to protect myself somehow😖😠😫😫🎸
I know you were trying to help us with this review, but can't you just post what the specific item number is so I can find exactly what you reviewed rather than some other one you didn't?
@Kenneth Bobu if its not on guitars gardens website, its either sold out or discontinued. They dont leave items on their site like a typical store does. Their stock and shop hours are reflected in their store. I just looked and this color isn't on the site right now. You have to keep going back to check. Idky they do it this way
Luthier here: I build high end steel string and classical guitars. A scarf joint on the neck is a superior construction technique to a “single piece” (generally, a scarf joint neck is still coming from the single board - you cut your angle, flip, and glue). It is also a more responsible use of materials. The neck will be more stable, and the grain does not run out at the most critical point - this is a big reason for headstock breaks. A more aesthetically appealing place for the scarf joint begins at the headstock. This uses a slightly longer neck blank, but is virtually invisible if you use a back strap.
Exactly my point. If Gibson used them more on Les Pauls, you wouldn't need to be as vigilant whenever you're thinking of buying a used one to see if it had a repair. Well that, or they could just finally address that design flaw that they've had for 65+ years: reduce the back angle of the headstocks a little, reposition the tuner posts so the string runs straighter from the nut to the post, and make the nut a bit thinner. Instead of doing everything BUT that. They'd rather try zero frets ( i personally use Zero glide nuts that are a bone nut combined with a zero fret, and prefer them over graphite nuts, but that's not really the same), or putting ugly, heavy and stupid robot tuners. Though i do appreciate the robot tuners every time someone with any 2015 LP that got them whether they wanted them or not. It's qn easy hour bench time. *(Ironically in 25-30 years, whomever replace hipsters will be paying top dollar for them because of how rare they are, either because they were removed or just not purchased at all.)
@@jacobbrown1690 It's good that companies are using roasted maple more and more. When Ernie Ball (i think) started doing them a decade ago, there was a lot of the "it's just gimmick," criticism about them. I ordered one for a partscaster i was building for someone because they wanted the maple neck to stay raw without any finish. As all the other luthiers here can attest; with maple you have to use SOMETHING because they're susceptible to bowing everytime the temperature swings at all or humidity levels change. They run the risk of twisting too, which when it happens you pretty much have to replace the neck. That reason and the fact that they just look much better than raw maple does (I've always thought it a sin that i can only find the Candy apple green on the Eric Clapton Strat because i just do not like how white the neck is). I really didn't expect anything else, but i immediately could see, hear and feel the difference. Normally i always used quartersawn maple for necks because of the increased stability, but the roasted don't really need them as much as flatv sawn.
When it's done right its stronger. It's not usually done right and leaves you with the same weakness that an angled headstock on a mahogany neck does. Just instead of running into end grain at the point of highest tension, you've got a bad glue joint. The big difference is it breaks under like the third fret instead of at the nut-under the 1st. One of my favourite solid body designs is the old Hamer Stellar, which was like a PRS with 24 frets and a scooped out heel instead of that clunky block like on a PRS. The achilles heel of that guitar is the scarf joint. You find one used and they've often been repaired. I mean, do it right the first time, yeah it's great, but it's not George Lowden putting together the ones in question.
wife's talking to me the other day is that a new guitar and I'm like no no I just haven't taken it out of the case in a while but I've had it for a while I'm pretty sure she's counting all my guitars now I don't think I can pull that one off again
I bought the same guitar back in December. I'm very happy with it. The frets were very dirty, fingers were black after playing. The nut was not glued down, but that was a simple fix. Fret spout also, but that could be the result of winter shipping. Cleaned and polished the frets, had a set up to remove a little buzzing on low E and filed frets. Plays beautiful. Compared it to epiphone 335, and an Ibanez semi-hollow, and it was as rich in sound as those.
To quote Sheryl Crow: "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad" I have a great Les Paul and a really nice Strat, but I also have a Peavey Raptor (Strat knock-off). The first two are like best friends. The Peavey is like a brother. It is family. It makes me happy.
A guy that plays in my band got the 338 around a year ago. He brought it to practice, I played it, and I love it. I don't even play my guitars anymore when we get together. I've been playing for nearly 50 years, and it's the first guitar I've never had to retune. Crazy! It was in tune the day he handed it to me and it's been that way ever since. And I'm hell on some guitar strings, bending, playing hard etc. Everything is stock on it except for the new strings he put on it the day he received it. It sounds great on any style of music. I usually play it plugged straight into an amp, a Vox AC10, or a Crate V32.
I bought one 4 to 5 months ago, and made two modifications to it. The stock pickups were awful. They were microphonic and shrieked horribly with feed back. I changed them to Dragonfire Gatebuckers (about $75) and it now sounds awesome. The only other complaint was the tuning machines. It would not stay tuned. I swapped them with a set of Grovers.(about $50). Problem solved. I now have a guitar that I have less than $300 in, that sounds like a much more expensive instrument.
Now I can't refute that the tuners were cheapos and probably worth replacing on a classy guitar, but it's almost impossible for tuners to cause a guitar to go out of tune. That's always caused by binding at the nut and/or bridge. The mechanical design of machine head tuners is such that, the way they're geared, it's not possible for tension from the string to turn the post without enough pressure to destroy the gears. It is absolutely possible for certain tuning heads to operate smoother than others, have a higher ratio for finer tuning and generally be much easier and more pleasant to tune up or down with, but once a string has been tuned, issues with staying in tune are either at the nut slot, bridge, string tree(if present) or the string itself.
Inyen Vina does a mean-ass little red flame-top tele with p-90s in it - the ITF400. Mine was 170 bucks new in the box. For the quality of guitar I got, 170 bucks is almost like I stole it.
I have this exact model and I’ve had it for a while...maybe a year roughly. At first I was annoyed at how microphonic the pickups are, so I hung it back up on my wall because it looks so beautiful as decor in my music room and just left it there, but I pulled it back out recently and started playing it again and have realized that I was being unreasonable. I think I expected to hate it (like you did) and it tainted my first impression of it. Actually though, it came set up beautifully right out of the box and it sounds great. All I did was put new strings on it...that’s it. I am super happy with it, especially for the money. I’m not going to bother modifying it. It’s fine just like it is. Great video by the way!
Steve I bought one 1 year ago exactly for the reasons you did. I've been playing my original Gretsh Country Gentleman since 1977 when my church orchestra gifted me with it. It's been needing a fret job for a few years but it's my only guitar and we have service 4x per week. I saw the Firefly and thought it would be a relatively decent cover until I could get the CG done. So I bought one and took it to my Lutier first. It did not come with a bone nut. It has one now. The tuning pegs were terrible so they are canged. Also I had him do a fret job & lower the action. When I got it back I nearly freaked! I love it.. btw,, I got mine from Amazon for $139. I have a $455 Firefly that is a FABULOUS sit in for my CG! NOW I HAVE 2 VERY AMAZING GUITARS . FIREFLY is no total replacement but it won't make anyone ask. WHERE'S YOUR COUNTRY GENTLEMAN? THANK YOU FOR SHARING!
I'm glad! But, to be honest, I cannot imagine anyone in any country ever asking "Where's youre Country Gentleman?" In fact, that question could lead to violence. :¬ )
I've got one of their blue 338s. Bought it in 2019. When it arrived, I spent an afternoon working on the neck. Spent quite a bit of time on the frets, which weren't terrible, but they're beautiful now. And the fretboard was stained on mine as well, though it would come off on my fingers when I played. So I stripped as much of that stain off as I could just with fretboard cleaner and restorative spray, and then used a nice set of decals (same kind Nita used to use... she may still, I don't know). I used the nice moon inlays which fits with the Firefly theme (if you enjoyed the show). I adore mine. Enough so that when this spalted maple version came out, I tried to buy it, however after I bought my blue one, they stopped shipping to Canada.
A scarf joint can actually be a good thing for guitars with an angled headstock. The angle is weak if it's all one piece of wood, which is why there are so many broken headstocks on Gibson LPs.
@@CRYSTALSHIPSS this man speaks the truth. In all my years of playing and building guitars, I have never once heard a credible source say their neck just randomly broke on its own without an impact. I'm sure it's probably happened somewhere, but I would be willing to bet it had more to do with subpar materials/shoddy workmanship than anything else.
Scarf joints are actually pretty strong joints. Of course, everything has a breaking point. Regular careful use will not break a scarf joint. Jackie Brown (not John Wayne), says: “life is hard, even harder if you’re stupid”, don’t drop your guitar!
Just a note on the scarf joint on the neck, as a guitarist and woodworker I can tell you that a scarf joint is absolutely fine. It creates a lot of surface area for the glue joint and your neck would most likely break in another area before that joint!
You are correct, the reason for the scarf joint is the break angle of the headstock. If they made it one piece it would be very prone to splitting the neck of the guitar under string tension.
I've purchased two of the 338's along with one each of their lp double cutaway with p90's and the tele style with maple neck, the tele is my favorite to play of them all, they are not as great as my PRS or Fender USA Strat, but they are very playable. I have had to tighten truss rod on all of them, and do other minor adjustments..I wish there were guitars of this quality when I was young and first started playing.
Yeah, started messing with guitars in the 70's, and it was either cheap junk guitars or big buck guitar. I went from a Cheap Asian D body, got fed up and bought a good electric, 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom in tobacco sunburst. I have one of these 338's, very nice. I may upgrade to Seymore Duncun Psyclone pickups. If you can get a solid built and beautiful finish guitar like the 338, why not tweak it a little and give it a fantastic sound?
I got this guitar during the last run and I can’t put it down. I’ll probably change the pickups soon but really they’re not terrible for how cheap everything is
I got mine in spalted maple in November 2020. Spent a few hours tweaking the setup, cleaning the whatheheck shoepolish (??!!?) then some lemon oil on fretboard, working the almost microscopic grit off the frets by firmly rubbing the stock strings over the frets. That, then a string change (and last odd fix I'll mention) and it's wonderful, none of the crafting/tuner/electronics etc flaws others have reported, and I pick it over the Fender American Pro Strat when playing live many times...and have a hard time feeling like switching back, song after song. The only anomaly I've noted is a tiny bit of sympathetic ping I've isolated as being between the tailblock and the string saddles. Resolved it with two 1/2 inch by about 5 inch strips of heavy paper in that space of strings between tailblock and saddles; one is woven over the 1st string, under the 2nd, over the 3rd and so on...the 2nd strip beside it woven UNDER the 1st, over the 2nd, under the 3rd, etc...silly fix for now, yep! But it works (less-noticeable thin felt strips sometime?). Anyways, counting shipping for a total of 201 bucks at that time the creative 'setup' was well worth it and a bit of novel and lighthearted adventure...WHAT a bargain! My favorite comment is usually heard in two parts: "How much was it?" , followed by "That's all?...wow, what's WRONG with it?" Maybe I should have insisted on paying 8 or 10 times more? :)
@@jerrym3261 yeah, and if that doesn't work try using 11-50 for a while then next string change go back to 10-46 and the bigger strings should kinda gauge the slots in the saddle and nut so they don't bind and catch the stressing area.
You could also use you old strings to floss the saddle slot lightly untill smooth and no longer catching on the sides. The ping is from strings catching on the slots and if it's totally smooth there's nothing to catch on.
Most people will bitch about a scarf joint neck, but it is actually better than a one piece neck with an angled headstock as it adresses the famous weak spot that gives Gibson their signature problem with broken headstocks.
Mass produced guitars have a bad tendency to have been over-clamped and on the scarf joint when you squeeze out too much glue you're left with a weak point. They tend to delam right across the joint. It's an easier fix than a broken headstock on a 1 piece neck but it's also just as common, and is even on the (now) higher quality Korean guitars, so it's probably even more common on Chinese and Indonesian manufactured. It's not a deal killer, just something to be aware of.
@@willrichtor How do people break their guitars tho? Never have I had a broken neck in my 15 years of playing and touring. And I pretty much had one expensive guitar and the rest is second hand or korean stuff. Generally curious.
@@hiiambarney4489 Hallo Barney, wie geht es innen? I'm in a similar boat as you, I have one expensive custom piece and the rest are used, imports or projects I've cobbled together myself. I have never broken an instrument but I have witnessed accidents and even lost my first guitar to someone knocking it down and breaking the headstock at the nut. That's the usual culprit. On guitars with angled back headstocks, when they fall, the first point to hit the ground is often the very tip of the headstock, and mahogany necks in particular run into end grain right at the bend behind the nut. That design puts the point of the greatest tension right on the weakest point of the wood. So when a Les Paul or similarly built guitar falls backwards, it's very likely to snap right there because they don't do the simple things that luthiers have figured out to prevent it. For example, a stinger on the back of the headstock, which is just a veneer or layer of phenolic to reinforce it, works wonders and looks quite smart; routing slots across the angle to inlay splines of maple also works, usually only done as a repair though; and the scarf joint in question, which, when executed properly makes a very strong neck. The popular volute on a solid neck, as seen on Martins and other guitars is popularly believed to help with the problem by beefing up the area, but in reality it is only aesthetic. The volute is ACTUALLY intended to be used to hide the presence of a scarf joint, and it's ridiculous that the world's foremost maker of fine acoustic guitars seems to have forgotten this very important detail. Shameful. On SG type guitars, the neck to body joint is a weak spot. Les Pauls use a long mortise and tenon with the ancient violin style heel, which is very strong, but the SG's neck joint, and those on PRS, Hamer Customs and dozens of other guitars that have set necks with good upper fret access... well, they're not much different than if you used glue instead of bolts on a Strat or Tele. There's a LITTLE more surface area in the joint but only a little. So you see those type guitars breaking at that point or loosening over time and needing to be reset. Bolt neck and neck through body designs using quartersawn maple necks tend to be very difficult to break. Everyone has seen rock stars breaking Fender guitars on stage, and it takes considerable effort. When they DO break, the neck and joinery are so strong that the body almost always gives up first. That's not to say those style necks WON'T break, but it takes an awful lot. Falling over or off the stand or being dropped will ding these type guitars and chip the finish or even the body wood but serious breaks are usually the result of temper tantrums, auto accidents and force majeur. Once you switch out the neck wood from maple to mahogany or other woods, it can have a big effect on that toughness though, your mileage may vary. Some are tougher than maple but most are weaker by quite a bit. On stratocasters and telecaster the typical area to break over time is the spot where the heel meets the lower horn. Fender designed the Stratocasters neck heel and pocket to alleviate this from the telecaster design. Where the telecaster is squared in the pocket, the corner creates a weak point in a similar manner to where a knife blade meets the tang. When left squared with corners, it becomes a point of failure, and the corner is simply the starting point of a crack that will eventually develop if the instrument is around long enough. So the stratocasters, like the tang to blade transition on quality knives and swords, is shouldered. It is especially necessary on that guitar since the neck pocket is much more exposed than on a tele. Guitars like Jacksons and BC Rich who have very pointy headstocks where the point is actually a joined piece of wood separate from the rest of the neck, to allow the use of a smaller blank, that spot tends to break off, often taking the high e and sometimes b machine heads with it. Very easy fix usually. Sometimes though the joint is very strong and it tears at the wood on one side or the other of the glue joint. Turning around and hitting something while the instrument is shouldered is the usual culprit in this case. Then there's the poorly implemented scarf joint. As mentioned above, on some guitars, especially 80s Era stuff, they will just sorta implode over time from the tension. But the usual cause is the same as broken les Paul headstocks, it was an angled headstock and it hit the floor falling backwards. If you're lucky nothing at all happens. That means it was a good glue joint and the grain orientation was done right. Often, on our 80s and 90s Korean guitars and now modern Chinese and Indonesian ones, the joint just gives out and breaks right along the glue line because they overclamp and squeeze too much glue out. Those are some of the ways guitars get broken. Sometimes things line up right and it's an easy fix. Sometimes they need professional repair. And sometimes they are just kaputt. Das tut mir leid. I have fixed a lot of instrument damage, from cracks in violin tops to broken headstocks to delamination of bank and sides on acoustics. None of them are fun and it doesn't help that, when approaching a repair, you tend to feel that if it doesn't work out, it was your fault the instrument is out of commission, not the person responsible for the break, lol. But maybe that's just me.
I purchased a Firefly acoustic about 6 months ago. It was the full size grand auditorium with the armrest bevel. I had heard good things with the exception that they weren't packed very well and sometimes got damaged in transit. It didn't have long to travel to me so I took a chance. Turns out they had taken the advice and double packed it remarkably well. It was flawless. I mean flawless, I can't find a single blemish and it sounds amazing. Every note rings thru my body. I love it. So I decided to get one of their famous 338's. Not flawless this time. Just some minor cosmetic errors, hardly noticeable. They again listened and have made some changes since most of the 338 videos I have seen. They now have stainless ball-end frets (I'd say medium jumbo), locking tuners and full size pots. I was worried it was going to be a photo top and I saw a guy show some gaps between the neck and center-block when he was replacing the pickups. It is a real wood veneer (mine is burled maple with a blue fade that looks like the ocean meeting the sand). I lifted up my pickup when re-stringing and not only was the neck set perfect and tight but they had painted the inside with conductive paint. Quite a mysterious brand. I have been trying to find out more about them but info is scarce. They ship the guitars out of southern California. A company called JSN seems to be the parent company with GuitarsGarden the main (now only) point of sale. They make the guitars in small batches. Using the Way Back Machine it seems they rarely repeat the same finish/configuration except the classic red/black etc. It appears China is really upping their game with guitar manufacturing. They even have a guitar-city, Zheng'an. I don't know if Fireflys are made there but I remember seeing a documentary where they interviewed a factory owner who said something along the line of “We are proud to build Fenders, Epiphones, etc. but we want to have our own brands that people see as good quality” and I think that is the sentiment behind Firefly. Especially when I look at my acoustic. The people who made it cared. They were proud of it. It shows. All in all great guitars and a company that listens to the customer regularly making improvements.
If you're a woodworker you understand why a scarf joint is actually stronger than a one piece Gibson-style neck. In fact, all you've got to do is see what happened to Townsend's SG when he threw it and you'll understand why one-piece necks are extremely fragile where they bend backwards-the nature of the grain/structure of the wood makes a one piece neck weaker (and a one-piece build usually will consume more wood.)
@@SteveSterlacci Agreed. Another strength alternative is the "volute" at the bend that many manufacturers use or have used (including Gibson at times-my Norlin-era Gibson Marauder has a volute AND a scarf joint on its maple bolt-on neck). However, since they're generally used to strengthen one piece necks, volutes probably don't help with the wood conservation issue.
Bought mine ........... the EXACT same guitar for $210.00 TOTAL from GuitarsGarden. I have had mine for about 2 weeks now, and I LOVE it! I've been playing for over 50 years and own 2 Gibson Les Pauls, and 2 Gibson SG's, along with other guitars, so I know how well expensive guitars are built, and how they feel and sound. I will say the neck and playability of the Firefly FF338 are awesome! The finish is superb, although I did find two barely noticeable flaws in it, but they don't affect playing at all. I too removed the pickguard and poker chip, and I changed the tuners to genuine Grovers "just because." When I changed strings to my preferred .010-.038 set, I was able to lower the action a bit more from factory setting. The bridge intonation is perfect ---- no need to adjust the saddles at all. I recommend buying one before Firefly raises the prices! The FF338 can be had in different finished that cost less than the spalted maple, too. To sum up: I LOVE THIS GUITAR!
I got this same guitar a week ago. I have to say that it's become my favorite guitar. It plays extremely well to the point where I don't think I will have to do any adjustments to it. I will upgrade the tuners and pickups and maybe the bridge. Overall for what you get for the price it feels like your ripping the company off honestly. Definitely worth buying because how can you not afford one??
I was trying futility to save up for a used vehicle which I desperately need so, I passed on a salted maple firefly FFLX & when I finally decided that I could not live without it, they all sold out. It had a tremellow with knobs on it as if it had fine tuners along with matching hardware. They had 4 models on amazon ro pick from. I messed up by not securing one!
I bought this same guitar & I can’t put it down! The pickups are the only thing that are subpar. It’s absolutely gorgeous. the action and intonation were almost perfect out of the box. Love it!
I bought the $150 model mine did have crappy wire bridge I replaced that, all electronics, tuners & pickups & for a few hundred I have a great guitar that is comparable to a 2-3K Gibson. I honestly think they are plecking these because the set up is almost perfect. A little fret sprout which is normal especially being shipped overseas.
Thank you, your the first person to review one of these and mention how the Intonation was out of the box (without doing work on it first). Thank you. Mine should be here next tue. :-)
Hollow bodies are always loud. That sounds excellent. The player helps for sure. That lead tone was lovely. 189 bucks is worth the trouble I suppose providing you are prepared to deal with some flaws. That holds true for any guitar though. Nice review Steve.
@@SteveSterlacci it is what it is. You never know from guitar to guitar. You have to learn how to do this stuff if you want to be a player. Know your instrument. I have to sell a Hellraiser before I'm in the market again. That was a great review. Sounded like a hollow body guitar. The player always helps. You have a good channel buddy. Keep doing what you're doing.
I also bought the infamous Firefly 338 form Guitars Garden. I got the see thru cherry unit in left handed dexterity. Absolutely beautiful guitar in all aspects but it was unplayable right out of the box. The neck's truss rod was so over tightened that there was a serious back bow causing the strings to fall dead on the frets with no way to play a clear note. I started to incrementally loosen the truss rod to relieve the back bow and get the neck straightened out. After a proper neck adjustment the guitar still had serious buzzing fret issues. After several rounds of bridge adjustments I got looking much closer and discovered that the frets were all lifting from the fretboard slots. I attempted to tap them back down into place and and found that many of the frets are lifting and are loose in there slots and can't be tapped down. Every fret from #2 to #14 must be superglued and pressed back down into it's seat. After continued heartache from the firefly I bailed on it and got a Harley Benton Semi-hollow which plays great after a new bridge and tailpiece and a complete setup and fret dressing. You get what you pay for and if you want cheap then your taking the risk of disappointment or investing more into the guitar to be playable than you played for the guitar in the first place. Cheap Aint Good- Good Aint Cheap
@@SteveSterlacci Yes it was a bad experience but I was really trying to make the best of the situation. While the Firefly guitars were, and still are, selling like wildfire it was almost impossible to get your hands on a unit much less a left handed one. I had been watching amazon for one when I heard about Guitars Garden, I logged on and the entire website was sold out of every model except one lone left handed 338 Cherry finish. Of course I new to buy it immediately or miss out. Incidentally I have never caught them available on GG or amazon again since. I am a machinist by trade and my dad is a career musician with decades of experience in guitar tech and lutherie. Between the two of us I felt that I would be able to fix the guitar and eventually have the guitar it was meant to be. That's why it didn't get returned right away. That being said, the months that I fooled around with the guitar trying to get it dialed in I became very partial to the guitar. I could tell that it had really good resonance and projected sound from the hollow body amazingly well. I wanted it to work out so badly. I bailed and got the Harley Benton to play right now but that firefly is going to see light again as a brand new guitar. I'm designing my own fret pressing tool and will super glue and press all the frets back down and give it a fresh fret leveling. It will have a new tone pros bridge and tailpiece, New grover tuners, and a bone nut. As much as I hate the guitar, I really do like it. It will definitely compete with the HB eventually LOL!!!
A sustain monster. Great guitar at twice the price, almost like they expect you to change out pickups anyway. That being said, the stock pickups are better than their price suggests.
I've only ever known of one Scarf joint failing but that simply came unglued. It was reglued, clamped and rubbed down with some sandpaper. After it wasn't visible. So they are a safe joint and you would be surprised at how common the practice is.
I didn’t have great luck out of the box with this guitar. Nut was cut too deep. Tuners didn’t hold tune. Strings broke at the bridge, I think it was machined too sharp. On the up side, after dealing with the above issues, it has a great, lush tone that’s much different than my other HH and single coil guitars.
I saw this two or three years ago. This vid, Darrell Braun's and Guitar Max's enticed me to try an FF-338 -- my first Firefly. I fell in love with it. Now, two of the six Fireflies in my small stable of 11 guitars are 338s. There will be more FFs in my future.
Funny thing is all those who complain about a scarf joint do so with little knowledge about it. It's actually a stronger neck then a one piece neck. That's one of the reason some higher end brands use it because it's both more stable and cheaper to produce. The main reason to us a one piece neck is more to do with esthetics than anything else.
@@SteveSterlacci lol everyone's a expert on forums didn't you know that?..LOL I work as a tech for extra money have repaired more broked high end one piece headstocks/necks than I can count but that random dude on some random forum seems to know better than me...lol
@@SteveSterlacci exactly, I play what I like and could care less what the name on the headstock says. Quality control on more budget friendly guitars has gotten so good these days that the higher end stuff no longer is the only great option. I have expensive guitars and budget ones but lately more often then not I reach for my budget ones because they feel/sound great so why not rock it ya know.
Looks great. If it plays anything like it looks, and that’s a personal thing, then it’s a great buy. I much preferred the cleaner sound, which I tend to, anyway.. If I had that, I’d change the pickups, and leave it at that, and I reckon I’d have a really good guitar for not a LOT of money.. I see you upgraded, so I’ll go and watch that. Great demo, though - thanks!
Excellent-- that's the first thing you test with an electric guitar, or any guitar for that matter: testing the natural wood sustain without ANY amplification @ 4:22. That should be the first in ANY guitar review. Kudos!👍
I started with their 338 a couple years ago, then picked up their thinline and then the Les Paul. The thinline is the only one thats been modded at all, and they are all better than most guitars that Ive played costing three times as much
As a guitar builder I want to clear up that a scarf joint is not a separate piece of wood its literally cut on a 12°-15° angle then the head stock is flipped to give it the bend back on an angle headstock.. it's the same wood, only flipped
Lots of players will Spend several hundred dollars to upgrade this guitar. Just play it and enjoy the original. Thats the point of this guitar. A playable quality good sounding guitar at a reasonable cost.
Got mine from Guitar Garden in February. They are the direct seller in the US and often have inventory when AMZ is out. But oddly, what they have pops on and off the site, so checking regularly (even different times of day) is the ticket.
@@leocatz I did get one there. I looked on Amazon 'cuz I originally skipped over the little part where he says he actually got it - impatient to get to the description. I would have felt better getting from Amazon as their return policy is so good plus I have Prime. I caved and got it from Guitars Garden anyway. Keeping my fingers crossed! If I like it I'll probably install a set of locking tuners with my first string change, I do that on all my guitars, I just hate the string changes giving me pricks in my fingers!
Thank you. With that video you got me back to music after at least 20 years. When i saw the thumbnail of the video, i thought: wow, i would like to have this guitar - even it was just a piece of furniture. Unfortunately i could not buy it in germany, where i live. At guitars garden it was sold out of cause. I ordered a headphone amp. I didn't know, that they were invented in the meantime. Wow, great. I took my 40 year old noname strat and it was such a blast to get back into music. I ordered the yellow Harley Benton HB 35plus, because of the split single coil pickups. I really like it. And i really like to say: thank you! 👍🏻🤗
I hate fancy quilted tops, but that is so freaking nice, I love it, nicely burst and beautiful colors. i bought a grote, and it also is a good value. The fret were amazing for the price. I bought the one with mild tiger stripes in a red that has a purplish hue to it. It has the mickey ears which i wish I'd looked because some of them have the ibaneze type ears. Pickups are non microphonic and sound alright, but not like a set of handwound. I bought a set of Pro buckers and will swap them when I get the urge. Nice cheap upgrade.
awesome, thanks .. Steve Sterlacci replied --- "I haven't gigged it yet, but I will say it stays in tune over 4 or 5 days sitting on the stand in my living room. When I upgrade the pups and wiring I will be trying it out live"
Thanks for doing the Review Steve, I was actually at a local Guitar Center this afternoon looking at semi hollow body’s. Epiphone, Gretch, D’Angelico,PRS etc.. I think I’m going to check this one out, for under $200, there’s nothing to cry about if I don’t dig it...
@@SteveSterlacci Firefly, is the Brand? Or is it under a different name due to Distributor I should look for at amazon? And thanks in advance for your reply..
I bought one of these guitars, and lo and behold, it's FANTASTIC. I've had it now for about 9 months, and it was tuned and ready to play right out of the box. It's microphonic, but other than that, I've found zero flaws with this guitar. I find I love playing this guitar and I still have the original strings and I've pounded on them and they play great. It's a great guitar for the price, the look, well, it's fantastic. For the price, ya can't beat it.
I bought one, and while it looked GREAT!, it was a total piece of trash. Completely unplayable out of the box, and even after a full setup and rehab, it was junk. The nut actually fell off of mine, and that was the last straw. I learned my lesson and in my case it was DEFINITELY a “get what you pay for” situation. My tuners were loose, it never stayed in tune, endless issues. I was so disappointed, as I had done a lot of research and I guess I was just unlucky...my strings were maybe the worst part (that an VERY bad frets), but mine was not even gig playable after a lot of work. I was ready for a guitar needing some fixing, but the one I got, no exaggeration or hyperbole, was just awful, a I totally regret the purchase. It was not even good enough to pass on to my nephew. I still see reviews like this and they make me sad and curious. And please believe I mean no disrespect, my Firefly was just a giant disappointment.
I fully respect your experience brother! Im sad you got a crap one. I do feel like I am in the lucky camp that got a winner. I FULLY expected to have your experience and roast the hell out of a dumpster fire. But mine did shock me. I would have exchanged for a new one if i got a crappy one (after the video)
I think this is the main issue with the budget instruments (I've seen the same on the Better Sax channel). It's pot luck whether you get something really well put together, or completely unsaveable (from the same brand and model). Quality control seems to be hit and miss. Great if you get a good one!
I suspect the top isn't spalted maple, but is simply artwork, sort of like floor tiles that look like granite aren't granite. There's nothing wrong with that.
My spalted maple 338 arrived about 6 weeks ago. It's beautiful, plays great and seems to be very well built. Neck is completely straight. One of these days I'm probably going to put a little relief in the truss rod, but it really doesn't effect the playability of the guitar at all. Tuning machines are tight and smooth. The folks at JSN are putting a lot of love into these guitars at the factory, and it shows. 👍
@@SteveSterlacci there's some speculation that it could be Weifang Jeson musical instruments in china. There is more speculation that firefly and grote are made side by side in the same factory. They even go so far as to say grote is responsible for some epiphone guitars as well. Again this is just hearsay.
Me, when you went to the neck pickup with dirt: 😮 What tha 😮 I know parts of what makes this tone: neck pup, playing aroung the 12th fret, but I'm still not there making my tele and stomp give it to me 😉
Bone nut, cut correctly, is a huge standard feature for this price point. Just for pure functionality, and access to enjoyment. Crowning and polishing the frets should be the next move. Once that's done, the clean sounds indicate this will be a workable, inspiring guitar to play with no major upgrades needed. The shade of burst is gorgeous too. It'd be huge fun if the neck profile was of 50s or 60s proportions. A set of Duncan 59, and some Grovers, and probably be all set.
I'm with you, give me one of those fat old club necks any day. I never understood the thin neck profile. Thick necks help me keep my thumb centered without straining my hand.
Thanks for thinking of me that way! But, i bought this as a regular customer. Never been in touch with FF at all. I definitely feel i got lucky with mine !
I bought the transparent red model a year ago. I love it, despite mostly minor issues. Mine is pretty much as described above: very good finish overall, a few very minor flaws, frets could use polishing. I'd say the shape is actually somewhere between the 335 and the Artcore. I don't know if the hardware/setup is the same a year later, but I did have two main issues that I just haven't gotten around to correction. First, I get some fret buzz with drop D tuning; might be the bridge, or the action may need a little adjustment, although I have a feeling that the problem is the stock strings are too light. And second, the pickups sound OK clean, but are very microphonic. You can literally hear your voice over the amp when you talk directly into them, and I get major feedback when I use overdrive. But for that money, I don't see how you could get a better quality instrument new, especially as versatile as this one.
Interesting! For under $200 its way better than its price for sure. A new set of pups will be amazing. I think they upped the quality in the last year on the hardware
@@SteveSterlacci Interesting, most all the guitars I've owned except $400+ LTDs(w/only SD upgrade) I've had to replace the tuners if it needed different pups.
Thank you for a very good, fair review! I bought my transparent red 338, July, 2018 for $139.91 and I'm delighted. My bridge does have the wire and my pickups are out of phase but, I still say nothing but good about it. Mine is still all stock parts, I have others I play more and I look at it way more than I play it. I think a lot of people reviewing these guitars want to impress us by finding all of the things "wrong" with them. I think the worst I saw was a guy that said they were a waste because his was "ungigable" and he spent so many hours @ his price of $200 per hour to do a setup and polish the frets. It was like 4 hours of his time and he's NOT a professional guitar tech. I have never seen a guitar that I wouldn't change something on so, I do a setup on every guitar I buy. I can't imagine one coming with the action height and a lot of those other things you adjust being exactly your preference. Thanks again!
I bought a Vintage brand 335ish guitar, also one of their SG copies. They’re closer to a $500 price point, but so we’ll built. I just might need to get a FireFly as well
Nothing against the instrument unseen, meaning I am not trying to prove a point or anything, but I’d like to see a review say a year or two years from now to know if the quality is still up. Has the wood warped or the electronics degraded etc.
I'm a bassist and I bought the 338 and their gold top LP. I swapped out the pups n the LP with Dimarzio's(PAF neck, tone zone in the bridge), locking tuners,roller bridge and an upgraded wiring harness.......for a little over $400 I'll match it up with it's Gibson counterpart. Sounds incredible. The 338 will be next : ) Best bang for the buck out there.......when will they make basses ? : )
I must have received a lemon because I had to send mine back to Amazon. There was some slight damage to the binding around the guitar. I could have lived with that for the price. The main issue on my blue Firefly was the fretboard was not level so there was some bad buzzing/ringing. I could not make the necessary mods to fix it because I just don’t know how. If you get a good one, I do think this is a good guitar for the price. Someone who knows what they are doing could probably easily fix these minor issues.
I've had this same guitar for over 4 years and I have no complaints. Thought I'd change out the pickups and the tuners but decided it's fine the way it is. First guitar that I really haven't had to adjust anything. Neck was fine with ever so slight to almost negligible fret buzz. Lovebit
After watching your review I can hear why the pickups may not be your choice. To me the pickups sound thin and lack some warmth. It’s more pronounced when you are doing bends and your hammer on. Would like to see an updated video with fret work done, new pickups installed and additional play time.
My Katana Artist Mk II will EQ the sound from my older black one to fit nearly anyone's preference without the need to change the pups. Tube amps, however, may require the use of an EQ pedal.
Ordered my firefly 338 in Cobra Burst and took receipt of it last week of September 2021. Quick and to the point, is it worth the price? Yes, but it does have some problems. My 338 has a lot of grease and compound still on the fretboard, neck heel joint, on the bridge itself, and at random places on the body. The neck profile is very similar to my Squier Telecaster, the new modern C shape. Everything else mentioned in this video is spot on. I will be buying another firefly 338.
Ordered my firefly 338 in Cobra Burst and took receipt of it last week of September 2021. Quick and to the point, is it worth the price? Yes, but it does have some problems. My 338 has a lot of grease and compound still on the fretboard, neck heel joint, on the bridge itself, and at random places on the body. Everything else mentioned in this video is spot on. I will be buying another firefly 338.
I got this exact model for Christmas. I couldn't help myself and swapped the pups for Dragonfires and added some locking tuners...because locking tuners. Very happy with the guitar. Quite light. Even sounds pretty good unplugged.
I picked up 2 of these last year. Got this exact model in spalted maple - and picked up the Gold Top. I absolutely LOVE them. Can't believe what I got, for that amount of cash. I saw where G-G had them in stock.... and so I grabbed one. Like it so much... went back & got the Gold Top a month later. Love em.'
@@SteveSterlacci Just like when I got it. Admittedly it's not played as much as my PRS or Tele, but it does get played. I haven't noticed anything change or deteriorate at all.
@@MrMixolydian7 I did, but I've never changed pups out on a guitar either. I just try to make what I have sound good. Trying to keep up with a large drum set, 3 electrics and an acoustic guitar, a bass, synth, recording gear, outboard equipment and pedals, etc takes a lot of my time :)
I have a secret rubbing compound for fret polishing, it's a 2 stager?? 1. a tiny dab of a "Smokers Brand Toothpaste" applied and rubbed gently back and forth on the fret, then wipe, (a regular brand of tooth paste has even a fine grind to it, wipe with slightly damp cloth then dry.
I have one of the original 338’s in black/blue burst. I love guitar. I added locking tuners and an X-trem tailpiece mounted vibrato from Guitar fetish. My only complaint is the pickups on my version are not wax potted and are VERY microphonic. I can speak into them and you can hear me in the speakers LOL. I’ll change them out at some point but they play fine for the house.
I love this guitar. I bought a red one early on in the frenzy but the price had already jumped to $149 and it was out of stock but I was diligent for 2 weeks until I could buy it. Now I've seen $300+ for used ones on Reverb, etc.
I wonder under what sort of working conditions it becomes possible to produce that guitar at that price. I guarantee the list of corners cut to do so is as long as your arm. No specs listed, red flag. Unbranded hardware, red flag. 3mm thick finish, red flag. Price to (probable) profit ratio, huge red flag. Yeah it's only $189, so if in a few years the neck is twisted, the tuners wear out, and the pickups go microphonic you can just toss it, but buyers should be supporting businesses that build products that are meant to last, have materials with ethical provenance, are produced by workers who are fairly payed, and who provided warrantees.
Not to forget the human rights, supressed ethnics (plural important), and a lot of toxic products exported, like toys and cosmetics and others. Better keep this guitar in your garage or better outside. It's not about buying american, it's to avoid buying chinese products. And this is very hard, buying electronics impossible. But in this case....
lmao steve you can totally tell you were still chuckling after your comment on your tuning skills lol .I have to admiy bud i wish these guitars were available to ship to canada .
Your conscience can't afford low inventory which quickly sells out due to wonderful quality in relation to price, which doesn't indicate unconscionable hours at dismal pay for thousands of workers? I wonder, can it afford a Squire from Yako/Zhangzhou? How about an Epiphone LP Jr from Qingdao? Or maybe just a Fender American Pro Strat or a Nashville 335, by these same companies which have workers who fuel their profit near and far from one's conscience, in physical distance only? Were that it was different. Sometimes it is but here it isn't. It's not easy to go all-out purist even with an "All American" company for instance, while sporting a Canadian Maple or Indian Rosewood neck. Try to understand, past 'We're All About Apple Pie" feely marketing. It actively appeals to and grooms just such a mirage....for your 'local' market. It's why Mexico-made Fords in my area are "Built Texas Tough".
@@arlizan6473 man I applaud you,, very well articulated, abreviated, and exasperated, I was sweating toward the end thinking what was next, well done, standing ovation,😎😉
Bought one after this and other reviews. It's excellent playable right out of the box. Now coming with stainless steel ball-end frets and some models like mine locking tuners. $219 minus $8 coupon code delivered for about $238 with shipping. Amazing this is less than 1/3rd of the Blueburst Epiphone 335 this appears to be modeling. And the finish is just as gorgeous with matching beautiful inlays on the fret board.
This is so sad. The reason they can make a good guitar so cheap is because they're squeezing everybody's nuts. From the people that make the pickups to the people that make the body to the people that make the strings they screwed over all their vendors which means people get paid less sacatar should be five six hundred bucks and we should all be making 20% more than we do. So Amazon that pays no taxes puts out a killer guitar Hertz other guitar manufacturers because they can't compete and make a profit.
Exactly! I AM NOT a "guitar expert". I play for my own enjoyment/relaxation & OCCASIONALLY entertain family/friends. And yes, I own a couple of cheap guitars. I AM an expert on the economic practices of China and how they work via their "partners" (lackeys) like Nike & Amazon. China thrives on, -tax favors given by the politicians they buy, -by using the ppl who among the lowest paid factory workers on the planet & -by predatory pricing practices perfected by the Japanese in the 1960s. I OCCASIONALLY purchase from Amazon, when I can't find a product anywhere else, and when I can verify where a a product is made. BTW, there is no such thing as a Famous Amazon Guitar. And I SERIOUSLY doubt any knowledgeable picker would choose an Amazon over a Gibson, Martin or Fender....even their cheapo Chinese economy models!
Its a youtube video bro..im not running for office here. I heard tons of great things about these, so I wanted to see for myself if it was worth the hype. And its a very good guitar for the price. Nothing beyond that is behind the video lol
@@SteveSterlacci I don't recall mentioning your name. True, it's your video & your channel, and I can see how you might feel as if you were the target. But the criticism was directed at Amazon & the Chinese...specifically at their predatory economic practices.
All good man! Just dealing with a few over the top psychos in the comments. Sorry if I took it out on an honest comment..just had enough of people ya know?! Lol
You do know that the spalted maple top is a photo-realistic image. It's a picture glued to plywood then covered in polyurethane. And I agree with Robert that a scarf joint is a fantastic joint and better.
G. Garden doesn’t have them and people are selling them double the price. I saw them last year but past it up. I’d never pay double I’d head down the music store and buy there
I have a mint 20 year old Carvin and a new Kiesel that are my “go-to” guitars. I just ordered a 338 out of curiosity since I wanted a hollow body to play with. Now I am excited waiting for it after hearing you play it. Hell, for $199 you can’t go wrong.
@@SteveSterlacci Thanks! I was going to do my normal Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz swap, but maybe I'll listen to the pickups first. Your samples were fine to my basic ears!
@@SteveSterlacci Just arrived yesterday and WOW! This damn thing is spot on. Even the intonation was perfect out of the box. I'm pretty much blown away.
There is apparently just one China factory that makes all the hollow body guitar styles for everyone from Firefly, Grote, Harley Benton, PRS SE, Epiphone, and more.
@@SteveSterlacci Well...Let's not get crazy here...! Lol I currently have (3) ES-335 style guitars. The first I picked up quite on a whim at GC a little over a year ago...the Epiphone ES-335 Pro. Totally impressed by the tonal ranges, I started on my quest to find the ultimate (non-Gibson) ES Guitar. Next was the Firefly ES-338 in the Spalted Maple just as Steve has. And most recently has been the Epiphone Sheraton II Pro in the Ebony finish. The only other ES I own in an Epi ES Les Paul, but that is a totally different animal all together. I've played the Dangelico"s...nice, and a couple of Fender semi-hollows. I just want to say...that I'm in love with all of my ES-335's. They all bring that one thing that drives us to become inspired to play...and isn't that the relationship that a guitar and player is supposed to have. I've been an LP player for years...but these are quite wonderful to play. But to say that there is no differences between them...is not quite correct. Be it weight, feel of the neck or the way they respond, each is unique to the other in a way that I believe is in the uniqueness of the guitars themselves. While I have not played the entire ES series, ES-345 and the ES-355, i'm looking forward to see what if any differences there are between them...!! Stay tuned..!! Dred
What's crazy about saying is better than the premier or that they could possibly be the same factory? Who knows?! Lol i look forward to hearing your conclusions
