I Can't Believe This Guitar Only Costs $200 

VIDEO SECTIONS: 1: Unboxing! 2. First Impressions - 2:08 3. What are the specs? - 3:07 4. What does a $200 LP sound like? - 5:35 5. What about the construction? - 9:04 6. Final Thoughts - 12:51 HUGE thank you to the subscriber who sent this to me to demo!

Man, the fact that companies can put out guitars like this for less than $300 makes me question how Gibson is still in business

after a lifetime of lusting after expensive guitars, I'm now genuinely more interested in how good cheapos can be

As long as the guitar sounds good, looks good, feels good and plays good, that's all that really matters! I've played some very expensive, name brand guitars that didn't even come close to meeting all these criteria! This is one hell of a bargain!

Your honesty about the guitar’s condition is very appreciated. You let us know what defects it truly has without trying to sell us a POS or less than quality. My dream guitar is a Misha Mansoor Jackson pro blue/white burst for $1000 but I’ve been settling on these $200-$300 guitars. Maybe one day I’ll take that step up.

Full specs: FFLP • Solid mahogany body with carved cap and single-ply binding on Classics, 7-ply on some Elites. Variable weight relief. • Quality enclosed die-cast tuning machines - the FFLP should have Jin-Ho tuners. • Set mahogany neck, scarf joint and rosewood fretboard (some "rosewood" fretboards were substituted with richlite during the CITES embargo) • Most have a 43 mm bone nut • Most Classics have a 14-degree headstock angle. Some Elites have a 17-degree headstock angle • Some Classics have a single ply bound neck and headstock, some Elites have multi-ply binding on the headstock • 24.75" scale • 12" fretboard radius • Most have a 60s style neck profile. Some Blue Metallic top guitars have more of a 50s style neck. • Tune-o-Matic style bridge with retainer spring and fixed stop tail • 2 humbucking pickups (some Elites have 3 pickups), ceramic magnets • 2 Volume knobs, 2 Tone knobs, (3 pickup Elites may be 3V 1T), 3-way switch . Full size pots, Orange Drop - type caps. • 17 ½” body length, 2” body thickness at edge, 9 ½” upper bout, 7 ½” waist, 13“ lower bout, 39 ½” overall length. • Belly carve and access cut at the heel on blue metallic top only.

Darrell Braun I'm actually excited to say thanks to some of your lessons (and lessons from other youtubers), I started doing set ups and work on guitars for friends and other musicians. Still learning so much.

I love how this guy jumps right to the case, not wasting time with unimportant stuff.

It's amazing how the affordable guitars today are made now. If I was a kid starting out today I'd be in Awe. Especially with all the great RU-vid videos to help you learn. I'd probably be a much better player if I started all over again.

I'm really impressed over all a nice guitar for $200.

Great channel, great reviews. Appreciate all the work you put into these videos!

I just got the MG3 version with 3 pickups in Grey burst and absolutely love it. Great out of the box. I still tweeked a little for my preferences, but very impressed, and I will buy another style from Firefly soon.

You know it's a good day when Darrell posts a video

Those tones from the neck pickup were an absolute dream. Wow!

Darrell, thanks again for another great review! My first Firefly was purchased eye's wide open, a 335 look alike. It had some needs, like a nut, action lowering and 3 frets lowered ànd th tuners replaced. It is now virtually nearly as nice to play as my GRETCH COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. After 44 years of hard work the Country Gentleman needed a fret job and a complete rewiring job. I needed the Firefly to fill in for it for 6 months... just a perfect fit. I practice on the Firefly almost daily. The bone nut I had installed was the one thing I see this guitar comes with.. I might have to buy this Les Paul. I sweat tho.. will they ALL come out of the box like this one?

Hello, I purchased an Indio strat model. did all the mods as you indicated. it took me a while lol but I just finished today . Plays amazing and it stays in tune. Thanks for your videos. Very professionally presented.

It sure is a great time to be a cheap guitar player. So many good choices these days, not like the '70s

It's an hell of budget guitar! Beautiful, sounds good, with some little upgrades could be a must have, of course it's in fingers that flow the music, and your playing is flawless as always. Greetz from Italy! 🇮🇹

Just amazing how such a beautiful looking guitar can also sound so good at that price.

That binding is so damn pretty. And the gold hardware is a perfect accent for a black bound guitar

So a super affordable LP type guitar with that kind of finish? looks awesome! Not a bad sound for the money either.

Hey Darrell 👋 Always love when I see you post a video! You are always a blessing to watch. Soli Deo Gloria brother!

Great stuff! I've been watching quite a few of your vids, smartly done, much appreciated for us on a budget. This guitar is gorgeous! Thanks very much

I just found this channel and love how we are seeing how well put together and playable "no name" guitars are today. This is a tremendous help in getting people to make much better choices and to give the BIG guitar names a run for their money. When you have a knowledgeable guy like Darrell showing you the reality here (of super sound and playability with good aesthetics) its really really hard to go for that expensive big name on the headstock rather than these excellent budget guitars. Cheers Darrell.

I have two fireflies, and I’m amazed in the quality for the price

Firefly guitars always seem to get great ratings. Would love to see a back to back blind sound test with a Gibson Les Paul. Would also love to see you demo a Wolf guitar.

Thank you for another thorough, well done guitar review!

For a beginner that'd be great for basic and advanced learning. Sharing one at a live jam for some to play would be awesome as well. I'm sure they'd be joyed to play this guitar!

You do an amazing job. And amazing how some of the cheap guitars look and sound great. I'm interested in the flame shaped electric guitar from wish for the visual aspect of it. Just wondering of this guitar has crossed your path? 🙂

Thing is, compared to cheap guitars from the 80s, this seems pretty amazing in terms of sound. I know the finish isn't all that, but as a teen all you'd really want is to sound amazing and this seems such good value for money. You also wouldn't worry playing gigs with this either!

Honest review! I watched Philip’s review and both were very helpful. I have one on the way and am looking forward to learning on the FF.

Your videos are just awesome man! Love your work!🤙

I just bought one last month and I love it!.

Best guitar around for the price ! Great video ! Enjoyed it !

The intro alone with all the arm- and hand-gesturing made me smile already 😀

I bought a black one, partly on your review. It is amazing for the price. Only one real issue, missing the bridge selector knob. I have a strat and a Taylor acoustic. For the money this thing rocks!

I’ve never seen you show us what amp you’re testing these guitars through. Makes a big difference to me. To me the amp is atleast 50 percent or more of the guitar sound. The amp is part of the instrument not just something to make it louder.

for the price the minor faults could easily be rectified! i can imagine a young kid would love this as a first guitar ,and if they love it they will more tempted to pick it up and learn to play on it.these entry level guitars are getting better and better.

Just had my Cobra Burst delivered today. It’s in near flawless condition only one place on the pickup cover had a small ding. Reviewing all of the items that were looked at on this review they are quality. No sharp edges on frets they are smooth and polished well. This really is an amazing value at this price point.

Got my copy of the latest batch of the FFLPS. Nice finish, slight shelf where the body comes down to the binding and the binding is now a single layer (3/32" width). OUt of the box it was delievered almost exactly one step down from being in tune which is great. I found the low E string to have fret buzz down the entire neck but a slight adjustment to the bridge will take care of it. Intonation was good on all but the low E and D (flat by maybe -3). I got the lighter of the 2 shades of Mahogany. After adjustments, I got similar tones as you when playing. Thanks for a great review of this guitar and the suggestion for the purchase. I'm definitely not disappointed. It actually sounds better to me than my Epiphone LP Special I

I could never deal with a guitar that heavy but this certainly makes me wish I could.

if slight cosmetics is the biggest issue.. for 200$.. think relic.. for free!!! 😄

Can't wait for the modding/upgrade video!

Darrell has become a guy i lookout for when i want to see a demo on certain brand that no one else seems to do.

I noticed that it has a set neck. That's a bonus too.

You always showcase the best cheap guitars! Kudos as always!

Beautiful! I'd defintely buy one like that.

as a person on a very limited income , I have enjoyed all the different inexpensive guitars that have shown here .After i purchase the Glarry Telecaster guitar I now have added this Firefly Les paul copy. it looks and plays better than my Epiphone Les Paul Studio so it now in my wish list. I also checked out the glarry 50 watt tube amp. it is now in my wish list too. thanks for turning me on to your inexpensive guitar and amp tests. you saved me a lot of time contacting the manufacters,to get info on their products.

I bought four Firefly's (two LP's one 335 and one SG less than $800.00) and am very happy with them and amazed at the quality, look and playability. WOW. Peace.

Yeah, these might be in stock sometime this year for a few days.

excellent review!!! i like how non-biased you are on pointing out the ugly parts. good demo too.

I'm new at modding, but my first attempt was MIM Fender guts (pups/selector/wiring) in an Austin strat copy. Amazing difference.

I bought my Firefly FFLP about 3 months ago. I got the gold top version and it looks fantastic. However, there were some quality issues. On mine, the tuners were terrible and I had a tough time getting the guitar to stay in tune. So I replaced them with some basic grovers and that problem was solved. Next was the bridge saddle. The strings guides on the saddle were cut very deep and the strings actually got stuck in them. Again, a simple replacement with a gotoh saddle and that solved that issue. The last issue was the bridge pick up. For some reason, the bridge pickup had a significant volume decrease from the neck pick up (yes, I did check the volume setting). After checking it out, I could not figure out why this was occurring. So I replaced them with some golden age vintage zebras and it works great. Other than that, I am very pleased with the guitar. I did not have the excess nut glue issue that you had, the neck is in great shape and I think the fret work was done very well. The binding looks great and I have zero finish flaws on mine. So with $200 (including shipping) for the guitar and about $160 in upgrades, I now have an LP style guitar that looks great, feels great, and I enjoy playing! Thanks for your videos.

Out jumps Mark with the war cry, “play authentic” and smashes that LP inspired guitar on the ground

I just ordered the Tele semi hollow humbucker model for Father's Day, can't wait!

Thanks for the great review, sir

After watching this great video, I bought the FFLP this past week in a burst color that I can only describe as a "caramel burst". The maple top was book matched and had a very good flame to it. The binding was excellent. The inlays were set neatly and there were no rough fret edges down the side of the neck binding. The pickups are much better than I expected, especially since my Gibson LP's have either vintage PAF's, P90's or Seymour Duncan pickups of various varieties. It was setup very nicely from the factory in terms of the action. No fret buzz, especially above the 12th fret when bending up the G, B or E strings. The neck is straight and free of bows. The frets are nicely set and properly finished. But, like any new guitar, it needs a proper intonation, which isn't to say that the intonation was out or terrible. But, it does need a tweak or two. The only criticisms I can come up with is when the selector switch is in the center position and one of the pickup volumes is turned all the way off, the remaining pickup still produces a signal unlike the LP that shuts off all signal from both pickups in the center position when either volume knob is turned all the way down. At first, I thought it may be some version of a coil split, which would've been very cool. But, it wasn't. The other criticism is you really need to have a light touch or else your fingers can easily pull the strings out of tune. So, there was a bit of getting used to going on there. I like to play 10's (10 to 48 gauge) and I think the strings on this guitar are light 10's (10 to 42) which probably represents the bulk of that problem. I'll know more when I change out the strings. Other than that, the craftsmanship, tone, playability, appearance and features are exceptional. I've owned and played guitars that easily cost 5 to 10 times as much that don't play, look or were built as well as this guitar. I think I'm going to buy another, maybe the Explorer version or semi hollow body? Who knows? For around $200 s'moleons, you can't go wrong. If you're looking for a knock-around guitar or if you're just learning or looking to buy a good quality and affordable guitar for your kid who's just starting, this is the brand to look at.

Note the brand name, money-no-odds snobs on here. I got rid of my Epi Les Paul (uncomfortable neck) and MiM Strat (I only play at home so wasted on me). Replaced with HB SG type DC400 and HB ST-62SB Strat, both a pleasure to play at much less cost & I've been playing over 50 year. I also have a Squier Affinity Tele which I'm happy with.

I love the way you play. Good job. 👍🎸

Love your reviews. Cheers.

I’ve always said that as long as a guitar looks good, plays well and sounds good, I couldn’t care less what the headstock says. Sometimes it’s nice to have certain brands in your arsenal, but little known brands can do a lot of the same things, and sometimes even better than well-known ones.

Honestly, firefly is great. I've owned one of their lp's for about a year and it still sounds great with no complaints. However they are almost never in stock so good luck trying to buy one. They've been out of stock of all guitars for about 3 months so far.

Love it. Great review.

Great informative review yet again. Any plans to review the Sire L7

I’ve owned some very expensive guitars over the years, most extremely good but not value for money. More recently I’ve been checking out sub £300 guitars and I’m stunned. The build quality is fantastic. A pro set up (£50) and they compare to guitars costing 3x as much.

Could you do a review on the WLP 750T? Maybe?

I have an IYV lps in green.i really dont know how they do it.color,grain,finish is way beyond the price point.came setup and plays magnificently.pickups arent crappy either..great time to be buying cheap,solidly crafted instruments.mods are always a bonus to perform as well.

Wow! That seems like a steal! I would never notice the cosmetic flaws in my dark studio 🤓 would definitely give it a shot!

I have a hollow body Firefly and I enjoy playing it as much as my PRS 30th Anniversary model. For the price amazing guitars. If I had the $200 I'd be buying this one too!

I got a similar guitar some years ago. It was beautiful to look at, fit and finish were good, great fretboard.... but it just never sounded great. Eventually ditched in favor of an Ibanez Artist double-cut solidbody that sounds exactly like Billy Gibbons’ LP.

Nice info, thanks!!

I just opened a Firefly FFLPS from my son and wife for Christmas. Other than my fingers turning back from playing it (I'm guessing fret polishing compound) this is an amazing instrument based on my limited knowledge. I'm never going to own a true Les Paul, so this is one of the most amazing gifts I've ever received. Frets are amazing to me, action was just about dead-on, and maybe a couple blemishes on the body that anybody would really have to look hard to spot. After opening this up, the Positive Grid Spark has been ordered (I'm playing for me, no aspirations of gigging anywhere) and I can't wait to have fun with this.

Have to say the tone from that guitar is very nice and for $200 absolutely outstanding. Anyone just starting out playing this is all the guitar they are going to need for years. While the cosmetic imperfections are noticeable you kind of have to look for them. I think after sorting out the glue around the nut it would be liveable with. Still can't believe it's only $200 for an instrument that plays that well out of the box.

Damn, What a Great sounding, Playable, and looking Guitar for $ 200 Bucks, you can;t go wrong here,, I don;t know how they can build a Guitar for this price, Rock On, Cousin Figel

Great sounding guitar Darrell. I bought a second house in Florida & needed an axe there but wasn’t shipping any of my others from Chicago. Ordered a Kramer Focus VII. Paid $130. Yes $130. Can’t believe how good this guitar is. Sounds as good as my Fender super strat. Came set up, no paint issues, gorgeous maple fingerboard, comfy neck & trem works well. And a HSS setup, so many sounds. Should get one for the channel if you can get one. They sell quickly.

Where were these Guitars when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's ? Nice cover Darrell !

Glad to see genuinely good guitars at a realistically affordable price -- unlike the big-name guys. Sure, in many cases the neck and frets can use a little simple TLC; but the same might be true of a Fender or Gibson as well. I just wish such things could be made in America.

These would be a great deal if they were ever in stock

Ive never liked the LP bodies but I like this a lot. I might buy a new guitar every week if you keep sharing these gems.

Sounds amazing for the price! Is it single or dual coil(I may have missed that in the intro)? If so, did you switch from dual to single coil? (pulling the tone and volume dials out). Probably insignificant, but still valid.

1:14 The return of the king

Ouch. When I think of all the money I've wasted on a Gibson... Nah, it's great. But this is an AMAZING guitar for the price! Thanks for sharing.

For what it's worth -- on this guitar (identical) which came to me Dec. 2022, I found no visible construction or cosmetic issues at all except for a little bit of a glueline on the tuner side of the nut. Plays great, sounds great, looks great. Recommended!

I have this guitar. The smudges on the binding does clean off pretty easily.

That is a nice guitar. I'm really surprised it has a bone nut. Great review man.

You make $200 guitar sounds so good

very objective assessment. keep it up

So I am a 50ish beginner to guitar, I saw your video today and decided to give one a shot. Excited for it to arrive. Thanks for the budget reviews.

That thumbnail was so tempting so here I am

If I closed my eyes and heard this guitar without seeing it, I would have sworn that it was pricey.

I'm going to get one. I think I can bring out the best in it as well .great job on playing this Darrell.

Wow!!!! Beautiful guitar and sounds incredible!!!!

Wow! That guitar is both great looking and great sounding. Just amazes me that you can buy that much quality for $200, regardless of where it is made.

Do a demo on a Harley Benton guitar with emgs

I own a 1978 Les Paul Standard in cherry sunburst and a 2019 Firefly FFLP Elite in lizard burst. The Firefly feels and plays as good as the Gibson. The Gibson humbuckers have better overall tone, but the Firefly comes close. The build quality on the Gibson is flawless, while there are minor imperfections in the Firefly, noticeable only on close inspection. I do not have the excess glue problem at the nut that Darrell has. The finish on the Gibson is high quality nitrocellulose that, aside from minor dings, looks as good as when I bought it 40+ years ago. The firefly finish is amazing and it is the first guitar that I have purchased for appearance over tone, having never seen anything like this lizard burst. I bought the Firefly as a project guitar with the intent of upgrading it with Whole Lotta Humbuckers, CTS push-pull pots, Sprague orange drops and Switchcraft toggle and jack in a Jimmy Page wiring scheme. I wanted to keep my Gibson stock. I will eventually do the work, but it has been nearly a year since I bought the Firefly and upgrade parts. The JP wiring will be time consuming as I will be hand wiring it myself with splits, series/parallel and phase in/out. Still, I enjoy playing the Firefly as is. The Firefly FFLP Elites are hard to find. I do not own a regular FFLP, so I cannot compare the two. I purchased mine NWT on eBay and paid about $50 over retail. This gave me the ability to choose a great finish and the opportunity to look at close up pics of the guitar before I purchased it. Well worth every cent as there were no surprises upon unboxing.

Great recommendation! I’m looking to buy my first electric, and this sounds like a contender!

Please do a review of tagima guitars.

I love when Darrell Braun proudly announces how he's Canadian, making all of us Canadians stand and cheer. The bad news? No guitar this amazing of a deal is ever easy to get into Canada. Or with some guitars I've seen here, it's not even possible. Why do you tease us Canadians so, Darrell? ;)

thanks Darrell great vid and great looking guitar hope it holds up. I have a Harley Benton LP burst top, and it's also great for price.

The guitar is awesome, if you can find one, guitars garden sells out same day when they come in (i always miss out) and they do sell some on amazon but again the popular models like this sell out right away, If they actually made more of them they could make a killing.