The 335 Style Shootout! | Firefly | Monoprice | Grote 

Great comparison and review! Keep 'em comin' Chief!!

Yet another great video, thanks for sharing! I love the variety of finishes from Firefly and that does it for me, but I have to say all 3 sounded great.

Nice, you made a realistic comparison with a nice grove, enjoyed listening - you got style!!!

Thanks for another great video. Just got the mono boardwalk on Tuesday. I got the natural finish. I can't believe the quality of these guitars. This is my first monoprice. It came in great shape. No problems of that a slight tweak of the intonation on 2 strings. Frets were good although I did run a sanding sponge over the fret ends and its as good as my other guitars now. I plugged it in to my Bugera v22 and was amazed how good this thing sounds. I thought maybe I would have to change them out but not so. I'm very well satisfied. I seen your unboxing and just had to get one. You're costing me money brother, but I love it. Lol. Thanks again sir, well done!!

SOAB! What a surprise! Amazed by the noodling; wow! Great stuff! 🤘

Good comparison!Thank you! I will buy one of them soon so your review was excellent! You are also a very good guitar player! Cheers to you!😎

Thanks Jimmy. I have the Grote dark red and a gloss black FF338. Sounds like I may need the Boardwalk too! Have a good weekend.

Hey Jimmy, I took the plunge and bought a Grote 335 Vintage Sunburst guitar. Had a broken high e string and a low volume knob, but I cleaned the fretboard (2 times), polished the frets, and changed out the strings. The guitar now looks very good and plays wonderfully! Oh, and I raised the knob. Thanks for all the videos that helped my purchase. I am amazed and love it very much.

Another great in depth review Jimmy. Good job brother !!!

thanks for this extensive comparison and reviews!

Fantastic review! Thanks for posting. 👍

Awesome vid, Jimmy! Man, I love me some semi-hollow body guitars. On this one, I think the prettiest of them is the wine red Firefly. The shape and color. And the Grote sounds the best. Absolutely KILLER with those fat sounding P-90s. But as always, killer playing, and some great jams. This was a ton of fun!

Good comparison Jimmy. Thanks for taking the time for making such a thorough vid. I know you said you can’t pick a winner but it sounds like you prefer the sound of the Grote’s P90’s over the others. I’ve found that all other things being equal, the one that sounds the best is typically the one you end up picking up the most and glean inspiration from. On to the thinline tele shootout! 👍

Great review the one thing I can say is that it seems like Monoprice is very consistent which makes me feel confident in buying them

Awesome shootout Jimmy! I really enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of the P90s also. Really loved the sound of the Grote guitar. They all definitely have their own unique sound. But I'm just a big fan of that fit and finish on the Monoprice Indio Boardwalk. That would be my favorite if I could only choose to have one of the three it would definitely be the Monoprice. Happy Thursday brother.

Wow! Stick around for the loop shootout. I got the red Grote modded with humbucker sized p90s, locking tuners and the Musiclily roller bridge. Love it.

Hey man, I don't text much, but I've been playing my new firefly LPS. I've had it 4 days and I love it. I'm sooo glad I got a really good one. When I play it unplugged I can feel the vibration in my lefthand even when picking individual notes. And the sustain is amazing. It weighs 9 lbs. It was 219 shipped to Myrtle Beach. Across the US. Took nine days. I'm glad we as older folks and new musicians can get a quality guitar for little money.

Don’t know how I missed this review, Jimmy. Very well done. Didn’t miss a beat. Thanks a lot!🎸 Hope you’re well?

You are one great shopper ,and they all look like great fun

Great video Jimmy! I have 2 of the 3 and I love both of them! All sound great! I do have to say that I am not an expert, but all of my monoprice have sounded great! I had a guy who installed my TV brackets check them out as he is in a band and he couldn't believe how good they sounded at the lower price point! He loved my Grote as well! Thanks for doing these videos and keep them coming! On another note, I just bought an Orangewood acoustic (Oliver live mahogany) as well. Collection is growing! LOL

Great vid Jimmy. I have the same Grote but with humbuckets instead of the P90s. I’ve had it for almost a year and so far haven’t played it much. The only mods I have made is a string change. Mostly play acoustic, but need to plug this one in more to see what/ if I need to make any changes.

Great video Jimmy. Thank you for taking the time to do this. It is hard to choose just one. For me I would choose Billy Bob just because I don't own a guitar with P-90's. After that I would choose the Boardwalk. It sounded better than the Firefly to me. Sadly as you said it's hard to find the P-90 Grote. With that being said, I really like the IYV ITF-400 PRS Tele that you did a demo of a week ago. Hope to see a video shootout on the Tele's. I have feeling that no matter what I'll choose the IYV ITF-400 PRS Tele. It has been calling my name since last week. I may have to watch the tele demo a few times when/if you put it out & force myself to not watch it with a biased opinion. Anyway enough of my rambling. Keep up the great work & have a great weekend!

Jimmy enjoyed video a lot. I too like the P90 sound, but all have their own and unique sounds. That is what makes it so interesting and incredible regarding each individual instrument we touch. I have a Harley Benton HB-35 full size vintage series and the smaller and lighter Epiphone Casino Coupe with P90"s. Both great in their own unique way. 👌 Enjoy. Gary

I'm with you: love the sound of P90s in a semi-hollow guitar. Just ordered a Grote just like yours!

I've been a guitar channel junkie for years, but only found this channel yesterday, and loving it - liked, subscribed, rang da bell...! I've got an EART ES-335 coming this week, and a Grote with P-90's coming next week (like yours, except w/open-pore mahogany body). P-90 pickups are my favorite, but the humbuckers in the EART sound really good, and for slide they work well, being fatter and more middy. The natural wood open pore finish feels nicer than a shiny poly finish, especially on the neck. The next guitar I want is the ES-125T or Epiphone Century style, like you have: thin, no cutaway, fully hollow, one P-90. Jack Pearson got an old Gibson ES-125T, and it sounds so freaking good...there is something about P-90 pickups in hollow body guitars, especially thin hollow bodies with one pickup. EDIT: Since I mentioned him, listen to Jack Pearson's genius playing on ES-125T! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RIpdHi8m1oo.html

After saying to myself "no guitar buying for a while"... In the next breath I ordered a red Grote semi hollow from Amazon, It should be delivered Sunday. I also traded my Squire Affinity Telecaster straight across for an Epiphone casino in warn ebony and P90'S. Your channel convinced me to give P90'S a try. The Casino is fantastic!!!

Great demo Jimmy , enjoyed it. I'm partial to the P90's also , they sound great! Maybe down the road you can do an SG battle , take care...

I agree with you the grote has a brighter sound not as nasally sounding as the other two. Of course I would own all three but in this comparison I like the way the grote sounds.

Nice job Chief Keep it up

My public school math may be off but isn’t 15 4/16 the same as 15 1/4?

Jimmy, do you have measurements of the NUT width on each.. could be my eyes but the firefly looks to be 1 5/8 nut width while the other 2 look to be 1 11/16th. However, the indio had the look of a WIDE fret board and nut, perhaps the 1.75 width.. just curious as that can affect playiblility if the nut is narrow like late 60's Gibsons.. ?

Good vid J! I got a new Boardwalk this week that was a disaster and was sent right back - a stain on the front of a natural finish, loose output jack, glue all around the neck, truss rod cover way off to one side, binding sanded off, stains at the top of the fretboard, and the flamed front was sanded off in a spot near the neck - holy smokes! I’ve had lots of Indios and this was the first one I had any trouble with!!! I will say that Monoprice customer service was very helpful and sorted out the refund/return…good for them on the service! I will buy more from them…but have a Grote coming in…so don’t think I’ll get another Boardwalk!? I do like that amber finish on yours though…but it’s not available.

Loads of fun, Jimmy!At those prices, why choose? Each one has its own charms and foibles, but they don't sound the same. All 3 are excellent buys. Speaking of which, I came very close to getting my semihollow body that is the equivalent of the IYV thinline in red you have. A Harley Benton TQ90M came up on marketplace, but I was too slow getting in touch. Maybe, the player trying it tonight doesn't like it. Fingers crossed!

Another great review.... the first firefly 338s were Wine, Black, and a Black with Blue burst on top. I got 2 of the wine. So I law got 1 and I still love mine... Only humbucker guitar (9) I have where the ajustable poles are NORTH polarity... all my other are SOUTH...but it still sounds good

Thats cool jimmy!

Thank you, Mr. Stewart! I don't play guitar but I loved that sound and the presentation in general was fierce. Since I want to own one more than I want to play one, I doubt that it will ever be amplified. The p90 sound was very cool, though. Do any of these models correlate to the Beatles' individual Casino respectives owned by Paul, John and George? Or, are those considered to fall under the 335 Style definition? In either case, the ocean just got three times bigger. Any help is appreciated. Sincerely, KC

Love the reviews Jimmy. The Monoprice is said to have a 43mm nut width whereas the other two are said to have a 42mm nut width you didn't notice any difference in playability with the Monoprice?? Just curious as I narrow down my purchase options.

Nice playing Jimmy! Did I spot a dc with 3 p90’s? Another great review my friend 🙏🏼

Jammin Jimmy! Look at him GO!👍🏼. Got me the Gold fly.. lovin it

It does my heart good to have a review from real guitar player😃.

Jimmy, I already owned a couple of Indio guitars one of them their version of the Strat, the other a Jaguar/Strat OS, and they are very nice guitars. The Strat I got in baby blue looks gorgeous (I think Fender calls it Daphne colorwise), the Jag/Strat OS20 with an SSH setup is white with a black pickguard. Aside from the usual cleaning up of the fret ends with my angled sanding sponge, they came ready to rock right out of the box with no complaints. Indio also provides a superior padded gig bag which is nice compared to the cheap nylon ones that usually come with low end guitars. For the price we pay for these guitars, that’s a really nice touch. I also finally got a Firefly 338 in a beautiful purple that gets lots of compliments. The Firefly’s seem to fly off the shelves when a new batch drops. Which reminds me, they just dropped a new batch of their FFLPS which is their version of the Les Paul. I was going to get one when I came across a 2015 Epiphone Les Paul Jr for $160. It has a split coil humbucker, and is a dark blue/green. Considering those came out at $439 or something, I couldn’t let it stay on the wall at $160, it felt illegal, so I bought that instead of a new Firefly FFLPS which was the plan. As for the FF338, I love it. Gorgeous purple finish, the fret ends were actually nice, but I took the sanding sponge to them just to clean them up a tad. It has some growl to it. I would recommend it to people with the only drawback being that it doesn’t come with a gig bag. Come on man, if Monoprice can do it, Firefly can do it! One thing I like about the Firefly is that they seem to listen to the feedback from customers. My 338 had none of the flaws previous reviewers pointed out in reviews, in one the cut away where the neck meets the body was just poorly blended, and looked like crap. I made a specific point to check those things, and to my surprise, it was perfect. I haven’t played a Grote so I have no opinion on them other than it sounded good when you were playing it, and it may be a brand I look at in the future as everyone knows you can’t have enough guitars, right? I know you can’t go wrong with Firefly, or the Indio (I was looking at the Goldentop Boardwalk, and the Goldentop DLX66 before I “rescued” that Epiphone Les Paul Jr from the music store. I believe that people would be pleased with any of these choices you did in the video. I love my FF338, and both of my Indio’s, you can’t go wrong with either brand. I’d probably jump on the Indio Boardwalk if I were to buy another hollow body simply for the quality padded gig bag that comes with it. That’s it, thanks for the great video.

I'm looking to buy a 335 & I'd have to say that the Grote was my preferred guitar hands down. Really like the sound of the Grote.

I am feeling the Indio, but I want to ask you which guitar sounds a little "better" for that classic hardrock sound? I play a lot if AC/DC, Zeppelin , Stones, Greenday and some metal, not too heavy metal. the Grote or the Monoprice 66SB DLX Plus Mahogany Electric Guitar with Gig Bag, Gold Top? I like look of the Indio Boardwalk or the Goldtop 66SB. Would you mod any of these guitars if you need to? Sorry for the many questions. Thank you for posting this.

Awsome Jim..I have to say I like the grote the best but as we talked I'm a p90 guy

OK the main question... Would you gig with them, if so which one would hold up best in your opinion in a gigging situation??

Well done

You're a phenomenal guitar player.

I got the red FF and had to strip it except for the tail end and posts. I put that roller bridge on all my tuneonatic guitars. I would have chose that wine color also but red was my fav over the black that was able when I got mine. Between the 3 for sound, my ears prefer billy-bob also. Hate the finish. Between the buckers I'll go monoprice, and for best deal is indio cuz the bag is a super one.

Played my strat for many years. Got a firefly and love it. Bought 2 more. Its what i play 80% of the time.

It seems like things have changed a bit in the last 2 years. Perhaps you can do another comparison video.

I have some great guitars, including a vintage Carvin and a new Kiesel but didn’t have a hollow body and just wanted to mess around with one. I bought the Firefly for the hell of it based on good reviews. Wow! I was and am very pleasantly surprised. It plays, looks and sounds great. Excellent value.

Thank you, Jimmy what do you think of my comments, which P90 do you like better the Grote Hollowbody or the 66SB DLX Plus?

I love the way they all sound... I sadly went with an Ibanez as52. I just couldn't stand the brick/block inlays.

It seems these review videos never mention the neck dimensions - thickness or nut width. I got a Firefly and love it, but the neck is smaller and thinner than I'd prefer. Are all these neck dimensions the same or similar? Is one wider and bigger than the others? I'd love to know!

Hi, does the 338 Firefly have a smaller body?

great video brother! didnt bb king play a 335 style guitar alot?

I bought the FF338 and really didn't like the pickups in it at all. The bottom end was really fuzzy. But it plays fantastic,and only a little fret work needed for my taste, but some Epiphone Classic 57's really woke it up, great all around guitar now

Sheeit Jimmy, you rock!

Which has the thinnest neck for small hands?

Well, I know that generally lighter, thinner hollow and semihollow bodies resonate better. I think I can hear that with my stereo connected. That might eliminate the blond looking one. Any comment Jimmy? Thanks!

p90's are my favorite too. They have a very "real" sound. My new Grote matte green just like yours is arriving tomorrow!!

Indiana Jones plays Jefferson Airplane near the end and once again great job Jimmy

the one thing I don't like about the Firefly (appearance) is that the horns look like they have a "flat" (instead of curved) side. it just bugs me. but it is not a deal breaker.

I wish the orange one came with P-90s 😎

Great video but saying “May-Hogany” is killin’ me.😁

No one examines the actual center block for size weight composition as they very alot

@JimmyStewart1 - Damn! I wished I hadn't viewed this vid, now I'm getting the urge to pick up a semi-hollow to round out my collection. At this time, the Grote seems a clear winner - SS frets, better pricing, and easy ordering/returning - in addition to your detailed comparison. Would you mind if I blamed you if my wife finds out? 🤣

I have a Grote and it’s impressive for what it cost , like really impressive. It’s not this one , it’s the cherry red 335 style with humbuckers

Just picked the Monoprice Indio Boardwalk for the insane sale price of $65.62!

Any of these brands offer left handed unit's? I'm feeling like an abandoned step child! Come on people, show US some love!

338 is a maple body I think. I think the center block is mahogany.

If you prefer P90s - try the Casino. :)

The Firefly is not a 335 copy. Put one in a 335 case and it bangs around like a BB in a boxcar. It is the same body dimensions as the Ibanez AM series.

3 keepers.

Very disappointed you didn't pick ONE . That's what a shootout is for. Maybe you could think about it and come to a conclusion .

Ex Navy? We may have crossed paths.

The Firely is not made of mahogany, it is all maple.

Elders know best

Five "budget" (cheap) guitars in the last four months, and I've made my final decision. The next one I buy won't be a budget instrument, I'm deciding on where in the $1300 - $2400 range I'm going to settle. Not an oriental one, but what I see advertised in Cordoba looks to be more what I'm looking for. No electronics, I'm tired of fighting the manufacturers to get an amp that sounds good played clean, and it's going to be nylon strings. (Not my first one, and I regret that I don't have my little Framus anymore.) Then I'll start getting rid of the guitars I already have and don't use. Single, retired, about every three years I can indulge myself, and shamelessly do.

Indio for the WIN! The FF pickups don't sound as good.

The two guitars I bought from Monoprice (not a 338) were absolute junk. Terrible fret work, under the hood holes everywhere in thr cavities from over drilling. I will stick with the FF and Grotes I have.

They all look exactly what they are which is cheap.