Deconstructing A Firefly FF-338 From the Inside Out
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- This video is the most thorough inspection and review of the Firefly ES-338 guitar. For being a sub-$200 guitar, is it worth it? Let Sven "Fotofisher" Svenson walk you through the guitar from head-to-toe and from the inside out. Compare pickup sound samples and learn what Sven thinks are the pro's and con's of this guitar.
NO SPONSORED PRODUCTS IN THIS VIDEO - EVERYTHING DISCUSSED IS PAID FOR OUT OF POCKET.
Intro: 0:28
The Good and the Bad 1:20
What is the Fretboard Wood? 10:13
Proper Fretboard Conditioning 12:53
Pickup Evaluation 13:37
Evaluation of Internal Wiring and Components 14:56
TIP: Use clear tubing to pull volume and tone pots back in place 16:00
Tone Capacitor Evaluation 17:00
Neck gaps, Wet polishing compound, laminated top 19:36
Wax potting the pickups, roller bridge and tailpiece 21:13
SOUND TEST INTRO 24:04
ACTUAL SOUND TEST 25:45
Wrap-up and Final Thoughts 28:57
When I started playing in 1962 the only options were Harmony and Kent guitars. Terrible! I was lucky. My dad bought me a Fender Jaguar. I recently bought a Firefly 338 in Spalted Maple. I love It. So much better than the cheap guitars that were available when I started playing. Shalom/gw
I remember the Harmony and Kent brands of cheap Asian guitars! They were quite common in Cincinnati area Will's pawn shops back in the days.
Good info mate appreciated
It is a actually an input jack. Sound doesn’t come out of the hole lol. Put your ear up to the hole and listen real hard.
Electricity goes into the guitar to create an electromagnetic field with the pickups, and the signal comes back out.
Hmmm, I would study that some more if I were you! Electricity is NOT sent to the guitar. Guitar pickups transmit a very weak electromagnetic signal from the pickups, sent via very thin wires to the OUTPUT jack going OUT of the guitar, then the signal is carried through the instrument cable INTO the amplifier. Amplifiers do NOT send electricity to any instrument!
With the price of the guitar I wouldn’t mention anything about it
it's funny to see sub $200 guitars critiqued for finish imperfections or finishing compounds left, while people pay extra for new guitars with distressed features added. all I'm interested in for $200 is how it plays, you notes on the bridge, frets, and tuners are much appreciated.
Absolutely the best comment yet! Yeah, I think the same way...why do we pay extra for "vintage aged" guitars built 6 months ago?!
Sounds like you’re pretty defensive of Firefly bud 😂
I appreciate seeing all of the details. He made sure to mention 25 times that “it’s a 200$ guitar what do you expect”
I think most people want to see all the details, the nitty gritty. That level of detail is greatly appreciated by me, at least.
@DiggityBurnDank not defensive at all. In fact, I don't even own a firefly anymore.
@@hikefishmakemusic in other words it’s an opinion thing. Some people like aged guitars. If you can really play and have tone in your hands and use a guitar like an extension of your body and can just go and improvise- at that point you’d understand the point of an aged guitar built 6 months ago. You may or may not like them but you’d still *get it* at that point as to why people like them. I didn’t used to get it either. Then I played a good aged strat, and I understood it immediately. I still didn’t really want one at that point. But now that I have a custom shop strat with journeyman relic and closet classic (not rusty) hardware- i fn absolutely get it. There’s a resonance and buzzing and feel to a good aged nitro guitar that other guitars don’t have. A feel. They feel more silky and alive and buzzing. It’s almost an ASMR thing or something. When you run your fingers along the cracked nitro finish it feels like it’s made of skittles shell or m&m shell. It’s fire lol. They’re just worn in and silky. I have a non aged Gibson SG that I love just as much, but there’s definitely just something special about a fender custom shop aged guitar. If you believe in your heart that it sounds better and is better then it will be better as you’re playing it. That’s how powerful the mind of a guitar player is. Knowing that you are playing a custom shop strat or a gibson gives some ppl a boost to their playing. Confidence and comfort. Same goes for aged guitars. A lot of people seem to think it’s supposed to be a visual showoff thing- I question whether they can even play
@@WithCarePlzSounds like you're pretty offensive against the Firefly, bud. I think it's a bit anal the way he goes over the smallest imperfections as if a guitar without any imperfections is worth 20 times the price. I just care about how the frets are and the general playability. Even with some finish flaws this guitar is 90% of a $4k guitar, IMO. Change out the electronics and put in a pickup or two and the only real difference will be the finish flaws!
I have this guitar and it plays and sounds fantastic. It has some blems thruout but it sounds and plays like butter and unless your looking for the blems etc, you dont see them. It came intonated, action was good, stays intune. Im blown away.
Oh, def do the lemon oil trick. I did that when I first got mine out of the box and saw how dry the FB was when i first got the guitar a few years ago. Great tip ;-)
Weird the more i go into the video, im seeing a lot of things wrong on your particular guitar that i guess i got lucky and dont have with mine. My neck pocket does not have those gaps. I have great sustain on mine. The only issues with mine were a few blems and stuff like you pointed out on your top, but mine had very few. Seems yours is almost like a B-Stock or something. That concerns me because it means this is very hit or miss.
I have one coming in this Monday and all I care about the sound and playability. Small blemishes are irrelevant. If you bought a used brand name guitar it would likely have some use blemishes and cost WAY more. I bought a Fender Fat Strat brand new and the neck was so bad the shop could not get it set up and they had to send it out for repair. It came back and was still out of whack and I make them refund my money (all told it took 5 weeks to get it back from Fender so I had it for a matter of several days after purchase over a five week period). So paying more does not equal better quality. Also, I have listened to about a dozen reviews and I have never heard the buzz he mentioned in the vid.
Thanks, Sven, for making this vid. I for one do not want to pay big dollars to have these incredibly minor imperfections addressed. If I wanted that I'd buy those expensive brands.
I agree completely. My epiphone casino has a broken neck (fixed) and it just sits and collects dust until it goes back in the case.
Wow I have never seen someone be so picky with a budget $150 guitar
You don't get it then...it's not about being picky, its about exposing what an inexpensive guitar is made of. In reality, this guitar is WAYYYYY FLIPPEN better than any guitar of the same price back in the 70s and 80s when I was learning guitar.
I’d much rather have these minor flaws and pay the asking price than paying twice the price and having it perfect it seems most of the main parts seem very acceptable.Ive heard Gibsons have similar flaws even though they cost thousands!!!!
Yet Here you are
Being Picky
Great video, thanks for taking the time.
I bought one sounds just as good as the ones that I paid a thousand to $2,000
I have three FF 338s, a clear red, a clear blond, and a new blue burst. I'm trying to sell the blond because it has a slightly wider and thicker neck that I dont like. The other two I love in every way. Unbeatable value.
Yep. Glad to hear that you are digging your 338s. I have 2 of them as well. The spalted maple... orange/brownish. And Gold Top. They both rock, and I absolutely love them! I couldn't believe it when I got them - what you can get for that amount of cash. Crazy good.
I bought one used and am very happy with it. It is not a Gibson but it is very good for the price, I use it as a practice guitar.
Just a new firefly update. I just got a John5 copy. I did change the pickups and installed locking tuners. The reason I made the upgrades is its a stunning guitar. Perfect in everyway except for the squealy pickups.
I think the QC has improved alot.
@@revtimewest thx for the update, good to know.
Very thorough and detailed assessment! I’m very impressed!
I have this same 338.
Locking tuners
Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz pickups
CTS tone and volume pots
Switchcraft switch
Gotoh bridge w/ graphtech saddles
All nickel hardware
I’ll never get my money back from it, but It’s fantastic, and I find myself picking it up often.
Honestly why would you sell it? If all my guitars where like this I would still have the one that fit but I stupidly sold. Lol
@@Yakomoe I won’t lol, but I often try to justify my spending by saying I can get my money,or a good portion of it, back. It’s also the most common excuse as why to NOT do what I did, and put a bunch of money into a cheap no name guitar. I enjoy it and I’m happy though so…
Just keep your old parts! Then if you want to sell it put the old parts back on and move your good parts to another build or sell them. Like your SD pickups you could buy new for $99 you could probably get $80 when you sell them (or buy them used and lose even less!)
Excellent review. I have one from 1 1/2 years ago. It compares very favorably to my room full of guitars played over 55 years. I've gigged and recorded with it many times. My neck joint is tight very well done. The pickups are wax coated from the factory. I changed nothing but the strings. A few very minor flaws in the finish that are unnoticeable and I don't really care about cosmetics anyway. These represent a great buy for any guitar player. Thanks!!
Thanks for the effort and the video. I see you have a thing for the natural finish. I like to see the grain of the wood too
(When these first appeared on Amazon, FFs were available for sometimes only days and then 6 weeks or more between availability. I bought a Natural on Sale-Generation #3, and a Black one a year later.) I replaced tuners within days because one or two tuners on both were sloppier than the others, and getting nice tuners was just too easy of fix. I never had black fingers or buzzings because I oiled and cleaned the fretboards and dripped a bit o' wav on the bridges, then replaced those, too - again, just too inexpensive NOT to. And i am glad you mentioned the easy access to the nut, which I replaced with my far-more-trusted Tusq brand. These two guitars were my stage-performance guitars, they were terrific for what I did and I've recently passed them onto two others.
Outstanding! Cut through the B.S. and right to the nuts and bolts. I did the same things to mine except I replaced the pups with some SL-1s I had as spares and My fret board was done a little better ( maybe the difference between a build on Tuesday vs Friday). Great job top to bottom, thanks!
I bought one it's not a natural finish..but mine has no imperfections at all...perhaps they are inconsistent in their building...I have a Gretsch G2420T and the Firefly 338 is just about as good
Hi,i thinf my Sheraton 2 from 2004 is a much better choice if someone is searching for a semiakkustic guitar!bUT THANKS FOR YOUR INFORMATIV VIDEO1
Hello, I just sent one in a burst scheme back that looked pretty nice, but the way the neck pocket looked is just plain wrong. A 3 yr. old could have done a better job imho. The tuneamatic on mine was angled back towards the stop tail piece too. I have a double cut with P90's that is pretty nice though so go figure. You's get whats you pay for!n stay safe
I bought one when they first came out. It was badly made junk. Really awful. Glad to see the QC has improved at least somewhat.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I'd been eyeballing one of these guitars. I think they are a good value because I'm willing to put in a little elbow grease to improve it. Your video convinced that it's worth that effort. Thanks!
it would be nice if you had a real 338 but you cant because Ted Nugent bought them all lol
Most of that seemed pretty minor. Still a decent guirar for the price.
Nice to see your tech background applied here, makes me appreciate my guitar techs even more, Thankyou for this video Brother, so a thumbs up and a definite subscriber, Thanks!
It is an FF-338, not an ES-338.
Yours must have been made on a Monday or Friday. I just got the exact same guitar a week ago, and its finish is virtually perfect. The neck inlays are perfectly fitted with no router overrun, and I can't make any complaints about the electronics either, but I am not an electronics guru.
These cheap guitars are hit and miss, and I think you got a "miss" one.
FTR, I've been playing about 50 years, and I have some real, expensive Gibsons, and my Firefly plays as well as my real Les Pauls and SG's. It is much more than a beginner's guitar for sure!
Both of mine had the same inlay issues, so I can say that not just one, but two guitars are consistent in that matter. Have you looked inside under the neck pickup? How is the neck fitment? How about the excessive polishing compound? I can’t say i got a “miss” one as it is every bit worth the under $200 I paid for it. I’m glad you got an exceptional unit. I just played mine yesterday and thoroughly enjoy it - despite any cosmetic flaws it may have.
@@hikefishmakemusic I just went over my purple FF338 along with your video and it has none of these issues (luckily). The inlays are fitted perfectly, the pickups are not smudged or pitted, and I don't mind the Firefly logo. There may be tooling marks on the edge of the frets but I'm more impressed by how smooth the edges of the fretboard are.
Still a very good review!
I just bought an FFLP so I'll see how that one goes.
@@jimbopsvidz how about the gaps in the neck fitting to the body?
@@hikefishmakemusic I don't see a way to attach pictures but it looks ok to me. Now if I could only play it well.
@@jimbopsvidz does it have the 1/4" gaps I showed in my video?
I find it interesting how much focus some people put on the look of a guitar. Lol when you listen to an album, or see a band on stage... enough said. I get it that alot of people want to be 'perfectly presentable' but... usually subtracts from focus on sound and creativity.
Great video. My Red FF 338 after a good cleaning, is a fine choice to learn on. After honing my skills, It is a solid platform for upgrading the hardware into a gigable axe. Thanks for the great tips and preview of that job. Just subscribed 😁 Also, my neighbor thinks we are relatives, because of the guitars and fishing gear. I responded, "Great Minds"LOL
Excellent vid thanks Sven! I love these FFs, great for modding!!! I spend a lot of time on the frets, rounding the ends, and leveling to get that ultra close low action (I have a special fine that was originally made for chain saws) , I buff the frets to a dull glow. The little imperfections in the finish doesn't really seem to matter anyway. All of our guitars either go to younger players who are going to drop em at some point anyway, get used in the studio, or gigged with, and get the hair loved off anyway.
The really great thing about this price point is: you get a pretty good looking\built ax that you can mod the hell out of, and most likely end up with something that plays better than something you've spent a grand more for.
Thanks for the commentary. This was a thorough look. I think it's a beautiful looking and sounding guitar. With a competent set-up and a few low cost upgrades, this will be a superior instrument - Well worth it! All the best.
Wow, you know what your doing 😏. Can't expect much for $180 tho.
Even though I was hard in the review of the guitar, I actually like it and play it frequently.
Great video, amazing the difference in those pickups after the attention to them.
Fretboard and all the videos I've watched is said to be Rosewood
Not buying it. I have plenty of very old and collectable guitars with rosewood fingerboards; the wood on my Firefly is NOT rosewood and doesn't even come close to the texture of rosewood. How can a cheap $200 guitar manufacturer use very expensive rosewood when even Fender is using Pau Ferro now? Doesn't make sense that Firefly is using hard to get and expensive rosewood.
I bought a 338, put some good pickups and a good set of tuners in it. It's a great gigging guitar and if anything ever goes south, I'll just take out the PU's and tuners and reuse them elsewhere.
That's the way to do it! Always keep your old parts and label them!
Huh. I coulda sworn these pickups were already wax potted going by a few other videos on the same model Fire Fly.
I think the better term is wax "coated". The coating I saw on the pickups could hardly be considered a good potting job. And, there WAS a distinctive sound difference comparing before I potted the pickups properly and after. So, are they wax potted out of the box? Marginal at best is a fair claim - they could stand a better potting job, as I have done.
I just bought one of these guitars but the guitar number is the FF338.
Liked and Subscribed!
Yeah, made a type and to fix it means I have to take the vid down, make the fix and republish, starting my vid stats all over again.
Good info mate appreciated. I upgraded pickuos on my 338, but there are other things I can do it, seems. Thx again., you are good at this. I thought until niw that waxing was sonething ladies did to there legs....
Great video, and a great guitar. I have 2 of these FF 338s.... one of them is this exact guitar, in spalted orangish/brown. And the second is in a Gold Top. I love them both. Not trying to say it's a Gibson. That would be crazy. But I got them both for around $178 bucks or so. Just a crazy good deal, and insane value for what you get, for that kind of money. I love them. I am very interested in wax-potting the pickups. I'm sure it would reduce some of that feed-back, and help the string clarity too.
Jimmy Z In seeing your mention of interest in wax-potting these, John Welch's comment above yours, mentions these FF's come wax-potted from the factory.
Jimmy Z I had mentioned wax potting, John Welch's comment, but I hadn't seen the entire vid yet, but see the video host's wax-potting paid off (he commented it improvement), and others commented too, like what factory wax-potting is more like a 'coating', not a legit wax-potting it might have been if done right at factory. Great video this, tho, and good luck Jimmy Z on your FF, and wax-potting it if you pursue that.
Did you waste your money? Absolutely not. You paid under $200 for a beautiful guitar. If you want a Gibson or even an Epiphone that has a spalted maple veneer go ahead and try to find one.
There's a lot to be said of luthiery as both an art and a craft, but many of the things you end up paying for in expensive guitars are purely aesthetic; fancy inlays, beautiful exotic woods, binding, etc. aren't necessary to the function of the instrument, but they certainly do push the price tag higher. Plywood isn't especially luxurious, but it's been proven many times over that it can and will make a perfectly functional guitar.
I had bought one of these guitars. The neck angle was so far off that the bridge height couldn't go high enough to get a decent string height for playability. I returned it the same day it arrived.
Minor niggles that you can find on the majority of guitars if you get up close. I could nit pick my Gibsons snd Fenders. But, for the price look and sound. Amazing guitar. Well worth buying.
Those tuning pegs are good. I've used them for years on my SG Firefly copy. I was thinking of getting some locking tuners but they were so good I didn't bother.
that's called a scarf joint...cheaper to do (smaller pieces=cheaper) treat the fretboard with 3-in-1 oil and Johnson's wax (light tan) make a slurry and wipe on. (wax on wax off!)
You should get a Savoy Deluxe semi-hollow body electric guitar from Robin Guitars with Texas BBQ pickups from Rio Grande pickups.
Then you have lived.
what size tubing did you use for the pots
Fantastic review😊 Thank you!
As a reference: It takes me 3 8hour days to make a guitar neck so no way I could sell my guitars for this price ( Chinese slave labor ), many negatives noted I have found on Gibson, Fender and Martin etc.
I have several asian guitars and I love them😂😂😂. WhaT do you expect for a couple of hundred bucks. A 59 Gibson ????😎😎
Got my 338 today. Unplayable. Fretwork sucks. Buzzing at the d string is terrible, can’t determine where it is buzzing exactly, frustrating. Think I’ll just pass it along. I don’t feel like messing with it
I'd love to see a video of how you get all the hardware out of the hollowbody. Is it simply attaching the tubing and then pulling the wires from inside to get them out? Also, what size tubing do you use?
Bro It's a 170.00 dollar guitar!!!! WTF do you want???? Fill in the gaps with epoxy or wood fiillerr and move on
Excess polishing compound? Common on Ibanez, Epiphone, Hofner Ignition…
I preferred the un-wax-potted pickup tones. Of course, what you hear live and what I hear through my reference monitor system will certainly be a different experience.
So, advice, please. At some point I will be replacing the tuners on my new Firefly FF-338 (ES-335 knockoff, current ones are crooked). Question, will the Grover 406c mini locks work?
they would work just fine.
I got the sunburst it look just like Gibson ES335 except the ears are ES339 mine was perfect finish and I change out all electronics to Epiphone ProBuckers and 500k pot with 1950’s style wiring. The original saddles and bridge was changed out to ABS BRASS ROLLERS AND SMOOTH TUNING AND POWER JACK IS EPIPHONE AND THE SELECTOR SWITCH IS EPIPHONE SO I GOT THE EPIPHONE CASINO
You are being to hard on the guitar for the price they are decent sure you have to do some setup but then again you would have to setup a new Gibson or fender the same way
How was the neck pocket on 2nd guitar? Is bad neck joints on all, or random? Having 2, I hoped you’d compare construction. Also mine has No kerfing on inside? Will it fall apart in the future? Does neck truss Rod work? If that won’t adjust , it’s hard to get a good set up. Electronics easily changed, does it have good bones?
Neck pocket on 2nd guitar was the same. Truss rod seemed to work without issue and I got a good setup on both guitars. Can't assess long term prognosis on this guitar yet.
Need a baseline comparing both guitars out of the box without any modifications.
baseline: there are PLENTY of videos that give sounds out of the box - i wanted this video to be different. Here’s what it sounds like: they both were marginally adequate equally (a nice way of saying it’s definitely a $200 guitar out of the box). You wouldn’t be able to tell them apart in a blind test.
@@hikefishmakemusic ✅ Did they both have the gaps in the neck joint? A big problem with cheap guitars is inconsistent or no quality control.
@@socrates2706 yes, I am preparing an upcoming video showing the gaps are consistently cut and nearly identical.
One reviewer I saw stated that the neck was of Mahogany. But?
I'm just learning about the innards and really appreciate the presentation and detail- thank you!
Pretty nice for a new $200. guitar. Easy fixes.
Mine was much nicer when it arrived .
Send it back.
The model number is FF338, not ES338....
Hello, how does one close up the big gaps where the neck meets the block? Oak shims? Epoxy? Your thoughts are needed. Thank you.
Well, I have just left things alone with the thought that as long as the neck wood has good contact with the body, that gaps won't impact sound a great deal. Adding epoxy would add a harder substrate than wood, so it would impact sound I would think. Adding wood shims would closely imitate the substrate of the body and neck and thus theoretically would retain more of the natural resonance. But in all honesty, I doubt you would hear a difference between the three options. As such, I would just let things be as they are and save the extra effort that would yield almost no noticeable gain.
The tubing tip is pure gold , thanks for a very informative video.
I agree. Top tip!
It is a sub $200 guitar. Way to much nitpicking on a sub $200 guitar take a look at a $2000 guitar and tell me that there is file marked on the the edge. Crazy. You shouldn’t be doing a critique on a $200 guitar you’re way too picky get real for someone getting into guitars. It’s wonderful guitar with a little bit of cleaning little bit of touchup little bit of things to do. It sounds wonderful.
Like you and others who say this is a nitpicking review, you aren't "picking up what I'm throwing down". This video isn't about nitpicking...it's about showing IN DETAIL what a $200 guitar looks like from the inside out and compared to a $3000 guitar. It's about providing information that isn't otherwise provided anywhere. You cannot tell me you didn't learn something by watching this video.
I know its been a while since this video but the neck set gap, did you do anything with that? I think I would have filled the gaps with shims and glue but let me know how you would have taken care of it. Nice video and nice sounding guitars as well, despite the flaws.
I didn't do anything with the gaps.
Orphee strings. Dented covers, bad QC, rattley bridges. I have had several FF's. The frets on yours are decent. They can be pretty bad on some. Finally- several fireflys I've worked on have butchered up saddles that look like they were purposely hacked.
There are other better guitars for the same or less money for sure.
Thanks for the really in depth review!
yeah - with a little handiwork at the guitar bench, I have a rather nice guitar that I actually enjoy playing. In fact, I just recorded a song for an upcoming project using my Firefly. I am now experimenting to make a Grote into a really nice sounding jazz box - the stock Grote ES125 clone is on-par with the stock Firefly ES-338 - just "meh".
Man, most of the things you point out are pretty nit-picky. WTF do you want from a $200 axe?
You don't get it...I am showing exactly what YOU DO get for $200. You didn't know half the stuff in my video until you watched it!
It’s probably uighur bone.
Thanks for the close up of the neck. It's good to see cheap guitars are getting better in action.
not much diff to my ole ears
One more. Would you consider upgrading the frets to SS?
I think that would be a $200-$300 cost that would not be worth it, just my opinion.
How many FIREFLY guitars you have ?
one, two, three…yes, threeeeee.
@@hikefishmakemusic New FFSG's by Firefly coming soon.
Stock p/u's are very microphonic. The main change of sound is from putting good strings on it.
Yes, the stock pups are horrible, but I disagree with your premise. I wax-potted the pickups and re-installed them - Noticeable improvement. If I were to put flat-wounds vs normal electric strings, I could agree with your premise, but the wax-potting helped considerably. Plus, I contend that ultimate tone is in the fingers, not the gear.
How heavy is it?
A side by side review of a modern 'beginner' price guitar and the kind of thing we had to learn on in the 1960's and 70's would be interesting!
I have in my collection a Jedson Telecaster-ish shaped thin piece of plywood guitar (which is actually what I learned on) from the 1970's, and a 1960's Egmond Lucky Seven single pickup semi acoustic with what appears to be humbucker but which is actually a weak as water single coil, and what looks like a set neck, but has a plastic plug in the heel. Pop that off, and it reveals the head of the one single huge screw that holds the neck on!
Beginners have it much better these days.
Totally agree...beginners have access to WAY better guitars than the MonkeyWard and SearsRowbux guitars I could afford when I was a tyke in the late 60s and early 70s!.
@@hikefishmakemusic Have you ever seen a book by session bass player Mo Foster called 17 Watts? There are still copies around, and it's a fascinating and often hilarious history of his and others early days in music. One tale is about Jeff Beck, who made his first guitar in woodwork lessons at school. He didn't realise frets get closer together as they go up the neck, so he just spaced them out evenly all the way up. I'd have loved to hear that when he strung it up.
Another famous player (I forget who - I lent my copy to a bass player many years ago and haven't got it back yet) said the action on his first guitar was so high you could play slide from underneath the strings!
Strange so many imperfections… mine had none of these bigger flaws
How about the neck pickup cavity where the neck meets the body? Any big gaps?
Thank you for doing this!
Those gaps under the pick up ……. Can you fill them up ?
Really no need to. I know of no reason to fill them up.
You are looking at this guitar as you would a $1,000 unit from Gibson. Of course it's not perfect. If you want it perfect, you will have to do the detail finish work and drop another $200 into it.... then you will have your $1,000 Gibson guitar and $600 for a new amp.
Thanks for watching and your feedback! I have received many comments like yours over the years and I resisted in responding. But you seem like a super nice chap, so I think it’s time to share my rationale on the detail I go through in the video in hopes others read this.
You, like many others are not picking up what I am throwing down! Let me explain: There is no other video on the firefly FF-338 guitar like this one. Most just say ‘it looks great’, ‘it plays fine’, or ‘it sounds good’. Those videos are NOT helpful at all. Frankly put, if you look under the covers like what I did, the guitar is mediocre at best - construction is sub-par (neck fitment, fretboard inlays, etc) and the pickups and electronics are horrendous. I don’t give a crap if it is a $200 guitar or not, money should NOT factor into a thorough review, regardless of the product. If $$$ factors in, then it is implied since it is an inexpensive guitar, I should give it some slack. No. No. No! A potential buyer should know *exactly* what this guitar is all about, regardless if it is a $100 guitar or a $3000 guitar. Plus, I just downright had fun opening it up and looking under the covers! (My reference points are one of 20+ guitars I own including a ’72 Gibson L6-S, a ‘00 Gibson ES-335, a ‘00 US Strat, a ‘96 Collings OM2H, a ‘94 Taylor 810ce, a ‘03 Taylor 914ce, a ’78 Fender Tele Custom, etc.)
So, I decided to make a video giving a potential firefly guitar buyer everything he/she needs to make an educated decision on buying one, or not. You may call it nitpicking, I call it complete thoroughness and darned good info for interested YTers. If you aren’t a detail-oriented person, I completely understand.
With all said, I lowered the action and entirely replaced the potentiometers, pickups, tuners, saddle and bridge in my Firefly as an experiment to see if I could make it play and sound better. Out of the box, it’s a marginal guitar with budget components, but with about $150 in modest upgraded parts and some labor time, it now sounds quite good and is gig-able. I enjoy playing mine now and just recorded a song for an upcoming personal album project using it. It’s not a Gibson ES-335, but as an inexpensive and ‘pretty’ guitar with a serious make-over, it’s a really, really fun guitar to play.
Again, thanks for watching and your feedback!!!
@@hikefishmakemusic Thanks for responding to my comment, for whatever reason you did, but I think you missed my point. Nobody buys a $200 guitar expecting it to be anything like a $2,000 Gibson, or even a $600 Epiphone.... but, what they get is way more that they expect. Like you said, it's only $150 away from being as useful as the $2,000 Gibson. The simple fact is, take away the hardware, electrics and fret finishing and you have the guts of Gibson 335. Same wood, same construction, same quality. Gibson is the one screwing the buyer... not China. China is only screwing Gibson.
Steve ... I really would like to see the video on the Firefly ff338 upgrade you said you were going to do, but I can't find it. Can you help me out. I also don't know how to find an email to contact you or your RUclips channel.
I think about doing it, but haven't made the time to do it quite yet.
@@hikefishmakemusic Please do. I would like to see it, and I'm sure others would too.
We have a Facebook group, Firefly guitars, the good, the bad and ugly where we discuss these guitars. We talk about Which models are good and Which models are maybe that's so good. We try to help each other on upgrades. Many members will upgrade the tuners and the bridges do something a little better. Also many people upgrade the pickups. We discuss which parts fit these guitars, where to get them and who has the best prices. Please stop by and check us out
Thanks for the suggestion as I am sure others will find it useful. Outside of RUclips, I do not participate in any other social media platform, but I am sure the FB group is helpful. I have completely modded my Firefly with new '57 replica humbuckers, new pots and caps and cloth-coated wiring. I also put on locking tuners and a roller bridge. It's a wonderful sounding and playing guitar.
@@hikefishmakemusic thanks for your reply sir. And thanks for the videos you do. I wish more reviewers would do your style of in-depth review and not just glorify the product. Our little Facebook group is fairly new and growing but we really need to keep it growing, so too bad end I would really appreciate if you could pin my original comment. Thanks again Steve and have a great day
2 questions- would you consider coil splits, and would you consider shimming the neck joint?
I have never really found that coil splits or coil taps do that much to reshape the tone of the guitar, no matter what pickups or combinations employed. I can get what I need out of my fingers and the tone knob, or a pedal or two. As for shimming the neck, I would avoid it unless it is terribly out of whack.
@@hikefishmakemusic Much appreciated! Looking forward to more of your videos 🤗
It's a cheap guitar, you expect WAAAAAY to much!
You aren't picking up what I'm throwing down...I am just going thru a guitar that has significant internet debate on its quality in a way that no other video has done. All in an effort to help inform those with significant opinions either way. If you watched the whole video you'll notice I am favorable on the guitar...so how am I expecting too much?!
Can you tell me the size of tubing your using to pull the electronics. Also do you know if full size pots can be used? Will the f holes accommodate there size? Thanks for the comparison as I replaced the bridge and tail piece on an LP model. Pulled the studs out (by hand) and found them to be shimmed (poorly) to keep them in place. I shimmed it evenly around the post and inserted the Wilkinson body studs. I believe it assisted the sustain and resonance considerably. I’ve got a set of pearly gates and some CTS pots that I’m thinking of dropping in the ES338 I just picked up.
You can, if your patient and careful, work full-size pots into the 338s. As to tubing, I use butcher's string - works great! I put Seth Lovers in mine paired with a ToneShaper wiring kit for an ES335 including the .022uf orange caps and the treble bleeds. I added a Tusq nut, a Kaish roller bridge from Amazon and and locking tuners. I leveled, crowned and polished the frets. I didn't need to adjust the neck on mine at all. I love my 338!
@@fionacorwin5501 I just got one and I’m gonna put some Seth Lovers in mine, too. Excellent choice for hollow body guitars.
What bridge replacement did you use? Thanks
Wilkinson roller bridge
My firefly LP has a really great sound unplugged acousticly. It sounds better than all the other guitars I own it sounds so good unpluged. In fact I have not pluged it in yet. I didnt have the option of not adjusting the neck it was back bowed and it buzzed horible. I also had to adjust the bridge higher. It has a little bit high action I could not get it to lower down with out buzzing it holds a medium pick at the first fret. Not bad but I wish it would lower down to hold a thin pick. The frets were already polished and the fret ends are nice I ididnt have to do nothing to them. The are good enough to just play in. Its a decent price it ended up being $217.00 taxes and shipping. That is part of the cost of the guitar. I exspect a lot better on the set up because the guitar was not set up at all. My Harley Benton G3 copy came set up and did hold a pick on the fist fret.
Explain well
I have bought several Firefly Guitars and found that the early generation ones had useless pickup and the tuners were not very good. I would strip out the electronics and put in new pickups and better pots. Updated the guitar to sound like what I wanted it to sound like. At the price point of the early Firefly guitars at $150, it made sense to put some decent pickups and tuners on them. Prices have been rising across the board and I found that the Epiphones were coming out with guitars that were better than the Firefly's and even some of the Studio Gibsons. I use the Firefly guitars to build out custom guitars to my specs. Would it be cheaper to buy a better grade of guitar and save the money and time spent upgrading the Firefly's? No, I think if you go into it with an open eye to what you are buying you will find the Firefly guitars are fun to work on and play very well in comparison to the cheap guitars of the past. My favorite ones are the Epiphone Alex Lifeson signature model and the Ghost Horse explorers. My Gibson studio is a great guitar but the epiphones I mention are better in both fit and finish as well as cost. Remember, you get what you pay for.
Firefly has new shipment in,no they don't sold out.2hrs later,firefly are on Amazon again,nope sold out.next day,firefly are up again,wah wah wah,sold out again.2days later,their up again,nope sold out,etc etc......They need to. Change their name to sold out scalper guitars.
I watched your entire video and at first I was starting to get annoyed at the extreme nitpicking but then I decided that you have to forget the price point and examine the guitar for what it is. Now, I'm a guitarist of more than 50 years and have been doing guitar tech work for about 20 years. I was fortunate that I got in on Firefly guitars when they first came out and I bought the Greenburst 338 for $139.00. I did a cursory examination of mine when it arrived and nothing jumped out at me except for the pickups being a little hotter than I wanted and they were slightly microphonic. I prefer my Humbuckers to be at or less than 10K Ohms. We all know that you can calm down hot pickups by lowering them a bit until they sound good and the volume of the neck and bridge pickups are balanced. As far as the slightly microphonic thing goes, I'm one of those folks who doesn't mind a bit of microphonics because it picks up the natural body vibrations and adds them to the sound of the string vibrations. Therefore, I did not wax pot mine. Since I am not a "Metalhead", I rarely use any overdrive so I discounted that part of the video. There is one thing that I've noticed over the years, and that is that cheap guitars back in the 1960's were total crap and cheap guitars today can compete with high end guitars. Is my Firefly 338 as good as my $2000 Eastman 580 Jazz Box? Nope, but its pretty close to a Gibson ES335 and its definitely as good as the Epiphone ES 335.
It sounds like a great project for the reasonably handy person. A cautionary tale of common sense though. Set a budget for upgrades and stick to it. Back when I was in my late teens I bought a beutiful used Japanese lawsuit Les Paul (in the 80s you could still find them near mint for $100 and that was in my budget). After playing it a little while I found what needed to be replaced but couldn't stand the thought of buying low budget components so I had to make changes in small segments as I would earn money. When parts/labor had been tallied up, I was in Les Paul money for a guitar not worth much more than I paid for it.
Picky picky...its 180 bucks...youre lucky you can actually buy a guitar for 180 bucks really with as much work and overhead they take.
Maybe you didn't pick up what I was throwing down...it's not about being picky picky picky on a cheap guitar, it's about evaluating IF a cheap guitar can be good and on par with more expensive models.
@@hikefishmakemusic ha...well I could have told you it couldn't be on par...its the little things that do get missed on cheaper guitars..like the polishing compound and little details. It was the buzzers going off in the background that were screaming "WRONG!!!!"....To the listener when you found something not so perfect. I think its a damn good looking guitar with playability for under 200 bucks.
@@erockscott1184 ha! well, i KNEW it wasn’t going to be on par with say, a 335, but i did the video to prove it out to budget seekers who may think it is a steal. But for a sub-$200 guitar, I wish i had such an instrument 50 yrs ago when I started out. To your point, it is a good looker tho!
One thing you didn't notice is that there is no kerfing between the sides and top/back of the guitar or perhaps the kerfing is solid rather than slotted. This is a very unconventional technique that Gibson does not use however I am not sure that it makes any difference to the tone or strength.
I consider the inlay routing errors to be fatal. When someone starts to learn Lead Licks, or doing bends, those inlay edges will be terrible. The strings can 'sand them down' to a degree, then the wood splints and starts snagging strings. This is a bad BAD thing. This "dry and splinter" effect will show up whether the guitarist is a shredding (in this case, the fretboard!) or just playing rhythm chords - this fretboard will not last. I don't care about nut widths or fret-dressing - those CAN be touched up and improve playability. But that fretboard... ugh.
I don’t think I’ll be buying this guitar anymore because of the set-in neck assembly on the center block.
There are many classic electric guitar manufacturers with set in neck guitars: Gibson, Gretsch, Epiphone, etc. Fender was the first mainstream manufacturer (I believe) that pioneered bolt on guitar necks.
@@hikefishmakemusic that big gap doesn’t resonate (pun intended) with me.
@ZillaYT yeah, not on the guitar in this video, but I've been shown that not all firefly's have that symptom. A crap shoot for sure.