Firefly Guitars Vs. Westcreek... is it just the same guitar??
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Both of these guitars are explorer body types, mahogany set necks, rosewood fretboards, block inlays, 22 stainless steel rounded ball end frets, humbuckers... are these just the same guitar with a different name? Let's take a closer look, here at the Guitar MAX channel!
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Rubric: -5 points for Danzig references. -5 points for not reading the description. -5 points for not watching far enough into the video to answer your own question. -5 points for misquoting me in your comment. 20 points possible. Everyone starts with an A!
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I like the looks of the Westcreek, but the pickups in the Firefly sound better, in my opinion.
They literally sound identical
@@radtats6899 firefly puts good ones in theres
Firefly ligter sound. Westcreek darker sounf r@@SpaceJockey805
I noticed on Amazon that the new Firefly model has the exact same body now. Plus it comes in just plain black. Looks great!
i closed my eyes during the whole sound comparison section, and i couldn't tell any remarkable difference between the two.
No he’s done this, I wouldn’t mind if Max did a comparison video between one of these and a Korina Explorer reissue.
Hey! Me too!
I believe I have a newer Firefly Explorer-type guitar I got in April 2024, and it now has the notch at the bottom, though it's a shorter notch than on the Westcreek, so it's still different---the notch helps the guitar stay on a regular guitar stand that I have.
Max, your reviews are the best! Thanks and keep em coming.
Glad you like them!
I've noticed a lot of explorer type guitars usually have a neck dive issue really bad so do these have any neck dive issues.....???? I bought a Harley Benton type explorer last year because somebody sold it to guitar center so I saw it used for 125 dollars...it had Chinese EMGS IN it so I bought it but I never play it because it's heavy like 14 lbs and the neck dive is really horrible so I basically never play it it sits in it's case just collecting dust unfortunately@@GuitarMAXMusic
Trust me I have since the 80's redesigned guitars to be practical for mass production. I have worked closely with factories mostly in Asia. A company would never put the down time into to making 2 near identical guitars when simply changing paint colors and perhaps knobs or pickguards when their was zero reason for the end user to even care.
Yeah but I'm fairly sure Westcreek and Firefly are both brands, not manufacturers. They both could have sent slightly different specs to the same guitar manufacturer, they could be made in the same factory even with slightly different specs
Hey Max I'd take either one, just got out of hospital after spending 6 months in there,had to sell my guitars to pay rent and live, all I have left is a beat up Ibanez with a cracked neck, going to be a while before I can afford one, always wanted an explorer I'm going to try to save and get a west creek, watched your show the whole time I was in there ,thanks for saving me from going bonkers
All I can say is that I am glad that West Creek came out because you cannot buy Firefly guitars here in Canada, but regarding West Creek you can buy in Canada, and they now have about 6 or more different guitar designs, so that is very good and cool.
And yes, they are all very affordable guitars, built very good and most of the reviews here on You Tube have been very positive.
You want to buy a Gibson explorer and pay $3000-$6000 dollars, even the Epiphone explorers range from $929-$2500 dollars Canadian, very expensive. Anyways thanks for your input Max on these great budget guitars.
Cheers and Rock On!
Interesting! And thank you!
Absolute truth, it is frustrating when a youtuber talks about the newest low cost guitar only to find out that the actual price in Canadian is usually double the amount and that is if you can find one available. Or, the price to ship it is almost the same price as the guitar.
I've always wondered why Firefly didn't sell in Canada. I have wondered if they were thinking on nuking Canada, or simply invading and wiping the population first? "We don't want to slaughter existing customers, so let's not sell there THEN we've got an open road for conquest!"
Thomann is a good option. Although shipping is just over $100 right now...
Also Long & McQuade
Go to USA then and buy some?
I bought that exact Westcreek guitar recently. It was great out of the box and looks fantastic. The stock pickups are pretty good, tuned down to drop C and it was still fairly clear. As Max mentioned in a pervious video, the neck is fairly thick, its not bad by any means but as someone who prefers a thinner neck, I filed it down and took about an eighth of an inch out of it and It feels a lot better, hopefully in future models it comes with a thinner neck as a stock feature.
Fleor makes a set of Alcino 5 pickups that sound great. Video on RUclips and you can't tell the difference between the DiMarzio set.
Curious, would you say the body is the same size as an Explorer? In some videos, it seems smaller. I'm a big guy so I'm looking for the same size.
I have a purple West creek revenge coming tomorrow like the one in your vid. I dig it cause it scratches that 80's Ibanez Destroyer body shape itch for dirt cheap lol.
I had both of these. The Firefly was setup from the factory much better. Nice low action, right out of the box. No setup needed. The Westcreek was not bad setup wise, but just not as good, at least for my preferences. I gave my Westcreek to a young guy, who was just getting started with guitar, but I kept the Firefly. I like the blue better!
Your reviews of budget guitars is great. Lots of info.
🤘🎸🎶
Glad you like them!
Both made in Weifang, Shandong Province, China. Westcreek by Weifang Hengyl. Firefly by Weifang Jeson (Why it say backed by JSN on the headstock). Other Weifang guitar companies are Weifang Rebon (Reebon Guitars), Weifang HongYun, and Weifang Dison.
…., Weifang Nange, Weifang Datang, Weifang Enxi, …
Great video! I tend to agree with you about those guitars but I'm happy with my Schecter model with the Floyd Rose.
the comparison video we all wanted.
Great video. My personal opinion is these are two separate brands that have the same factory building guitars for them to slightly different designs approved by each company. I think the similarities outweigh the differences. My hotter take suspicion is that these come from the same factories that also produce counterfeit guitars 🤔
I am selling off my PRS McCarty 594 SE and keeping my Westcreek JX-50 Superstrat. I love what Westcreek is doing with their affordable guitars. With brands like Westcreek and Firefly I don't need to spend $1000+ to get a great sounding and playing guitar.
Awesome review! It is amazing what is available at the lower price point for guitars these days. Thanks for all the helpful info. It was great to run into you and talk about guitars for a few at Sharkys the other day! If you ever want to collab on a video... or jam in the freeway tunnels, let me know! haha. Have a good one!
Keep doing these videos.
I want to know about what you can get for very little money.
I found a Chinese luthier about 12 years ago that would build or source almost any electric guitar I wanted for under $300, including case and shipping. I never got ripped off, the quality was decent and shipping took a long time 😞.
I had no expectations. When I got a good guitar I was thrilled!
They are all players after some simple adjustments.
I gig them out and have never been called on it.
They are tools for me to make a living. If I drop one, oh well. If one gets lifted while I am taking a leak, sucks for me. No one in the audience cares. They came to drink and try to meet girls.
$5K guitars? Put them on your wall!
I just picked up a West Creek Cerbus blue Sparkle flake. Very 80's plays and sounds great. The tuners could be better but they work.
Living in Australia, I don't have much of a selection of affordable guitars but these look and sound amazing. From what I can see, Firefly guitars don't ship internationally but the Westcreek website has free international shipping on orders over $200.
I usually agree with you on most things but when this one definitely not the firefly actually sounds way better the West Creek just I don't know just sounds darker more muted
I believe that it is very possible that the factory is the same, but the, "Brand" ordering the guitar is different. Both guitars look and sound very similar. Bottom line is that for the price, they are both fantastic guitars when compared to what the same amount of money would buy you just a few years ago.
Great video, awesome playing.
Nice video Max. I bought the same color Westcreek guitar. I had to raise the action as I had fret buzz. I have upgraded the bridge pick up with a spare I had from a Jackson guitar and it sounds much better. 😊
A Jackson stock pu sounds better?! 😱
I love my Revenge. I did put Wilkinson cream and black pups in it. Matches the binding really well. Awesome guitar for the money
😯 Who would have thought these two guitars would sound so different the Westcreek does a fuller bodied sound really well. But that Firefly is just so Crisp and has that bite.
I have a WC Revenge from the first batch that showed up on Amazon back in late ‘22. Absolutely love it, it is hands-down the best of the 10 axes in my humble budget-friendly collection. Came right out of the box that way needing only minor intonation adjustments. I have an old screen cap of the Amazon listing that shows it spec’s with a maple neck, whereas I recall FF having mahogany. That - and pickups of course (which vary wildly within the same models from FF) could be a big reason for the brighter sound on the WC.
They both sounded great! I wouldn't say one is better than the other.
Definitely a question a lot of Firefly fans have been asking. The only problem is that the Firefly you were using is the old version. The new one they sell on Amazon is even more like the West Creek as far as body goes.
Awesome video Max 🎉
The colour is different, but when i heard you playing my choice is the yellow one! 🤤
Hey Max great video as always. I absolutely agree with your opinion ,and you have been fair to point out that QC and soldering could perhaps be a factor in the difference in tone. I myself have bought some of these affordable guitars and like Chibsons,you can tweek them to sound better ,and that's because I have put the effort to upgrade the nut, pups and harness, etc. The steel rounded frets are one great thing, my question is how was the neck and fret set up from the box??? Thanks again Max!! Alex from Toronto Canada.
I think that you hit the nail on the head regarding the control cavities. There is no reason in the world that a business would add the complexities to their business that are required to produce two different types of cavities on their otherwise very similar instruments. 🙂
it's still very likely that these were made in the same factory. Seeing the serial numbers would be very telling. Typically the serial number formats differ between factories, so if they had the same overall format (same number of digits, same prefix letters, etc) then you can be pretty sure they came out of the same factory. The differences in shape and any potential differences in pickups don't mean that they didn't come from the same factory. The fact that the fretboards, frets, inlays, binding, and overall hardware is so similar indicates that these likely did come from the same place.
I like them both.
I love my Westcreek Revenge!
I like the lighter blue one, it sounds a bit " Fatter", and is great colour. Great review, many thanks from Dave, in Hastings, South England, Coolio, Bruv!
Wow Max this is such an awesome video I love it. Shred on dude.😃👍❤️🔥⚡️🎶🎸
Very good demo
Interesting comparison... Yeah the West Creek Guitars are definitely Awesome 😎. Both Firefly and West Creek make good guitars. Cheers 🍻 🥃🥃 🎸 🎵🎶🎶🎶
I ordered the firefly, and the vendor substituted and shipped me the Westcreek. I am thrilled with this guitar and will be using to gig at some point in the near future. I have more expensive guitars, Gretsch, schecter, and Ibanez. The Westcreek plays as well as any of them.
Wow! Cool!
Which vendor?! I thought u can only buy Firefly from Guitars Garden and possibly Amazon?
I'm stocking up on guitars.
they aren't made in the same factory, and thats a good thing. and at the same time, it doesn't matter. what matters is quality and performance and both do well overall.
Didn't think would be that heavy though but I love it.
It might be worth pulling the pickups long enough to flip them over and see if they have the same maker's mark on the back. A lot of cheap imports seem to use the same humbuckers, across multiple brands.
Like the color shape and clean tones of the FFLX. Like the distorted tones of the Westcreek. Westcreek pickups are brighter
I like the horn and the knob placement of the Westcreek. Not a fan of that little curve on the bottom near the strap button though.
Bingo, “to the Max”! Awesome video, bro. Ever since I saw them in one of those China apps, I sometimes wondered about the similarities/differences. The WestCreek one was there for a little while, then it was gone and the FireFly showed up. Made me real curious.
I like the WestCreek better because of the sound quality. The WestCreek just sounds stronger by a noticeable notch that’s hard to miss in every setting. Is ir just a matter of pickups? Thanks for the bullseye topic.
🤜💥🤛
I have that revenge in purple my best friend bought it for me as a divorce present. I love it, it competes no problem with my 02 Gibson classic and every custom i have ever owned, Dean USA and Korean Models, is ten times better than a prs s2. It just needs some pickups and electronics upgrades. Incredible value
Max ..I got a Firefly West-creek explorer clone I guess ..westcreek body style black pick ups firefly logo on the headstock purple flame top …knobs are in the firefly configuration covers on the back are firefly configurations ..strap knobs are placed different than both of your west creek and firefly ..plays good for my armature skills
Objectively, the Westcreek seems to have some advantages... but on an emotional level I kinda just like the Firefly more. The body profile looks nicer to me, and though the sound isn't as punchy, it has a kind of chipper quality to it that's very pleasant.
love the wreck sound and shape
It's quite possible they come from the same Chinese factory with the ability to rapidly switch production with CNC methods.
Sound wise they split me because at times I liked one and then the other on different tonal settings.
I have the Westcreek Revenge and it is a well made guitar and is very well finished for the budget price point. The Firefly is in the same ball park really - I prefer the Westcreek looks marginally but they are pretty much the same guitar!
Great video comparison! I find myself watching your picking hand. You're a great player! Ever had breakfast at the Maltby cafe? I live close to Woodinville....You go back a ways I think.
Maltby?! Yes I have had breakfast there, long time ago. Even a lot of people in Woodinville don't know about Maltby I think.
Thanx 4 The Help
I have a few firefly guitars,and a couple west creek although both are great budget guitars along with Leo jamez guitars.
Some here, but I don't have a WestCreek yet.
I'm lucky to have the Red Revenge and the White Revenge. Those guitars sell like hot cakes on Amazon. Whenever they have white, olive green, or black Revenge guitars in stock, they will surely sell out in a day or 2
I bought a Leo SG for only 116$. Neck pocket was gouged.The controls were not working.Pickups were not wax potted.Only great thing was it had a really great neck level job with jumbo fretts.I decided to mod it with P90s and a roller bridge and G400 Epiphone controls.I also fixed the gouged neck pocket. To top it off,I painted the headstock black and ordered sum custom waterslides.DOOMSTAR!!!! NOW IT'S PLAYABLE!!!!
Beautiful guitars and good sound. The only thing i don't like is the headstock
The Westcreek reminds more of an Ibanez Destroyer and the Firefly is kind of like if Washburn had made the Explorer ... just how they look to me. Both are cool!
Your playing demos always make me want to go listen to "2 Minutes to Midnight" by Iron Maiden
I like the shape of the Westcreek better! but want it as a BASS GUITAR
Hmm... what are the possibilities of two different manufactures buying necks from the same outsource. Hence the essentially identical head stock, frets, neck and fret board wood. Each manufacturer slaps the same neck onto their only somewhat dissimilar bodies, hardware and electronics. Makes sense to me. BTW All manufactures out source something on their products.
Amazing what you can get for a couple of hundred bucks these days. I bought a Censtar 24 fret Ibanaez style guitar, put in some good pickups and simplified wiring, and it keeps up with or exceeds my expensive guitars. Stainless steel frets, too.
Both are amazing guitars
They sound awesome
👍🤙🤘 merci, bonne et belle analyse, c'est très bien et très sérieux de ce pencher sur ce problème
Il y a vraiment certaines guitares pas très chères qui on vraiment autant de potentiel que quelques guitares très très très chères . Elles sont censées être faites à la main ou autre... Chez nous on dis " c'est du pipo "
🤘🤙👍 R'N'R per tutti
The purple guitar has hotter pick ups !!And it’s sounds clearer. Overall it sounds better to my ears
The Firefly pickups seems to have more tonal dynamics to me. Thanks
I think the Westcreek surely sounded better on the palmmutes, thus better for metal! Other than that, no major differences in sound.
I prefer the shape and color of the Westcreek as well 💜 Too bad it's NEVER been available to order from the German Amazon, which is the only place that I've found it here in Europe...
And I do believe they might be coming from the same factory, they just use different blueprints for the shapes to differentiate the brands, as almost everything else is the same, as u pointed out.
One thing that is telling is the package! If they came packed EXACTLY the same, they probably come from the same factory!
You make that look easy
I do like these affordable guitar choices. I do wish that they would offer simpler colors, either solid colors or plain tops. It seems they are all offering flame tops or racing stripes on their models.
Honestly @ the end of the day those bodies are just a model they stick in a CNC machine. The only reason to keep the cavities the same is to maybe save a few pennies on covers by ordering bulk.
Or we could have two factories using the same necks from a supplier, because neither want to spend money on machinery and time to make their own necks.
You and many other shredder love westcreeks
Good video, I was wondering the same thing.
Up and down picking it
I think you are correct
There’s a lot of different cuts in the body shape. Judging by that and the cuts for the controls and the placement of the controls, I would say the bodies were made in different factories, but the necks were probably made in the same factory.
I own one of each. Both are SG types. The West Creek played and sounded much better and was setup perfect out of the box. Not to say the Firefly was horrible it wasn't.
despite the obvious similarities, definitely 2 different guitars, warmer, more mid-rangy tone on the Firefly (at least that's how I hear it), sharper and more high range on the Westcreek.... Firefly for me, thank you very much!
Q: Will you take Tyco or Lego?
A: Yes.
The Westcreek model puts me in mind of the body shapes that Dean has been making that keep triggering Gibson to take Armadillo to court. Nothing against Firefly, but I think that’s partly why I would probably most likely get the Westcreek model if I wanted one of these for me.
The West creek is the better sounding of the two with a much fuller range of sound from the pickups. I own a couple of Fireflys and they are great budget guitars. I like that Westcreek gutiar better for the full sound not being muted like the Firefly guitars. That one difference in sound can be atributed to the capacitors being of proper UF .022 is th optimum with a 400 v output for a humbucker pickup. I personally if I could get them is the Mallory .022 Uf 600v electrolytic capapcitors for humbuckers Like I used with the Di Marzio super distortion II humbuckers that created such great tone and susutain on a guitar that built my self.
I'm listening on a good set of studio monitors. Pups in the Westcreek crap all over the Firefly when playing high gain power chords. I own 2 revenges and I love the pups especially for drop tuning. They are just hot enough and clean up great. But I may prefer the Firefly for the clean tones.
West Creek sounded better to me but the first volume knob might get in the way though. Both of them are on my pawn shop list.
In your future videos, it would be great if you could check the pickup output. I Asked 6stringstanger and bald shredder to do this, and they do it in every video now
Max they are different, similar looking but definitely different
The Firefly notes are clearer and better defined. The West Creek is a little muddier I thought.
I just got a new Firefly fflx and it now has similar contours as the westcreek guitar, and came in a westcreek box. The notch on the back is shorter and the control cavity is still in a triangle layout
Great Demo..I think that the West Creek has a heavier brighter sound than the Firefly..
I agree!
i’d say just throw some seymour duncan’s in either one and some locking tuners and you’d have a stage ready shredder,i’d take the blue one if it came in a left handed version
Both sound great. I like the more humbucker warmth of the Westcreek. That’s a good comparison. What’s the price point comparison?
They are both around 200 - 250 range. The Westcreek is 20 or 30 bucks more expensive.
I like the sound and the look of both guitars. The blue one looks better to me, but I'd need it to be Left Handed can I get a lefty one or not regards Michael.
And I love it. Just really heavy
West Creek sounds clearer to my ears. Firefly feels a little muffled and muddy but very close to the other.
Ah, when you took the gain down the character came out. The Firefly has more warmth, the Westcreek more cut. The Firefly for being the only guitarist in a 3-piece, the Westcreek for being lead in a 4-piece
Interesting comparison, I would be curious to know if the K values on the pickups were the same or if they were different.
The DCR `K' tells us very little about sound unfortunately.
eg.. '7k vs 14k pickup...Which one is louder/output? which one has more treble?.. Neither can be answered..
Me?.. I make pickups.
I haven't tried Westcreek yet, but I own two Fireflies, a FFSP with the stainless frets and a 7-string Aerosonic (semi-hollow body). As for the two guitars in this video, they "could" be from the same company. With everything CNC machined these days it's literally just a software choice to switch between one guitar to another. I do think they utilize the same neck at the core.
I love the Aerosonic models!
The factory uses CNC machines to carve the shape. The factory makes it to the specification to the brands wishes. May very possibly be made in the same factory.
The new Firefly body has a notch and a different horn more like the Westcreek. I prefer the older Firefly body like you have.
I was actually pretty surprised at how different they sounded. I mean, it's not huge difference, but enough to definitely notice. I thought the Westcreek was a bit crisper than the Firefly.
i got a westcreek racer. the neck feels kinds thick and the frets are too small but they are shiny and smooth. The neck has alot of play and giant neck dive on it
Would you ever consider doing a collab with Glen of Spectre Sound studios, as he is also in the journey for great affordable guitars. I think your expertise in guitar and his knowledge of soundstudios and music production as a whole, would be a very interesting synergy. Great video!
No! They are of different colors! Totally different!
They're even different shapes... 0:31
My FF seems to be a good copy of a schecter which I like a lot
Which model of Schecter?