Happy Easter 🐣 , Hunter! Thanks for the cool video dude. I enjoyed your playing style in this one as it was maybe more bluesy Rock/Metal and sounded more musical than usual. I love the bones mod comment, pretty funny dude. Yeah I wouldn’t expect decent pickups at that price anyway right, but you still made it sound pretty cool man. That’s a deal, especially if there’s no high frets to level as I’ve had unlevel frets on a $900 Hellraiser that I sent back, and I recently bought a $900 Dean Z Select that has fret issues and I couldn’t believe there was no bridge ground wire installed at the factory, so I had to make a puller to remove one of the bridge post bushings to install a ground wire. The scary part was hammering the the bushing back in into the hole in the body and it didn’t go in easy. If I missed, it would’ve ruined the finish on a brand new $900 guitar. Anyway it got rid of the hum that made it unplayable. Ok I got off topic there but the point is that Firefly sounds like a great deal for the money.
Literally scale length and headstock angle. By the way, my SG has been in tune for a week. 2 to 3 hours of play per day. Except yesterday. Also the stings are brand new, they should have gone out of tune more than they did, which was only like twice that day. Must have stretched them good enough. How long should a guitar stay in tune to be better than a Gibson? A month? A year? I've had Fenders go out during shows too, so not sure what everyone is expecting. Or why tuning a single string once in awhile is a big deal.
@@Mephilis78 I got a bullet mustang and classic vibe mustang. They both stay in tune for over a week at a time and I play for at least 5 hours a day. I’ll periodically check it while playing and it never goes out while playing. It seems to go slightly out of tune when I let it sit overnight lol
@@Mephilis78 my 3 gibsons stay in tune, and have for years (all 60s models bought in the 80s). Merest of tweaks once in a while, usually just one string. But then so do my other guitars, Squier Tele, Jackson Dinky, MIJ EPI LP, Tres Pinos classical, and now the Firefly. A lot depends on how they're strung. I do first wrap over and minimum of 3 wraps under (more from D to high E). Also, cut the string almost 1/2 inch from post after putting a 90° bend (sharp angle) in the string. Wound strings have to have this so the core and the winds don't creep relative to each other. Unwound strings don't really need it but I find it minimizes poking of the fingertips.
I own the same Firefly LP Classic Blood Red Burst (Black Cherry Burst?) Guitar, from the previous run. I replaced the original pickups with Dragonfire Screamer pickups . They definitely were the missing link, they woke my Firefly LP Classic right up. I purchased them from T-N-T Guitars for $38.00 at Ebay. They've gone up $5.00-$7.00 in price since I purchased mine. I think the Dragonfire Screamer pickups are well worth the price. Now I have an awesome looking guitar that has balls.
Some say he mods over tea, steamed vegetables, seasoned chicken, but the Wasabi is on the pedalboard. And he's never met Lucas Fowler due to an unfortunate disagreement over Alnico III and Alnico VI magnets that will inevitably come to blows, but Patrick Hunter could grease the wheels with a killer groove. The man! The Legend! Der Fish!
Definitely seems like a dope guitar, hope this gets picked up for a mod project in the future! So many options for the pickups: DiMarzio, Bareknuckle, Seymour Duncan, something that isn't Fishman fluences for once 😂
they still have some on guitars garden now. or they did when I looked yesterday. they only post them from 10am-8pm eastern time or something like that.
That's a pretty sweet guitar. I can see one of these in my arsenal. I love modding. I prefer a modded mid priced guitar, over a really expensive guitar. The end product is usually better imo. I have several epis, deans, and ltd's, that absolutely destroy guitars costing MUCH more.
I bought one and did a full teardown, save your money I don’t know what wood it’s made from but it’s muiltpeice with no cap, every peice of hardware on mine was the lowest grade possible. The majority of my bridge mounting holes were drilled crooked and too large so if you get a good one kudos to you. I got firewood in the shape of a guitar lol
I don't know too many guitarists that don't work on their guitars, especially an out-of-the-box shipped-from-China product. I'd have thought "setup" would be the top of the things to do. I'm glad to find someone like you who doesn't think like that.
I by sheer luck got a Firefly double cut P90 junior on Amazon last year for $130!! I put Grovers on it, set it up to my personal specs, and honestly?!! I couldn't freaking put it down!! Straight punk rock/classic rock work horse of freaking awesome! Yes, it will need tweaking from time to time, but for $130?!! It's definitely not some cheap ripoff "guitar shaped object". There's a reason these get bought up as soon as they drop onto the market.
I have one of these in a sort of orange quilt maple, and on mine, the top is actually a single piece. No two piece bookmatching like what would be expected, which really surprised me. They're a great platform for modification. I swapped out the bridge and tuners for wilkinson stuff and the pickups I agree are the weak point of the guitar. They are microphonic and very low output. I put a seymour duncan screamin demon in the bridge position and a tonerider rebel 90 in the neck position and it sounds amazing now
You are correct, cheap guitars are everywhere now. I own 2 Fireflys a black LP copy w/3 pickups and a Blue burst 338. The LP was $189, the 338 $159. Both were nicely finished. Good action before set up, sweet after setup. These guitars have more positive reviews than negative, and an active user community on Facebook that the company goes to for color and other suggestions.
I am not sure why a lot of people expect a vintage style guitar to be a Heavy Metal gain monster. Gibsons and Epiphone Les Pauls are notoriously low output to get the sound they're trying to emulate, which is the classic sound. I always find it funny when people gripe on facebook groups, about such/n/such guitar being no good for metal, when they don't realize the formula for a Les Paul sound, IS low output. 8-10k and no more. It sounds pretty damn good over here through my speakers, but I like vintage sound.
@@edrozenrozen9600 Instead of spending $55 trying to polish these turds with cheap but better GFS pickups, just save another $40 and buy a Xaviere single cut from the GFS site.
Hey, man. Think you can get a hold of an IYV? Same price range and folks seem pretty split on whether this one or that one is better. I like mine. Curious what your thoughts would be.
I have this axe, had some epiphone pups and some grover tuners laying around from other projects, so upgrade was easy. REALLY nice guitar. I also have the FF338, this model isn't quite as good as the FFLP model (in general). The FFLP is much better overall than the FF338s (I get this impression from user comments & my own experience). Not that the FF338 is bad, but more of a crap shoot than the FFLP. As with any sub-$200, you're going to get a turd from time to time. Once nice thing; the demand for these FFs is so high, if you don't like the one you get, you can buy another one and probably sell off the first one at not too much of a loss!
Sounds to work for heavy well enough. High output pups were originally invented in order to more heavily drive preamp sections, cos during the 70s amps with dirt channels weren't common, and so nowadays, high output and active pups are actually obsolete, but younger ppl generally way misunderstand this, lol. To me, a lot of high output pups sound weird, like they lack as many harmonics, and sound flatter. Hendrix used a Strat thru fuzzes and Marshalls (mostly), and I seldom hear ppl complain about his tone.
Great job on addressing the recent scalping issues 👍 I agree 100% Guitarsgarden.com is their website. When they are are in stock, they will only be listed during the day. They usually pull them down at night and put them back up in the mornings.
@@PeterMoore350 I have that double-cut special; I got a very nice one. Setup (very close), frets (a little polish), strings (just changed them after using them a few months). P90 pickups are not anemic. I hand it to a Strat guy, they go "listen to that crunch!" Beautiful guitar in transparent wine red. Now I'm holding out 'til the gold-tops come out.
@@camilo1455 thx. The Guitars Garden website is where i'll checkout what's on offer in future. TBH the quality of Chinese made guitars these days (think Guild, Gretch, Epiphone, Fender Squier etc) now means that there is no stigma - well somewhat. I mean if you'd have asked me a year ago (pre-CV19) if i would have bought 5 guitars made in Indonesia my answer would be no. I now own 5 pretty f'ing awesome Solar guitars. Right now ? i have 2 Epi's and a Guild that are made in China in my shopping cart on a fave site and am just waiting for the funds to hit my bank a/c before i hit buy !!
I bought the FFLP elite models for $219. Best out of box setup and fretwork I've ever seen from an online order. I am stunned by the quality of the elite model. Superb. Who runs their electric guitar without a high end distortion pedal? We are talking about ceramic pickups that are very microphonic. I also bought one of the FF338 models. It is superb too, but the fretwork and setup doesn't come even close to the FFLP elite model. I think paying the extra$ for the elite model is totally worth it. Absolutely love it.
Love mine. Replaced tun o magic bridge with a roller bridge due to buzz on original.planning on upgrading pickups soon. Super distortion in bridge, paf in neck. Great bones, small details done well. Bone nut, tuners hold tune (yes G can wander). Nice binding
I own 3 Firefly guitars. The guitar bodies are nice but every piece of hardware needs to be replaced if you want it to play well without buzz or other minor problems. I replaced the ceramic magnets with alnico 5 magnets. Got rid of the pig squeel.
This last batch of les Paul's circa 2021 were really nice. I've picked up 3 electric and an acoustic ( which is the real bargain). It's not for the faint of heart. You need some skills for setup and minor repairs with 200$ anything.
*in palpatine voice* Mod it! Also... When doing it, show if the woods are really single cut like or just who knows what random wood. If it's mahogany with the maple cap, it can ve a really interesting mod platforms
I’m pretty sure it’s Asian mahogany, but for sure there is no maple cap haha. The carved top is also mahogany with a decent AAA veneer. Still, should make for a good mod project!
Thanks buddy for the honest review. I ordered one. I have a custom pickup builder making me 59 les paul spec pickups for it lol. Gonna mod it to sound like the $8k 59 les paul reissue.
You're not getting a much better guitar for $280. Not used or anything. Even used an Epiphone like that is going for $500. Why would anyone even buy used right now? Everyone is scalping. Used is more than new half the time.
Hi there, I have been eyeing this guitar for quite some time. I have a couple of questions though, regarding the pickups, would you upgrade just the pickups or the pickups and the electronics, like the Pots/Caps, Capacitors. I play mostly Classic Rock, not metal. Would it be worth to upgrade to let's say DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups on a almost $200. Is it worth it? Thank you.
These days it's hard to find a guitar that is not giggable. When I started out inexpensive guitars were unplayable. So the kids that had dads with good jobs had the good guitars. We just bought Band-Aids for are fingers. But in the late 70s and 80s it all changed. Because of what Japan was doing it allowed us poor people to have great guitars
For sure, we're incredibly lucky to be guitar players in 2021! You can still find ungiggable guitars, there are definitely some terrible ones on Amazon (and on Wish.com hahaha), but they are really easy to avoid. And while this Firefly wasn't as mindblowing as the hype would have you believe, it was definitely playable!
My first electric was a mako.....it was so awful....so at 16 got a job sacking groceries,saved to get a much better guitar. Ended up with a Washburn lyon and for the price wasn't a bad $250 spent in 91. Quit job...lol
@@guitarocd9984 1983 usa Dean z,mij jackson dk2m,mij jackson rhoads v, mij 1990 Ibanez rg570,Dean cfh,kramer baretta, Korean epi lp, Sterling music man style, and a Seagull acoustic. None are stock anymore, most have Duncan pups and original floyds if they came with a licensed floyd.
@Slushy did you get if from guitars garden, i only see the green one on there, and also do you have any idea how long it would take to ship from guitars garden?
firefly has had a few different pickups in the fflp line... i don't know about the more recent production runs but the first two had wildly different pickups, my first run stock pickups were somewhat medium output while my second run had pickups that had a much hotter output
Hey, thank you for your honesty! You are terrific! Have a Happy Easter! What are your thoughts on the SG, I would like to buy either an SG Standard, SG Junior or an SG '61 issue. I play a lot of classic hard rock, AC/DC Sabbath, Beatles, Zeppelin...that kind of stuff!
I have an expensive taste and a large collection of Gibson and Fender USA and CS.I still own a FF 335 with Burstbuclers and Grover tuners,and absolutely LOVE it. Somehow I honestly rate it above any comparable Epi's.
My buddy bought a Goldtop as a backup to his Les Paul Standard. He started playing the Firefly more and the roles are now reversed. His Goldtop plays EXCELLENTLY! I want one!
I have 3 Firefly guitars, all of which I acquired last year. Two of them are FFLP like this one. i have not seen the LP's on amazon ever. and they sell for $179.99-199.99. The pick ups are shit. best thing to do is take them out and put in the set of your choice. I did it with both of mine. The Tele copy is the only one I havent swapped pups out on. For the price its a great mod platform. I play both of the LP's every day. they are solid and heavy just like the real deal. They are not top of the line Epiphone quality but are better than most $200-450 guitars(aside from the pickups being trash)
Bring those pickups closer to the strings, they look like they are all but slammed to the deck. It probably still won't give you the gain you are after but it will make a significant difference.
Dear Agufish. I have 5 Firefly Guitars. Love them all. Modded .,,, of course , My Les Paul Custom is modded Also.... Good is Good .... With a Personal Mod.
Do you have compression on your master buss or is that the pickups I’m hearing? I’m hearing some sort of clamping. Otherwise thank you for showing me this! I’ve been looking for a good lp style mod project.
LOL this isn’t even my mix, Hunter accidentally put the wrong audio file in the video. You’re definitely hearing too much compression on the master buss
Definitely looks good and like a solid mod project. Hopefully firefly let's you keep it and you can do a mod project vid of it. It's screaming for a dimarzio foritude in the bridge and a paf in the neck. Or a duncan pearly gates set
I bought a $600 Epi LP standard. Damn thing has 8 frets that want to draw blood. Got a $180 LP knockoff from RondoMusic (brand: SX model: Calisto) and it only had 1 sharp fret.......and the pickups sound better (to me) than the ones in the Epi.
What are you talking about, "scalpers"? A scalper by definition (both Webster's and Oxford) is someone who resells shares or tickets at a higher value.
@@VintageLeftyGuitars that makes even less sense. Re-selling a budget guitar that is readily available on the internet at a bumped up price has never made any sense. Sure, I've seen it but if one has a choice between buying off Amazon at a cheaper price than some schmuck that has added his cut on top on say Reverb which would you choose? And yes, there's the argument that the guitar is no longer available but with the market gutted with equally (if not better) budget guitars, why do that? The OC about ruining e-commerce was proposterous and why this guy would give a flip about that is laughable!
i heard from others to take the covers off the pickups and is there a SG Firefly guitar? cause someone on youtube is playing one but i think it's a fake segment since he won't allow comments
I don't know. I'm in the crowd where mine was a dud and like others, my customer service emails are never returned. Nut fell off, frets are not polished, ground buzz when hands off. Return policy has me getting a refund of the cost of the guitar - what I paid to have them ship it to me - the shipping cost back to them--there is a reason why they are no longer sold on Amazon. Hassle-free returns and a full refund. So nice that they offer well-crafted guitars for vloggers to review.
Those pickups sound good enough for metal. Before 2003 the Gibson Designed(not USA) nickel and gold plated pafs were God Awful Bad same with Duncan Designed PAF nickel and gold plated too.
I'm sure that it is better than my first guitar. (a beat up Hondo Les Paul copy) I'm sure any beginner would love that guitar. As for me,life is too short to play firewood. Though I do like it.
Incredible what you can get for 180 Bucks. Got a HB Single Cut in a Ghost Finish (idk the original Name) and it plays awesome! (And it sounds better too. Never sleep on Roswell PU‘s)
Wouldn’t cut it for me. Maybe for a first guitar as a child. Good video man! This helped me not waste my money lol Prices are high for these right now. I’ve been looking for sometime, and resale is stupid high.
I'd feel sorry for your child. I have one of these and it weighs 10.1lbs! Its a beast compared to my other Hamer, Schecter, Epiphone, and Fender guitars.
These are sold second-hand on ebay and reverb right now for like $300-500. Just spend $266 plus shipping from Thomann and get a Harley Benton SC-550. Far better machine for the price. From what I've read and this video included, Fireflys are only good deals at their original price points. Anything more and you're far better off going with something else. The resellers are fishing for fools.
I prefer Harley Benton. Nothing beats them for value when international shipping isn’t messed up. Right now the value proposition is kind of destroyed for US customers when shipping is like half the price of the guitar lol. Full disclosure, HB has me on retainer to design and spec specialty projects like the EX84, Dullahan, Amarok, Fusion-II, etc. so I’m not fully objective, but also the only reason I agreed to join them is I think they’re the best in that price range and they’re pushing the rest of the industry forward by putting premium specs on budget-priced models. So take all that in mind 🤷♂️
Kinda nice, the look is good to. On that topic, can you kick the HB guys in the nuts and get them to make some cooler more exciting graphics? Like a SC550 plus in a blood burst (like the ephiphone prophecies) Or a cool fade on an E type or anything else like the older Chapman Ghostfrets. Just something more exciting. Dont get me wrong many are nice looking but overall its missing something really exciting.
The ones with the bat on the back are the old ones that are now discontinued B Stock and Damaged/Sent Back. One thing I don't like about them is the neck is barely into the body so it can be twisted easily and Damaged. They used to only be $100ish dollars until they got youtubers to review them so they hiked the prices.
have one coming,,,for 217 dollars,,,what guitar player wouldnt buy one,,already have a x2n replica pickup coming,,,have my guitar tech set it up,,,all good,,,love the ff guitars
Les Paul's are not normally high output. The usually have lower ohm pickups for a vintage sound.my Gibson es335 probably has less out put then the firefly
Yeah, these are abnormally weak, though. I have a Maybach Lester and a Navigator LP-CTM both based on vintage spec Gibsons, and the pickups are awesome! Low output, but smooth. I'd imagine your 335 is the same! These Firefly ones are just straight-up anemic, though. Had to change up the noisegate settings because the sound was just getting chopped off mid-playing at my normal settings.
Same thing with my fflp, literally the worst guitar I have ever bought. I heard they drop ship directly from the factory with no qc which explained why people have such different experiences buying these.
A word (or two) of warning. I shipped mine back due to a defective bridge. After three weeks I heard back. They refunded only the cost of the guitar. Not for $27 shipping or $66 Fedex ground return shipping. Actually, they refunded $27.96 for shipping to me and then deducted a PayPal fee which was to the penny what original shipping was. SO... just figure if you get this guitar you will be keeping it... defective or not, it is yours. Basically I spent $93 for a learning experience. You'll notice in their fine print about returns... they may refund the cost of the guitar, but no mention about shipping. Return shipping will be through the roof due to the size.
Seems to be putting out some good doom/stoner tones. After seeing some channels hype them so much that you would think they rival Gibson or ESP (ya, no lol) it's good to get a fair and honest opinion. Thanks!
Lol what? Who says that?? I mean it’s solid for the money but Gibson/ESP it is not. That’d be sick if there was a brand that could rival premium brands for sub $200, but that’s not realistic at all 😂
@@agufish Well, they haven't said that literally, but you know what I mean, just giving it so much praise that you would think they have never played anything better lol.
Happy Easter, hope everyone's having a great Sunday! 🥚🐇
Happy Easter
Happy Easter 🐣 , Hunter! Thanks for the cool video dude. I enjoyed your playing style in this one as it was maybe more bluesy Rock/Metal and sounded more musical than usual. I love the bones mod comment, pretty funny dude. Yeah I wouldn’t expect decent pickups at that price anyway right, but you still made it sound pretty cool man. That’s a deal, especially if there’s no high frets to level as I’ve had unlevel frets on a $900 Hellraiser that I sent back, and I recently bought a $900 Dean Z Select that has fret issues and I couldn’t believe there was no bridge ground wire installed at the factory, so I had to make a puller to remove one of the bridge post bushings to install a ground wire. The scary part was hammering the the bushing back in into the hole in the body and it didn’t go in easy. If I missed, it would’ve ruined the finish on a brand new $900 guitar. Anyway it got rid of the hum that made it unplayable. Ok I got off topic there but the point is that Firefly sounds like a great deal for the money.
Happy Easter!
You also! Another good video, nice job. I can't say that I have any interest in this guitar, though.
Same to you! Thanks for the great content:)
They even nailed the signature Gibson, out of tune g string
Literally scale length and headstock angle.
By the way, my SG has been in tune for a week. 2 to 3 hours of play per day. Except yesterday. Also the stings are brand new, they should have gone out of tune more than they did, which was only like twice that day. Must have stretched them good enough.
How long should a guitar stay in tune to be better than a Gibson? A month? A year? I've had Fenders go out during shows too, so not sure what everyone is expecting. Or why tuning a single string once in awhile is a big deal.
@@Mephilis78 chill out man, it was just a Joke.
Follow the stewMac trick and use a wound 3rd.
@@Mephilis78 I got a bullet mustang and classic vibe mustang. They both stay in tune for over a week at a time and I play for at least 5 hours a day. I’ll periodically check it while playing and it never goes out while playing. It seems to go slightly out of tune when I let it sit overnight lol
@@Mephilis78 my 3 gibsons stay in tune, and have for years (all 60s models bought in the 80s). Merest of tweaks once in a while, usually just one string. But then so do my other guitars, Squier Tele, Jackson Dinky, MIJ EPI LP, Tres Pinos classical, and now the Firefly. A lot depends on how they're strung. I do first wrap over and minimum of 3 wraps under (more from D to high E). Also, cut the string almost 1/2 inch from post after putting a 90° bend (sharp angle) in the string. Wound strings have to have this so the core and the winds don't creep relative to each other. Unwound strings don't really need it but I find it minimizes poking of the fingertips.
“A lot of buzz around the Firefly brand” I see what you did there 👀👀
Lol I’m going to go ahead and say thanks, it was 100% intentional 😂
@@agufish awh hell yeah 😎
I would like this comment but it is at 69 likes
@@maxjurhs8767 I luckily got a screenshot before someone else liked it lol
Fireflies are silent, peeps, SILENT...
🙄
Hey guys, this is NOT my mix. Someone *cough Hunter cough* put the wrong audio file in the video 🤣
D’oh!
@@agufish That awkward moment when viewers don’t even notice.....
I just didn’t wanna be rude but glad this was just a mix up LOL GET IT A MIX UP
Is there a place where we can hear your mix?
@@jonnykanesantos That got a genuine chuckle out of me lol
I own the same Firefly LP Classic Blood Red Burst (Black Cherry Burst?) Guitar, from the previous run. I replaced the original pickups with Dragonfire Screamer pickups . They definitely were the missing link, they woke my Firefly LP Classic right up.
I purchased them from T-N-T Guitars for $38.00 at Ebay. They've gone up $5.00-$7.00 in price since I purchased mine. I think the Dragonfire Screamer pickups are well worth the price. Now I have an awesome looking guitar that has balls.
Pickups sound bad despite going through top end gear. I'd say factor in a pickup swap into the cost of the guitar.
Some say he mods over tea, steamed vegetables, seasoned chicken, but the Wasabi is on the pedalboard. And he's never met Lucas Fowler due to an unfortunate disagreement over Alnico III and Alnico VI magnets that will inevitably come to blows, but Patrick Hunter could grease the wheels with a killer groove. The man! The Legend! Der Fish!
Fish, thank you for a great review - as always!
Good point about the scalpers as well.
Great to see you having fun playin' the Firefly. It was cool.
Definitely seems like a dope guitar, hope this gets picked up for a mod project in the future!
So many options for the pickups: DiMarzio, Bareknuckle, Seymour Duncan, something that isn't Fishman fluences for once 😂
Dude I’ve been looking for those guitars everywhere!!!!
Guitars garden is your best bet. They released them first on that site
they still have some on guitars garden now. or they did when I looked yesterday. they only post them from 10am-8pm eastern time or something like that.
the FFLP's were available as of yesterday am (7-11-2021) , and I grabbed one ...they release small batches because they sell out so quick.
That's a pretty sweet guitar. I can see one of these in my arsenal. I love modding. I prefer a modded mid priced guitar, over a really expensive guitar. The end product is usually better imo. I have several epis, deans, and ltd's, that absolutely destroy guitars costing MUCH more.
Nice to see some more positive reviews on these great guitars. Thanks for review and note on scalpers.
Importing one of these into India would just double the price so I just got a schecter solo for that pes paul itch
Shopping for Guitar gears in India Sucks....
Yep. Agreed
I got an ESP LTD EC-256 :D looks gorgeous in black and gold
I love watching your videos. I also love having them as background noise
5:39 nah that’s the PG alternative for RUclips, “darn it” 😂
I bought one and did a full teardown, save your money I don’t know what wood it’s made from but it’s muiltpeice with no cap, every peice of hardware on mine was the lowest grade possible.
The majority of my bridge mounting holes were drilled crooked and too large so if you get a good one kudos to you. I got firewood in the shape of a guitar lol
I'm old school, this seems like it sounds good for old school rock or blues.
I don't know too many guitarists that don't work on their guitars, especially an out-of-the-box shipped-from-China product. I'd have thought "setup" would be the top of the things to do. I'm glad to find someone like you who doesn't think like that.
I by sheer luck got a Firefly double cut P90 junior on Amazon last year for $130!! I put Grovers on it, set it up to my personal specs, and honestly?!! I couldn't freaking put it down!! Straight punk rock/classic rock work horse of freaking awesome! Yes, it will need tweaking from time to time, but for $130?!! It's definitely not some cheap ripoff "guitar shaped object". There's a reason these get bought up as soon as they drop onto the market.
One of your better sounding tracks . Those pickups sound killer in a mix .
This isn't even my mix, Hunter put the wrong audio file in the video lol
@@LukeDKramer pretty funny ..
@@LukeDKramer I knew it sounded off
I have one of these in a sort of orange quilt maple, and on mine, the top is actually a single piece. No two piece bookmatching like what would be expected, which really surprised me. They're a great platform for modification. I swapped out the bridge and tuners for wilkinson stuff and the pickups I agree are the weak point of the guitar. They are microphonic and very low output. I put a seymour duncan screamin demon in the bridge position and a tonerider rebel 90 in the neck position and it sounds amazing now
Excellent review as always!! Loved that little ambient ethereal bit. 🤘
That main riff in the Demo track reminded me of Darrell Braun's theme. Diggin' it!
Cheap guitars are a dime a dozen, strange that the internet world latched onto this one.
Perhaps not all as are as good.
I've played a fair share of cheap ones, my Firefly (338) is miles above the rest. New bridge, stop tail and tuners and it's a very solid guitar.
You are correct, cheap guitars are everywhere now.
I own 2 Fireflys a black LP copy w/3 pickups and a Blue burst 338. The LP was $189, the 338 $159.
Both were nicely finished. Good action before set up, sweet after setup.
These guitars have more positive reviews than negative, and an active user community on Facebook that the company goes to for color and other suggestions.
@Frank Masuzzo That's ALL that matters! Enjoy your guitar!!
It does look really good tho 😅
Happy Easter btw!!🐰
Do what I did to my firefly. Slap some fluences on it!!
Damn, dude. That’s like double the cost of the guitar lol. High Intergrity!
@@agufish that's why I'm subscribed baby! High integrity life!!
I am not sure why a lot of people expect a vintage style guitar to be a Heavy Metal gain monster. Gibsons and Epiphone Les Pauls are notoriously low output to get the sound they're trying to emulate, which is the classic sound. I always find it funny when people gripe on facebook groups, about such/n/such guitar being no good for metal, when they don't realize the formula for a Les Paul sound, IS low output. 8-10k and no more. It sounds pretty damn good over here through my speakers, but I like vintage sound.
I love the look of this thing, so damn pretty!
Imagine if the scalpers were modding them with premium parts and perfecting the neck, then reselling them for the guitar plus the labor and parts
Even if they just swapped the pickups for something cheap but better (GFS, maybe) adjusted the setup, then the cost could t least be justified.
1 guy said he did a while back, on Reverb. LP Special DCS.
A scalper putting in any kind of care and effort? That’d be a first...
@@edrozenrozen9600
Instead of spending $55 trying to polish these turds with cheap but better GFS pickups, just save another $40 and buy a Xaviere single cut from the GFS site.
@@darthrizzen9349 didn't believe him, either. &^)
Hey, man. Think you can get a hold of an IYV? Same price range and folks seem pretty split on whether this one or that one is better. I like mine. Curious what your thoughts would be.
I have this axe, had some epiphone pups and some grover tuners laying around from other projects, so upgrade was easy. REALLY nice guitar. I also have the FF338, this model isn't quite as good as the FFLP model (in general). The FFLP is much better overall than the FF338s (I get this impression from user comments & my own experience). Not that the FF338 is bad, but more of a crap shoot than the FFLP. As with any sub-$200, you're going to get a turd from time to time. Once nice thing; the demand for these FFs is so high, if you don't like the one you get, you can buy another one and probably sell off the first one at not too much of a loss!
Sounds to work for heavy well enough. High output pups were originally invented in order to more heavily drive preamp sections, cos during the 70s amps with dirt channels weren't common, and so nowadays, high output and active pups are actually obsolete, but younger ppl generally way misunderstand this, lol. To me, a lot of high output pups sound weird, like they lack as many harmonics, and sound flatter. Hendrix used a Strat thru fuzzes and Marshalls (mostly), and I seldom hear ppl complain about his tone.
Great job on addressing the recent scalping issues 👍 I agree 100%
Guitarsgarden.com is their website. When they are are in stock, they will only be listed during the day. They usually pull them down at night and put them back up in the mornings.
cool. @agufish link on Amazon went to a doublecut
@@PeterMoore350 I have that double-cut special; I got a very nice one. Setup (very close), frets (a little polish), strings (just changed them after using them a few months). P90 pickups are not anemic. I hand it to a Strat guy, they go "listen to that crunch!" Beautiful guitar in transparent wine red. Now I'm holding out 'til the gold-tops come out.
@@camilo1455 thx. The Guitars Garden website is where i'll checkout what's on offer in future. TBH the quality of Chinese made guitars these days (think Guild, Gretch, Epiphone, Fender Squier etc) now means that there is no stigma - well somewhat.
I mean if you'd have asked me a year ago (pre-CV19) if i would have bought 5 guitars made in Indonesia my answer would be no. I now own 5 pretty f'ing awesome Solar guitars.
Right now ? i have 2 Epi's and a Guild that are made in China in my shopping cart on a fave site and am just waiting for the funds to hit my bank a/c before i hit buy !!
I bought the FFLP elite models for $219. Best out of box setup and fretwork I've ever seen from an online order. I am stunned by the quality of the elite model. Superb. Who runs their electric guitar without a high end distortion pedal? We are talking about ceramic pickups that are very microphonic. I also bought one of the FF338 models. It is superb too, but the fretwork and setup doesn't come even close to the FFLP elite model. I think paying the extra$ for the elite model is totally worth it. Absolutely love it.
I love my red FFLP Classic. Had to replace the strap lugs with Dunlop Locking system, other than that, no mods really needed,
Can't wait for the second season... oh, wait... wrong Firefly...
Hahahahahahahhahahahahaaahhahaha ur funny
Love mine. Replaced tun o magic bridge with a roller bridge due to buzz on original.planning on upgrading pickups soon. Super distortion in bridge, paf in neck. Great bones, small details done well. Bone nut, tuners hold tune (yes G can wander). Nice binding
I own 3 Firefly guitars. The guitar bodies are nice but every piece of hardware needs to be replaced if you want it to play well without buzz or other minor problems. I replaced the ceramic magnets with alnico 5 magnets. Got rid of the pig squeel.
This last batch of les Paul's circa 2021 were really nice. I've picked up 3 electric and an acoustic ( which is the real bargain). It's not for the faint of heart. You need some skills for setup and minor repairs with 200$ anything.
*in palpatine voice* Mod it!
Also... When doing it, show if the woods are really single cut like or just who knows what random wood. If it's mahogany with the maple cap, it can ve a really interesting mod platforms
I’m pretty sure it’s Asian mahogany, but for sure there is no maple cap haha. The carved top is also mahogany with a decent AAA veneer. Still, should make for a good mod project!
Thanks buddy for the honest review. I ordered one. I have a custom pickup builder making me 59 les paul spec pickups for it lol. Gonna mod it to sound like the $8k 59 les paul reissue.
Personally, I would just spend another $100 and get a guitar that sounds better and feels better.
such as?
@@Ashaliel A benton
@@Ashaliel Washburn, Epiphone, Dean, MANY slightly used guitars...
SO many better choices at that price range.
I have a 1st run grey burst firefly and it wasn’t bad.. for $45 on eBay I got an epiphone solder less kit and now it’s as good as any I have
You're not getting a much better guitar for $280. Not used or anything. Even used an Epiphone like that is going for $500. Why would anyone even buy used right now? Everyone is scalping. Used is more than new half the time.
Hi there, I have been eyeing this guitar for quite some time. I have a couple of questions though, regarding the pickups, would you upgrade just the pickups or the pickups and the electronics, like the Pots/Caps, Capacitors. I play mostly Classic Rock, not metal. Would it be worth to upgrade to let's say DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups on a almost $200. Is it worth it? Thank you.
Yes,of course it would..I have one and upgraded..it's like night and day...
These days it's hard to find a guitar that is not giggable. When I started out inexpensive guitars were unplayable. So the kids that had dads with good jobs had the good guitars. We just bought Band-Aids for are fingers. But in the late 70s and 80s it all changed. Because of what Japan was doing it allowed us poor people to have great guitars
For sure, we're incredibly lucky to be guitar players in 2021! You can still find ungiggable guitars, there are definitely some terrible ones on Amazon (and on Wish.com hahaha), but they are really easy to avoid. And while this Firefly wasn't as mindblowing as the hype would have you believe, it was definitely playable!
A lot of us ended up with silvertone stuff. It was pretty much junk regardless of the rewriting of History. But we made do with what we had.
My first electric was a mako.....it was so awful....so at 16 got a job sacking groceries,saved to get a much better guitar. Ended up with a Washburn lyon and for the price wasn't a bad $250 spent in 91. Quit job...lol
@@markrogers7304 what do you have now
@@guitarocd9984 1983 usa Dean z,mij jackson dk2m,mij jackson rhoads v, mij 1990 Ibanez rg570,Dean cfh,kramer baretta, Korean epi lp, Sterling music man style, and a Seagull acoustic. None are stock anymore, most have Duncan pups and original floyds if they came with a licensed floyd.
Firefly LPS units are back in stock!
Picked up the blue 💙 Trans with the 3 buckers and what looks like a custom in black and gold..
@@Ken-yg4um Ha! I bought the 3 pickup blue burst as well!
@Slushy did you get if from guitars garden, i only see the green one on there, and also do you have any idea how long it would take to ship from guitars garden?
@@Mevazare they are sold out until they restock again and it takes about a week since the warehouse is in California
@Slushy oh okay ill wait till the blue burst comes back because that one is just sick, and thank you
Dude when are we seeing a Cort Cr review? Would love to see a Cord single cut review! Pllssss!
firefly has had a few different pickups in the fflp line... i don't know about the more recent production runs but the first two had wildly different pickups, my first run stock pickups were somewhat medium output while my second run had pickups that had a much hotter output
What’s the name of the riff at 5:09?
Hey, thank you for your honesty! You are terrific! Have a Happy Easter! What are your thoughts on the SG, I would like to buy either an SG Standard, SG Junior or an SG '61 issue. I play a lot of classic hard rock, AC/DC Sabbath, Beatles, Zeppelin...that kind of stuff!
Nice vid, good info. Thank u and Holidays to u and yours.
I have an expensive taste and a large collection of Gibson and Fender USA and CS.I still own a FF 335 with Burstbuclers and Grover tuners,and absolutely LOVE it. Somehow I honestly rate it above any comparable Epi's.
Hey super cool demo. What tuning are you in at 2:56?
My buddy bought a Goldtop as a backup to his Les Paul Standard. He started playing the Firefly more and the roles are now reversed. His Goldtop plays EXCELLENTLY! I want one!
Nice video, yes, they are a good value. I have 4 and am waiting for there next style guitars...
I have 3 Firefly guitars, all of which I acquired last year. Two of them are FFLP like this one. i have not seen the LP's on amazon ever. and they sell for $179.99-199.99. The pick ups are shit. best thing to do is take them out and put in the set of your choice. I did it with both of mine. The Tele copy is the only one I havent swapped pups out on. For the price its a great mod platform. I play both of the LP's every day. they are solid and heavy just like the real deal. They are not top of the line Epiphone quality but are better than most $200-450 guitars(aside from the pickups being trash)
You don't put graphite in the nut slots to stop slipping!
Bring those pickups closer to the strings, they look like they are all but slammed to the deck. It probably still won't give you the gain you are after but it will make a significant difference.
Exactly. That should have been addressed during the set up.
Could you review the Harley Benton DC Junior FAT?
He wont be doing harley benton reviews as right now shipping from Germany to the us is like half the cost of the guitar
@MRGRUMPY53 thats the pandemic for you
@@peekayboo7183 ahh they went down a bit, when I checked months ago it was like close to 100 bucks
Dear Agufish.
I have 5 Firefly Guitars. Love them all.
Modded .,,, of course , My Les Paul Custom is modded Also.... Good is Good .... With a Personal Mod.
Do you have compression on your master buss or is that the pickups I’m hearing? I’m hearing some sort of clamping. Otherwise thank you for showing me this! I’ve been looking for a good lp style mod project.
LOL this isn’t even my mix, Hunter accidentally put the wrong audio file in the video. You’re definitely hearing too much compression on the master buss
Not to be a correcting Molly, but you actually use graphite to allow the strings to slip not to prevent it.
As of today guitars garden has 12 model LP style in stock! 5/7/2021 check it out before they are sold out.
Not no more, I bought the last 2 the other day.
@@bountyhunter6454 they are supposed to be releasing more between 6/4 (tomorrow) and 6/9 approx time 10am est
@@bigchrissmusicguitarsenter22 really? Guess I better buy some more then 1 day I can open a Firefly guitar store 🏪
Definitely looks good and like a solid mod project. Hopefully firefly let's you keep it and you can do a mod project vid of it. It's screaming for a dimarzio foritude in the bridge and a paf in the neck. Or a duncan pearly gates set
That's a smart looking guitar! Could have had a quick wipe down to rid all the dust etc? but yeah great review!
I bought a $600 Epi LP standard. Damn thing has 8 frets that want to draw blood. Got a $180 LP knockoff from RondoMusic (brand: SX model: Calisto) and it only had 1 sharp fret.......and the pickups sound better (to me) than the ones in the Epi.
Scalpers aren’t just an issue in the guitar community; they’re also ruining the entirety of e-commerce and they need to be stopped.
Easy, just don't buy from them! :)
What are you talking about, "scalpers"? A scalper by definition (both Webster's and Oxford) is someone who resells shares or tickets at a higher value.
Btw, e-commerce is driven by export merchandise, not American made goods.
@@jreagle58 he meant re-sellers
@@VintageLeftyGuitars that makes even less sense. Re-selling a budget guitar that is readily available on the internet at a bumped up price has never made any sense. Sure, I've seen it but if one has a choice between buying off Amazon at a cheaper price than some schmuck that has added his cut on top on say Reverb which would you choose? And yes, there's the argument that the guitar is no longer available but with the market gutted with equally (if not better) budget guitars, why do that? The OC about ruining e-commerce was proposterous and why this guy would give a flip about that is laughable!
i heard from others to take the covers off the pickups and is there a SG Firefly guitar? cause someone on youtube is playing one but i think it's a fake segment since he won't allow comments
Damn! That demo track stoner af. Lovin it!. Throw in a couple Seymour's and a string butler, be a great guitar.
Good review. Do you recall the nut width on this? Thanks!
Just measured it, 43mm!
@@agufish great, now I want one!
5:18YESSSS PANTERAAAAA
I don't know. I'm in the crowd where mine was a dud and like others, my customer service emails are never returned. Nut fell off, frets are not polished, ground buzz when hands off. Return policy has me getting a refund of the cost of the guitar - what I paid to have them ship it to me - the shipping cost back to them--there is a reason why they are no longer sold on Amazon. Hassle-free returns and a full refund. So nice that they offer well-crafted guitars for vloggers to review.
What graph tech nut model did you use??
Those pickups sound good enough for metal. Before 2003 the Gibson Designed(not USA) nickel and gold plated pafs were God Awful Bad same with Duncan Designed PAF nickel and gold plated too.
How does it stand up against the Donner DLP124?
I'm sure that it is better than my first guitar. (a beat up Hondo Les Paul copy) I'm sure any beginner would love that guitar. As for me,life is too short to play firewood. Though I do like it.
With that much processing you can plug a cardboard with strings and it will sound "good".
😎 I agree 🤘
Incredible what you can get for 180 Bucks. Got a HB Single Cut in a Ghost Finish (idk the original Name) and it plays awesome!
(And it sounds better too. Never sleep on Roswell PU‘s)
Wouldn’t cut it for me. Maybe for a first guitar as a child.
Good video man! This helped me not waste my money lol
Prices are high for these right now. I’ve been looking for sometime, and resale is stupid high.
I'd feel sorry for your child. I have one of these and it weighs 10.1lbs! Its a beast compared to my other Hamer, Schecter, Epiphone, and Fender guitars.
Came here just to see comments like these......
Ah. A guitar snob! Most likely more concerned with what it says on the headstock.
5:18 was that some pantera cemetery gates?
Does it have a slab or veneer top? The subject never came up
any suggestions on replacement pickups??
These are sold second-hand on ebay and reverb right now for like $300-500. Just spend $266 plus shipping from Thomann and get a Harley Benton SC-550. Far better machine for the price. From what I've read and this video included, Fireflys are only good deals at their original price points. Anything more and you're far better off going with something else. The resellers are fishing for fools.
how does it compare to a similar Harley Benton. Both Value brands
I prefer Harley Benton. Nothing beats them for value when international shipping isn’t messed up. Right now the value proposition is kind of destroyed for US customers when shipping is like half the price of the guitar lol.
Full disclosure, HB has me on retainer to design and spec specialty projects like the EX84, Dullahan, Amarok, Fusion-II, etc. so I’m not fully objective, but also the only reason I agreed to join them is I think they’re the best in that price range and they’re pushing the rest of the industry forward by putting premium specs on budget-priced models. So take all that in mind 🤷♂️
Thank You
Kinda nice, the look is good to.
On that topic, can you kick the HB guys in the nuts and get them to make some cooler more exciting graphics? Like a SC550 plus in a blood burst (like the ephiphone prophecies) Or a cool fade on an E type or anything else like the older Chapman Ghostfrets.
Just something more exciting. Dont get me wrong many are nice looking but overall its missing something really exciting.
That pink LP in the background is staring on us😂
Great video.
For all he said about the pickups sounds like he was rocking to me
Almost 100,000 subs!!
The ones with the bat on the back are the old ones that are now discontinued B Stock and Damaged/Sent Back. One thing I don't like about them is the neck is barely into the body so it can be twisted easily and Damaged. They used to only be $100ish dollars until they got youtubers to review them so they hiked the prices.
Yeah they even going to their main website and buying them up now
I always replace the pickups in my firefly guitars your right the pickups that come with there guitars are low output
I reckon that finish looks better than the red tiger on the new prophecy and the vermillion burst in Slash's pic of the new epiphone range coming out.
have one coming,,,for 217 dollars,,,what guitar player wouldnt buy one,,already have a x2n replica pickup coming,,,have my guitar tech set it up,,,all good,,,love the ff guitars
Les Paul's are not normally high output. The usually have lower ohm pickups for a vintage sound.my Gibson es335 probably has less out put then the firefly
Yeah, these are abnormally weak, though. I have a Maybach Lester and a Navigator LP-CTM both based on vintage spec Gibsons, and the pickups are awesome! Low output, but smooth. I'd imagine your 335 is the same! These Firefly ones are just straight-up anemic, though. Had to change up the noisegate settings because the sound was just getting chopped off mid-playing at my normal settings.
So wait, what is wrong with the output on the pickups?
Bought a Firefly 338- the one with the spalted maple top and holy shit was the QC bad. Like BAD BAD. Kind of a bummer.
Same thing with my fflp, literally the worst guitar I have ever bought. I heard they drop ship directly from the factory with no qc which explained why people have such different experiences buying these.
A word (or two) of warning. I shipped mine back due to a defective bridge. After three weeks I heard back. They refunded only the cost of the guitar. Not for $27 shipping or $66 Fedex ground return shipping. Actually, they refunded $27.96 for shipping to me and then deducted a PayPal fee which was to the penny what original shipping was. SO... just figure if you get this guitar you will be keeping it... defective or not, it is yours. Basically I spent $93 for a learning experience. You'll notice in their fine print about returns... they may refund the cost of the guitar, but no mention about shipping. Return shipping will be through the roof due to the size.
Try the Harley Benton SC-Custom Plus EMG FR
Seems to be putting out some good doom/stoner tones. After seeing some channels hype them so much that you would think they rival Gibson or ESP (ya, no lol) it's good to get a fair and honest opinion. Thanks!
Lol what? Who says that?? I mean it’s solid for the money but Gibson/ESP it is not. That’d be sick if there was a brand that could rival premium brands for sub $200, but that’s not realistic at all 😂
@@agufish Well, they haven't said that literally, but you know what I mean, just giving it so much praise that you would think they have never played anything better lol.