Guitar buyers are getting VERY spoiled as far as specs you can get for very little money. I've seen people comment that they aren't interested in a particular guitar because it doesn't have stainless steel frets or locking tuners even though it's under 200. So this is forcing all of these companies to really up their game and offer massive bang-for-your-buck on these guitars. It's a great time to be a guitarist.

Makes me very happy to see all these great budget guitars

Duuuude this is gonna look so good next to my little red corvette.

The guitar that Prince played. Did you see Prince play for George on my guitar gently weeps. Killer

I have 3 of their guitars now and I absolutely love them.

I ordered one of these for a friend....And then did the initial inspection and setup before he picked it up. It was pretty much g2g straight out of the box except for the action being too low. He wanted it re-strung with 11's and tuned to standard with moderately low action. It came around pretty quickly. All it needed was a slight truss rod adjustment and intonated for the heavier strings. It didn't have any high frets, and the nut was well fitted and slotted. Overall, there were no issues with the action/playability. All the electronics worked and did what they were supposed to do. And the hardware seemed solid. It didn't feel cheap. Tuners were basic but actually felt solid for this price range. The finish was like glass except for two very tiny pin hole flaws. And they were only visible if you knew what you were looking for. My buddy couldn't even find them. I thought the guitar was really solid. Although it was much too vintage spec for me. My buddy is a classic rocker, so it's a winner for him.

I bought one. My best friend bought one. Both of them needed a truss rod adjustment. Both had a back bow. After that adjustment, it's golden. Best FF I've bought yet.

I bought a Madcat a few months back and I love it. I'm a Prince fan so when I saw it on their site it was a no-brainer.

Thats a great deal for $200. My first electric guitar was bought from a Montgomery Wards catalog in 1976 for $180. And....it was pretty crappy.😆But thats the way it was in the '70's. The quality today is unbelievable. Wish they would have had these back then.😋😋

I’ve been wanting one of these for years, and this looks like the time to pull the trigger on one. I played my first show at age-16 in 1986. I can’t believe the quality of student/ budget gear nowadays. A guy can get a stage-ready rig for $600 😳

I'm a jazz guitar player. I don't need all the bells and whistles. All I need is a neck pickup and the tone knob turned all the way down 😂😂😂

Love how you don't mind exploring the bottom end but still give an honest appraisal on these low-cost high value offerings from China etc.

I buy a guitar for the body/neck. The chassis so to speak. That mahogany body with roasted maple neck and stainless steel frets are why I would buy this guitar. I can save up 100 bucks at a time to upgrade electronics/tuners/pickups/hardware/ect at a time and fall in love with my instrument through blood, sweat, and tears. It's how you bond with your instrument and make it yours. Jackson is my favorite budget line, but the Yamaha p90 revstar for around 799$ is the best chassis for the money.

Bought a Strat styled FireFly 6 -10 mos. ago. Simply outstanding, changed out the PUPs, trem, trem block, and saddles. Plays and sounds soooo nice!

I like the Mad Cat Tele Prince style guitar and I like the sparkle guitar as well. I loved Prince's playing.

I have 2 fireflies! I have the buckethead LP copy and the John 5 copy. Both amazing guitars.

I purchased this guitar, impressed by the look of this guitar, absolutely flawless. It arrived in 2 days! (Live in So. Cal) It is the first guitar with stainless steel frets. Pickups are very hot...had to lower them. Had a little fret buzz, gave the neck some relief..I think the steel frets give the guitar a different sound. I have been playing for 30 years. Wanted a guitar with a different sound....definitely agree that this is a funk guitar.

Max I always have to laugh when you young cats talk about how budget friendly guitars have gotten better in the last 10 years. I agree with you 100% I enjoy your channel and your playing and knowledge of guitars. You make me laugh because I think back to 1978 when I got my 1st electric guitar a 12 lb LP copy with 1/2 inch action 😅 it’s a good era to be a guitar player I don’t own a Harley Benton or other budget friendly brands yet but I will thank you for taking the time to share these vids

Love your pod cast Max! After seeing you evaluate that Eart tele style guitar, I purchased one and I love it! It's now my primary guitar when I have a gig. Thanks! 🎸

Way back in the '70's you mean like when I started playing? Really beauty of intro on the guitar.

I've been buying mostly Epiphones since 2020. Once I learn more about setup and fret leveling, etc, I plan on adding more budget friendly stuff to the arsenal. Some pretty cool stuff out there right now for not a lot of money in the grand scheme of luxury buying. 😊

I instantly associate that guitar to Prince in the same way I think Michael Jordan when seeing the number 23 Don't think I'm alone

I got the firefly pink sparkle. I was comparing to a squier (traditional tele). I did a good deal! the firefly not only came with better features, but the alnico 5 pickups, good set up, etc makes it an amazing guitar. yes, requires a bit of set up. one pickup was not solder to the switch, but only took 1 min. recommended to a friend to buy the Les Paul, and with change of strings and set up, sounds as good as an Epiphone. (same body size and all) firefly has been making great guitars and an excellent price.

The Firefly Prince style guitar is really good i would like to buy one bec😊ause it sounds great!.

Thanks for the mention of Eart guitars. I've seen cool designs and love the tele, but the pickups sounded a little thin on the Firefly. I'll have to lookup the eart review.

I haven't bought any of the Fireflies that have locking tuners but I also replace the tuners with Grovers as soon as I get them anyway.

I'm really happy that all quality guitars have coil splitting and stainless steel frets now. Anything with HB pickups must have coil splitting or it's off my list. Now I wish we could get accurate specs on the necks. I got burned with a Squire Tele that had a 40 mm width at the nut that was un-playable for me.

I played the original version of this at my local guitar store and it was awesome

Awesome video Max! Thanks for review on these more economical options with killer appointments!

I think Prince could make any guitar sound like he wanted.

I've been tempted recently to buy a Firefly or an IYV, just because of all the great review videos on KZfaq. But then I go to my local stores or pawn shops, recently I picked up an '05 Squire bullet strat, for $40!😮 The main reason I haven't bought any of the guitars I see recommended, (other than a Groove❤) Is there just too many good deals in my local pawn shop or on eBay 🥰

Prince was so awesome and somewhat eccentric but I think prince would play this guitar and make sound great. That was Prince.

Just to answer the question in the vid title, yes. I build kits and partscasters with cheap bodies and necks (improved with a fretjob at a minimum, but no ball-ended steel frets), and components just above the 'bargain bin' price point (not quite the cheapest, but decent quality), usually with a figured maple veneer and a thin oil finish. I can't come close to Firefly's final price; even cutting out all profit or labor figures, I'm looking at $300-400 per instrument for what I do.

Max you really should do an episode on Jack Pearson. He is THE canonical example of someone who does incredible things with a cheapo guitar. I know you're not all that into blues and jazz, but do check it out. You and Jack would see eye to eye for sure!

I can do with or without most of those features - but I can wear a set of those cheap copper frets that used to be standard on low end guitars in a few months, so I was excited when stainless frets started becoming standards on $200+/- guitars. I have had high end Ibanez, Gibson and Fender guitars and some of these Chinese guitars hang right in there or even exceed them, especially the necks

This is the second review I've seen on this guitar and both reviewers speak highly of it.

A superb guitar. I purchased one last week and the quality is amazing. For under $200 too. Love my Madcat! The quality is outstanding and it plays great. I just had to do a standard setup on mine. Love the binding. Great details. Amazing that you can get something like this at this price range.

I got the Mad Cat about a week ago. The neck was bowed back with the strings stretched on the frets and there were 3 small chips in the finger board next to the upper frets. So not too impressed with the neck, but the body is very nice and it sounds alright. Shopping for a replacement neck.

Prince had fender noiseless strat pickups installed on his madcats. Can get them used fairly cheap. Want one of these so bad.

Firefly gives you a nice bang for the buck. That's for sure. In my experience all budget guitars are a work in progress though. To make it comparable to a high end guitar will require some work - a set-up, swapping some parts and possibly some fretwork. Still great for the price and a good deal for those of us that like to tinker and mod.

You and ball shredder all i watch. Awesome talents

I will admit to having had my mind blown when I learned that the Mad Cat model that Prince slung with the Revolution was built by Hohner (not knowing pre 2016 that Hohner built any instruments other than accordions, harmonicas and electric keyboards). Then, I wondered if it was a lawsuit model, considering how synonymous it is with the traditional Tele contours. In short order, I also leaned about their headless guitars and basses. The Tele body shape would almost appear to be emulated as often as the Strat body shape. I think we’ve all seen models in this image by Ernie Ball, Carvin/Kiesel, Taylor, Peavey, Charvel and a few others. A friend of mine who passed away a couple of years ago had Carvin assemble one for him with the Tele shape that had semi-hollow cavities and an f-hole like a 72 Thinline, though its headstock was closer to that of a Gibson Les Paul.

Original Mad Cat tele have most similar features and pickups with Fender Lead II (out of phase possibility) , but this Firefly tele as you say setting the bar too high for sure. I would like to see this model on sale here in Europe.... Great video of course ,thanks....

Comments are right on Maxx! I have done several reviews of budget guitars myself over the years and have been surprised how good some of them are. Interesting point on the budget upgrades. When Firefly first hit the market it was great that folks could buy a guitar of decent quality that they couldn’t afford before. But now they are improving on that model based on consumer feedback (I.e. KZfaq) which is a good thing for the consumers in their target audience. But to your point, how much of a good thing is too much of a good thing for these companies. Will be good for the consumers since they will have more choices in different price ranges. Keep up the great videos Maxx!

It’s all about the neck and playability, if you don’t like the hardware or pickups or machine heads swap ‘em

I just bought the John 5 ghost tele. It’s is baddass! I have never played a tele before but this thing feels so good.

Your hair looked effin perfect in this one. Using new product?

I have no problem swapping tuners, pots, or pickups. Usually I buy a guitar because of the feel and configuration. My firefly 3 pickup LP I rewired to 3 volume and 1 master tone. Pots aren't super smooth, but for 200! I can't complain. If it didn't have locking tuners stock, I would've replaced them.

I’m often afraid they don’t wax pot the pickups on a lot of the cheaper guitars. Setup for me is no problem. I can level frets and change out pots and solder and what have you. But cleaning out all the paraffin wax from wax potting is a bit of a pain.

i need to try some of these brands of guitars - i had just got a squire telecaster - about 4 years ago. and it had some issues - but i wanted a telecaster for a long time - and I'm not a rich man, after some work-it's a great guitar. But i must try some of these brands of guitars now a days. they seem pretty tight. love the reviews - love the channel .

ANOTHER MUST CLICK VIDEO You are the pulse of this whole review world

I am enjoying the ball end frets on my Firefly

I have a Jackson Dinky from the 80s and that's about as high end as I've ever gotten. I played live shows with a Peavy Raptor, a Huntington strat rip off, and a no name Gibson SG copy 😂 This sounds great and is a damn good deal. I don't need no crazy fancy equipment.

I think these are great for the price if you want a Prince tribute guitar. The one I bought is 7 pounds which I'm really happy about. I will likely change the pickups as I have a Fender set that will make it sound much better to my ears, but that is subjective. I'd pay much more for this guitar for a one or two piece body, better quality tuners, Telecaster profile headstock, and slightly less orange (although if I put mine in a sunny window and rotate it during the summer it will probably be a fine color). If you're on the fence and have the cash to spare just get one.

Eart sounds like it's kind of "spreading the savings" so to speak. The higher spec guitars can be priced a little lower because the lower specs are priced just a little higher. The price meets in the middle and the upper spec looks even better in comparison.

Yesm, Firefly and Eart are some great entry level guitars. Have several of both and can't be happier. There was nothing like this growing up in the 60's! I know you like the AIO brand but Agile from Rhondo are some of the best out of the box and straight on the stage you can get for the money. Yes they've gone up in price ,but well worth it. They're SX and Hadean brands are comparable to firefly and often have sales. But Harley Benton takes all for they're wide variety and great pricing and customer service. Only thing with them is knowing how to work the shipping so you get the most bang for the buck and how to avoid the Vat. Thanx again Max. Always love the content!!!!!!!!

Pretty cool. One complaint - pickup rings Other than that looks awesome! I'd want a Wilkinson vs100 trem instead of the Bigsby but that would change the aesthetics.

I like the roasted neck but also like the 6 saddle bridge, don’t care about the body shape but like the locking tuners. I think you make a good point.

You could easily make that mad cat a monster.....a stacked single coil in the bridge position...temu has the tele bridge pick up for 13.00 and you can get 7k, 9k, or 13k (may have to wax pot it but...I just got a stacked single from Temu and it seems free of monophonics...the 10.00 one)....I would put a three way DPDT switch between the tone and volume to get a switched humbucker, parallel, serial setting on the bridge pick up. You get all kinds of sounds. And if you do the 13k version and split it for serial it will be like the original configuration. About 6k for bridge and 6k for neck.

I would still go for the deal.. I like Gretsch's, some Gibson's, and D'Angelico's.. I have not ventured into Firefly's, Grote's and similar guitars.. so I think I owe to myself to at least of these market beaters! Thanks!

We expect to clear the bar with ease, however the bar has been set very high

i sure hope you try out the firefly john 5...with the humbuckers and kill switch...seems like a sweet hotrod

You said the stain on the Mahogany on the sides of the Guitar's Body is a different colour. Actually it's the same colour stain, but it comes out a different colour on Mahogany than it does over Maple. You can really see this when you're moving the Guitar around. Mahogany is a darker coloured wood than Maple. It's more porous as well so whatever colour stain even clear varnish will come out darker over Mahogany than it does over Maple. God Bless Y'all...

I love the look of the mad cat guitar. And I think what's happening is that there are a few shops making a large majority of the guitars in China and Vietnam for both the "established " main line companies as well as the off brand guitars. They are coming of the very same line using the same woods the only difference is the hardware and the amount of time given to the finish. While I was loiking at guitars on Alibaba came across a company explaining and giving a walk thru of his plant showing name brand guitars stacked next to lesser priced brand guitars. Telling me they are all the same Untill they get to the finish stage and how they can make any kind of guitar I want in any quantity I want and my own Mable. They will do one offs on up. I was asking about a 6 string and a bass both with left handed bodies and right handed neck and bridge for right hand play.

I love that color 💪😎🎸 that Orange one

How do I think Prince would have received the Firefly Madcat? Well, I'm not really qualified to speak for Prince, but my two favorite guitars are a used Schecter built in 2003 and a Bullfighter I bought new last year. The Schecter's MSRP was $599; the Bullfighter arrived at my door for less than $200. I can lock into those to axes faster than anything else I own. Nearly everything about them just FEELS the way I want it to -- and the really biggest difference between them is that the cheap one has a Floyd, which I sometimes miss with that hard tail Schecter! If that Bullfighter doesn't come apart at the wood glue joints, it's going to be a most killer value -- it's a neck-through axe with a multi-laminate neck. Think Jackson Soloist, but with different neck and fretboard profiles. While the Jackson would be agressively shred-oriented with the thin Speed Neck profile and the "compound" radius fretboard, the Bullfighter sticks with more standard -- and still amazingly comfortable -- neck and fretboard profiles. It doesn't feel like a Jackson, but it rocks SO HARD! I haven't even changed the pickups out yet, and I might not! They're cheaper than most dirt, but I rather like them.😎

Welp, I pulled the trigger on the Firefly triple bucker sg a few min ago. Fingers crossed! Update : Guitarsgarden had me a tracking number very quickly. guitar is arriving friday.

Great straight forward review for the budget minded. Great playing!

Prince used some German silent pups in his as I recall. Miss him.

You are right Max, Firefly (along with Harley Benton and EART) is DARING every other guitar companies to get their act together and build well made guitars at an affordable price! And I also agree with you on Firefly - like the Beatles - are setting the standards too high they are almost competing against themselves! I am not a Prince fan but I do respect the man as a musician, performer, composer and most of all - guitarist. And it is a long time coming giving Prince more tribute as a guitarist. I would definitely consider buying that instrument.

I think this is a fantastic point. I often hear certain budget guitars stated as “great for the price point.” With Firefly, that’s just not true at all. They punch WAY above their weight class. They’re just great guitars at value prices…beyond the price point. I wish many of my more expensive midrange guitars had what the Firefly has.

Yeah I think stainless steel frets and locking tuners should be a norm for all guitars across all price brackets

I just wish they made that black sparkle tele you showed. Looks like that was discontinued. Any well made guitar with quality parts under $500 is worth having. I love it that, these companies are finding a way to compete with the “big boys”. I appreciate craftsmanship as much as the next guy, but I’m not dropping $4+K for something that most of which was made with a CNC machine, these days. So, I personally won’t nit pick over locking tuners, etc given I can always put those on after the fact with the money saved. *My only concern, and it’s a BIG concern is the QC on guitars this cheap. I have yet to see guitars at this price that doesn’t have a healthy following of people who wound up getting guitars with a lot of problems. Short of that, I love what I’m seeing.*

I ordered that exact model. The one I received had a twisted neck. They offered me a small partial refund to buy a new neck, but it wasn't enough for a new neck. When I had it returned, they charged me shipping. I'll stick with more established brands. And Squiers from 20 years ago are not like Squiers of today. The closest would be the Sonic series, but even those have stepped it up. Step up to a classic vibe, and you're now getting the quality of a Fender standard in a $350 (on sale, which is nearly all the time) guitar.

Thats a great looking Tele. Like that orange color. Firefly and Eart guitars are so hard to find here in Sweden or in the EU. Would like to see a retailer in my region 😢

Just got mine after months of waiting only to get a dud. It is awesome in every way but,,,, it has a back bow in the neck that will require surgery .leary of getting another because I have 3 west creek guitars that came perfect right out the box.West creek customer service has also been great. I can't say the same for firefly, they have been a bit of a hassle to put it politely

My 338 is so fun to play I didn't touched my Gibson and fender for months

Fañtastic playing once again Max. You sho7ld release a CD of slow tempo Steely Dan jams!

I really only care about stainless jumbo frets. Roasted maple is great, but only to help stop fret sprout down the road. I actually wear frets down pretty fast. 2-3 years on nickle frets and it already needs a fret leveling. Everything else I can fix myself.

I have the Firefly FFTC in red. I like it a lot so far.

For the price range these are amazing instruments. 45 years ago a 200 dollar guitar wasn't nearly as well made. For the entry level type players as well as those who just want to have a modest playable instrument, these are perfect.

yes i want ALL the features when it comes to cheap uitars damnit!

I've only bought one Firefly and that was their Blue Jazzmaster when they had them and I regret trading it every day haha, I waited too long and their blue Rick Bass sold out, 😢 hoping they do more Explorers Vs and LPs soon

mine came with hairline cracks in the neck pocket and the neck needed a major adjustment, I love the look but as others have said you get what you pay for.

Love your channel!

Love how that sounds, love how it looks

Hey the Avocado guitar is already part of your collection! 😀

Killer tone on this one

I just bought a squire in faded pink. I love it

I ordered 2 LPs from the last run, one matte sunburst and a regular sunburst lp with locking tuners and ball end frets, the locking tuner model has a more rounded horn on the body than the matte one which doesnt have the ball ends

You really, really, really need to try a couple of the Jet models!😁😁

One thing you didn't talk about was how that bridge pickup is placed closer to the bridge than a Tele pickup would be. When you switched the guitar to the two pickup clean setting, I learned one reason why Prince liked those originals: That two pickup clean sound is an almost perfect funk/soul/jazz rhythm sound! Pair that with, say a Fender Twin Reverb or a Matchless DC30 with the gain dialed just so, and you've got a rhythm tone that'll make corpses rise up to take to the dance floor!🧟🧟‍♂🧟‍♀

They're doing a B.B. King style 338, and ooh, how I want it! 🤤

Hmmm.... I don't hesitate to buy any guitar (if I can afford it), if I like the way it looks. I have others for different features and tones. I love the sound of P90s, but have Gibson, Epi, Ovation, and Gretsch humbucker guitars, Fender and similar single coils. I don't use a whammy bar much as a natural bassist, so I only have two quite different Strats (80s HM Strat and 80s MIJ standard strat), and no Bigsby fitted instruments (yet!). I don't have a 50s Junior because I'm a retired player and having a five figure new purchase is unlikely. I have a nice playing P90 Epiphone instead. I love the look of the Mad Cat, and it's inexpensive..... don't tell my wife, but I might "have to"...... nice review, and thank you.

No more left handed guitars from FF. 😢. I have a FF338 and am eyeing a FF SG style lefty guitar on FB. Being sold at $275 because of how rare FF lefties are these days. Would love to own this Tele style FF, but alas.

Ordered one of these last week... I guess we'll see. Thanks for the review.

I started playing nearly 50 yrs ago - modern cheapos are as good as Fenders and lower end gibsons were back then - we had to learn on unplayable junk.

Many brands made these guitars and they are all very pricey, so cool to see Firefly putting out a iconic guitar at a good price.

parts are changeable frets,tuners I like body shape and tremolo system

I’ve owned 3 firefly guitars and enjoyed them all a lot. That being said, the new alnico pickups they use aren’t great. Hardware is usually cheap and the biggest issue is the mystery neck you end up getting. Some are baseball bats and some are thin/medium c. You can change hardware and pickups but there’s never info on the necks because they could change from each guitar in the same batch. The ball end frets are great but often need leveling. Nice low cost options if you like modding and don’t mind having fret work done