The Best Value Guitar You've Never Heard Of : Fame Forum
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- Music store's in-house brand Fame, seem to make incredibly good value guitars. Previously being made by Mayones but now by NBE. They do seem to be very like PRS guitars though.
www.musicstore...
Social Media
/ kdhguitartv
/ kdhguitartv
/ kdhguitartv
Subscribe to support the channel :)
I still refuse to believe that 'Mayones' is not pronounced 'Mayonnaise'.
Looks like it would be pronounced "my-oh-ness", but it does look awfully similar to "mayonnaise". 😶
Ok boris...
It's not! I say it as 'may-oh-nees'!
Is mayones an instrument?
@@JohnConnasRealFatha Allegedly...
Just a follow up on the Fame Forum IV Classic I purchased. These guitars are good, I mean really good. The specification, fit and finish is in my opinion unbelievable. Seriously, if your in the market for a new guitar within this price budget go for it. I'm confident you will not be disappointed.
I just played the forum 3 a cuple years back and i loved it (still trying to find one).
The 3 was an alder body, maple neck with ebony fretboar, the same seymour pu's and a tremolo
KDH: “THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION!”
Me: “dude did you see that guitar that KDH recommended?! I’m buying 6!”
Well I didn‘t see this one coming. I live in Cologne approximately 5 minutes away from musicstore. Every now and than I go there to test out all kinds of gear and buy strings and of course I‘ve tried some Fame guitars. Even though I don’t own one (I got Mayones), they are very well build and only have minor to no flaws. The best thing is, that they have two different bodies with two different necks. So if the modern shape is too thin, just try out the classic. Just like thomann, they have a 30 day money back guarantee. So if you‘re not satisfied with your product, you can just send it back at no cost.
I didn't know it's in köln. I'll probably check it out
thanks I didnt know about the neck thickness, specs on their website list the neck thicknes as the same...
Wow I had no idea I could get slavic PRS clone. Those look insane for the price. Will definitely be considering these in the future. Hard tail? Classic Duncan pickup combo? Solid maple cap? Sign me the fuck up.
And the Classics are THICC!
Both Fame and Harley Benton are great guitars quality wise, however Harley Benton has more options when it comes to budget friendly... Then again, those Fame looks so top notch... Boy I hate being broke.
HB is not great quality but is very good for the price
@@realobama1100 beyond all the positive reviews it has, HB is generally considered as a great modding platform... You can do many changes on them and end up getting a top notch guitar by just buying extra parts... I made the math up to some point and actually makes a lot of sense...
Music Store has Jack & Danny Guitars at roundabout the same price point as Harley Benton.
Harley Benton makes GREAT electric guitars, especially the custom lines.. Their acoustics are absolute shit though.
It takes a whole lot of money just to stay broke.
I have a Forum IV modern in black satin and absolutely love it. Was about to buy a PRS SE and went home with the Fame
I got my first PRS (SE Zach Myers '21) and I've been playing a lot of guitar since! It's a guitar that makes me play more... I love the feel, grip, the resonance, the sound. It totally goes head to head with other premium guitars I own, that cost at least double. I've shopped a whole bunch from Musicstore (live in Norway). A few years back they suddenly stopped shipping "the latest and greatest", probably because of dealership contracts with brands. Then there was a vacuum for a while, begging to be filled, and local physical stores prospered a bit, but online stores had come to stay. Gear4music filled that gap. Andertons went all in and are now at the top of their game. G4M is huge, but Andertons are tickling them hard...
I've ordered a Fame Forum IV Classic from Music Store Germany, which should be with me sometime next week. Once received I'll post my first impressions of the guitar.
Great video for today since Gibson just increased their prices. So many guitars coming out with such great specs at affordable prices and great quality.
Once I did play a Fame guitar, well, several., When I visited the Musicstore in Cologne (old downtown location). Drove over there from Amsterdam to try them out. Back then the high-end models were produced and made by Polish Mayones, price range from 1500-1900 euros, they don't have these anymore. I agreed to buy a Les Paul version but my card bounced, so I actually never got to own one, very silly, that. Went home. These guitars were super high-end; mother of pearl linings, top notch pickups, Piezo, and great choice of woods. They must be out there second hand. Thats where my concern was: reselling a housebrand "Fame" guitar! But since I'm not much of a reseller, tend to keep my guitars for life, it seems, that wasn't an issue for me. Regret having one. These elite versions must be out there second hand. Thanks for discovering and plugging these great guitars. Thomann's Harley Benton line is no match.
I own a Fame Baphomet 5 bass since 2005 and it's an incredible instrument, still from the Mayones factory, just the fact that it's handmade makes it precious.
I have two Forum III models. One older model with dot inlay and a newer one with custom inlay at 12th fret. They have a very good build quality. The stock pickups used to be Schaller Golden 50s PAF style and all came with a trem. Both of mine have a six screw strat trem/vibrato. In the past they did the Paul model aka LP shaped and you could get strats and teles too. Their amp line is also amazing. Higher end models were made by Smarvo and Sovtek. The Dozer model was a Triple Rec. They had a studio classic 15H which was built by Laboga. It goes on. They have excellent products and are still under the radar.
I have a Fame Forum III Punch Limited Edition that was being sold stock 4-5 years ago with Bare Knuckle Alnico Nailbomb at the bridge and VHII at the neck (a.k.a. the blue ltd model).Other notable specs of this limited edition model include ebony fretboard with 16" radius, GraphTech black tusq nut, and Schaller bridge and tuners. Amazing guitar for the money (995€). Other ltd edition models had the Petrucci sets from Dimarzio (Crunch Lab/LiquiFire the green model and D-Sonic/Air Norton the grey one). There was also one model with EMGs and a graphic like the circles in Zak Wylde Audio guitars. All the other models had the hot rodded set (JB/'59) from Seymour Duncan, as with the current line. I wish that they will introduce again some variety in the pickups in the future.
I went on to buy one of these based on your «non recommendation,» and I’m blown away! I have the Duesenberg Starplayer Phonico, which was three times the price, and this Fame has nothing to be ashamed of next to it. Sounds great, plays great, and offers something different. This is an expensive low budget guitar, if you compare it to a Harley Benton, but that's the point; it can't be compared to that class of guitars. This is truly high end, and as such it's a steal!
I live in the US and took a gamble getting one of these shipped to me after seeing this KDH video. It took about a month to make it here after ordering in October 2021 and fortunately I didn't have to pay any import fees. Quality is really great, I would say it is better than Gibson USA and Fender. As an owner of 5 PRS guitars this Fame Forum is close in quality to those guitars, but being a satin finished guitar the feel is different. Way better fret access than any PRS I have played. Fame Neck is better than the wide fat PRS profile, but the sound and feel is totally different. I would say the sound reminds me of the Gibson Faded SG/Les Paul standards except more versatile with the piezo and coil splits. However the quality and feel compared to the Gibson Faded series the Fame is far superior. The ebony fretboard is thick and the maple top is ridiculous. Looks wise I dig it, but honestly the sound and feel is the reason to buy this guitar. Probably going to put Amber knobs and a cream or Orange toggle switch cap. Only downside is there is no tone pot, I will definitely put a push pull and at least allow the tone to work when the piezo is off. If you are on the fence take the risk and get one especially if you like the look of a PRS with the sound of a killer Sg/Les Paul.
Do you have any pics of it anywhere? Which one did you get. I have 3 PRS and wanted something different as well but familiar. I've been interested in FF's for a bit
@@caleblummer7720 yeah I will try to post to gearpage or somewhere like that. I actually got a Fame custom model a few weeks ago in the red finish from the Mayones factory. That one is insanely nice but was a just bit over 2000 usd. The fame modern model performs extremely well against it considering it is less than half the price of the custom. Fit and finish is better than anything I have ever played on the custom model. Would probably be $5k or more from any other brand.
@@bluemooncollision Wow that is wild. Yeah I am planning on getting one this month. So dumb but I'm hung up on the color.....I'm very excited. Lmk if you get pics up somewhere. Would love to see them :)
Cheers!
i AM recommending these guitars! Definitely an "underknown" brand/model. My Fame Forum IV Modern Satin is QUALITY
I bought the piezo-version in 2014, directly from the store. Back then this was more or less the only version. I don't know how the newer models are but this one was incredible good. I still have it. One interesting aspect was the consistency in quality. I tested a couple of them but they were more or less in the same ballpark, unlike other "major" brands.
The neck is about 19mm thick but about 43-44mm wide. It weights about 3,8kg. Nice big frets, but not huge. SD PUs, nicely wired, no buzz/hum, etc. I have expensive guitars now, well above 5k range but I still don't want to sell it.
They also had / still have a Fame Custom priced at about 2000€ with extra features, like bindings, inlays, etc. Those are of course super but I wanted a workhorse.
I had a fame forum modern with the piezo system. They are AMAZING guitars . Unbelievable quality to price ratio. Amazing specs too. The only thing I didn’t like was the d shape neck. That’s it. Other than that it def didn’t play like a 900 euro guitar and I have a mayones master build and a prs custom 24 . You honestly would think it’s at least at the 2000 range
yep, somewhat of a sleeper brand. I remember them offer Laboga amps under the Fame name, which have been handmade in Poland.
I bought a Harley Benton last year for £280
7 String Baritone scale
5 Piece maple neck
Surprisingly good pickups (replaced with black winters)
Set Thru
Matte Black finish
In short, criminally great value. I spent roughly £500 and got something close to a LTD Black Metal/Ibanez Iron Label. My only complaint is that the holes drilled for the truss rod cover weren't done properly and the cover itself flapped about. Easy enough fix.
Fame used to do models with trems, too, the Forum III. I just bought a used one, actually. I've known about them for a long time since I lived close to Music Store professional, but never cared about the PRS style before. Since I started to appreciate it recently, I decided to get one. We'll see how it holds up, it's an older Forum III with a trem and Schaller pickups.
ive heard of this brand but am surprised how very few ppl have heard of this, very underrated company
Cheers for the heads up! I'm in the market for a new guitar and turns out that I live not far from the UK store. So going to pop across there and see what the Fame Forum Classic is like.
Fascinated how you could make this and not mention Agile! Rondo music was very successful with this concept early on
Tell me more? I had an american guy recommend these to me in a london shop a few years back, I had a quick look but know nothing. He had those hoop hole things in his ears so he was a legit djent guy I guess...
Checked them out. Over here they see to be priced above the PRS SE range
Mayones is a polish company from Gdańsk, they also produced guitars under other brands: Flame, ZAK and Fame for german market.
Thanks for the video. Well, the point is that for this price you can buy a PRS (I don't know if it's better or worse) and if you happen to think about selling later a PRS is worth much more and is more sought after than the fame, which as you said is an almost unknown brand. To stand out from PRS it needed to be a little cheaper until it had a well-known name and then increase the price as an important brand.
Great video. It left me wanting more....
interesting, sort of wish I knew about this earlier. I literally just bought a used PRS CE 24 2017 trampus green for about 1,600$ which should be here in a week or two. After playing a SE and being blown away at the quality of that instrument for the price, I wanted to see how the higher models are. The fact that these have a deep 10 top like maple body for such an amazing price caught my attention, plus the humbuckers and switches. And made in Czech, so I can support a part of my heritage. Will def have to pick up one some day.
I use them, also i mentioned them in a forum gear bla bla i forgot the name lol. And some people arguing there is no way to make super high end guitar in EU under 1000e so there is FAME killer quality.
Thanks for the recommendation
I have one of the Fame modern guitars its absolutely amazing, sounds great plays great, really incredible guitar for the money. I actually liked it better than a Prs, just my opinion. Ill do a review soon. Great video btw mate. Keep rocking.
Would love a review!
it looks like a veneer over an unfigured maple cap which makes sense given the price.
Hello KDH, would you ever do acoustic guitar reviews?
@KDH Sorry, but neither sapele, nor khaya are in the "mahogany family", nor is Mahogany even a "family" of woods! Khaya is a handful of species from the Khaya genus native to West tropical Africa specifically: Khaya anthotheca, Khaya grandifoliola, Khaya ivorensis, and Khaya senegalensis. Sapele is also a West tropical African tree, in the Entandrophragma genus: Entandrophragma cylindricum. True mahogany are several species of the Swietenia genus that grow all over the world, so those woods aren't closely related at all, but do come from the broader Meliaceae family, but note the word "Broad", as there's Family, a family contains different genus's, and a genus can have a few to several species. Evolutionarily speaking, as in phylogeny, their species are about as far apart as bear and dogs, with "Family" being fish, vs mammals!
Now that doesn't mean they are not perfectly good woods for guitars! They are also more readily available, and not endangered as are many species of Mahogany! "Tonewood" is a complete and utter bullshit myth, and there is no such thing other than in the minds of people who have been fooled by marketing gimmickry! As with any material in any use, the only thing that does really matter are it's physical properties, and most of what way too many believe as to guitars on the matter, is also mostly nonsense and often downright false! It's literally as bad as believing the earth is flat, or that a microgram of mercury bonded to another molecule (therefore safe) in a vaccine (Not used since the early 90's) is a health threat in COVID vaccines that don't contain any!
Even woods within a species can vary; Ash showing a huge range in weight, porosity, stiffness and density, and even between two trees growing a few miles apart. Manufacturers do not use "Only the finest..." (Bullshit) as it would entail them having to by copious amounts, and only picking 10% of it, and then either reselling the rest which is not lucrative, or throwing a crap load away! Lumber yards do categorize woods roughly and price them by a grade, but it's not exact by any means. Also: woods are often graded more for looks, and not all of their physical properties, where figured woods are actually less desirable. What guitar companies and wood retailers that sell to luthiers like myself will do though, is separate what they buy into "grades", with the most amazing figured pieces, marked up the highest, and sometimes the usable portion of one great log, can pay for the whole lot of 12 or more, making the rest pure profit!
People fall for snake oil all the time, but guitar players seem to guzzle it by the gallon! STOP THAT: You are just encouraging them to sell you more bullshit, and at a higher price!!! (
The funny thing is that Fame Guitars even has really crazy models too! Like, 2k+€ and even 4k€ guitars. Wish they had 7 strings though. Got back into guitar with a cheap and self-modded Harley Benton. Add some Graph Tech nuts and locking tuners and they are as good as 500+€ guitars. Fame in comparison seems to have a general higher quality without the need to mod, at least for a longer time. HB's Amaroks are really nice guitars without modding as well
I've used dv247 which is like the UK version name of music store professional and I had no idea they had their own line.
Thanks for the heads up !👍 I was looking to get a PRS SE. Fuck ya! They offer more!! And the price is about the same. Thanks Bro!🤘
what I also like about music store is that they carry roswell pickups which are quite good for the price
As a German, who has been to Cologne and also visited Music Store Professional, I am aware of this brand, don't know whether I touched one, but I'm sure I've seen one.
I was in Cologne in 2017 and 2018 and tried some of them, since I am not a good player and I didn't play them with an Amp I can not tell you how they sound but how they look and the paint job and everything concerning build quality is absolutely worth it.
I have heard of them before and they do look good, though they are still pricey when you can get a recognised brand like a charvel for similar money.
I have a Fame and it's honestly absolutely on par with my Strats and Gibson's it's a amazing Guitar for the money that will knock your socks off
The Fame Forum is available for 20 years now. I got a Fame Forum III around 2007 and it is still closer to an US PRS than a 2019 PRS SE Modell. Back in 2007 the Forum was only around 550 Euro with Seymour Duncan SH 4 and SH 2. Back then it still had Tremolo Bridge, though.
is that how much the forum III was back then? I found one used for 330€ but can't find my old musicstore catalogues. i was interested in the forum back then, but more in the IV which I seem to remember being around 600€?
Are we sure those maple caps are flame maple all the way through? These days, you can vacuum form veneers to crazy shapes and deep guitar top carves.
Does it matter ? I don't think the flame makes a maple cap sound better. That comes from the thickness. A lot of Kiesel guitars only have a veneer. I dony see alot of people complain about that.
@@tyrantstomper You could have left out the "crawl back into your hole" comment and your reply would have been much more effective and civilized. 🤦♂️ Seems like everyone who starts a reply off with "bruh" is a prick of the highest order.
@@tyrantstomper grow up bruh
@@BloodBoughtMinistries 🐵🐵🐵
why do discussions always have to turn into chimpanzees flinging shite at each other like this.
Anyone in the US buy from one of these stores? Was there an import duty tagged on and how much was it? Apparently they make basses too and they look like a cross between Warwick (MEC pickups) and Spector body shape. Logo is a bit amateur, but at these prices, I wouldn't care. The Baphomet four string is 949 euros which is like Schecter or Warwick Rockbass pricing. I'm in the US so it might be hard to get one, but another very affordable brand I"ve seen is Maruszczyk basses and Mensinger basses and guitars from Poland.
Had 3 forums, a II, a IV and a V. They were all outstanding!
I tried so hard to get the Fame Pi bass before they went out of stock. I didn't have any luck, but it looked incredible. If its good enough for Wotjek its more than enough for me. First video I've seen anyone make about them.
Harley Benton... you tubes (favorite guitar brand)? Am I using the right you tube?.. seriously though, I have never heard of Fame, definitely worth a closer look! Cool post!
really enjoyed the vid good comparisons between mordern and trad fame guitars. also as your next project can u make a vid on soloking guitars, as far as i know they are made in indonesia but look really cool
These are really cool. Thanks for pointing this brand out 🤘
Top guitars for price. Have a Forum III, 2005 tremolo.
I think Godin guitars are good value. Canadian parts assembled in America (or is it the other way round???!!!) anyway I bought my godin exit 22 mahogany body, beautiful pick ups and lovely maple neck. It’s in great nick abs is really versatile. More versatile than my fender telecaster which is a Mexican one but also plays lovely.
Another recommendation (I’ve played a few but don’t own one currently are for Gordon Smith which are incredibly playable, handmade and specced in England 🏴 you can place any custom neck tuners, body thickness anything really. Give them a go. I wonder if Kalen would consider taking one for the team and testing one out for us !!! When he gets his 250,000th subscriber!
I was very close to buying a fame forum this year but I simply don't need another guitar. On paper, the spec for the money is unbeatable.
I picked up a Forum IV in Jimi's a few years back for €500. I can attest to the fact that they are fantastically built guitars. It's been my main/ cover all gigs guitar for the last few years due to its playability, tuning stability and versatility as regards available tones. I'd never part with mine!
If you live in North America, check out the in-house Michael Kelly brand at Sam Ash music. Very similar concept. High quality guitars at a low price.
Wow man, I had no idea about these! I’d love to see one on the channel and hear your thoughts on it after playing it
Finally, someone actually giving Fame Forum a shout out
Im German based and buy music gear since years online and NEVER EVER in my life heard about Music Store… I bought many instrument and straight up google searched the model designation to find a wide range of retailers and NEVER was there a Music Store link so I highly doubt that Music Store is a competitor for Thomann…Music Store is totally unknown to me and all the people I know…
Had mine for a few months, best guitar I've ever owned, and I have had handbuilt PRS-copies and Caparison Angeluses, both great guitars. My Fame Forum surpasses both though.
Would you say the Classic sound more like a Les Paul and the Modern like a SG? The Classic si VERY thick and it must be HUGE sounding, like the biggest sounding LPs...
@@DavidRFIT I have the Classic, and I would say it is more PRS/Caparison Angelus than Les Paul. Never owned an SG, but several LP's.Sure, thick and full figured, but not at all heavy like an LP.
I have a polish Fame Forum 3 and I had a Custom one too (which I still hate myself for selling, they are now like >2k new). The top carve is absolutely nice and not like a SE. I don't know any
Korean/Indonesian factory doing this.
The rebranded Yersaov amps sold under the fame brand were brilliant amps, crazy prices in the Bugera range (maybe a bit more) but really well made, unfortunately no longer available I believe
oh, yes, the bulldozer. if you didn't read about it on forums, you had no way of knowing it was actually good. and it wasn't that easy to find demos at the time.
they had the fame forum guitars, yes, but also the fame "the paul" guitars, and baphomet basses, as well as fame "MM" (stingray bass clones). apparently the "paul" models were also sold in poland under the name "flame". at the time they didn't have entry level fame guitars. only "jack and danny". I have a MM-400 bass, can't compare it to a stingray cause i've never tried one, but it's good, schaller hardware, no flaws, nice sunburst and flamed top (might be a veneer i don't know), was 500€. my brother had a les paul he ordered a 500€ model, and they somehow sent him a 666€ one. matt finish, emg active pickups... quite heavy as well. but back then the cheaper models were like 500€... (even forums i think)
Bray Represent! I've always wondered about these Fame guitars. I remember I used to look at them in musicstore catalogs and think they looked quality for money.
why don't you know where I live?
As a “PRS guy,” I wish more companies made guitars with a 25” scale length. I like the PRS body shape, but if Fender and Gibson had offerings with that length on a body more to their styles I would buy one. Acoustic guitars too.
This one is actually 24,75 :)
@@Betongtempel777, I know. That’s why I left my subtle complaint.
PRS 25" scale feels weird to me, I bought a PRS and sold it in a couple weeks
^do you have a favorite scale length though?
The Ibanez AZES are in 25" 😉
I'm a bit confused about this. Fame guitars website still says that they are build by Mayones and doesn't mention anything about NBE. Is there any way of knowing which models are build by NBE?
It took me years to realize just how good this guitars are, I have an old mayones made one and it is the best built guitar I've ever had or played.
Damn, I bought Jack and Danny from Music Store Professional.
I've had a Fame digital delay for a few years now, does the job. The wet/dryon it is atrocious though, it goes from barely audible delay to WAY TOO LOUD. The Fame EQ pedal I had also crapped out quite quick, so YMMV.
Fame guitars are made in a polish manufacturing workshop and very high spec 'ed prs clones. the pedals are probably relabeled cheap chinese clones. There is no connection between the guitars and the pedals despite the shared label by musicstore.
@@youtubechannelxy1308 Annoying coincidence, but probably right!
I HAVE seen these in the past, & they always looked pretty good! Czech out, (SEE what I did there?) Bach guitars in Czech Rep! They too have their own haus brand, along with seling the big names, along with very good G & F copies, for very reasonable prices, made in the EU, not Asia! Czech labour is still relatviely cheap compared to Western Europe!
the brand "IYV" ... never seen one , but i got one off reverb for next to nothing... neck thru, carved top book matched flame maple... fantastic guitar!!
I need to buy one now
This is great I have always wondered about these guitars
About 3 months ago, they started showing up on my reverb front page. Although I don't particularly need one right now, they did seem decently priced. Which piqued my interest. Lots of decently QC inspected guitars fly under the radar these days because of brand shenanigans. Framus have a budget line that look great as well. Could be worth looking into.
Hey, where do you come from ? The fame forum 3 is good. The old ones had a tremolo. This was the weakness. You had to change the tremolo or there were special screws. For tuning down (to d) it’s a Great Guitar. For another tunings I recommend fanned frets.
This is an eye opener for us non USA fans🎸
I love this! That’s an incredible find. More of these ultra hidden gem videos, please. Thank you.
It's the price of a PRS SE with an american made PRS look (and better specs)
I like that!
I love my Forum 4 :D
This is like what HB is supposed to be. The resale value on these is probably awful but I’d love to try one out and own one
I like PRS but I don't like birds on the fretboard, so these are a win in my book!
Good vid. Thanks for the info...
Now.... WHERES THAT GIBSON VID HO?!!! hehehe
Gotta get it done brother!
Wow, what a find!
too bad musicstore doesn't have a single lefthand electric guitar from fame. do you know anything about their other (lower budget) in-house brand called jack&denny?
Oh I’ve heard of them, look and sound amazing 🤘
Axel Ritt from Grave Digger used to play these before going to Framus.
Are these solid flame maple, or flame maple veneer over plain maple?
Solid flame maple :)
is this brand available in the USA?
Do another Audit Kelean, please. Who will it be?
It's the last full page ad in EVERY issue of Total Guitar for several years now. It can't possibly be a obskure guitar anymore?
Would I need to buy the leg warmers separately or do they come with the guitars?
might have to check one out now.
No 22 fret offerings, sadly for myself.
ha, about 8 years ago i used fame mics to record drums for an EP for my first band. They were actually not bad at all--and only 100 Euro for the set.
Looked into it and they had a left handed model in the amazing green color..... only to discontinue it and dash my hopes of every getting one. That sucks.
I think ive looked for those but found none in the USA
I literally just bought (about two weeks ago) a PRS SE and as I was watching this video I was thinking to myself "That looks just like the guitar I just bought" lol. I will say the PRS plays wonderfully, though it is kind of a pain to keep in tune for some reason :o but maybe I'll look into one of these for the next guitar I buy! .....should I ever have the money to buy another one >.>
Those look very nice.