Firefly 338 and Grote GB-003 Jazz Guitar
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- In this 6th installment, Jimmy discusses the differences between the Firebird Firefly 338 Semi-Hollow body guitar and the Grote GB-003 hollow body guitar, along with some of their similarities as well. Which should you buy? Why not both!!
great video 👑 king jimmy. I am getting the urge to play with these 338 335 jazz variants. never thought i would say such a thing, also never thought i would build a jazzmaster clone for my daughter or get converted to p90s either. your channel is a real treasure with your insight, especially now in this golden age of cheap but good quality import guitars. many thanks for the wealth of detailed info.
Hi Mo…so glad you are enjoying the channel and gaining some insight from it. I think every guitarist should have a semi-hollow Jazz box, or two…😎
Jimmy, First, thank you for taking the time to share your reviews.
Very nice indeed. Happy New Year as well.
The Grote Jazz guitar is an astounding value.
I love mine!
I was also surprised it survived shipping with its meager packing protection, but it did.
Keep up the good work, I really enjoy your thoughts and reviews.
makemontanamyhome Thanks for watching and your kind comments! I am liking it more each time I play it! Yeah, the packing leaves a bit to be desired, but they seem to get there I guess. Thanks again, and stay tuned! 👍
I bought the Grote 335 copy and I like it, no problems. I bought the step up model with the maple tiger strips, in red, and nice color with suttle tiger stripes, very nice. The pickups are ok, non micro phonic. I almost always install some kind of handwound pickups, but for now I'll live with these. I am impressed with the frets on this guitar. Mine has the kelvenator truss cover. Mine was shipped in one of those formed styrofoam cases that could double as a beer cooler. It was wrapped in plastic saran wrap, better than a single box for sure. all I did so far was lower the saddles down some, and it plays pretty good. When I get the urge, I will set it up proper and look it over, and polish the frets, but they are darn nice out of the box. i have some other projects with more dire needs in front of it right now. Nice review, and I enjoy your playing.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Sounds like your Grote 335 was a good buy, and glad your happy with it! That’s great! I was looking at the 335 models from Grote as well, but having a few FF models I decided to go with the Jazz box with P90 instead. I do enjoy this guitar, and after setup and raising the P90 I enjoy it that much more. Enjoy your Grote, and again, thanks for stopping in! Try not to be a stranger to the channel, ok? Stay safe...👍
Night and day contrast. The GB-003 has won me... Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you and yours. Even your pet, if you have one! :^) My cat crapped under the tree one year when I forgot about him. :-)
Hey man, thanks so much for watching and commenting! The GB-003 is a very nice jazz box and the single P90 is very versatile for most any genre. Lifting it a bit certainly helps too (see my video). Yes, our cat is Odin and he thanks you too! Check out my FFJR review as he makes a special appearance in that one!
Thanks again, and stay safe!! 👍
To me, the Grote, unplugged and plugged, has more of a wonk sound, thick midrange, which is ok for jazz perhaps, but the 338 seems a lot more articulate. But like you said, it is hard to compare because they are so different.
Dennis Brown I agree! Had a lot of people asking about this guitar. I think it’s a good guitar (not for everyone) that has a unique voice. The 338 of course is different and I tried to show that here. Thanks for watching!
I have a similar but different experience with a HB hollow body jazz box. The similarity being the floating bridge. My jazz boxes bridge did not make full contact with the guitar sound board. I taped coarse grit sandpaper to the belly and rubbed the bridge forward and sideways until positive contact was made, I'm obsessive ie: neurotic about symmetry. After that I was able to intonate the bridge although it sits at an angle to the pickups tailpiece etc it works much better. I'm excited to try out this baby in the natural finish (my wife's choice). This will be my first Amazon guitar purchase I hope it goes well.
Thanks for watching and commenting Stephan…congrats on your new Jazz once you receive it!! Hopefully you will enjoy it (pretty sure you will) The natural finish looks good too!! Congrats once again, and thanks so much for stopping in to the channel and sharing your thoughts! 👍🎸
I've always wanted a Gibson 335. That said, I really wanted a Grote fully hollow with p90s. Being a lefty, I had no choice than to order the 335 style double humbucker semi hollow.
Had to order direct from the factory in China. Waiting impatiently😉...
Just aching for more wood in my tone.
I got one from Amazon awhile back…they were a “matte” finish with dual P90’s! See my review here on the channel. Don’t recall if they had a lefty version. Good luck on yours once you receive it and keep me in the loop as to how it is, ok?
Thanks so much for watching and commenting…👍
I'm going to buy the Grote in natural finish however my real guitar fantasy is a B&G Step Sister or little Sister. My wife would garrotte me with a guitar string.This Grote is as close as I'm likely to get but that's a good thing one doesn't need to be a TROGLYDITE to enjoy a guitar. My most spendy guitar purchase is a Gretsch 5422 with the hump block inlays. If you see me wearing a riff face online call the paramedics and look for my wife😳
🤣🤣
That’s funny right there….🤣
The B&G little sister looks very nice….but like you said….
Just enjoy and play the frets off that Grote!! 👍
Keep pickin’ 🎸
I just found this vid after seeing it on its stand in the last couple of recent vids. I was hoping it was a deep-body version of a hollow-body single P90 f-hole arch-top. That one I really do need.
Glad you tuned into it. It’s a hollow body, arch top but as you can see , not a deep body. Still, it’s a surprisingly good guitar from Grote and I enjoy it. I did a couple of quick mods to this guitar and did a video of that as well. Just adjusted action and truss cover, shimmed up the P90 and removed the pick guard.
Thanks for watching and commenting Camilo...👍
Another great video. I have the Firefly Crossroads on order. Jimmy you should check out EART guitars. I have 3 of them now and they are great. Thanks for what you do...
Thanks so much Dan. I will have to take a look at Eart! Thanks for the suggestion, and again thanks for watching and commenting!
Stay safe...👍
The Grote 335 has the ear shape of a Gibson 335 and I actually like it better than my Firefly 338 which has the Ibanez ears to "me".. My 338 came with matched pickups with 12k output each, whereas my Grote came with 7k and 9k more or less and had a much sweeter sound.. think my 338 was off.. ohwell.. I also bought the Grote Jazz "GP-003" you have.. More I play it.. the more I like it.. A type of guitar I would never have purchased from other vendors asking 700 plus... great fret job.. lowered the strings and tension from Half Round 11's seems to make the tuners work fine.. I did remove the Grote pickguard.. not a fan there... at the prices for these China Guitars firefly and Grote.. they are worth every penny and wonder how long they will stay down in this price range...
nice reviews... keep'em pickin..
Michael D Yeah, the first (late 17) renditions of the 338 had the “Gibby” horns and feeling the raft of the big “G” they decided to change them to more of the Ibanez style. Funny, all my 338’s ran in the 8k - 10k range with the exception of the gold top which had a 12k on the bridge. I too, am liking the Grote Jazz. Even with my preferred 9’s on it, tuning has not been an issue. I would never had bought it either, but couldn’t resist the niche factor for that price and glad I got it! Thanks for watching and your comments!
Great Vid. Thanks.
Thanks Brandon….we will use the Monoprice next time….😎👍
Great review
Thanks so much for watching and commenting Ken!
Very much appreciated! 👍
A bit off topic but...How does one get a proper riff face mine scares the cat and make the chilluns cry. You display a wonderful lack of any discernible emotion. Any tips?
I guess I will take this as a compliment? 🤣
Umm…it’s a lot easier after years of playing, and especially on your own sitting in a studio with cameras rolling….😎
I find some guitarist “riff faces” to be quite comical…something I have tried to avoid over the years…I do however smile from time to time…😎
Thanks again for stopping in…much appreciated! 👍🎸
Firefly is making the jazz box now with 2 P -90's I was looking for that review. yours is fine though. Just not what I was looking for.
Yes...the FFHB is the model #
It is “very” similar to the Grote model in this video, with dual P90’s
I didn’t grab one as it seemed to similar and I currently have enough Jazz boxes.
Thanks for watching and commenting! Stay safe....👍
How loud is it acoustically compared to an actual acoustic?
Not as loud as a acoustic….about 1/3 the volume I would say, but fine for practice “unplugged”. These are of course made to be “plugged in” but as I say, for practice you can certainly hear what you are doing well!
Thanks for watching and commenting….much appreciated! 👍🎸
Cool 😎👍🏼
Melvin Thompson Well thanks for watching and stay tuned!
Jimmy Stewart I’ll be waiting for more reviews, and to listen to you play, well done my friend 😎👍🏼
Melvin Thompson That’s great! Thanks, I have lot’s more reviews planned and coming up. In the interim, feel free to watch some of my other video demos/reviews if you haven’t already done so.
Please, it's GRO-TAY! it sounds much warmer than the firefly.
David O'Beirn
Well, that’s even worse! 😎 Besides, us Bostonians are infamous for destroying the English language. “Gro-Tay”?? Is that even English? Thanks for watching and your comments David!
@@JimmyStewart1 It was intended as a joke to Frenchify the ugly name "Grote" which implies grotty, I bought the jazz version, I appreciate your helpful reviews.
David O'Beirn
That’s too funny...😆 I was hoping I had been pronouncing it wrong! It’s a terrible name for a guitar brand, but the Jazz is a very decent guitar! Thanks for your comments David....”GRO-TAY”! 👍
@Chuck U Farley
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Interesting....👍👍
Boo Tay not Booty signed Buckaroo Banzai. Grooty sounds lame.
This is not really any type of a comparison. Pups and styles are vastly different. I understand you already have a few 335s, but for a “comparison” video, it needs to be apples to apples. Just sayin....
mrlionel1965 I agree. I had lot’s of people asking me about this guitar who are big fans of the Firefly 338 (including me) wondering if it was worth having both. I say yes, as they are different guitars (which I state) but similar in build and price. Thanks for your comments and watching!
It's his channel... he can compare what he wants. I've seen far worse comparisons.
Kop Prophet Thanks, and thanks for watching!
Well, by definition, it's a comparison. Anything head to head is a comparison. You'll just end up finding more differences than similarities in this sort of instance. By showing the Grote against the Firefly, which many of these viewers may already have, (I do, for example) one can get an idea as to the real life sound of this Grote. The Firefly is used as a frame of reference, by which a proper evaluation of the Grote is easier to distinguish. (Brighter/darker, louder softer, etc.) I found this helpful.
I think it was a better juxaposition for me than if he had compared the Grote to an Epiphone Century (which this Grote is obviously based on), for instance. I have a frame of reference for the Firefly, but not for a Century.
If you've only ever eaten an orange, and someone wants to describe an apple to you, you need an apples to oranges comparison, as the frame of reference for an apple doesn't exist. Apples to apples is only needed if you're trying to determine which apple is better, based on apple characteristics, in which case, an orange makes for a terrible apple. Using an apples to oranges comparision, one can determine a preference for apples over oranges, or vice versa, just as one may find they like the Grote more than the Firefly, or vice versa.
@@NeoRichardBlake
Very well said and explained!
Many thanks....thanks! 👍