Boya&Ziqi seen the video and sent us this email. I thought I would share it I've watched the video and it's great! Please pass on my thanks to Phillip ! Thank him for pointing out what needs to be improved on this guitar, I will reflect his suggestions to the factory in order to provide the player with more perfect guitars.
Hey Philip let me know when they make as good a guitar for Left-handers. I watched that Braun guy's evaluation of this guitar and it sounded great went to Damazon and guess what......RHT Hand Only. Same old story.
Leave it to a Chinese brand to understand what you are trying to do in your videos and high end brands taking offense to it... No wonder they are loosing. It's kind of a bummer really. But I'm glad they were happy and not an annoyance. Great work!
I need the Amazon link for that guitar, if you have it handy. Not saying I'm a buyer, but interested...and yes, also a luthier/repair/setup, etc. Dropped the other response below your vid title. Grateful for the response you just received, and posted.... We DO need the Amazon LINK, if you or the OEM could provide it....Amazon search turned up NOTHING on this model guitar. Thanks for all you do (new subscriber)...
The name Boya & Ziqi (pronounced like Zichi) refers to a famous Chinese story. Boya was a renowned musician and Ziqi was essentially his muse. When Ziqi died, Boya destroyed his instrument and refused to play again because he lost the only person who truly understands his music. Their logo refers to "Lofty Mountain and Flowing Water", Boya's most well-known work.
Hey Phil, really love the content as always. I think the brand reads "Boya & hzi-chi" it's an ancient chinese story about two friends really get each other, understand each other, and how they communicate is through the playing of "Qin", an ancient stringed instrument, it resembles friendship and understanding - later the names" Boya&hzi-chi" are used to refer classy, deep and solid friendship.
Dear Philip, thank you for this, not just as a review of the guitar but also a demonstration in being civil polite and professional, that gives your comments real authority and it is the way things are done in the big wide world and it is good example to see from anyone, whatever they do in life. Thank you.
The honesty is great along with your detailed reasoning. I’m a believer of spending a little more for brand and not having to upgrade to reach the same level for an almost same product. The goal to for all to play and enjoy music so…get there how it serves one best! Rock on!
Love the tech tips Phil, as someone who's yet to be able to purchase a higher end guitar I end up having to do my own maintenance on the few guitars I have and it's always scary!
Thanks for the look Phillip. I have to admit I'm not really interested in semi-hollow guitars right now. But I love to see your technical reviews of guitars at any price point. Good job as always.
You should check them out. With the right setup and pick ups...they are very versatile. With nice pups my hamer echotone does...literally...everything...metal to jazz. No sacrifices (except whammy bar LOL?)
Absolutely love your format for these videos! The commentary is exactly what we want and need! Give us the raw price to performance and don't try to hype things up!
Phil is a true pro you can learn a lot from this man just gotta remember wood is wood metal is metal the two dont mix on their own even the $5000 instruments can have these "problems" just less of them and sometimes the issue is our understanding of a problem the price doesnt matter i promise you will find a high fret some where on expensive guitars production isnt perfect the wood and metal isnt any different i love all my guitars and keep them in tip top shape everything from core PRS to bottom of the barrel squier and not a good one either and they all play like a million bucks set it up right and sometimes put the right parts on it and you cant tell the difference between the "cheap" and "problematic" ones and the "expensive" "good" ones yes even your first act can sound like a prs given you took the time to upgrade parts and in labor ie. making nuts saddles reinstalling/reseating frets and other laborious work sure its work but at some point in learning it all you wont trust anyone else to work on your guitar my point is anyone reading follow Phil he will point the way working on your own instruments can be the most satisfying and gratifying thing on earth and im sure a lot of you will agree 👍😉👌
Got a very similar ES-335 knock-off under the "Latitude" brand. Other than upgrading to a set of $35 set Rotomatic style locking tuners it really doesn't need a thing. The fretwork is superb; rounded ball ends and highly polished medium jumbo frets, bone nut and a roller saddle bridge too. Fretboard was a little dry and the "flame maple" is probably photo finish. Couple of finish imperfections but other then oiling the rosewood and doing a little set-up with fresh strings it was ready to play.
Boya & Ziqi were 2/3 of a Japanese comedy troupe, along with the third member, Curly. They were the Japanese version of The Three Stooges. They later introduced a lower-priced line of instruments, such as the Shemp Ukulele.
Well it happened with Silvertone, Teisco, etc. But those were unique designs with cool pickups. I dont know how much the lawsuit guitars were going for back in the 80s but I did buy a used Gibson black custom for $500 in '88. I was going to buy a new white one for $1100, but the salesman told me about the black one.
Great guitar for such a budget-level instrument. We live in a great era for guitars... other than the big company price increases these past couple of years.
Hi Phil, your Deep Dives just keep getting better & better. Loved this review showcasing an inexpensive guitar & how it can work for anyone with some careful checking upon receivable. Cheers ✌️🎸
Top notch review. I liked the low output alnico II humbuckers sounds very much. The separate coil splits for each was icing on the cake. It gives the guitar a unique feature set and lets it stand out from the others in its class.
No nonsense and informative as always! Question: do you ever consider or adjust intonation on such tests? Also: a friendly suggestion to put your camera on a stand when doing desktop shots like the one with the neck profiles in this video. No offense, though. Great work!
Interesting deal. I will say, when comparing to the Epiphone, the 335 Traditional Pro model is often $399 on sale and is a great deal. Has coil splits that are usable and the humbuckers are a little hotter. All these 335s are fun to play
I thought that guitar sounded excellent especially on the coil splits which usually are garbage on cheap guitars and the pedal sounded GREAT. DO A QUICK DEMO ON THAT PEDAL!!
EXCELLENT review, Bro! I don't know that I've ever seen such a complete breakdown of an instrument, and I have definitely NEVER seen issues fixed as they're identified. 🙏
Incredible, a guitar with +- all the specs matching what I prefer and sounding decently, for that price! One detail: sounds a little out of tune when playing chords near the top nut. Difficult to guess if it can be corrected (eg by filing the nut slots, ...), but it's an annoying thing that many Gibsons also have. Thank you for making us aware of this instrument. Unfortunately, not available on European Amazon sites, and import from US doubles the price.
Someone described a brief story in the comments but here is the description from the Brand on their Amazon listing. I bet you're wondering: why are our brand's called this? Who are they? During the Spring and Autumn Period in China（2000 years ago ）, there was a musician who was good at playing the Guqin, named Yu Boya. One day, on a boat trip, Boya played a tune he had composed before he became famous, but unfortunately no one could understand it, which expressed the lofty mountains and flowing water. At that moment a woodcutter passing by on the shore listened to it and said exactly what the tune meant. Boya said excitedly："Amazing! Your heart and mine are the same！"and this woodcutter was Zhong Ziqi. They talked about music very happily and agreed to visit Ziqi again when Boya returned from his trip.When Boya came back, he had already passed away due to illness. Boya was so sad that he broke his Guqin in front of Ziqi's tomb. After that, he never played the Guqin again. We use the brand name to pay tribute this precious friendship, and we also hope to convey this musical friendship with guitars. Know what you want and do what you need, become your musical confidant.
Excellent video as always, I appreciate your thorough examination of the tech/geek side of the review including actual fixes. Much appreciated. As to this particular guitar, it had some pretty sweet tones for such a low budget instrument.
Thanks enjoyed the coil splits. I drop nuts on stone counter top bone "rings" plastic "dullish" I also weigh a bone nut v.s. plastic on a kitchen scale ( it was on the counter top) The bone was almost twice the weight of plastic. Great video
I couldn't tell in the video if the top and bottom is a multi-layered and pressed/formed laminate, like Gibson's. But in any case, a center block semi-hollow is a lot of pieces, takes time and is hand work a machine can't do yet. It's impressive they, and other makers like Ibanez, offer these guitars at such a low price!! Don't forget the distributor and dealer still get a cut, so they get maybe $269? That is a very narrow margin to make any $$ on them!! Another thought, SS fret wire is 50% more expensive than nickel-silver too, and harder to install!! 8-0 --gary
Awesome review Phil. I mean right down to the brass tacks! I'm impressed with the sound of that guitar. Too bad I have a beautiful Washburn HB35 already, and too many other guitars that prohibit me from buying another. 🎸
Phil, this is a great video man. Thank you for sharing a new guitar/company and also exactly what can and should be done when you receive an instrument that may need some work and is otherwise good to go! You are doing the Lord’s work IMO. My guess is that Gibson/Epiphone will not take action on things like stainless steel frets despite other import makers going this way (Boya, Schecter, LTD, etc.). They’d rather tout the goofy marketing BS like collabs w/Gibson CS on finishes and using U.S. Gibson pups, CTS pots, and Grover tuners. While these little tweaks may have appeal (and they do for many), the last little stretch of road w/Epiphone has more to do with quality control issues still prevalent as Epiphone is charging significantly higher prices. I mean, we still receive Gibson guitars w/issues so what makes you think we want a budget guitar w/higher quality components slapped rapidly in a flawed product that you overcharged for that we still have to put on a bench?? 👌🏻 They’re so close yet still so far.
I was looking to get a budget semi-hollow body style guitar last year and ended up buying a Guild Starfire 1 DC. It has all the features I was looking for and it was different enough in appearance to not try to be an outright 335 clone. It came flawless out of the box and the only thing I did was to take the factory 11's off and put a set of Elixir 10's on instead. Very versatile guitar for anything from classic rock to rockabilly stuff and it was hard to beat at under $600. I have seen alot of off-branded guitars on the cheap but, I have always stayed with established brands that are well regarded just out of being cautious.
That's a great looking guitar, Phillip! But I have a white 1987 Epiphone Sheraton (hollow body with 5 ply Maple on the top and back, and 3 ply Maple sides, and all the hardware is actual GOLD! When I got tired of the cheap tuning machines going flat on me, I bought a set of Gold Grover tuning machines. It holds its tune just fine now. And I had it retrofitted with a GOLD Bigsby B-7 (that was the model number at the time, and okay... every Bigby is Aluminum, but this one is gold plated), and it has a solid maple piece down the middle, like the one you're showing here, a set-in neck, and it's beautifully bound EVERYWHERE! Including the headstock, which says "Epiphone by Gibson" on it. They didn't make these with the "by Gibson" on the headstock for very long - I saw a LOT of these during the period it was built, and MINE was the only one I EVER saw with the extra words on it!), and it's STELLAR! It has 2 humbuckers, an Alnico V (bridge) and an Alnico II (Neck). They sound AMAZING! Gibson would be hard-pressed to make a 335 that equals this one. and at the time, the Gibson model was well over $1200 more than this one! It cost a little over $850 when I bought it new. At the time they were making these, I had to send a few of them BACK, because their computer-assisted manufacturing process put the SAME PROBLEM into the necks of many of them - there was a "dip" in the neck from the 9th to the 12th frets, from string 1 to string 3!!! This caused a fret buzz in the first THREE of these guitars I had, which immediately got sent back. At this point, I WAS PISSED!!! So I finally called Gibson in Nashville, and ended up connected with their VP in charge of Quality Control. I told him my story, and(add your own Tennessee accent in this when you read it) he said to me "Tell ya what. I personally will go to the warehouse and play as many as I have to until I find you a good one!" Sure enough he did, and a week later, I got one with a PERFECT NECK! The VP also had a few choice words for the Korean factory, an he told them to straighten out the neck problem. They did, so the rest of that model year's run were all perfect, once they adjusted the software. But mine was the FIRST GOOD ONE in the 1987 Model Year. I wouldn't sell it, PERIOD! By the way, your pronunciation of the brand name on this ax sounds right to me, for what that's worth.
Parker uses stainless steel frets on their gee~tars. They will never ever wear out, which is great for an inexpensive guitar. That alone is why this guitar is well worth buying. If You buy a guitar for anything under 300 dollars, and the cheap frets go out, it will never be worth re-fretting because of the cost, so the guitar would be a throw~away. Unless You actually know how to re~fret. This was a very smart move by this company IMO, to use SS frets. Anyway, thank you for the video, it was excellent.
I'm gonna say it again, my Harley Benton out performs my USA strat every time, it's not how good the cheaper guitars are, it's how bad the expensive ones are 🤘
Phil, great review. Guitar looks and sounds pretty good. I agree with your final thoughts. That said hollow bodies and semi hollows are really guitars you come to rather than start on. My first semi hollow was a 90s Epiphone Sheraton ll that I still miss. Right now I have three hollow bodies, two Ibanez Artcores and a Gretsch Electromatic. Compared to all my other solid bodies, they feel and play very different. I agree with you that you want a guitar that plays straight away out of the box. I think this guitar and a set up with a set of D'Addario NYXLs or Stringjoys would be a great way to get this guitar up and running. I would swap the output jack for a Switchcraft or a Pure Tone.
Hi Phil...At 5:57 you demonstrated how after hammering the fret, it spread and put a hole in the nylon glove. The hole was on the high "E" side of the guitar. Later, (around 6:34)to resolve the fret burr problem that made the hole, you rounded the fret on the wrong side of the guitar... the low "E" side. Just an observation with all due respect.
Unfortunately all too often budget guitars are not for beginner guitarists as they require work which makes them not so much budget anymore and there's the downtime while fixing.
I have 3 Jay Turser guitars (among my collection of fifteen guitars) and I'm amazed that a nice guitar like mine and these can be made for so little. And I know guitars. I owned many classics.
However great the value, I don’t expect to have to fix a brand new guitar or just about any purchase for that matter. Great video as usual though Phil.
Mr. McKnight, This review convinced me that if you reviewed a plastic cup of mineral water with a slice of lemon you would un-vail nuances that mankind never knew. As usual I went to Amazon and put the Boya & Ziqi in my cart to be purchased at a later date. You sir are the man. Peace...
Normally I'd be all for buying a decently well built budget no name copy of a high end guitar. However, not with semi-hollow 335 types and definitely not for $400. Every budget guitar is going to suffer from poor electronics which normally isn't a big deal to swap out. It's a huge deal to do it on a 335, and a massive pain even if you know exactly what you're doing. These guitars are more difficult to manufacture which means there is more room for error. You are far more likely to have those errors the lower you move in price. The higher you move in price, it starts making less and less sense to buy a no name copy. This guitar seems decent enough but its not without flaws as Phil showed here. For $400 I think you would be far better served with a new Gretsch or Ibanez semi hollow or a used Epiphone 335. These guitars, at the very least, will retain some of their value if you decide to upgrade to the real thing or something premium. In the $500 range you have even more great offerings like new Epiphone 335s, and D'Angelico semi hollows. If you buy this guitar for $400 and in a year or two decide to sell it for something better......good luck. Maybe you can get $150 for it tops if you're lucky. This is one of those random pop up Chinese brands on amazon that will sell guitars for 6 months to a year, disappear, and then rebrand as something else and create more youtube hype to start the charade all over again.
Awesome video Phll I’m guessing the work you did on the fretboard is probably a way bigger problem than what people ever imagined. I know I bought a brand new The Schecter E-1 FR S Special Edition Trans Purple Burst TPB Floyd Sustainiac Electric Guitar + CASE guitar, and I was a little shocked when I opened up the because the first string was snagged under the fret and you could see it was pulled up a little bit and I didn’t really want to have to send it back so I was emailing people saying hey should. I try to press this back in or tap it back in and go from there I had gotten one of the first of these with the case. I really bought it as an investment. I still haven’t even played it yet. A lot of guys are using these as a studio guitar. I’m guessing because of the Sith Staniak and they’re comfortable with that through body neck.
Enjoyed the review and I am impressed by the price and tone! I really liked the sound of the bridge pickup! The neck pickup sounds great with distortion, too! Single coil split doesn't sound all that bad either! Thanks, Phillip!
Certainly it looks wonderful. I believe it sounds ok too. Only drawback as we've seen was to fix the frets, though not too bad. Never heard of this brand, we know from new guitars like this everyday. Go guess if it came out from the same factory that manufacturers maybe for Epiphone or other well known brand, because it looks like a knock-off going out thru the factory back door to avoid any trade infringement, just an opinion. The video was great about how to fix the frets, thanks!
My prediction is that this will not inspire Epiphone to add more features to compete, rather, it will inspire Epiphone to price increase based on their groupthinked perception of Epiphone brand pedigree. In all likelihood, Boya & Ziki will pivot from this video and start gluing frets and maybe even ball ending them. Gibson has been tone deaf to the fact that smaller Chinese builders are ghost building everyone elses guitars, and they theyre slowing owning the 400 dollar-ish market.
All the while, the Gibson people are blowing their vintage class instruments out at greater prices than it would cost for somebody to get a new car and possibly a house while constantly dragging Armadillo Enterprises (the owners of Dean) into court for patent infringement. They are not thinking remotely about achieving customer satisfaction.
I think this is exactly what prompted the introduction of the "Epiphone 335" alongside the Dot, whose market share is probably being cannibalised by this, the Sire Larry Carlton and the many better brands. If they cared, they would've redesigned the Dot rather than going for the $700 segment to compete with D'Angelico.
Gibson's target audience seem to be people who care about their guitars being vintage or traditional. I can't see why Gibson would want to change or incorporate modern improvements such as stainless steel frets.
Thanks alot. I had absolutely no clue that you could actually use wood glue on the critical neck bridge/nut for this. Good to hear! Linearity is my biggest concern. I think I would come up with fake lightweight strings to tie back to whatever bridge you're using including Bigsby. I don't know. A laser projector constructed as a bridge jig to emit beams clean along the guitar neck I ask? I wouldn't be well versed as it is, to even use some precision like that to make any difference.
Good review. Fair summary. You do a great job reviewing these guitars and the technical advise is spot on. I appreciate All of your time and effort. You are the best at what you do. Not a Fan of Chinese made Guitars. But fair competition is always a good thing for the market IMHO Indonesian Guitars are a leap in quality and and Play-ability. Also the Used market is currently full of great guitar values. Rock On!😎
That's a good buy and can get it done, but I can't agree more on the Gretsch option. Those few dollars more give any player a guitar that is fantastic out of the box. I now own 3 Gretsch axes and I'm very pleased with all three (says the guy with a Yamaha SG800S as his avatar).
Nice tone for that price, and nice tone period. And except for the fugly headstock, it's really quite a beauty. I think it would fit right in the mix if you suddenly changed from a Gibson to this. With the exception of slight tonal differences, it wouldn't suffer tonewise. If I had the money right now...(I just bought a Spark) and was in the market for an inexpensive 335 substitute, this would be in my living room tomorrow.
Boya&Ziqi seen the video and sent us this email. I thought I would share it
I've watched the video and it's great! Please pass on my thanks to Phillip ! Thank him for pointing out what needs to be improved on this guitar, I will reflect his suggestions to the factory in order to provide the player with more perfect guitars.
Hey Philip let me know when they make as good a guitar for Left-handers. I watched that Braun guy's evaluation of this guitar and it sounded great went to Damazon and guess what......RHT Hand Only. Same old story.
Leave it to a Chinese brand to understand what you are trying to do in your videos and high end brands taking offense to it... No wonder they are loosing. It's kind of a bummer really. But I'm glad they were happy and not an annoyance. Great work!
I need the Amazon link for that guitar, if you have it handy. Not saying I'm a buyer, but interested...and yes, also a luthier/repair/setup, etc. Dropped the other response below your vid title. Grateful for the response you just received, and posted.... We DO need the Amazon LINK, if you or the OEM could provide it....Amazon search turned up NOTHING on this model guitar. Thanks for all you do (new subscriber)...
This guitar sounds great!
@@davidcochran6291 if they don't make a lefty version they a just expensive canoe paddles.
The name Boya & Ziqi (pronounced like Zichi) refers to a famous Chinese story. Boya was a renowned musician and Ziqi was essentially his muse. When Ziqi died, Boya destroyed his instrument and refused to play again because he lost the only person who truly understands his music. Their logo refers to "Lofty Mountain and Flowing Water", Boya's most well-known work.
Thank you.
Appreciated!
Very interesting and informative!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Mr. Wiki 😎🤘🏻
I love how you always solve the problem and just continue on with your review without making a big deal out of it.
Well, if the guitar was 3699 instead of 369 he definitely would. At this price point those sorts of issues are to be expected.
Agreed, always appreciate him showing us how to solve problems
Hey Phil, really love the content as always. I think the brand reads "Boya & hzi-chi" it's an ancient chinese story about two friends really get each other, understand each other, and how they communicate is through the playing of "Qin", an ancient stringed instrument, it resembles friendship and understanding - later the names" Boya&hzi-chi" are used to refer classy, deep and solid friendship.
You really know what you're doing! Still, after 8 years of me watching, that deserves reiteration.
Dear Philip, thank you for this, not just as a review of the guitar but also a demonstration in being civil polite and professional, that gives your comments real authority and it is the way things are done in the big wide world and it is good example to see from anyone, whatever they do in life. Thank you.
The honesty is great along with your detailed reasoning. I’m a believer of spending a little more for brand and not having to upgrade to reach the same level for an almost same product. The goal to for all to play and enjoy music so…get there how it serves one best! Rock on!
I love how you showed fixing that. I have that stuffed pretty figured out but I'm sure this helped tons of people. Best box opening ever
I agree completely about Epiphone must up their game a bit to compete with these. SS frets I like to see these on the Epiphones
You make every guitar sound awesome Phil!
So hard to gauge, because your playing is so good!!!
Love the tech tips Phil, as someone who's yet to be able to purchase a higher end guitar I end up having to do my own maintenance on the few guitars I have and it's always scary!
Nothing scares PRS, Fender, and Gibson more than stainless steel frets.
😂😂😂
This company actually makes decent instruments ive seen several reviews highly impressed with this brand
Love it!! Semi hollow epi-clones are getting better than the real thing! Great review as always Phil!
Thanks for the look Phillip. I have to admit I'm not really interested in semi-hollow guitars right now. But I love to see your technical reviews of guitars at any price point. Good job as always.
You should check them out. With the right setup and pick ups...they are very versatile. With nice pups my hamer echotone does...literally...everything...metal to jazz. No sacrifices (except whammy bar LOL?)
Absolutely love your format for these videos! The commentary is exactly what we want and need! Give us the raw price to performance and don't try to hype things up!
Nice to see brands I've never heard of. Always looking despite having "enough"
Thanks for explaining in a way even a brand new beginner like myself can understand! And for being honest !
This is a really nice instrument for that price, very impressive. And SO glad you showed the geeky rework, love the content 🙂
Phil is a true pro you can learn a lot from this man just gotta remember wood is wood metal is metal the two dont mix on their own even the $5000 instruments can have these "problems" just less of them and sometimes the issue is our understanding of a problem the price doesnt matter i promise you will find a high fret some where on expensive guitars production isnt perfect the wood and metal isnt any different i love all my guitars and keep them in tip top shape everything from core PRS to bottom of the barrel squier and not a good one either and they all play like a million bucks set it up right and sometimes put the right parts on it and you cant tell the difference between the "cheap" and "problematic" ones and the "expensive" "good" ones yes even your first act can sound like a prs given you took the time to upgrade parts and in labor ie. making nuts saddles reinstalling/reseating frets and other laborious work sure its work but at some point in learning it all you wont trust anyone else to work on your guitar my point is anyone reading follow Phil he will point the way working on your own instruments can be the most satisfying and gratifying thing on earth and im sure a lot of you will agree 👍😉👌
Got a very similar ES-335 knock-off under the "Latitude" brand.
Other than upgrading to a set of $35 set Rotomatic style locking tuners it really doesn't need a thing.
The fretwork is superb; rounded ball ends and highly polished medium jumbo frets, bone nut and a roller saddle bridge too.
Fretboard was a little dry and the "flame maple" is probably photo finish. Couple of finish imperfections but other then oiling the rosewood and doing a little set-up with fresh strings it was ready to play.
Boya & Ziqi were 2/3 of a Japanese comedy troupe, along with the third member, Curly. They were the Japanese version of The Three Stooges. They later introduced a lower-priced line of instruments, such as the Shemp Ukulele.
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if in 50 years these no name guitars became really sought after and rare and expensive 😂
I have a 60s Sears Harmony 338 that apparently the kids are paying $1500 for these days.
Well it happened with Silvertone, Teisco, etc. But those were unique designs with cool pickups. I dont know how much the lawsuit guitars were going for back in the 80s but I did buy a used Gibson black custom for $500 in '88. I was going to buy a new white one for $1100, but the salesman told me about the black one.
Haha 😂 if the idiots in the market pay it.
As 60s cheep garbage Japanese vintage is demanding absurd money today.
What if the iyv guitars are worth thousands of dollars in the
Incredible video! So many tips and explanations! Keep up the great work Phil!
Dude Phil I’ve been playing and tinkering for years.
I never knew the bone nut trick with dropping it. You’re a genius.
Great guitar for such a budget-level instrument. We live in a great era for guitars... other than the big company price increases these past couple of years.
Thanks for your great support Mr. McKnight!
You do such a good job with your videos, Philip. Learning to properly setup a guitar is something worth learning for sure.
Thank you for the tips. You've saved me a bundle over the past couple years.
I was just playing my Harley Benton E35and was contemplating relocating the 3-way switch. Looks like these guys found the perfect spot
Hi Phil, your Deep Dives just keep getting better & better. Loved this review showcasing an inexpensive guitar & how it can work for anyone with some careful checking upon receivable. Cheers ✌️🎸
Great review - thanks for the detailed analysis!
Top notch review. I liked the low output alnico II humbuckers sounds very much. The separate coil splits for each was icing on the cake. It gives the guitar a unique feature set and lets it stand out from the others in its class.
Marque name is good, showing confidence about Chinese culture. Bo Ya and Zi Qi are legends of Chinese traditional music.
No nonsense and informative as always! Question: do you ever consider or adjust intonation on such tests? Also: a friendly suggestion to put your camera on a stand when doing desktop shots like the one with the neck profiles in this video. No offense, though. Great work!
Straight to the point and best advice at the end of the video for beginners.
Sounded awesome! Coil split was amazing compared to other, Big Brand names! I would rock it!!
Your channel is the best, don’t mean to brag but I know sincerity, art and quality when I see it and you got it. Thank you.
Great content! I love how you rate the gear related to price point. Very friendly and objective
Sounds respectable. Love the Texas Flood!
I really like the way you inspect the thing, and learn us to fine tune a guitar !
Thanks
👍
One of your best videos Phil as far as the geeky stuff goes with teaching advice on addressing fret issues and the other goodies. Thanks 👍🏻
I bought the Enya carbon fiber electric acoustic and I love it!
Interesting deal. I will say, when comparing to the Epiphone, the 335 Traditional Pro model is often $399 on sale and is a great deal. Has coil splits that are usable and the humbuckers are a little hotter.
All these 335s are fun to play
Ditto but i paid 420 for mine.......of course that was a guitar center in Colorado. Coincidence? Hmmmm maybe.
Love the neck molds!! Finally, a really good way for us to see them. Thank you!
Thanks Phil. I always enjoy your content. Very clear and precise evaluation and some great playing. 🤓👍
I thought that guitar sounded excellent especially on the coil splits which usually are garbage on cheap guitars and the pedal sounded GREAT.
DO A QUICK DEMO ON THAT PEDAL!!
EXCELLENT review, Bro! I don't know that I've ever seen such a complete breakdown of an instrument, and I have definitely NEVER seen issues fixed as they're identified. 🙏
You are THE guy and always so helpful Thank You!
I like that it has the rounded horns. A lot of inexpensive 335 style guitars have a pointy profile.
Thanks so much for the review, Phil!
Incredible, a guitar with +- all the specs matching what I prefer and sounding decently, for that price! One detail: sounds a little out of tune when playing chords near the top nut. Difficult to guess if it can be corrected (eg by filing the nut slots, ...), but it's an annoying thing that many Gibsons also have. Thank you for making us aware of this instrument. Unfortunately, not available on European Amazon sites, and import from US doubles the price.
Someone described a brief story in the comments but here is the description from the Brand on their Amazon listing.
I bet you're wondering: why are our brand's called this? Who are they?
During the Spring and Autumn Period in China（2000 years ago ）, there was a musician who was good at playing the Guqin, named Yu Boya.
One day, on a boat trip, Boya played a tune he had composed before he became famous, but unfortunately no one could understand it, which expressed the lofty mountains and flowing water. At that moment a woodcutter passing by on the shore listened to it and said exactly what the tune meant. Boya said excitedly："Amazing! Your heart and mine are the same！"and this woodcutter was Zhong Ziqi.
They talked about music very happily and agreed to visit Ziqi again when Boya returned from his trip.When Boya came back, he had already passed away due to illness. Boya was so sad that he broke his Guqin in front of Ziqi's tomb. After that, he never played the Guqin again.
We use the brand name to pay tribute this precious friendship, and we also hope to convey this musical friendship with guitars. Know what you want and do what you need, become your musical confidant.
Okay that guitar looks and sounds very good. Definitely a good option if you're looking for a semi hollow.
Excellent video as always, I appreciate your thorough examination of the tech/geek side of the review including actual fixes. Much appreciated. As to this particular guitar, it had some pretty sweet tones for such a low budget instrument.
Great video! I really like how fair and realistic your perspective is.
Always learn a Thing or two from yer videos. Thanks bro
Thanks enjoyed the coil splits. I drop nuts on stone counter top bone "rings" plastic "dullish" I also weigh a bone nut v.s. plastic on a kitchen scale ( it was on the counter top) The bone was almost twice the weight of plastic. Great video
I couldn't tell in the video if the top and bottom is a multi-layered and pressed/formed laminate, like Gibson's. But in any case, a center block semi-hollow is a lot of pieces, takes time and is hand work a machine can't do yet. It's impressive they, and other makers like Ibanez, offer these guitars at such a low price!! Don't forget the distributor and dealer still get a cut, so they get maybe $269? That is a very narrow margin to make any $$ on them!! Another thought, SS fret wire is 50% more expensive than nickel-silver too, and harder to install!! 8-0 --gary
Awesome review Phil. I mean right down to the brass tacks! I'm impressed with the sound of that guitar. Too bad I have a beautiful Washburn HB35 already, and too many other guitars that prohibit me from buying another. 🎸
Great video Philip.pleasure to watch.
Phil, this is a great video man. Thank you for sharing a new guitar/company and also exactly what can and should be done when you receive an instrument that may need some work and is otherwise good to go!
You are doing the Lord’s work IMO.
My guess is that Gibson/Epiphone will not take action on things like stainless steel frets despite other import makers going this way (Boya, Schecter, LTD, etc.).
They’d rather tout the goofy marketing BS like collabs w/Gibson CS on finishes and using U.S. Gibson pups, CTS pots, and Grover tuners.
While these little tweaks may have appeal (and they do for many), the last little stretch of road w/Epiphone has more to do with quality control issues still prevalent as Epiphone is charging significantly higher prices.
I mean, we still receive Gibson guitars w/issues so what makes you think we want a budget guitar w/higher quality components slapped rapidly in a flawed product that you overcharged for that we still have to put on a bench?? 👌🏻
They’re so close yet still so far.
I was looking to get a budget semi-hollow body style guitar last year and ended up buying a Guild Starfire 1 DC. It has all the features I was looking for and it was different enough in appearance to not try to be an outright 335 clone. It came flawless out of the box and the only thing I did was to take the factory 11's off and put a set of Elixir 10's on instead. Very versatile guitar for anything from classic rock to rockabilly stuff and it was hard to beat at under $600. I have seen alot of off-branded guitars on the cheap but, I have always stayed with established brands that are well regarded just out of being cautious.
That's a great looking guitar, Phillip! But I have a white 1987 Epiphone Sheraton (hollow body with 5 ply Maple on the top and back, and 3 ply Maple sides, and all the hardware is actual GOLD! When I got tired of the cheap tuning machines going flat on me, I bought a set of Gold Grover tuning machines. It holds its tune just fine now. And I had it retrofitted with a GOLD Bigsby B-7 (that was the model number at the time, and okay... every Bigby is Aluminum, but this one is gold plated), and it has a solid maple piece down the middle, like the one you're showing here, a set-in neck, and it's beautifully bound EVERYWHERE! Including the headstock, which says "Epiphone by Gibson" on it. They didn't make these with the "by Gibson" on the headstock for very long - I saw a LOT of these during the period it was built, and MINE was the only one I EVER saw with the extra words on it!), and it's STELLAR! It has 2 humbuckers, an Alnico V (bridge) and an Alnico II (Neck). They sound AMAZING! Gibson would be hard-pressed to make a 335 that equals this one. and at the time, the Gibson model was well over $1200 more than this one! It cost a little over $850 when I bought it new. At the time they were making these, I had to send a few of them BACK, because their computer-assisted manufacturing process put the SAME PROBLEM into the necks of many of them - there was a "dip" in the neck from the 9th to the 12th frets, from string 1 to string 3!!! This caused a fret buzz in the first THREE of these guitars I had, which immediately got sent back. At this point, I WAS PISSED!!! So I finally called Gibson in Nashville, and ended up connected with their VP in charge of Quality Control. I told him my story, and(add your own Tennessee accent in this when you read it) he said to me "Tell ya what. I personally will go to the warehouse and play as many as I have to until I find you a good one!" Sure enough he did, and a week later, I got one with a PERFECT NECK! The VP also had a few choice words for the Korean factory, an he told them to straighten out the neck problem. They did, so the rest of that model year's run were all perfect, once they adjusted the software. But mine was the FIRST GOOD ONE in the 1987 Model Year. I wouldn't sell it, PERIOD! By the way, your pronunciation of the brand name on this ax sounds right to me, for what that's worth.
Parker uses stainless steel frets on their gee~tars. They will never ever wear out, which is great for an inexpensive guitar. That alone is why this guitar is well worth buying. If You buy a guitar for anything under 300 dollars, and the cheap frets go out, it will never be worth re-fretting because of the cost, so the guitar would be a throw~away. Unless You actually know how to re~fret. This was a very smart move by this company IMO, to use SS frets.
Anyway, thank you for the video, it was excellent.
The pedal was phenomenal.
I'm gonna say it again, my Harley Benton out performs my USA strat every time, it's not how good the cheaper guitars are, it's how bad the expensive ones are 🤘
Phil, great review. Guitar looks and sounds pretty good. I agree with your final thoughts. That said hollow bodies and semi hollows are really guitars you come to rather than start on. My first semi hollow was a 90s Epiphone Sheraton ll that I still miss. Right now I have three hollow bodies, two Ibanez Artcores and a Gretsch Electromatic. Compared to all my other solid bodies, they feel and play very different.
I agree with you that you want a guitar that plays straight away out of the box. I think this guitar and a set up with a set of D'Addario NYXLs or Stringjoys would be a great way to get this guitar up and running. I would swap the output jack for a Switchcraft or a Pure Tone.
Hi Phil...At 5:57 you demonstrated how after hammering the fret, it spread and put a hole in the nylon glove. The hole was on the high "E" side of the guitar. Later, (around 6:34)to resolve the fret burr problem that made the hole, you rounded the fret on the wrong side of the guitar... the low "E" side. Just an observation with all due respect.
Great review, sounds really great guitar at that price. Thanks Phil
Unfortunately all too often budget guitars are not for beginner guitarists as they require work which makes them not so much budget anymore and there's the downtime while fixing.
I'm 8 minutes in and this is just awesome. Inserted explanations are so good and too the point. Takes out any doubt. Cheers man.
I have 3 Jay Turser guitars (among my collection of fifteen guitars) and I'm amazed that a nice guitar like mine and these can be made for so little. And I know guitars. I owned many classics.
However great the value, I don’t expect to have to fix a brand new guitar or just about any purchase for that matter. Great video as usual though Phil.
Well that pedal sounds amazing.
Mr. McKnight, This review convinced me that if you reviewed a plastic cup of mineral water with a slice of lemon you would un-vail nuances that mankind never knew. As usual I went to Amazon and put the Boya & Ziqi in my cart to be purchased at a later date. You sir are the man. Peace...
Very interesting!! Yet another great KYG video.
Normally I'd be all for buying a decently well built budget no name copy of a high end guitar. However, not with semi-hollow 335 types and definitely not for $400. Every budget guitar is going to suffer from poor electronics which normally isn't a big deal to swap out. It's a huge deal to do it on a 335, and a massive pain even if you know exactly what you're doing. These guitars are more difficult to manufacture which means there is more room for error. You are far more likely to have those errors the lower you move in price. The higher you move in price, it starts making less and less sense to buy a no name copy. This guitar seems decent enough but its not without flaws as Phil showed here. For $400 I think you would be far better served with a new Gretsch or Ibanez semi hollow or a used Epiphone 335. These guitars, at the very least, will retain some of their value if you decide to upgrade to the real thing or something premium. In the $500 range you have even more great offerings like new Epiphone 335s, and D'Angelico semi hollows. If you buy this guitar for $400 and in a year or two decide to sell it for something better......good luck. Maybe you can get $150 for it tops if you're lucky. This is one of those random pop up Chinese brands on amazon that will sell guitars for 6 months to a year, disappear, and then rebrand as something else and create more youtube hype to start the charade all over again.
I love the tech explanations especially and the general prevention. Excellent information!
It sounds really nice. The finish looks great. You fixed the wonky fret. What’s not to like? For the price it’s a damn good guitar.
Awesome video Phll I’m guessing the work you did on the fretboard is probably a way bigger problem than what people ever imagined. I know I bought a brand new The Schecter E-1 FR S Special Edition Trans Purple Burst TPB Floyd Sustainiac Electric Guitar + CASE guitar, and I was a little shocked when I opened up the because the first string was snagged under the fret and you could see it was pulled up a little bit and I didn’t really want to have to send it back so I was emailing people saying hey should. I try to press this back in or tap it back in and go from there I had gotten one of the first of these with the case. I really bought it as an investment. I still haven’t even played it yet. A lot of guys are using these as a studio guitar. I’m guessing because of the Sith Staniak and they’re comfortable with that through body neck.
Another great video Phil. Cheers from Oz. :)
I love the deep dives Phil!
I bought a musso off of eBay now on Amazon really a great guitar
Enjoyed the review and I am impressed by the price and tone! I really liked the sound of the bridge pickup! The neck pickup sounds great with distortion, too! Single coil split doesn't sound all that bad either! Thanks, Phillip!
Certainly it looks wonderful.
I believe it sounds ok too. Only drawback as we've seen was to fix the frets, though not too bad. Never heard of this brand, we know from new guitars like this everyday. Go guess if it came out from the same factory that manufacturers maybe for Epiphone or other well known brand, because it looks like a knock-off going out thru the factory back door to avoid any trade infringement, just an opinion.
The video was great about how to fix the frets, thanks!
My prediction is that this will not inspire Epiphone to add more features to compete, rather, it will inspire Epiphone to price increase based on their groupthinked perception of Epiphone brand pedigree. In all likelihood, Boya & Ziki will pivot from this video and start gluing frets and maybe even ball ending them. Gibson has been tone deaf to the fact that smaller Chinese builders are ghost building everyone elses guitars, and they theyre slowing owning the 400 dollar-ish market.
All the while, the Gibson people are blowing their vintage class instruments out at greater prices than it would cost for somebody to get a new car and possibly a house while constantly dragging Armadillo Enterprises (the owners of Dean) into court for patent infringement. They are not thinking remotely about achieving customer satisfaction.
I think this is exactly what prompted the introduction of the "Epiphone 335" alongside the Dot, whose market share is probably being cannibalised by this, the Sire Larry Carlton and the many better brands. If they cared, they would've redesigned the Dot rather than going for the $700 segment to compete with D'Angelico.
Gibson's target audience seem to be people who care about their guitars being vintage or traditional. I can't see why Gibson would want to change or incorporate modern improvements such as stainless steel frets.
Epiphone has priced themselves kur of the market IMHO.
@@ericbgordon1575 Nobody is nowadays. Absolutely no one.
You are a AWESOME reviewer, just found you about a month ago, I will be watching more of you,r vids.
just to let you know I admire you I wish i had the smarts and patience you have for guitar repair.
I started off with a semi-hollow a Greko 1974 75 ? I believe it was I wish I would have kept it always keep your first guitar☆
Thanks alot. I had absolutely no clue that you could actually use wood glue on the critical neck bridge/nut for this. Good to hear! Linearity is my biggest concern. I think I would come up with fake lightweight strings to tie back to whatever bridge you're using including Bigsby. I don't know. A laser projector constructed as a bridge jig to emit beams clean along the guitar neck I ask? I wouldn't be well versed as it is, to even use some precision like that to make any difference.
Good review. Fair summary. You do a great job reviewing these guitars and the technical advise is spot on. I appreciate All of your time and effort. You are the best at what you do.
Not a Fan of Chinese made Guitars. But fair competition is always a good thing for the market IMHO Indonesian Guitars are a leap in quality and and Play-ability.
Also the Used market is currently full of great guitar values. Rock On!😎
That's a good buy and can get it done, but I can't agree more on the Gretsch option. Those few dollars more give any player a guitar that is fantastic out of the box. I now own 3 Gretsch axes and I'm very pleased with all three (says the guy with a Yamaha SG800S as his avatar).
It would have been nice if you played the guitar before you fixed the frets to see if it was playable upon receiving it.
Phillip, you rock!! Thank you so much!!!
Very informative about what to look for about setup. Great channel!
Terrific video of a very interesting guitar.....and at such an incredible price!! Nice job Phillip.
Nice tone for that price, and nice tone period. And except for the fugly headstock, it's really quite a beauty. I think it would fit right in the mix if you suddenly changed from a Gibson to this. With the exception of slight tonal differences, it wouldn't suffer tonewise. If I had the money right now...(I just bought a Spark) and was in the market for an inexpensive 335 substitute, this would be in my living room tomorrow.
Another great, informative/educational video from you. You are wonderful. Thank you!
That amp sounds so good. Interesting amp at this price