Hi! I didn’t! However I do hold budget instruments to a certain standard, when it comes to basic features. Firefly guitars, from my experience, which is at a similar price point, never fails to deliver on nuts, fretwork, electronics and hardware when you look at their price point. Unfortunately I couldn’t say the same about this guitar. AIO guitars also have midrange guitars which have exceptionally good playability and sound fantastic. We don’t live in an age where you need to spend thousands in order to get a Lambo of an instrument; there are processes and technologies in place to make sure things are getting automated and standards are being met. In any case, I would have been happy with a Kia! This one turned out to be more of a Nissan Altima. 😂 Hope this explains my perspective.
Good video. I was thinking about one for the exact reasons you gave. I got a used Ibanez GRG121 for $150 and the construction and playability of it is excellent
The one I got for my stepson for Xmas was great for the money! Got it from Amazon for $180 brand new. It definitely needed a setup and new strings but after new strings, lowering the action and intonating it was a great beginner/beater guitar. Pickups sound great for more metal type music and I added some cheap locking tuners and it’s a guitar worth more in the $400-500 price range.
Honestly? I wanna buy it as a project guitar. There's better guitars for the price. sure! But aesthetically, I love how mayones guitar looks and I can "shape my own version." A setup, blackhawk pups and better tuners, maybe? A real hipshot. Thats the definitive for me
Thank you for your honest opinion, I got this guitar , as a pretty fresh guitarist I’m happy on this stage of learning. But good to know what other guitarist will say about this guitar, thanks for your time . Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱. Stay metal everyone!!!
Just got this yesterday, bought from Amazon for $139.99. I did have to do a set up, action was super high out of the box. Changed strings to Ernie Ball .10’s. And YES, dead spot, but only on high E at the first thru 3rd frets. Adjusted the saddles and truss rod again. Better now, but not perfect. In my opinion, the pickups were decent, but cannot figure out how to adjust the height. LOL. Overall, for 139, a good buy, but you’re right, NOT for a beginner.
Also don’t forget, a lot of UA-camrs get paid for their review, or at the very least, get the guitar free. So many times I’m sure they feel obligated to give positive feedback. Not to mention a lot of times theres stipulations attached to the agreement. So you can’t always believe the review 100%
Interesting. Thank you for your Video. I only saw good reviews before yours, they said also you have to Set up the guitar. Never thougt it will cost you 100 to 150 USD.. thats eypensive.. Im a beginner and wanna buy my first guitar so I have no Idear of nothing 😂
Their QC seems to be all over the place! My set up costs would be much higher because I would have to replace the nut, frets redressed and get the electronics investigated/potentially fixed because it’s so noisy. However, others seem to have received less defective builds. It ultimately boils down to what amount of risk you’re trying to take. Just keep the box handy so you can send it back if it doesn’t suit your needs!
If you’re a beginner, go with an inexpensive Squire or Epiphone LP. Or even an Ibanez. Until you learn to do a set up. Save yourself a headache and some cash. Peace
First bad review ive heard on UA-cam for this guitar. I think for a guitar in this price range, its a nice guitar . I would buy a cheap zoom effects pedal and I believe it would sound great for the money. The sound you were using on the amp wasn't that great. So I think your criticism was a little harsh.
I was actually playing it through a Boss Katana MkII, which is a decent sounding unit. It’s possible that their QC isn’t consistent and my criticism went beyond the sound of the pickups. It was a hastily put together instrument with sub par hardware unfortunately. Cheers!
So you reviewed a purchase off of Reverb. Does used even count. Also while the bigger UA-camrs use better pedals and amps for demos, a lot of people use software like DSP. Also it’s $200. You can’t really be picky. It’s not gonna be setup properly. You’re probably going to want aftermarket locking tuners and at least spending $95 for like a Seymour Duncan bridge pup. I honestly feel like you bought a lemon.
It was through one of their official sellers on Reverb, listed as a new item. I’ve played several budget or beginner guitars but this one was especially bad…I hope it was a lemon! I haven’t played other donner guitars so I can’t attest to their QC, only my experience with this instrument.
One of my problems with these budget guitars you see is that they're not just cheap, they're REALLY cheap. So many of them try to cram in so many features for as little as possible and QC often ends up suffering. Crappy frets, crappy wiring, maybe even a warped neck. I can deal with cheap tuners as long as they generally work. Same with pickups and to be honest, even a poorly made nut. I can replace all that without too much trouble. I can sand down fret ends too. But if the frets are bad enough when it comes to levelling or the neck is warped enough, you basically have a guitar that can never be decent. Even if its not THAT bad, Its still very likely that you'll have to spend a lot to fix it. I'd be more than happy to spend another $60 to make sure the basics are done right so that it can be a killer mod platform without having to go to a luthier. And I agree with what you said. They aren't beginner guitars.
The exact same issues persisted in standard tuning. The guitar is clearly geared towards lower tunings from the body shape etc, granted probably drop C or something, but the lower tuning wasn’t the issue here.
![Metallica - Enter Sandman [ FULL GUITAR COVER ] | DONNER DMT-100 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I6COSr_fc6A/mqdefault.jpg)
![Metallica - Enter Sandman [ FULL GUITAR COVER ] | DONNER DMT-100 |](/img/tr.png)
Seems like you should've bought a MIJ Ibanez or ESP because you seem like you were expecting a Lambo when you bought a Kia.
Hi! I didn’t! However I do hold budget instruments to a certain standard, when it comes to basic features.
Firefly guitars, from my experience, which is at a similar price point, never fails to deliver on nuts, fretwork, electronics and hardware when you look at their price point. Unfortunately I couldn’t say the same about this guitar.
AIO guitars also have midrange guitars which have exceptionally good playability and sound fantastic.
We don’t live in an age where you need to spend thousands in order to get a Lambo of an instrument; there are processes and technologies in place to make sure things are getting automated and standards are being met.
In any case, I would have been happy with a Kia! This one turned out to be more of a Nissan Altima. 😂
Hope this explains my perspective.
I like this kind of reviews rather than show off skills without talking about the qualities .
I got one and I LOVE it didn’t have to do anything to to it even the intonation was spot on, I guess I did have to tune it!
I appreciate your honestly with this review. Cheers
Good video. I was thinking about one for the exact reasons you gave. I got a used Ibanez GRG121 for $150 and the construction and playability of it is excellent
I don’t particularly vibe with Ibanezes but I’d pick a used GRG over this any day of the week!
The one I got for my stepson for Xmas was great for the money! Got it from Amazon for $180 brand new. It definitely needed a setup and new strings but after new strings, lowering the action and intonating it was a great beginner/beater guitar. Pickups sound great for more metal type music and I added some cheap locking tuners and it’s a guitar worth more in the $400-500 price range.
Honestly? I wanna buy it as a project guitar. There's better guitars for the price. sure! But aesthetically, I love how mayones guitar looks and I can "shape my own version." A setup, blackhawk pups and better tuners, maybe? A real hipshot. Thats the definitive for me
Thank you for your honest opinion, I got this guitar , as a pretty fresh guitarist I’m happy on this stage of learning. But good to know what other guitarist will say about this guitar, thanks for your time . Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱. Stay metal everyone!!!
Just got this yesterday, bought from Amazon for $139.99. I did have to do a set up, action was super high out of the box. Changed strings to Ernie Ball .10’s. And YES, dead spot, but only on high E at the first thru 3rd frets. Adjusted the saddles and truss rod again. Better now, but not perfect. In my opinion, the pickups were decent, but cannot figure out how to adjust the height. LOL. Overall, for 139, a good buy, but you’re right, NOT for a beginner.
You got a pretty good deal lol
Also don’t forget, a lot of UA-camrs get paid for their review, or at the very least, get the guitar free. So many times I’m sure they feel obligated to give positive feedback. Not to mention a lot of times theres stipulations attached to the agreement. So you can’t always believe the review 100%
So which budget guitar would you recommend in the range of 150 to 200$?
Firefly!
i buyed this guitar but the frets make buzing sound
Interesting. Thank you for your Video.
I only saw good reviews before yours, they said also you have to Set up the guitar. Never thougt it will cost you 100 to 150 USD.. thats eypensive..
Im a beginner and wanna buy my first guitar so I have no Idear of nothing 😂
Their QC seems to be all over the place! My set up costs would be much higher because I would have to replace the nut, frets redressed and get the electronics investigated/potentially fixed because it’s so noisy. However, others seem to have received less defective builds.
It ultimately boils down to what amount of risk you’re trying to take. Just keep the box handy so you can send it back if it doesn’t suit your needs!
If you’re a beginner, go with an inexpensive Squire or Epiphone LP. Or even an Ibanez. Until you learn to do a set up. Save yourself a headache and some cash. Peace
First bad review ive heard on UA-cam for this guitar. I think for a guitar in this price range, its a nice guitar . I would buy a cheap zoom effects pedal and I believe it would sound great for the money. The sound you were using on the amp wasn't that great. So I think your criticism was a little harsh.
I was actually playing it through a Boss Katana MkII, which is a decent sounding unit. It’s possible that their QC isn’t consistent and my criticism went beyond the sound of the pickups. It was a hastily put together instrument with sub par hardware unfortunately.
Cheers!
So you reviewed a purchase off of Reverb. Does used even count. Also while the bigger UA-camrs use better pedals and amps for demos, a lot of people use software like DSP. Also it’s $200. You can’t really be picky. It’s not gonna be setup properly. You’re probably going to want aftermarket locking tuners and at least spending $95 for like a Seymour Duncan bridge pup. I honestly feel like you bought a lemon.
It was through one of their official sellers on Reverb, listed as a new item.
I’ve played several budget or beginner guitars but this one was especially bad…I hope it was a lemon! I haven’t played other donner guitars so I can’t attest to their QC, only my experience with this instrument.
Still, as he pointed out, this guitar is marketed for beginners when really it's more of a project platform for gear heads
One of my problems with these budget guitars you see is that they're not just cheap, they're REALLY cheap. So many of them try to cram in so many features for as little as possible and QC often ends up suffering.
Crappy frets, crappy wiring, maybe even a warped neck.
I can deal with cheap tuners as long as they generally work. Same with pickups and to be honest, even a poorly made nut. I can replace all that without too much trouble. I can sand down fret ends too.
But if the frets are bad enough when it comes to levelling or the neck is warped enough, you basically have a guitar that can never be decent. Even if its not THAT bad, Its still very likely that you'll have to spend a lot to fix it.
I'd be more than happy to spend another $60 to make sure the basics are done right so that it can be a killer mod platform without having to go to a luthier.
And I agree with what you said. They aren't beginner guitars.
A beginner is NOT going to tune it to some stupid low tuning
The exact same issues persisted in standard tuning. The guitar is clearly geared towards lower tunings from the body shape etc, granted probably drop C or something, but the lower tuning wasn’t the issue here.
actually white-passing thumbnail
😂