I actually commend you on your metal playing. Most non-metal players on YT usually sound horrible in their attempts as they don't know how to dial a sound and just blast random power chords but you actually got everything right and sounding metal.
Thanks! I need to brush up on the scales metal players use but a lot of the techniques aren’t that different from surf. Im never going to get caught sweep picking but I can palm mute and pinch harmonic all day.
@@60CycleHumcast Well in the case of this guitar sweeping isn't really necessary. Not sure of your knowledge of James Hetfield and Metallica but he's the rhythm guitarist so barely solos at all. Basically fast palm muting with the odd power chord. For scales, just minor, phyrigian and the pentatonics will get you there.
@@60CycleHumcast a lot of Dick Dale sounds like Death Metal just clean and with a ton of verb..... so yeah. Both are fast paced Rock variants so it helps. I would learn pick squeals/pinch harmonics a bit, Jam over some Pantera and Iron Maiden albums...
@@jpob5 I started in 89 and never learned dick for theory. Just jammed over Metal, z Grunge, Jazz, and Alternative throughout the 90s like 8 hours a night or 12 in the summer😅 Needless to say I have a unique style
For me, if a guitar only has a "PLAY ME" look sitting on a stand, it's fine. It can be heavy, it can have a tree trunk neck, it can be any scale. Neck issues can be fixed and PU's swapped out. Play any guitar for a few weeks and it will stop fighting you and be your friend.
I've see $500 and $600 guitars that needed the nut slots deepened like that, so no shocker there. Seemed to play well and stay in tune, man I would have killed for a guitar like this at that price when I was starting out.
250 with your code is the best price I've ever seen on one of these. Just ordered one, so we'll see. Most likely will be doing a series on this one on my channel. Thanks for the review, Ryan!
@@caprisun6 thanks! It's coming don't worry. Guitar is supposed to arrive today! I'm gonna do an unboxing/first impressions video. Then I'll do a set up and pickup swap video. I've got some other cool stuff to do with it also. They'll be plenty of videos about it!
Guys.. this is a recreation of James Hetfields “EET FUK” ESP Explorer from the 80s.. they left off the sticker on the horn but this is it. He told ESP not to put them in production because he didn’t want people having his guitar. It’s a great guitar!!
I like it because it has that Papa Het look and vibe. Once pups are switched out and nut filed. Seems like a great metal guitar for a cheap one. Most of us switch out parts for what we like anyway.
Its a really great one, I just finished a job for a customer where I completely upgraded one of these from the ground up with genuine emgs, sperzel tuners, tonepros hardware and more and it turned out pretty good.
Strategic timing with that Stranger Thangs Metallica song cameo. I am sure there are a lot of kids obsessed with him like I was in 1990 now and want those gorgeous old Cream white Explorers! I ironically had a Warlock as my first proper electric to tie in there. That was due to Max Cavalera and the Sepultura- Dead Embryonic Cells video. I miss the 90s
My favorite Explorer players were not metal at all: Allen Collens from Skynyrd, Rickey Medlocke from Blackfoot and Dave Hlubek from Molly Hatchet. They all got me wanting one back in the 70s . And then Hamer came out with the Standard in flame maple cherry sunburst. Such beauty. And now cost more than 100 times what this guitar does. I never thought I'd see the day when someone made an Explorer for under $500!
Harley Benton has a few pretty cool looking explorers, a few that are based off of James Hetfield's explorers, and some classic 70's style ones. I'd recommend checking them out, I've been wanting to pick up the black "EX-76"
@@benjimusicandgamimg9773 I was refering to the band's early sound (first 3 or 4 albums), southern rock with some boogie and a little country. Their last releases are def' arguably metel as Dave Hlubek stated before he died.
@@60CycleHumcast most likely, we've come a long way since the days of hiding a single coil under a humbucker cover, but I do hope it's that just for the outrage.
The inlays are modeled after James Hetfield’s inlays from his 1987 ESP MX-220 explorer with the “EET FUK” sticker on it I believe. Pretty sure that whole guitar is modeled after it. I believe the knobs are placed the same way
Pretty bold of them to use Metallica, James Hetfield, and (X-)Explorer in the name of this thing. Even those "EMG" pickups seem suspicious. EMG's old Hz passives weren't great, but they weren't that bad. These pickups do keep the door open for some fun vocal effects! Maybe these will become mythical lawsuit guitars? 🙃
This same company will sell you that with an ESP logo if you want it lol the middle finger inlays were literally created by Hetfield so it’s surprising to see someone not recognize that. This is clearly an ESP clone that’s tailored to fans of Hetfields guitar
Man I've been wanting an explorer for years since I was kid playing guitar hero and seeing videos of metallica. Might have to buy myself one if its worth it since a kit is literally like 250 bucks and this one is all ready to play.
I wouldn’t blame you cause I might just buy one of these to mod the heck out of it myself. But if you’re going for a guitar that you want and would love to play, I would go for quality. I was gonna buy a cheap Explorer but ultimately settled on a custom job and I couldn’t be happier.
I bought the ETT Fuk and Wolf to man knock offs, had them fully set up, and put real EMG 81/60 sets in both. They are show worthy. My favorite guitars I own.
They aren't EMG pickups because if they were there would be a battery compartment on the back unless they are emg Hz and if they were that they would say that on the pickups.
Enjoyed the video, thanks. I'm currently working on a project that would probably interest you, as long as we're talkin about Chinese Explorers - I just got a Chinese "ESP" Snakebyte with identical humbuckers (totally not real!) but decided to go all out on an upgrade: first, I did a setup while waiting for my new knobs, bone nut, locking tuners, locking strap pegs, and (of course) brand new EMG JH's in chrome. After the setup, I moved on to level, polish and dress my frets and fret ends. EMG's arrived in the mail this morning and are the final touch to close out this project. I'm super stoked and everything looks great so far. The neck is wide and has a very large diameter c-shape to it; that's really my only complaint as of right now. I'll provide an update in a few days when I'm done!
I'm no "Metal" guy, but I honestly do like the look and sound of that guitar on clean through both pickup's. I would use that for Lynyrd Skynyrd (Alen Collins) stuff for sure through some pedals of course. On a side note; I have the Electro Harmonix Switchblade Plus, and LOVE it. Split the Fender Blues Junior and Fender Pro Junior; or my favorite, play through both. Love your videos!
Not a fan of the pickups or those fretboard inlays, but I like everything else about it. That is a GREAT Metal Tone! (Firefly has some new Explorer & "V" styles out now too...)
@@BrentAdams ok that's actually interesting... So you're saying that EMGs are better sounding when you use low-gain distortion? And there's no issues on clean tones?
For 250 dollars that is a very good deal if you ask me the pickups as usual are the main issue if you wanna do gig stuff but for just regular practice it’s a great deal honesty I have never heard of Badcat I just looked them up they have a competitive price range if you compare them to say a Squire I would buy one after watching this and just do a setup and jam on man thanks for the video I always love seeing new and unusual guitar reviews
I had the Firefly FFLX guitar. It sounded ok and I fix the sharp edge issues so the neck was nice but I could not get Use to the explorer shape, Traded it for a Squier Contemporary Active Stratocaster HH with Floyd Rose.
Just to offer… To your point “at this price point”, it seems like this is definitely a worthy purchase, just that it needs some simple DIY TLC (that I never mind doing) to make it suitable for playing. Really glad I caught these two videos that you made for this guitar; many, many thanks.
Pretty nice guitar. Badcat would do themselves a favor by wax potting/dipping their pickups to get rid of microphonics. Using a simple tool like what Phil McKnight does: grind the "tang" off an appropriate size fret, and slide the fret body fight in front of the nut. That way, you can easily see which fret slots are too high, and fix them.
amazing I saw that cheap explorer but no photo of the trade! so that's cool. That sounds like a good deal! my EMG is a gold logo meaning 89 warm sound! the 81 is a white logo.
Getting into super-cheap guitars as of late, it behooved me to go and check out tuners. The tuners are always the weakest link with these. Top of the line Wilkinsons are $20-30 a set! These devs would be smart to go ahead and go with those. Why they don't is beyond me.
Just want to point out that a bigsby weighs almost a pound by itself. The guitars may potentially be within a few ounces of each other if they had the same bridge.
@@60CycleHumcast could just be the balance of the extra weight already being on the heavy end. I had an epi Les Paul that was lighter than my chambered mahogany stratosonic, it never seems to make as much sense as you wish it did. The topic at hand though, If I’d bought that guitar for 250 I’d put a jazzmaster bridge and trem on it immediately lol. That’d be too cool if it’s thick enough for that.
I just bought a Kramer VT211s and it has alnico 5 high output pickups from the factory. On a guitar that retails for $130. I bought it as a building platform but the pickups are so good they didn't even need an upgrade. I did the rest of the body.
I've been looking at getting the Harley Benton Explorer. And although I do not play metal, this is another option to consider. Have to see if a lefty version is available.
@@alexcorona, oh absolutely. I was more referring to the fact that this one has EMG pickups, and seems more metal oriented than the HB or a traditional Gibson Explorer. That’s definitely more the vibe that I want.
@@craigbragg2842 Those aren't EMGs they're just going for the aesthetic, surprised they won't get sued for doing that 🤣. But I've got a couple of HBs in that same price point you are looking at and if you upgrade the pickups you've got a decent guitar without having to pay too much.
Trogly mentioned something similar about different fonts on the EMG pickups on one guitar. Apparently EMG changed it’s font pretty recently. However the microphone effect seems very suspicious
@@DanielRodriguez-eh1qd I know those are not real hence the suspicious comment. As for the no battery part. EMG has passive pickups too. Installed EMG HZ pickups last year and they are pretty good
@@RichardHoogstad yea but the font and color would suggest these are 81s and 85s which require a battery. However there isn’t one, plus all of these cheap models usually put the same fakes with the same silver and gold font. Very common fakes. HZs are slightly different looking.
I bought a $250 Chibson and out of the box, the intonation was perfect and the nut was cut well enough. I got it as a mod platform, though part of me almost didnt want to mod it. For what I paid, im happy. The biggest issues were the pickups (which were surprisingly potted) were garbage and a few of the fret ends were a little sharp. Both issues jave been addressed. I just wish it didnt weigh 12.75 LBS.
Might have to get one of those and sand that logo off the headstock and paint the headstock white and change out the pickups and electronics. Thanks for posting this video.
Explore your shape options. No body shape shaming here! Looks cool! I would put in GFS Surf 90s just to mess with metalheads! Would be funny putting an Wide Swing Tremelo on it to get more of their goat! 🐐
It’s basically the replica to the 1984 explorer guitar with the writing “EET FUK” on the body of the guitar, I think it’s cool that they have a middle finger on the fretboard with a pearl marker, I actually just ordered this guitar so I’m glad that I’m actually seeing this video because I’m actually getting this exact guitar from eBay so any advice could help, I’m thinking about whenever I get another couple paychecks, taking about possibly putting James Hetfield’s signature EMG pick ups and his new strings out that he just released with Ernie ball and I think that will sound killer, and for the price that’s better than paying say $6800 for an epiphone explorer guitar, that sounds like a reasonably priced explorer guitar, I would mod it to James Hetfield’s specs, I mean Badcat did not make a bad guitar, I mean sure you’re going to have to make some adjustments to it but what cheap guitar doesn’t require a little bit of adjusting? I mean I’m prepared for doing adjustments on this guitar in fact, I’m going to be adding modifications to it. It’s like I don’t need to buy a real Gibson explorer to feel like James Hetfield, any explorer style guitar can play Metallica music, it’s actually having to do with the player but Metallica is my favorite band and James Hetfield is my favorite guitarist so that makes everything seem like a win-win to me!! 🤘🎸🤘🎸 rock on brother!! 🤘🤘😎😎 thank you for making this video, it really helped 👍
That Explorer with the Strat neck looks like a nod to the basses that John Entwistle used at one point in The Who (not the ones with the Thunderbird bodies, but the red one seen in the “Who Are You” studio performance in the movie “The Kids Are Alright”.)
If I were to buy one of those, I’d probably do the setup myself if I could manage. But first, I’d see if I could paint it with the Rick Nielsen-esque chessboard pattern. If I could manage that without butchering everything, that’d be a fun little project.
That Juliana being off kilter is getting my Agent Orange to acting up..... My first guitar was an '85 Epiphone Explorer. It has a smaller body than a Gibson, but it's still heavy as it's made of korina wood.
Honest question! So I’m thinking about buying a cheap knock off explorer like this and then combo it with some Kirk Hammett pickups. Do you think it’s a good idea?
Building a parts Explorer via an LTD EX body and thinking of doing a Flying V neck. The ex style necks with that banana, or hockey stick, headstock are next to IMPOSSIBLE to find with specs I want (22 fret 24.75 scale w/normal nut). Every neck I can find have the Floyd cut for the nut..ugh. I also dont wanna spend MASSIVE for a warmoth. Any ideas?
I bought their Dan Armstrong plexi bass, not a bad bass but it's been a nightmare lowering the action to the way I wanted it, sort of gave up after trying shims and neck adjustment as well as swapping out the saddle screws for shorter ones.
If you want to replace those pups for very cheap and awesome ones, I suggest Donlis DH05. Very high output and not microphonic at all. You can get a pair for a little over 30 bucks. Awesome sounding!
I'm sorry jimi but I will have to call you back. I have Lars Ulrich and emg on the other line. Is this about the left handed Olympic white strats we have on sale?
When I started playing in 1994, you could buy a high-end Squier for $250, maybe a low-end Epiphone--but there was absolutely no such thing as a brand-new guitar with a set neck at that price.
@@thomascunningham2919 I have a butterscotch Vintage Modified Tele Custom from Squier that somebody dolled up with Seymour Duncan P90's. It's the only "Fender" style guitar I own, but I love it.
@@thomascunningham2919i’m a young rythem guitarist about to head to nashville to make it or break it i dropped out of school for this so it’s gotta work !! and your right the guitars for the money are awesome , me and my dad built up a huge collection of harley bentons and such lol, only going to bring one guitar with me to nashville tho my les paul jr 🔥
It seems that either the EMG’s are fake or the lowest possible quality pickups EMG produces. However, even on their lower cost pickups, I can’t imagine them selling microphonic pickups. At that price point, Firefly guitars are better, and get better with each batch they release. I really commend them for listening to their customers, and making improvements. Can’t forget about Harley Benton either, as they are making some fine low cost guitars, that seem to be better than Squire’s from what I’ve heard. I’ve never played one, so I can’t really comment on them with any authority. Eart is the brand I’m going to buy the next time I buy a guitar, which would make my 10th guitar in about a 2 year period. Covid made me get back into playing as I had all kinds of free time, and after screwing around with guitars for about 40 years, I decided to use that time to really practice everyday, and get better. The Eart guitars with their SS rounded frets comes out a winner before you’ve played a single note. Beautiful frets. Every guitar company should do their frets the way Eart does. I’ve seen the videos of Ryan with the Eart, as well as Phil McKnight along with others, and nobody has said much bad about them at all. Oh, and if you aren’t familiar with her, please do yourself a favor, and watch her videos on UA-cam, as she is simply fantastic. You will be amazed, and happy to hear what she can do with a guitar. I recommend the song “Bulletproof” as a good place to start with her. Another great song of hers is “B*tch On The Run”. She doe’s a killer “Shake ‘Em All Down” live. I could go on, but that’s a starting point for the uninitiated. Samantha Fish, remember that name, and look her up on UA-cam playing at festivals or in concert. She made a live album right in my backyard of Detroit. If you get lucky enough to see her live, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy tickets.
I've never owned a Gibson, but own and love multiple Epiphones. Would you recommend this guitar quality wise? Definitely wouldn't expect Gibson quality, but how does it compare to Epiphone?
Judging By the Colors ifthey are Actual EMG, Bridge is 81 and Neck 85 witch is a comon set up, But Accurate Replica of This Guitar, it would have to swap out the 85 for a 60 Hetfield was known for using a 60 in neck position, is Signature set from EMG is Modeled after Probably the 60 and The 85 becasue I think he did used an 85 on a a few models here and there(Edit I wrote the comment before Seeing the end where you take the back Plate Off) I would deff get a JH Signature set or 81-60 and installing a graphtech nut on that and Slap a EET FUK sticker on the upper Fin
Sure but then I have to put quality pots, switches, strings, nut, tuners, pickups, Jack, and bridge on it. Then level and polish the frets, do intonation, and hopefully the truss rod works and the neck is usable. On 2nd thought I’ll just buy a Gibson and down the road if I want to sell it I’ll get a lot more back😉
I’ve been self teaching guitar on a acoustic for about 4 months, I know the basics, I know a lot of opening riffs, specifically focusing on Metallica, a couple country things and jingles, I want to get my first electric guitar, I’ve been told many brands but the Snakebyte is really sticking with me. At some point I’m gonna walk into a store and I have no idea what to look for nor expect, will buying an electric help me get crazier and price range I’m not looking to spend 2 grand on a guitar but man I really like this snakebyte idea,
I’m sure the bigsby on the parts caster explorer accounts for most of the extra pound. That’s a cool looking explorer for 250 the headstock isn’t exactly right but it’s not an ugly headstock like the firefly or Harley Benton. Yeah I think the explorer shape is a love it or hate it but never turn over your right shoulder while playing one sitting unless you want to find out why they call your elbow the funny bone. I’m all for affordable explorers but I’m a particular about headstock shapes and most of the affordable options have atrocious headstocks. A set of guitar madness hexbuckers would sort those harmonic pickups out for 30 bucks. The Kramer Baretta special has a great pickup for a 215 (delivered) dollar guitar Wow they have cracked mirror Icemen (mans) for 319 . It’d be cool to see a demo of one of those. The Iceman is an awesome shape extreme yet classy at the same time. I really think Ibanez should’ve focused on the Iceman being a LP killer instead of making it cheaper and cheaper, but what do I know ? PM4 Destroyers too !
6:14 ok don't write. Diary entry but... if you have a tuner preference... id love to see an essay video or something. lol glad you saw the hand flicking folks off on the inlays
Hi if you have a chance try real emgs on that guitar, emg H for neck (white logo), 81 for bridge (gold logo). Fret work looks my first refretted guitar (really poor) but if you have a chance try emg-h in neck position real single coil in hum size. You like how its sounds but its hard to find (i don't mean the emghzs x v y z) the real emg-h with white logo in neck position.
I actually commend you on your metal playing. Most non-metal players on YT usually sound horrible in their attempts as they don't know how to dial a sound and just blast random power chords but you actually got everything right and sounding metal.
Thanks! I need to brush up on the scales metal players use but a lot of the techniques aren’t that different from surf. Im never going to get caught sweep picking but I can palm mute and pinch harmonic all day.
@@60CycleHumcast Well in the case of this guitar sweeping isn't really necessary. Not sure of your knowledge of James Hetfield and Metallica but he's the rhythm guitarist so barely solos at all. Basically fast palm muting with the odd power chord.
For scales, just minor, phyrigian and the pentatonics will get you there.
He does well, still Scooped the mids too much😉
@@60CycleHumcast a lot of Dick Dale sounds like Death Metal just clean and with a ton of verb..... so yeah. Both are fast paced Rock variants so it helps. I would learn pick squeals/pinch harmonics a bit, Jam over some Pantera and Iron Maiden albums...
@@jpob5 I started in 89 and never learned dick for theory. Just jammed over Metal, z Grunge, Jazz, and Alternative throughout the 90s like 8 hours a night or 12 in the summer😅 Needless to say I have a unique style
For me, if a guitar only has a "PLAY ME" look sitting on a stand, it's fine. It can be heavy, it can have a tree trunk neck, it can be any scale. Neck issues can be fixed and PU's swapped out. Play any guitar for a few weeks and it will stop fighting you and be your friend.
Doing that with my LP after life with Strat bodies...
I've see $500 and $600 guitars that needed the nut slots deepened like that, so no shocker there. Seemed to play well and stay in tune, man I would have killed for a guitar like this at that price when I was starting out.
I’ll kill for one now and I own way more expensive guitars lmfao.
@@Hiro.the.God. same lol
250 with your code is the best price I've ever seen on one of these. Just ordered one, so we'll see. Most likely will be doing a series on this one on my channel. Thanks for the review, Ryan!
Would love to see a review from your POV!
@@caprisun6 thanks! It's coming don't worry. Guitar is supposed to arrive today! I'm gonna do an unboxing/first impressions video. Then I'll do a set up and pickup swap video. I've got some other cool stuff to do with it also. They'll be plenty of videos about it!
I appreciate the extra Two Princetons.
It's really what I come to this channel for.
Guys.. this is a recreation of James Hetfields “EET FUK” ESP Explorer from the 80s.. they left off the sticker on the horn but this is it. He told ESP not to put them in production because he didn’t want people having his guitar. It’s a great guitar!!
He didn't tell them anything.
They stopped selling them in America because of the lawsuit era.
They were still available up until the mid '90's.
I like it because it has that Papa Het look and vibe. Once pups are switched out and nut filed. Seems like a great metal guitar for a cheap one. Most of us switch out parts for what we like anyway.
this is an ESP Explorer replica which James used noteably in Seattle 89’
Don't forget to write EET FUK on a piece of masking tape.
Papa het??
A definite project starter guitar. Mrs. Hum has great taste in guitars, I would rock that explorercaster. 👍
Its a really great one, I just finished a job for a customer where I completely upgraded one of these from the ground up with genuine emgs, sperzel tuners, tonepros hardware and more and it turned out pretty good.
That thing is dope with the Strat neck
Strategic timing with that Stranger Thangs Metallica song cameo. I am sure there are a lot of kids obsessed with him like I was in 1990 now and want those gorgeous old Cream white Explorers! I ironically had a Warlock as my first proper electric to tie in there. That was due to Max Cavalera and the Sepultura- Dead Embryonic Cells video. I miss the 90s
"stranger things song" cameo. I really hope that was ironic.
I feel like I'm reading my musical autobiography
My favorite Explorer players were not metal at all: Allen Collens from Skynyrd, Rickey Medlocke from Blackfoot and Dave Hlubek from Molly Hatchet. They all got me wanting one back in the 70s . And then Hamer came out with the Standard in flame maple cherry sunburst. Such beauty. And now cost more than 100 times what this guitar does. I never thought I'd see the day when someone made an Explorer for under $500!
Harley Benton has a few pretty cool looking explorers, a few that are based off of James Hetfield's explorers, and some classic 70's style ones. I'd recommend checking them out, I've been wanting to pick up the black "EX-76"
Molly Hatchet is arguably metal, Its very reminiscent of early NWOBHM. At least, Its honourary metal.
@@benjimusicandgamimg9773 I was refering to the band's early sound (first 3 or 4 albums), southern rock with some boogie and a little country. Their last releases are def' arguably metel as Dave Hlubek stated before he died.
I'm desperate to take apart those pickups to see what is on the inside.
Its gotta be your standard import humbuckers that comes on all the cheap guitars these day. I might do a follow up video though.
@@60CycleHumcast most likely, we've come a long way since the days of hiding a single coil under a humbucker cover, but I do hope it's that just for the outrage.
I wouldn't be too picky about the tools I would use to look inside those EMGs (sure). I think a hammer would do nicely!
I used an angle grinder, im publishing the video on tuesday.
@@60CycleHumcast , oh so technical !
I totally dig your homegrown explorer!
Its 100% the bird. They've doubled down on the James Hetfield from Metallica with the head stock shape to the off white colour to the EMG pickups
Yes this is a replica of the "eet fuk" explorer
with the "emg" pickups
The inlays are modeled after James Hetfield’s inlays from his 1987 ESP MX-220 explorer with the “EET FUK” sticker on it I believe. Pretty sure that whole guitar is modeled after it. I believe the knobs are placed the same way
Pretty bold of them to use Metallica, James Hetfield, and (X-)Explorer in the name of this thing. Even those "EMG" pickups seem suspicious. EMG's old Hz passives weren't great, but they weren't that bad. These pickups do keep the door open for some fun vocal effects! Maybe these will become mythical lawsuit guitars? 🙃
I actually have an unbranded 70's MIJ Jazz bass with a set of EMG "Selects" guitar pickups wired in it.😅
@@EasyHeat My first reaction to that is that it probably sounds pretty good! 👍
Those pickups would work really well as door stops....
This same company will sell you that with an ESP logo if you want it lol the middle finger inlays were literally created by Hetfield so it’s surprising to see someone not recognize that. This is clearly an ESP clone that’s tailored to fans of Hetfields guitar
@@shovington67 But as "door stops" how would mommy bring down your Hot Pockets?
Its basicly the eet fuk explorer from hetfield in the justice world tour 88-89. Its also my favourite guitar from james
Man I've been wanting an explorer for years since I was kid playing guitar hero and seeing videos of metallica. Might have to buy myself one if its worth it since a kit is literally like 250 bucks and this one is all ready to play.
If I didn't already have an explorer, I would pull the trigger on this, then swap the pickups.
I wouldn’t blame you cause I might just buy one of these to mod the heck out of it myself. But if you’re going for a guitar that you want and would love to play, I would go for quality. I was gonna buy a cheap Explorer but ultimately settled on a custom job and I couldn’t be happier.
Get the fake Snakebyte - much cooler in my opinion
i love the t-shirt bro, its such a classic legend. i love stuff like that so much.
I bought the ETT Fuk and Wolf to man knock offs, had them fully set up, and put real EMG 81/60 sets in both. They are show worthy. My favorite guitars I own.
Did you buy them from Bad Cat Instruments?
Is there enough place to put the battery im also thinking about doing the same
They aren't EMG pickups because if they were there would be a battery compartment on the back unless they are emg Hz and if they were that they would say that on the pickups.
Tonally far more versatile than I was expecting. If you have a local guitar guy to set it up for a beginner you could have a great guitar
I’m gonna get one and put my EMG Het Set in it
Enjoyed the video, thanks. I'm currently working on a project that would probably interest you, as long as we're talkin about Chinese Explorers - I just got a Chinese "ESP" Snakebyte with identical humbuckers (totally not real!) but decided to go all out on an upgrade: first, I did a setup while waiting for my new knobs, bone nut, locking tuners, locking strap pegs, and (of course) brand new EMG JH's in chrome. After the setup, I moved on to level, polish and dress my frets and fret ends. EMG's arrived in the mail this morning and are the final touch to close out this project. I'm super stoked and everything looks great so far. The neck is wide and has a very large diameter c-shape to it; that's really my only complaint as of right now. I'll provide an update in a few days when I'm done!
Gotta love the Two Princes, and tbe fact you gave us extra today.
I'm no "Metal" guy, but I honestly do like the look and sound of that guitar on clean through both pickup's. I would use that for Lynyrd Skynyrd (Alen Collins) stuff for sure through some pedals of course.
On a side note; I have the Electro Harmonix Switchblade Plus, and LOVE it. Split the Fender Blues Junior and Fender Pro Junior; or my favorite, play through both.
Love your videos!
Guess I’m not the only one who was thinking Skynyrd. Ricky Medlocke played one all the time too. Pretty sure those aren’t EMG’s though.
Not a fan of the pickups or those fretboard inlays, but I like everything else about it. That is a GREAT Metal Tone! (Firefly has some new Explorer & "V" styles out now too...)
EMGs? I don't know, man... They're not that bad...
@@onerandombruh I'm not a big fan of microphonic pickups. Other than that they sound fine, but not so much at high gain. That neck pickup squeals...
It looks like that fret board is flippin’ off the audience
@@BrentAdams ok that's actually interesting... So you're saying that EMGs are better sounding when you use low-gain distortion? And there's no issues on clean tones?
@@paulfuchs3661 Yep!
That parts-explorer you showed at the beginning is AWESOME in my opinion, and I would kill for one of those
Nice shirt! I live about 40 miles south of Flatwoods WV. 🤘🏻😝
For 250 dollars that is a very good deal if you ask me the pickups as usual are the main issue if you wanna do gig stuff but for just regular practice it’s a great deal honesty I have never heard of Badcat I just looked them up they have a competitive price range if you compare them to say a Squire I would buy one after watching this and just do a setup and jam on man thanks for the video I always love seeing new and unusual guitar reviews
I had the Firefly FFLX guitar. It sounded ok and I fix the sharp edge issues so the neck was nice but I could not get Use to the explorer shape, Traded it for a Squier Contemporary Active Stratocaster HH with Floyd Rose.
Just to offer… To your point “at this price point”, it seems like this is definitely a worthy purchase, just that it needs some simple DIY TLC (that I never mind doing) to make it suitable for playing.
Really glad I caught these two videos that you made for this guitar; many, many thanks.
I'm honestly more impressed by how the MT-2 and HM-2 sound together!🤔
You're wearing my shirt! Thank you!!
Its a cool shirt, of course im going to wear it ;-)
Pretty nice guitar. Badcat would do themselves a favor by wax potting/dipping their pickups to get rid of microphonics. Using a simple tool like what Phil McKnight does: grind the "tang" off an appropriate size fret, and slide the fret body fight in front of the nut. That way, you can easily see which fret slots are too high, and fix them.
I’m going to publish a video of taking one of the pickups apart on Tuesday. I think you will find it interesting
amazing I saw that cheap explorer but no photo of the trade! so that's cool. That sounds like a good deal! my EMG is a gold logo meaning 89 warm sound! the 81 is a white logo.
Getting into super-cheap guitars as of late, it behooved me to go and check out tuners. The tuners are always the weakest link with these. Top of the line Wilkinsons are $20-30 a set! These devs would be smart to go ahead and go with those. Why they don't is beyond me.
Just want to point out that a bigsby weighs almost a pound by itself. The guitars may potentially be within a few ounces of each other if they had the same bridge.
That might be it, its weird to me how my guitar feels sooooooo much heavier despite the scale saying they are only a pound apart.
@@60CycleHumcast could just be the balance of the extra weight already being on the heavy end. I had an epi Les Paul that was lighter than my chambered mahogany stratosonic, it never seems to make as much sense as you wish it did. The topic at hand though, If I’d bought that guitar for 250 I’d put a jazzmaster bridge and trem on it immediately lol. That’d be too cool if it’s thick enough for that.
Bad PU's in a cheap guitar are a good thing. If they were any good that guitar would cost you more but you would still want to change them.
I just bought a Kramer VT211s and it has alnico 5 high output pickups from the factory. On a guitar that retails for $130.
I bought it as a building platform but the pickups are so good they didn't even need an upgrade. I did the rest of the body.
I've been looking at getting the Harley Benton Explorer. And although I do not play metal, this is another option to consider. Have to see if a lefty version is available.
Plenty of non metal players use the explorer, most famously Edge from U2.
@@alexcorona, oh absolutely. I was more referring to the fact that this one has EMG pickups, and seems more metal oriented than the HB or a traditional Gibson Explorer. That’s definitely more the vibe that I want.
@@craigbragg2842 Those aren't EMGs they're just going for the aesthetic, surprised they won't get sued for doing that 🤣.
But I've got a couple of HBs in that same price point you are looking at and if you upgrade the pickups you've got a decent guitar without having to pay too much.
Did you manage to get a left handed one? I'm looking at trying, cheers 🤟🏽
Lol, that's the most of the Two Princes chiptune I've heard. It even does the scatting bit! 😂
Nice copy of the "EET FUK" middle finger ESP guitar James Hetfield used for the Master of puppets/...And justice for all tour cycles 🔥
Trogly mentioned something similar about different fonts on the EMG pickups on one guitar. Apparently EMG changed it’s font pretty recently. However the microphone effect seems very suspicious
Of course these aren’t real EMGs, no brand new guitar in the price range will have real ones. Plus there’s no battery compartment.
They're not real EMGs, just have fake covers.
@@DanielRodriguez-eh1qd I know those are not real hence the suspicious comment. As for the no battery part. EMG has passive pickups too. Installed EMG HZ pickups last year and they are pretty good
@@RichardHoogstad yea but the font and color would suggest these are 81s and 85s which require a battery. However there isn’t one, plus all of these cheap models usually put the same fakes with the same silver and gold font. Very common fakes. HZs are slightly different looking.
song at 17:55?
I bought a $250 Chibson and out of the box, the intonation was perfect and the nut was cut well enough. I got it as a mod platform, though part of me almost didnt want to mod it. For what I paid, im happy. The biggest issues were the pickups (which were surprisingly potted) were garbage and a few of the fret ends were a little sharp. Both issues jave been addressed. I just wish it didnt weigh 12.75 LBS.
Just ordered. Need the Hetfield F.U. inlays!!! you gotta love that they are audience-facing.
Might have to get one of those and sand that logo off the headstock and paint the headstock white and change out the pickups and electronics. Thanks for posting this video.
I am an explorer guy BECAUSE of the EET FUK guitar. Thanks James...
Ordered….thanks for the info!
Explore your shape options. No body shape shaming here!
Looks cool! I would put in GFS Surf 90s just to mess with metalheads! Would be funny putting an Wide Swing Tremelo on it to get more of their goat! 🐐
Ordered!! Thanks nice video
It’s basically the replica to the 1984 explorer guitar with the writing “EET FUK” on the body of the guitar, I think it’s cool that they have a middle finger on the fretboard with a pearl marker, I actually just ordered this guitar so I’m glad that I’m actually seeing this video because I’m actually getting this exact guitar from eBay so any advice could help, I’m thinking about whenever I get another couple paychecks, taking about possibly putting James Hetfield’s signature EMG pick ups and his new strings out that he just released with Ernie ball and I think that will sound killer, and for the price that’s better than paying say $6800 for an epiphone explorer guitar, that sounds like a reasonably priced explorer guitar, I would mod it to James Hetfield’s specs, I mean Badcat did not make a bad guitar, I mean sure you’re going to have to make some adjustments to it but what cheap guitar doesn’t require a little bit of adjusting? I mean I’m prepared for doing adjustments on this guitar in fact, I’m going to be adding modifications to it. It’s like I don’t need to buy a real Gibson explorer to feel like James Hetfield, any explorer style guitar can play Metallica music, it’s actually having to do with the player but Metallica is my favorite band and James Hetfield is my favorite guitarist so that makes everything seem like a win-win to me!! 🤘🎸🤘🎸 rock on brother!! 🤘🤘😎😎 thank you for making this video, it really helped 👍
I’d love to have a beer with this guy, and Josh from JHS at the same time.
Im not actually sure Josh drinks.... I've never seen him drink or heard him talking about drinking anyways. Ill have a beer with you though.
@@60CycleHumcast I'll buy! I can wear my new Tun'r Time shirt I just got in the mail.
That Explorer with the Strat neck looks like a nod to the basses that John Entwistle used at one point in The Who (not the ones with the Thunderbird bodies, but the red one seen in the “Who Are You” studio performance in the movie “The Kids Are Alright”.)
If I were to buy one of those, I’d probably do the setup myself if I could manage. But first, I’d see if I could paint it with the Rick Nielsen-esque chessboard pattern. If I could manage that without butchering everything, that’d be a fun little project.
I want a bigsby explorer. That looks sweet.🍻
The pickups are reversed position is why your bridge sounds snapier snd thin id almost say hi gain sode is reversed as well
That Juliana being off kilter is getting my Agent Orange to acting up.....
My first guitar was an '85 Epiphone Explorer. It has a smaller body than a Gibson, but it's still heavy as it's made of korina wood.
Honest question! So I’m thinking about buying a cheap knock off explorer like this and then combo it with some Kirk Hammett pickups. Do you think it’s a good idea?
I think that would be pretty cool. Ive never even thought abt doing that, and its a pretty solid idea for a project honestly
That was what James Inlays were on the Justice tour with the Signature EET FUK Guitar
Headstock and body shape isn’t quite right for the original guitar they are going after but it’s not terrible. And yes it’s middle finger inlays.
Building a parts Explorer via an LTD EX body and thinking of doing a Flying V neck. The ex style necks with that banana, or hockey stick, headstock are next to IMPOSSIBLE to find with specs I want (22 fret 24.75 scale w/normal nut). Every neck I can find have the Floyd cut for the nut..ugh. I also dont wanna spend MASSIVE for a warmoth. Any ideas?
Check ebay. Not sure if they're the gibson scale length tho, but I've seen the banana headstock necks on there
Guitar Fetish.
I bought their Dan Armstrong plexi bass, not a bad bass but it's been a nightmare lowering the action to the way I wanted it, sort of gave up after trying shims and neck adjustment as well as swapping out the saddle screws for shorter ones.
oof!
If you want to replace those pups for very cheap and awesome ones, I suggest Donlis DH05. Very high output and not microphonic at all. You can get a pair for a little over 30 bucks. Awesome sounding!
I got an ad for yousician with Metallica in it😅 the odds of that
Ever since I started using a MIMIQ Doubler on my rig, I cannot go back to mono or dual mono rigs.
"Hello, Badcat?" "This is the Gibson lawsuit department, have you got a minute?"
I'm sorry jimi but I will have to call you back. I have Lars Ulrich and emg on the other line. Is this about the left handed Olympic white strats we have on sale?
the EMG gold and silver tells you what pickup they are.. neck or bridge..
Hey there! Awesome video, many thanks! May I ask whether the guitar has any neck dive?
Katana/hockey stick headstocks look so cool, but are such a pain. :(
When I started playing in 1994, you could buy a high-end Squier for $250, maybe a low-end Epiphone--but there was absolutely no such thing as a brand-new guitar with a set neck at that price.
Isn’t it incredible what’s available for new players? And, I feel like the price of squires has not gone up (possible down) in almost 30 years.
@@thomascunningham2919 I have a butterscotch Vintage Modified Tele Custom from Squier that somebody dolled up with Seymour Duncan P90's. It's the only "Fender" style guitar I own, but I love it.
@@thomascunningham2919i’m a young rythem guitarist about to head to nashville to make it or break it i dropped out of school for this so it’s gotta work !! and your right the guitars for the money are awesome , me and my dad built up a huge collection of harley bentons and such lol, only going to bring one guitar with me to nashville tho my les paul jr 🔥
Those have to be some of the most microphonic pickups I’ve ever heard on a UA-cam video.
Can someone tell me the name of the song at 20:22? I can't remember. Tks
Man, I've got $250 guitars I'd put up against my thousand dollar ones. They're all individuals.
Do you think if you changed
everything (pickups, hardware, tuners…) and maybe refreted it, would it play like a gibson or maybe like an original ESP?
I'm coming to this video a year late, but it doesn't seem that they make these anymore. ☹️
The inlays are from James Hetfield’s Explorer
Do you know if they are being this guitar back to sale? I could not find it at their website. Cool looking guitar.
That almond stick thing looks exactly like my old ass fast fret that I’ve had forever. Is it the same company rebranded or something?
It seem they took the explore shape off the website is there anywhere else I can find one of the p4m explores
It seems that either the EMG’s are fake or the lowest possible quality pickups EMG produces. However, even on their lower cost pickups, I can’t imagine them selling microphonic pickups.
At that price point, Firefly guitars are better, and get better with each batch they release. I really commend them for listening to their customers, and making improvements.
Can’t forget about Harley Benton either, as they are making some fine low cost guitars, that seem to be better than Squire’s from what I’ve heard. I’ve never played one, so I can’t really comment on them with any authority.
Eart is the brand I’m going to buy the next time I buy a guitar, which would make my 10th guitar in about a 2 year period. Covid made me get back into playing as I had all kinds of free time, and after screwing around with guitars for about 40 years, I decided to use that time to really practice everyday, and get better.
The Eart guitars with their SS rounded frets comes out a winner before you’ve played a single note. Beautiful frets. Every guitar company should do their frets the way Eart does. I’ve seen the videos of Ryan with the Eart, as well as Phil McKnight along with others, and nobody has said much bad about them at all.
Oh, and if you aren’t familiar with her, please do yourself a favor, and watch her videos on UA-cam, as she is simply fantastic. You will be amazed, and happy to hear what she can do with a guitar. I recommend the song “Bulletproof” as a good place to start with her. Another great song of hers is “B*tch On The Run”. She doe’s a killer “Shake ‘Em All Down” live. I could go on, but that’s a starting point for the uninitiated.
Samantha Fish, remember that name, and look her up on UA-cam playing at festivals or in concert. She made a live album right in my backyard of Detroit. If you get lucky enough to see her live, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy tickets.
I just looked up the website, and their “custom shop” appears to be straight up branded copies.
I've never owned a Gibson, but own and love multiple Epiphones. Would you recommend this guitar quality wise? Definitely wouldn't expect Gibson quality, but how does it compare to Epiphone?
If they were actually EMGs shouldn’t it have a battery compartment?
Judging By the Colors ifthey are Actual EMG, Bridge is 81 and Neck 85 witch is a comon set up, But Accurate Replica of This Guitar, it would have to swap out the 85 for a 60 Hetfield was known for using a 60 in neck position, is Signature set from EMG is Modeled after Probably the 60 and The 85 becasue I think he did used an 85 on a a few models here and there(Edit I wrote the comment before Seeing the end where you take the back Plate Off) I would deff get a JH Signature set or 81-60 and installing a graphtech nut on that and Slap a EET FUK sticker on the upper Fin
Sure but then I have to put quality pots, switches, strings, nut, tuners, pickups, Jack, and bridge on it. Then level and polish the frets, do intonation, and hopefully the truss rod works and the neck is usable. On 2nd thought I’ll just buy a Gibson and down the road if I want to sell it I’ll get a lot more back😉
What is the MIDI cover at 16:07? It's so familiar, but I can't place a name to the song.
"Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
Great show great review !😊
I’ve been self teaching guitar on a acoustic for about 4 months, I know the basics, I know a lot of opening riffs, specifically focusing on Metallica, a couple country things and jingles, I want to get my first electric guitar, I’ve been told many brands but the Snakebyte is really sticking with me. At some point I’m gonna walk into a store and I have no idea what to look for nor expect, will buying an electric help me get crazier and price range I’m not looking to spend 2 grand on a guitar but man I really like this snakebyte idea,
Luv the inlay!
Hey, man, what’s on your Tshirt? It reminds me of a case of a policeman who had an encounter with a witch in my hometown.
5:26 Jazz cover of Master of Puppets. XD
I’m sure the bigsby on the parts caster explorer accounts for most of the extra pound. That’s a cool looking explorer for 250 the headstock isn’t exactly right but it’s not an ugly headstock like the firefly or Harley Benton. Yeah I think the explorer shape is a love it or hate it but never turn over your right shoulder while playing one sitting unless you want to find out why they call your elbow the funny bone. I’m all for affordable explorers but I’m a particular about headstock shapes and most of the affordable options have atrocious headstocks. A set of guitar madness hexbuckers would sort those harmonic pickups out for 30 bucks. The Kramer Baretta special has a great pickup for a 215 (delivered) dollar guitar
Wow they have cracked mirror Icemen (mans) for 319 . It’d be cool to see a demo of one of those. The Iceman is an awesome shape extreme yet classy at the same time. I really think Ibanez should’ve focused on the Iceman being a LP killer instead of making it cheaper and cheaper, but what do I know ?
PM4 Destroyers too !
I wanted to buy it just to painted and ESP logo on top and put “EET FUCK” and pin in to my wall but it seems they doesn’t offer them anymore😩
6:14 ok don't write. Diary entry but... if you have a tuner preference... id love to see an essay video or something. lol
glad you saw the hand flicking folks off on the inlays
Hey! Whats name of song at 24:40???
Have you tried the Firebird 1 Reverse from Bad Cat?
The link doesn’t work 😢
What’s that riff he plays and says “ got it first time” it’s suck in my head, I know the song and band I just can’t think of it
Hi if you have a chance try real emgs on that guitar, emg H for neck (white logo), 81 for bridge (gold logo). Fret work looks my first refretted guitar (really poor) but if you have a chance try emg-h in neck position real single coil in hum size. You like how its sounds but its hard to find (i don't mean the emghzs x v y z) the real emg-h with white logo in neck position.
Willie wonka in the house. I knew from the first three notes. Cool dude.