Looks like a pretty functional little unit. Thanks for not just trashing the entry level stuff. Lots of people out there need instruments at this price point.
They are. I have the black version of this guitar. I recently upgraded the pickups on it to Alnico II classic zebra pickups and looks and sounds sexy with the off-white detailing on the Donner DLP. What Iove most is the light weight. It's NOTICABLY lighter than my fender Squier Strat (the Donner weighs in at only 9ish Lbs)
Y'know it's not a $2,500 Les Paul, but it's not supposed to be. Whaddya want for $170? Seem to deliver everything you're paying for. Just so long as it doesn't have a roller coaster neck or cheese grater frets, it's all good. Perfect starter. 👍
Seems like a nice piece for the money. I ran across a guitar 4 $150 called a I.Y.V. it's made in Vietnam brand new I never buy cheap guitar I was amazed at this hollow body tele style p 90 guitar. I drop it the first day I got it on concrete never fazed it. Great guitar for the money. The p.90 sound really decent the neck felt perfect..I'd like to see you demo this brand. Good video 2thumbs up.
I've no idea why people bother getting rid of there first guitar even if its utter garbage. I mean even for sentimental reasons I feel like every guitarist should keep there first instrument as a reminder of how far they've come. I still have my first guitar and it isn't an ornament, I still play the shite out of it, however its had a few modifications over the years and it's due to go in for a refret next week, the guitar itself isn't worth a lot of money (probably £80/$100) but the sentimental value for me is there.... It's a Squier Affinity Strat (probably most peoples first guitar) and because its 20 years old now the maple neck has darkened right up and look real nice. Trogly, I'd definitely try and find your first guitar mate... just because...
I wish I felt this same way at age 16, when I got rid of my awful Encore Strat, I think with a setup and a little love it may have been a decent instrument.
I kept my first guitar for a long time I hung it on my wall as a reminder of where I started. Unfortunately after many years of hanging on the wall the thing just started to decay and fall apart. So I had no choice but to send it to guitar heaven and I did what any rock and roll life style teen would do I set it on fire lol. My first guitar was a no brand stratocaster copy and was dog crap it was one of those all in one starter guitar packs. The amp it came with was powered by a 9v battery this was back in 1995 the guitar was made from very cheap wood and my fretboard wasn't even real rosewood it was painted to look like it. The action was not adjustable and high so it was hard to fret notes. But it was my first guitar so I kept it till it started to fall apart on the wall.
@@northeastarkansasdirtfishe7060 Same here... SG special II in black. I leveled the frets, put a 3D printed shim in the neck and it plays awesome now. Just need to upgrade the pickups.
@@IBuiltDaArk I'm sure they do, I'm just saying they remind me of them. But i don't think Donner lives up to other modern cheap brands like Harley Benton, but I've never had a Donner so I don't know first hand.
My first was a cheap Global from Sears that was a Christmas gift. It was okay after a lot of tinkering to lower strings bridge and pickups. Plus it had a crappy horseshoe trem that threw it out of tune just looking at it. Pickups got swapped for some from an early 70s LTD which made a big difference in its sound.
New word for the day, “Stair-Stepidness”. OK, without even looking I knew exactly what he was referring to (typical saddle positions for a correctly intonated guitar with a unwound “G” string). Good, it works for me. Used in a sentence: Trogly inspected the bridge saddles and found them to be positioned in the normal stair-stepidness.
You could have fit a small family underneath my first Encore Strat's action, and setup? What's that? Never heard of this and when I finally found out, as a child I could not convince my mother to pay for one, LOL.
I’m right there with you, but he says that his bass review episodes always do very poorly in terms of views. That coupled with the fact that Austin really isn’t a bassist leads to infrequent bass goodness.
There are modern techniques now, and they are making them lightning fast. that's the only way to make a profit on these, not just cheaper materials & parts, they have to pump them out quickly. time is the most precious thing you have, especially in business. second to that is space, room for the construction and inventory.
Beginner's these days got it good haha. I'm only 26 but even when I started out in the mid 2000s, guitars less than $200 were horrible to play on, sounded bad, and usually couldn't hold tune. And it gets even worse the farther back in time you go. My first " real " guitar ( one that cost over $200 ) was an Ibanez Gio Super Strat which I believe cost around $350 back then and even that kinda sucked... My original first guitar was just some crappy short scale Strat Copy that was like $100 and that ended up in the trash lol. This is way better for a beginner. I guess you can attribute it to how precise modern CNC machining is. Definetly not bad for $160 at all.
I played firewood from my first guitar being a beat up Hondo Les Paul copy & then a slew of epiphones, Japan knockoffs. Then I sweat & saved for years to get my 2002 Les Paul standard. Which I still have. I wish I could have had Donner.
LOL, wtf are you? Me? First guitar ever was a completely unplayable Encore Strat copy (it was AWFUL), followed by a Washburn acoustic that had action so tough and high I swear that's how I developed finger dexterity and strength. Then my first "real" guitar was an Ibanex GAX70, a Gio SG-ish copy, sounded cool and loved how the neck felt and played, but it held tune about as well as Janis Joplin after a week of heroin. What amazes me the most about the guitars nowadays compared to when I started in 1999 are the tuners, they went from jumpy plastic dog shit, to actually usable, it really is amazing what you get for the money now.
Hey Trogly, to raise the bridge, the pole piece should be turnt counter clockwise and not to the right which would tighten the post and lower the bridge, not raise it. You know this because I’ve seen you do it correctly many times. You’re the best brother, keep up the fantastic videos.
5:40 Pssssst.... If you want to *raise* the bridge you go lefty loosey, not righty tighty. The bridge is bottomed out and your still screwing it down. When you hit bottom and keep pushing it down, you'll get spin, or in the case of better made guitars, it won't spin at all. The guitar's not the problem, but you trying to push the bridge further down instead of trying to raise it is the problem. You "raise" it by turning counter clockwise, not turning it clockwise. lmfao. edit: For clarity, you said "raising the bridge" while turning clockwise. Clockwise lowers the bridge. Counter clockwise raises it.
The real problem is that whole post turning. that means the spline is raped out now. those post are splined and should only be pushed down, or pulled up to remove, never allowed to turn, because now it's no longer tight in the wood body. it should not be able to rotate, if it does it has broken out of it's spline, which is only wood after all not metal on metal. I've repaired a few, securing them with wood glue to make it solid again. then leave it alone.
@@matthewguarna2975 That's my guess too, I was just having a bit of fun. lol This guy's fiddled with so many guitars that I can only dream of seeing, let alone playing. I definitely love his content.
@@dbspecials1200 Yeah, the only time I had similar issues was with a cheap kit guitar. It was an explorer-style bass with 3 posts. They fit so loosely that they would kind of free-float/spin with ease. It was especially bad on that bass because tuning it up to pitch would start to pull the studs out. I didn't think to use glue, but I did wedge in some toothpicks to tighten the fit which also worked. (though it was a pain to get the stud inserted.)
My husband picked one of these up for me on a whim. I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality, paint job, binding all round and the range of tones I can get out of it. £95 here in the UK with the gig bag cable strap and free delivery. What's not to like? I would have been very happy to have been given one of these mid 80s as my first electric guitar. Way better than the strat copy I did buy at the time lol. I would recommend them too. 👍
You’re not kidding , I bought a handful a while back and I did send a couple back but a couple turned out to be absolute gems. A blues driver type one and a compression pedal.
Frankly, it's actually a bit pricey for what it is. For the same money you could buy a Harley Benton LP-copy with a set neck and alnico pickups. These ultra-cheap bolt-on neck LPs usually go for a hundred bucks.
I can vouch for the affordable benton guitars. I own multiple ones and they're all good. 2 of them could use a small neck shim to make it optimal but that's it really.
Everything I've seen, HB makes some decent gear at good prices1. The kicker is shipping, though. Probably worth it if you have the money. I'd gladly spend another $100 for a set neck and proper LP controls.
Bolt-on LP's do not generally go for a hundred bucks, they go for about 200 if they're Epiphone, and I've yet to see even off brands charge as little as 150 for bolt on style LP guitars. The ALNICO Roswells that come in HB's are also shitty bar magnet ceramics, they're nothing to write home about, and I wouldn't say are any better than what's in this Donner.
Playing in punk rock bands, I've always hot roded cheap guitars for my live shows & my real Gibson Les Paul is used in the studio only. So cheap guitars do have a practical purpose for me. Well,thanks to this pesky pandemic,I haven't played a show since December 2019. And the way things are going, looks like the next gig I do will be my funeral.
I hope that kids just starting out with guitars are watching Trogly's. And not some other, flasher, more in your face guitar channels. Trogly's always family friendly (I think). And he is rocking out on the cheapest guitar imaginable, kicking butt whilst doing so and most importantly not filling young minds with the idea that you need very expensive Shreader superstrat 24 fret burltop uv777 to learn. Unless Trogly is and has been compleatly pulling the wool over my eyes, I'd say he's the most wholesome, family and young impressionable mind friendly reviewer with absolutely no hidden scam game.
Awesome Demo/Review Thankyou. These are going for a Bargain of $159- free shipping in Australia at the Moment and I am Tempted after your review. Cheers
I was just looking at these on eBay cause I’m after another electric guitar n I thought I better check on TH-cam to see if anyone has done a review on it! Thanks mate, I’m gonna go ahead and buy one, very decent for the price
Actually sounds pretty good. Not in love with that particular burst or the flat top, but me and my bro have gotten bored of expensive guitars and now have been on a Firefly kick. This might be another to check out
I play professionally a couple times a week, I purchased one of these changed the tuners, filed the edges of the frets and did a complete setup on it. I use it all the time, this term begginers guitar pisses me off. I used old Ibanez guitars back in the 80's and they were crap compared to this guitar, I also use Yamaha Pacifica guitars to which piss all over Squires. Forget about what is on the headstock, it it feels good and sounds good then use it.
The bridge is a deal breaker. The rest of the guitar seems alright, but if the bridge screws are stripping out the wood to the point of not being able to raise and lower it, then it's a non-functional guitar at that point.
It’s the threaded inserts that’s spinning, you could adjust the height if there were no tensions on the strings. You could easily just remove the insert and fill the hole with wood glue to secure it, it’s not a good sign for a new guitar though.
I bought one of the donner 72 telecasters you reviewed in your first review…..I bought it entirely because of the sound of the neck pickup and the price ($100 on Amazon day). I have not been disappointed….it sounds and plays great. I did take a wet scotch brite pad to the neck and now it is satiny and smooth…..I will eventually replace the tuners, but it stays in tune well as is….I haven’t played any of my other electrics since I got it…insanely great deal. Thanks for the review! Oh….also, change the strings….I put on a set of slinky 10s and it made a huge difference!
Wow, someone who ACTUALLY owns the Donner and has played it is saying nice things about it, shocking what our opinions can be on instruments we actually play and try ourselves, instead of being like half the comments section saying, "garbage guitar" to a guitar that is less than 170 USD that they don't own and have never laid hands on.
@@FretLevelMidnight excellent points. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what anybody else thinks….I’ve played all kinds of guitars at all price points. This isn’t the best guitar I’ve ever played, but in the sub $500 range, it’s a miracle. I mostly wanted to thank Trogly for turning me on to it.
Nice “Chops” TROGS! Nice to see you open up and let it out with your playing! Well Done! Think the guitar is a Great value for what you are getting and paying! Thank you for your reviews and content ⭐️😇👍
My first guitar was very similar. This was 1980 and it was $40. Similar setup - except two slide switches on the front for each pickup rather than the toggle. The pickups were fashioned to look like enclosed buckers but upon opening them up, they only had one coil and the other space was just empty. The fingerboard was colored black, but it wore down to what looked like white pine underneath. The bridge was one piece and was not intonatable. I looked at a replacement bridge, and BADASS made one, but it cost more than the guitar. That was the sign to retire the guitar and I went out and got a Kramer then soon after, a MIJ strat. This was 1988 and USA Fenders were actually hard to come by. This was also when Squiers will still around with the Big Fender logo - and I should have got one of those LOL.
There should be a guitar at every price point, but many keep pushing this Donner brand and honesty they all seem extremely low in quality. If you're on a budget and have the posibilites look for something used, you'll probably find something that's a lot better.
What seems low in quality about these? You're criticizing without justifying your claim. Sure the finishes look like shit IMO, but Darrell Braun and a few others have named this brand their favorite under 200 USD brand even over even Harley Benton. I have also owned 6 different Harley Bentons, and while 3 were great after numerous mods and a setup (I even kept 2) they're not all made equally. The HSS I got from Thomann was sub-par, the neck didn't feel good to play at all even after I had my luthier set it up since I couldn't get it to play any better myself, and it had a crooked trem cavity, and both acoustics I bought from them even after thorough setups, fret levelings and crownings still played just meh, and had a lot of fret buzz even after intonating and setting the action at a reasonable height, and assuring the nut slots were cut correctly. Anyone, saying "I'd take a Harley Benton over one of these any day of the week" without having first played one is a fool.
@@Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow This isn't a business venture its a hobby and yes some people can genuinely only afford a Donner or even less, your experience isn't the same as everyone else's. This is a very gatekeeping mindset.
If I were an instrument retailer and this brand was one of the makes I was distributing, I would easily recommend it in the same breath as the Epiphone equivalent to a startup guitar player or student that wanted a beginner grade instrument. It's easy for me to say that after having seen live footage of Richard marks playing the Epiphone version in front of a sold-out arena.
You don't have to offer utter bottom barrel for beginners either. A Yamaha Pacifica 112 will run you ~$220, a 311~$320, both infinitely better, both in build quality, materials and hardware than any and other cheaper brands. You get a proper warranty and a proper setup out of the box with good strings. The downside is, you have to buy all the other necessities, cables, picks, straps, bag and an amp, so between $400-500 total. But for a comparable package, you'd have to pay $1000+ if you'd want to get an Epihphone on the same build quality, Q&A, and parts level, in other words there isn't a single sub $600 guitar at Epiphone that is better than a $320 Pacifica 311.
@@kurosumomo If I lost all my guitars tomorrow and could only buy just 1 to start again, I'd choose a Yamaha Pacifica, they are the best bang for the buck in the business in both quality and playability, and I've felt this way about them for over 20 years now.
One of the Surf Green models with a Bigsby, I think I might give it a try, maybe install some Filtertron style pickups. Great playing and a great review. Love the guitar at that price point.
Sounds better than a Special II. The pickups on those are like 11-13k neck and 17-18k bridge.. I'm pretty sure they only are saved by people pulling the 57ch and hotch from LP to put in them.. Or better a pair from a ES or SG which spec a pair of 57ch. What I would have liked to see is the magnet pushed from the pickup enough to see if it was black like a Ceramic or a Alnico silver... That spec is ignored on everything
I love sinhle cut flat top guitars because theyre brighter with a tone thats all their own. Plus the cool factor---the added snap of a bolt neck guitar. The pickups sounded great--- no need for a replacement
Bought mine used for 75.00us. Playing it through a Marshall Code 25 I bought at auction for 70.00us. For an acoustic guy just wanting to dabble in power chords, it's a blast. The Code 25 allows it to sound as clean or as dirty as I want. My daughter thinks I'm cool again. (for now)
G'day, Austin! I just might get one of those single cuts! I was wondering if you'd be willing to demo some of the effects pedals from Donner? Since I'm not playing out anymore, I want to experiment with a wider variety of effects. I'm really curious about the delay they offer. I'm wanting to try Brian May's setup for those incredible riffs he played in Queen.... without paying $150+ per pedal!😅 Hope you're enjoying the new house. Looks great!
When you were trying to 'raise' the bridge, you were turning it clockwise, that would be tightening/lowering and it looked like it was bottomed out. lol that's why the stud was turning in the body...
5.3 ohms is not in between 15 and 8. 5.3 was what you read in middle position. But like you said, I thought middle position was between the neck and bridge readings?
I may sound crazy, like my wife always says, but I just bought my third Donner DLP a few minutes ago. I also have the Semi-hollow body Jazz (335 copy), but although I would like to Have the Burgandy color, they are becoming hard to find lately, and when I do find one the price has went way up. Thanks for giving an honest opinion for all your reviews. I have to tell everyone that I only had to pay $81. for the DLP I just bought after using the coupon which is right there on site to be used. Eventually I will probably sell a few of my Donner guitars, but I just couldn't pass up the deal on this last purchase. I mean, how can they sell these with gig bag etc. for such a low price? Not complaining, but a little confused. BTW, I own several higher end guitars that mostly sit in their cases. I am 72 now and have never seen a better time to buy decent quality guitars for so low prices. Thanks again for the great and honest reviews.
Epiphone Les paul special II are 169.00......same as the donner.....just to correct you on the price you stated.frankly the epiphone is way more quality....in my opinion at least
Yeah it instantly reminded me of the Epiphone Les Paul Special-II I had years ago. Am I in the minority or are these affordable brands not gluing down nuts onto something here? Makes it marginally easier to replace with a better nut straight away. Also had no idea about tuning up!
Austin, great review as usual. I really appreciate that you give the same in-depth review and teardown on a sub-$200 guitar as you do on a $20K+ Custom Shop example. This seemed like a decent starter guitar that walks all over the Glarry stuff. God bless and rock on 👍😎🎸
I agree, they need either a new logo or a name change. I even want to email them some ideas for a new logo. I'm no graphic artist but I believe you or I could do better.
@@scottbogfoot This will cost too much, and they already have things setup for their current logo, this isn't just as easy as "okay, let's change our logo", this is why companies don't change their logos that often, Harley Benton is a good example of this.
4:45 I'm not even going to wait to watch the entire video before I say this. Donner guitars always look more expensive than what they are. They never look super fancy you can always tell that it is a budget guitar but it is not anywhere near the bottom of the range. I see nothing wrong with this guitar at all. If I had to be supercritical the only problem with Donner guitars is the name Donner it sounds like a cheap name. If I owned a company what I would do is give it a fancier name like, Jacob Donner musical instruments Incorporated. I don't know who Jacob is I just made that up but it sounds a lot better than just Donner by itself I think they could increase their profits based on nothing but a new marketing scheme based around a name change or maybe just a logo redesign under the same name, I do think their logo kind of looks cheap as well. But none of that matters because the product speaks for itself, for less than a couple of hundred bucks you get something that's not a piece of garbage end of story, cheers.
Hmm, can you tell me who the hell Harley Benton is? I have a Harley-Davidson but that's a different topic all together, those were two men who lived in America.
@ 5.40 trying to raise the bridge? shouldn't you be turning counter clockwise in that case? the stud is spinning because the post is screwed all the way in and you are forcing it to rotate further. that mistake is on you in my opinion. you might have very well stripped out the ridges in the wood securing the inserts in the body, especially if the wood is a bit soft
Yo Austin!... that thing sounded surprisingly good with distortion! I thought I was going to get the dinner tele but I might get this( project guitars for mods)
How tough was it to add kill switch to it ?? I added an Iron Age on e to a StewMac LP style that i put together and cant get it to work.... but reguardless how hard was it to add to a 'already wiored'guitar ???Thx for any help, pretty buimmed about my LP....
Not to show my age, but it reminds me of something I call a "catalog guitar", similar to something we would see in the Sears catalog, or "wish book" as it was called. it seems fine for the price point, but how happy would someone be with it? as a beginner to see if you like playing? sure. but put together a couple hundred more and you could be into a much better build. it's a great price but my LP's must be carved. if I want flat, I have some plywood on hand.
Looks like a pretty functional little unit. Thanks for not just trashing the entry level stuff. Lots of people out there need instruments at this price point.
Hey Trogly would you ever consider making a video tutorial on how you properly clean guitars and the products you would use?
I second this
Please do this Trogly
In his last unboxing video he showed for a vintage guitar he uses Virtuso Cleaner and then their Polish.
would love a video like this!!
Same
Beginner guitars have come a long way in the past 40 years. This guitar is way better than my first electric. Looks like a great value. 🤙
They are. I have the black version of this guitar. I recently upgraded the pickups on it to Alnico II classic zebra pickups and looks and sounds sexy with the off-white detailing on the Donner DLP.
What Iove most is the light weight. It's NOTICABLY lighter than my fender Squier Strat (the Donner weighs in at only 9ish Lbs)
Y'know it's not a $2,500 Les Paul, but it's not supposed to be. Whaddya want for $170? Seem to deliver everything you're paying for. Just so long as it doesn't have a roller coaster neck or cheese grater frets, it's all good. Perfect starter. 👍
Ok
Ok
Ok
Seems like a nice piece for the money. I ran across a guitar 4 $150 called a I.Y.V. it's made in Vietnam brand new I never buy cheap guitar I was amazed at this hollow body tele style p 90 guitar. I drop it the first day I got it on concrete never fazed it. Great guitar for the money. The p.90 sound really decent the neck felt perfect..I'd like to see you demo this brand. Good video 2thumbs up.
@dank8865 Exactly👍
I've no idea why people bother getting rid of there first guitar even if its utter garbage. I mean even for sentimental reasons I feel like every guitarist should keep there first instrument as a reminder of how far they've come.
I still have my first guitar and it isn't an ornament, I still play the shite out of it, however its had a few modifications over the years and it's due to go in for a refret next week, the guitar itself isn't worth a lot of money (probably £80/$100) but the sentimental value for me is there....
It's a Squier Affinity Strat (probably most peoples first guitar) and because its 20 years old now the maple neck has darkened right up and look real nice.
Trogly, I'd definitely try and find your first guitar mate... just because...
I wish I felt this same way at age 16, when I got rid of my awful Encore Strat, I think with a setup and a little love it may have been a decent instrument.
I kept my first guitar for a long time I hung it on my wall as a reminder of where I started. Unfortunately after many years of hanging on the wall the thing just started to decay and fall apart. So I had no choice but to send it to guitar heaven and I did what any rock and roll life style teen would do I set it on fire lol. My first guitar was a no brand stratocaster copy and was dog crap it was one of those all in one starter guitar packs. The amp it came with was powered by a 9v battery this was back in 1995 the guitar was made from very cheap wood and my fretboard wasn't even real rosewood it was painted to look like it. The action was not adjustable and high so it was hard to fret notes. But it was my first guitar so I kept it till it started to fall apart on the wall.
I still play my ‘87 Squier Strat. Heavily modified in ‘89.
Not gonna lie, reminds me of the shitty 2000s cheap Epiphones everyone had as starter guitars.
Yup, thats what I have now :/
@@northeastarkansasdirtfishe7060 Same here... SG special II in black. I leveled the frets, put a 3D printed shim in the neck and it plays awesome now. Just need to upgrade the pickups.
@@IBuiltDaArk I'm sure they do, I'm just saying they remind me of them. But i don't think Donner lives up to other modern cheap brands like Harley Benton, but I've never had a Donner so I don't know first hand.
I agree and I had a few.
My first was a cheap Global from Sears that was a Christmas gift. It was okay after a lot of tinkering to lower strings bridge and pickups. Plus it had a crappy horseshoe trem that threw it out of tune just looking at it. Pickups got swapped for some from an early 70s LTD which made a big difference in its sound.
New word for the day, “Stair-Stepidness”.
OK, without even looking I knew exactly what he was referring to (typical saddle positions for a correctly intonated guitar with a unwound “G” string).
Good, it works for me.
Used in a sentence:
Trogly inspected the bridge saddles and found them to be positioned in the normal stair-stepidness.
I would say "stagger". .."the saddles were staggered in an attempt to improve intonation."
Actually, it would be steppedness, like stepped.
Back in the day we had 2×4's with 1" action as starter guitars😄
we did our hammer-ons with actual hammers, and had to walk 10 miles in the snow for a new pack of strings, uphill both ways!
You could have fit a small family underneath my first Encore Strat's action, and setup? What's that? Never heard of this and when I finally found out, as a child I could not convince my mother to pay for one, LOL.
Yeah sounds like my first strat copy starter guitar pack complete with 9v battery powered amp lol
And black diamond strings🎯
as a bassist id love a review of the p bass! or more basses in general :>
I’m right there with you, but he says that his bass review episodes always do very poorly in terms of views. That coupled with the fact that Austin really isn’t a bassist leads to infrequent bass goodness.
It seemed to look even better than the 6 string. maybe because it's a bass with lots of bulk & mass? looked solid tho..
Dave World of Fun Stuff is a luthier channel doing 80% bass guitars. You’ll like it.
@@alanburridge6947 already do
It’s amazing how good cheap guitars are these days.
Absolutely, but this is not an example of one
@@rex8958 Your Grammar sucks. “Ain’t” , ain’t a word. Lol
Epiphone and Squier, yes. Donner is garbage. But at least they're giving this channel some money for these commercials! Take the money and run!
There are modern techniques now, and they are making them lightning fast. that's the only way to make a profit on these, not just cheaper materials & parts, they have to pump them out quickly. time is the most precious thing you have, especially in business. second to that is space, room for the construction and inventory.
@@ak47dragunov @Rex So have either of you ever played a Donner guitar?
I have the same guitar same finish and im so happy trogly is doing this review and demo!
Beginner's these days got it good haha. I'm only 26 but even when I started out in the mid 2000s, guitars less than $200 were horrible to play on, sounded bad, and usually couldn't hold tune. And it gets even worse the farther back in time you go. My first " real " guitar ( one that cost over $200 ) was an Ibanez Gio Super Strat which I believe cost around $350 back then and even that kinda sucked... My original first guitar was just some crappy short scale Strat Copy that was like $100 and that ended up in the trash lol. This is way better for a beginner. I guess you can attribute it to how precise modern CNC machining is. Definetly not bad for $160 at all.
I had a cheap cort strat copy in the 2000's and the body broke where the trem bolts up.
I played firewood from my first guitar being a beat up Hondo Les Paul copy & then a slew of epiphones, Japan knockoffs. Then I sweat & saved for years to get my 2002 Les Paul standard. Which I still have. I wish I could have had Donner.
I started playing in the early 1990’s, and if I remember right, you had to spend at least $300 on a cheap guitar or it was almost unplayable garbage.
LOL, wtf are you? Me? First guitar ever was a completely unplayable Encore Strat copy (it was AWFUL), followed by a Washburn acoustic that had action so tough and high I swear that's how I developed finger dexterity and strength. Then my first "real" guitar was an Ibanex GAX70, a Gio SG-ish copy, sounded cool and loved how the neck felt and played, but it held tune about as well as Janis Joplin after a week of heroin. What amazes me the most about the guitars nowadays compared to when I started in 1999 are the tuners, they went from jumpy plastic dog shit, to actually usable, it really is amazing what you get for the money now.
Unless those screws are reverse thread when you are trying to raise them, your going the wrong way. Backing the screw out will raise it
I don't know if it was just your amp/pedal settings, but the distorted tones sounded better than any I've heard on this channel
One of My Students has this Model. I did a Set-Up on it, and it wasn't Half Bad. Good Student Guitar.
Hey Trogly, to raise the bridge, the pole piece should be turnt counter clockwise and not to the right which would tighten the post and lower the bridge, not raise it. You know this because I’ve seen you do it correctly many times. You’re the best brother, keep up the fantastic videos.
thats what I was thinking !
LOL, I love that, "you know this, because I've seen you do this several times".
I bought 2 Donner guitars. Overnight, one guitar ate the other.
Weird...
😂
Name that guitar Alferd Packer😂
They should have a Cannibal version
Boo
Back of the class lad!
5:40 Pssssst.... If you want to *raise* the bridge you go lefty loosey, not righty tighty. The bridge is bottomed out and your still screwing it down. When you hit bottom and keep pushing it down, you'll get spin, or in the case of better made guitars, it won't spin at all. The guitar's not the problem, but you trying to push the bridge further down instead of trying to raise it is the problem. You "raise" it by turning counter clockwise, not turning it clockwise. lmfao. edit: For clarity, you said "raising the bridge" while turning clockwise. Clockwise lowers the bridge. Counter clockwise raises it.
Thank you
I think he put his hands on enough guitar to know, and even the context he clearly meant to lower the bridge, he just had a lapsus
The real problem is that whole post turning. that means the spline is raped out now. those post are splined and should only be pushed down, or pulled up to remove, never allowed to turn, because now it's no longer tight in the wood body. it should not be able to rotate, if it does it has broken out of it's spline, which is only wood after all not metal on metal. I've repaired a few, securing them with wood glue to make it solid again. then leave it alone.
@@matthewguarna2975 That's my guess too, I was just having a bit of fun. lol This guy's fiddled with so many guitars that I can only dream of seeing, let alone playing. I definitely love his content.
@@dbspecials1200 Yeah, the only time I had similar issues was with a cheap kit guitar. It was an explorer-style bass with 3 posts. They fit so loosely that they would kind of free-float/spin with ease. It was especially bad on that bass because tuning it up to pitch would start to pull the studs out. I didn't think to use glue, but I did wedge in some toothpicks to tighten the fit which also worked. (though it was a pain to get the stud inserted.)
It's a better sounding guitar than what I started on, and my first one cost $375 in 1989.
I bought that Donner thinline jazz telecaster you reviewed. I was super surprised! Really good guitar!
impressed. they had sent me a bunch of stuff for reviewing. I had never tried a guitar and have been curious. Very good for the price!
My husband picked one of these up for me on a whim. I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality, paint job, binding all round and the range of tones I can get out of it. £95 here in the UK with the gig bag cable strap and free delivery. What's not to like? I would have been very happy to have been given one of these mid 80s as my first electric guitar. Way better than the strat copy I did buy at the time lol. I would recommend them too. 👍
@Guitar Girl Agreed. They’re not bad at all, mine arrived today. Amazing value for money and fairly decent tones with new strings. Can’t knock it
£95???? that's a steal! Here in the States its $169.
Donner actually makes pretty good pedals
I have two of them (Beltway looper and Alpha Acoustic) and I'd have to agree with you.
You’re not kidding , I bought a handful a while back and I did send a couple back but a couple turned out to be absolute gems. A blues driver type one and a compression pedal.
Frankly, it's actually a bit pricey for what it is. For the same money you could buy a Harley Benton LP-copy with a set neck and alnico pickups. These ultra-cheap bolt-on neck LPs usually go for a hundred bucks.
I can vouch for the affordable benton guitars. I own multiple ones and they're all good. 2 of them could use a small neck shim to make it optimal but that's it really.
Everything I've seen, HB makes some decent gear at good prices1. The kicker is shipping, though. Probably worth it if you have the money. I'd gladly spend another $100 for a set neck and proper LP controls.
Harley Bentons are also made in Indonesia nowadays and they're set up at as soon as they arrive at Thomann, which deserves some bonus points.
@@thepagnaet6361 I live in Germany so shipping is free for me. I've known Harley Benton since the late1990's and these days they're better than ever.
Bolt-on LP's do not generally go for a hundred bucks, they go for about 200 if they're Epiphone, and I've yet to see even off brands charge as little as 150 for bolt on style LP guitars. The ALNICO Roswells that come in HB's are also shitty bar magnet ceramics, they're nothing to write home about, and I wouldn't say are any better than what's in this Donner.
Playing in punk rock bands, I've always hot roded cheap guitars for my live shows & my real Gibson Les Paul is used in the studio only. So cheap guitars do have a practical purpose for me. Well,thanks to this pesky pandemic,I haven't played a show since December 2019. And the way things are going, looks like the next gig I do will be my funeral.
I love when Trogly messes around with cheaper guitars, even if they aren't great, it's always interesting to watch how he tackles it.
I hope that kids just starting out with guitars are watching Trogly's. And not some other, flasher, more in your face guitar channels. Trogly's always family friendly (I think). And he is rocking out on the cheapest guitar imaginable, kicking butt whilst doing so and most importantly not filling young minds with the idea that you need very expensive Shreader superstrat 24 fret burltop uv777 to learn. Unless Trogly is and has been compleatly pulling the wool over my eyes, I'd say he's the most wholesome, family and young impressionable mind friendly reviewer with absolutely no hidden scam game.
Awesome Demo/Review Thankyou. These are going for a Bargain of $159- free shipping in Australia at the Moment and I am Tempted after your review. Cheers
Sounds very good on distortion settings. Clean is ok. Under 2 hundred is wow, good.
I was just looking at these on eBay cause I’m after another electric guitar n I thought I better check on TH-cam to see if anyone has done a review on it! Thanks mate, I’m gonna go ahead and buy one, very decent for the price
Thanks, you covered everything I wanted to know. Just bought one!
Hey Austin, have you ever reviewed a Parker Fly?
just bought one of these as my first guitar in black and it gets here next week, just from watching this im happy with the choice i made
This guitar sounds surprisingly good! Very open sound. For 167.00 which is the equivalent of 20 1966 dollars, I would have been very happy with it.
great demo brother!
i just bagged a "matte black" one for like 103!!
ill be comparing it to both the epiphone and monoprice models....
Actually sounds pretty good. Not in love with that particular burst or the flat top, but me and my bro have gotten bored of expensive guitars and now have been on a Firefly kick. This might be another to check out
neck pickup really sounded smooth
Does it stay in tune? Many budget guitars don't. 🤔
Ordered 1, thanks for the video
Great review I appreciate it ❤️🙏
I play professionally a couple times a week, I purchased one of these changed the tuners, filed the edges of the frets and did a complete setup on it. I use it all the time, this term begginers guitar pisses me off. I used old Ibanez guitars back in the 80's and they were crap compared to this guitar, I also use Yamaha Pacifica guitars to which piss all over Squires. Forget about what is on the headstock, it it feels good and sounds good then use it.
The bridge is a deal breaker. The rest of the guitar seems alright, but if the bridge screws are stripping out the wood to the point of not being able to raise and lower it, then it's a non-functional guitar at that point.
It’s the threaded inserts that’s spinning, you could adjust the height if there were no tensions on the strings. You could easily just remove the insert and fill the hole with wood glue to secure it, it’s not a good sign for a new guitar though.
@@tschommer I agree it's a solvable issue, but yeah, it's not a good sign at all...
He was trying to tighten it even though it was already bottomed out. that's why it was doing that. He should have turned it the opposite way.
I bought one of the donner 72 telecasters you reviewed in your first review…..I bought it entirely because of the sound of the neck pickup and the price ($100 on Amazon day). I have not been disappointed….it sounds and plays great. I did take a wet scotch brite pad to the neck and now it is satiny and smooth…..I will eventually replace the tuners, but it stays in tune well as is….I haven’t played any of my other electrics since I got it…insanely great deal. Thanks for the review! Oh….also, change the strings….I put on a set of slinky 10s and it made a huge difference!
Wow, someone who ACTUALLY owns the Donner and has played it is saying nice things about it, shocking what our opinions can be on instruments we actually play and try ourselves, instead of being like half the comments section saying, "garbage guitar" to a guitar that is less than 170 USD that they don't own and have never laid hands on.
@@FretLevelMidnight excellent points. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what anybody else thinks….I’ve played all kinds of guitars at all price points. This isn’t the best guitar I’ve ever played, but in the sub $500 range, it’s a miracle. I mostly wanted to thank Trogly for turning me on to it.
Nice “Chops” TROGS! Nice to see you open up and let it out with your playing! Well Done! Think the guitar is a Great value for what you are getting and paying! Thank you for your reviews and content ⭐️😇👍
Same control layout as the Epiphone Les Paul Specials but the pickups definitely hot, especially the bridge PU.
Trogly's in the HOUSE!!!
Have an Epiphone just like it!
My first guitar was very similar. This was 1980 and it was $40. Similar setup - except two slide switches on the front for each pickup rather than the toggle. The pickups were fashioned to look like enclosed buckers but upon opening them up, they only had one coil and the other space was just empty. The fingerboard was colored black, but it wore down to what looked like white pine underneath. The bridge was one piece and was not intonatable. I looked at a replacement bridge, and BADASS made one, but it cost more than the guitar. That was the sign to retire the guitar and I went out and got a Kramer then soon after, a MIJ strat. This was 1988 and USA Fenders were actually hard to come by. This was also when Squiers will still around with the Big Fender logo - and I should have got one of those LOL.
Intonation is surprisingly good on that thing! Quite impressive!
I got one of these about a year ago and it was my first electric guitar
There should be a guitar at every price point, but many keep pushing this Donner brand and honesty they all seem extremely low in quality.
If you're on a budget and have the posibilites look for something used, you'll probably find something that's a lot better.
I would take a Harley Benton over one of these any day of the week.
Have you played one?
What seems low in quality about these? You're criticizing without justifying your claim. Sure the finishes look like shit IMO, but Darrell Braun and a few others have named this brand their favorite under 200 USD brand even over even Harley Benton. I have also owned 6 different Harley Bentons, and while 3 were great after numerous mods and a setup (I even kept 2) they're not all made equally. The HSS I got from Thomann was sub-par, the neck didn't feel good to play at all even after I had my luthier set it up since I couldn't get it to play any better myself, and it had a crooked trem cavity, and both acoustics I bought from them even after thorough setups, fret levelings and crownings still played just meh, and had a lot of fret buzz even after intonating and setting the action at a reasonable height, and assuring the nut slots were cut correctly. Anyone, saying "I'd take a Harley Benton over one of these any day of the week" without having first played one is a fool.
@@Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow This isn't a business venture its a hobby and yes some people can genuinely only afford a Donner or even less, your experience isn't the same as everyone else's. This is a very gatekeeping mindset.
@@rex8958 like no proper neck pocket which will expand and eventually push forward the pickups.
I like how your changing the songs your playing slightly
If I were an instrument retailer and this brand was one of the makes I was distributing, I would easily recommend it in the same breath as the Epiphone equivalent to a startup guitar player or student that wanted a beginner grade instrument. It's easy for me to say that after having seen live footage of Richard marks playing the Epiphone version in front of a sold-out arena.
You don't have to offer utter bottom barrel for beginners either. A Yamaha Pacifica 112 will run you ~$220, a 311~$320, both infinitely better, both in build quality, materials and hardware than any and other cheaper brands. You get a proper warranty and a proper setup out of the box with good strings. The downside is, you have to buy all the other necessities, cables, picks, straps, bag and an amp, so between $400-500 total. But for a comparable package, you'd have to pay $1000+ if you'd want to get an Epihphone on the same build quality, Q&A, and parts level, in other words there isn't a single sub $600 guitar at Epiphone that is better than a $320 Pacifica 311.
@@kurosumomo If I lost all my guitars tomorrow and could only buy just 1 to start again, I'd choose a Yamaha Pacifica, they are the best bang for the buck in the business in both quality and playability, and I've felt this way about them for over 20 years now.
One of the Surf Green models with a Bigsby, I think I might give it a try, maybe install some Filtertron style pickups.
Great playing and a great review.
Love the guitar at that price point.
Sounds better than a Special II. The pickups on those are like 11-13k neck and 17-18k bridge.. I'm pretty sure they only are saved by people pulling the 57ch and hotch from LP to put in them..
Or better a pair from a ES or SG which spec a pair of 57ch.
What I would have liked to see is the magnet pushed from the pickup enough to see if it was black like a Ceramic or a Alnico silver...
That spec is ignored on everything
I love donner stuff I got drums, piano, bass, guitar pedal and everything works perfect
It's all about the sound or tone. I love my Donner guitars as far as strong attractive tones. Thanks for the demonstration! 🤔
I love sinhle cut flat top guitars because theyre brighter with a tone thats all their own. Plus the cool factor---the added snap of a bolt neck guitar. The pickups sounded great--- no need for a replacement
Bought mine used for 75.00us. Playing it through a Marshall Code 25 I bought at auction for 70.00us. For an acoustic guy just wanting to dabble in power chords, it's a blast. The Code 25 allows it to sound as clean or as dirty as I want. My daughter thinks I'm cool again. (for now)
It looks like the Donner has a bit of a less extreme break angle from the nut to the tuners. Did you notice any tuning stability issues?
I think you will like that Donner p bass. It's actually a really nice bass.
You know Les Paul's are heavy when you cant tell by weight alone that it's not a bass lol
Which semi-hollow Telecaster were you referring to, at the end of this review? New viewer here.
The pickups sound great!
G'day, Austin! I just might get one of those single cuts! I was wondering if you'd be willing to demo some of the effects pedals from Donner? Since I'm not playing out anymore, I want to experiment with a wider variety of effects. I'm really curious about the delay they offer. I'm wanting to try Brian May's setup for those incredible riffs he played in Queen.... without paying $150+ per pedal!😅
Hope you're enjoying the new house. Looks great!
Ah, my first guitar... nice to see others examining it tbh
I own a few Donner guitar pedals. They're good for the price.
The Donner Soph Gate noise gate is the best budget noise gate I have ever used or owned, and I've owned well over 20 gates in my life.
When you were trying to 'raise' the bridge, you were turning it clockwise, that would be tightening/lowering and it looked like it was bottomed out. lol that's why the stud was turning in the body...
I bought the thinline based on your review and used the link, love that thing but the pickups on that DLP probably would have tempt me more!
Great vid man
5.3 ohms is not in between 15 and 8. 5.3 was what you read in middle position. But like you said, I thought middle position was between the neck and bridge readings?
I like how they don't glue the nut in so you can easily get a bone or tusk nut in it easier.🤘
Any links to Wales? especially with the use of the Welsh dragon .
It would be cool to see a Godin Summit on the channel since they are really good.
This. ^^^
I may sound crazy, like my wife always says, but I just bought my third Donner DLP a few minutes ago. I also have the Semi-hollow body Jazz (335 copy), but although I would like to Have the Burgandy color, they are becoming hard to find lately, and when I do find one the price has went way up. Thanks for giving an honest opinion for all your reviews. I have to tell everyone that I only had to pay $81. for the DLP I just bought after using the coupon which is right there on site to be used. Eventually I will probably sell a few of my Donner guitars, but I just couldn't pass up the deal on this last purchase. I mean, how can they sell these with gig bag etc. for such a low price? Not complaining, but a little confused. BTW, I own several higher end guitars that mostly sit in their cases. I am 72 now and have never seen a better time to buy decent quality guitars for so low prices. Thanks again for the great and honest reviews.
Do u do Bass guitars? Like semi hollow or kollow
Did you change the strings? And if so what are you using?
It's so great that beginner guitarists or people with very little to money to spend can get a decent guitar these days.
Epiphone Les paul special II are 169.00......same as the donner.....just to correct you on the price you stated.frankly the epiphone is way more quality....in my opinion at least
Yup i agree .....almost pro quality with some minor upgrades and a pro set up......the pick ups are actually not that bad either
Yeah it instantly reminded me of the Epiphone Les Paul Special-II I had years ago.
Am I in the minority or are these affordable brands not gluing down nuts onto something here? Makes it marginally easier to replace with a better nut straight away.
Also had no idea about tuning up!
Austin, great review as usual. I really appreciate that you give the same in-depth review and teardown on a sub-$200 guitar as you do on a $20K+ Custom Shop example. This seemed like a decent starter guitar that walks all over the Glarry stuff. God bless and rock on 👍😎🎸
To be honest, I’m not going to try/buy one of their products until they change their logo. It’s incredibly cheap-looking.
I agree, they need either a new logo or a name change. I even want to email them some ideas for a new logo. I'm no graphic artist but I believe you or I could do better.
@@scottbogfoot This will cost too much, and they already have things setup for their current logo, this isn't just as easy as "okay, let's change our logo", this is why companies don't change their logos that often, Harley Benton is a good example of this.
I am impressed with this guitar! Love the headstock too. Much better looking than the Epiphone headstock. Sounds great too
I had my eye on these since you reviewed it and just snagged one. for $73 total cost on eBay!
4:45 I'm not even going to wait to watch the entire video before I say this. Donner guitars always look more expensive than what they are. They never look super fancy you can always tell that it is a budget guitar but it is not anywhere near the bottom of the range. I see nothing wrong with this guitar at all. If I had to be supercritical the only problem with Donner guitars is the name Donner it sounds like a cheap name. If I owned a company what I would do is give it a fancier name like, Jacob Donner musical instruments Incorporated. I don't know who Jacob is I just made that up but it sounds a lot better than just Donner by itself I think they could increase their profits based on nothing but a new marketing scheme based around a name change or maybe just a logo redesign under the same name, I do think their logo kind of looks cheap as well. But none of that matters because the product speaks for itself, for less than a couple of hundred bucks you get something that's not a piece of garbage end of story, cheers.
Hmm, can you tell me who the hell Harley Benton is? I have a Harley-Davidson but that's a different topic all together, those were two men who lived in America.
I like that they moved the pickup switch out of the way. I always disliked the LP switch location.
I would never take a guitar seriously if it's named after one of Santa's Reindeer 🎅🏻🦌
The Donner Pass 😊
The original spelling was Donder which is German for thunder, Donder and Blitzen: thunder and lightning. Now it's awesome LOL
@@roberttaylor1656 Donner is German for Thunder. Not Donder.
@@briansimpson8116 - Yes, this guitar's brand is 'Thunder' in German 😁
@@roberttaylor1656 Donder is Dutch, not German.
@ 5.40 trying to raise the bridge? shouldn't you be turning counter clockwise in that case? the stud is spinning because the post is screwed all the way in and you are forcing it to rotate further. that mistake is on you in my opinion. you might have very well stripped out the ridges in the wood securing the inserts in the body, especially if the wood is a bit soft
Yo Austin!... that thing sounded surprisingly good with distortion! I thought I was going to get the dinner tele but I might get this( project guitars for mods)
I like gloss maple fretboards. There are literally dozens of us.
Why even think of getting a Gibson, when you can definitely play a Donner!
It will look great next to that 100k guitar posted on your site : )
damn yeah those pups rock...that's a keeper
How tough was it to add kill switch to it ?? I added an Iron Age on e to a StewMac LP style that i put together and cant get it to work.... but reguardless how hard was it to add to a 'already wiored'guitar ???Thx for any help, pretty buimmed about my LP....
Which semi hollow telecaster?? Can't find it.
It's a Donner party!
Not to show my age, but it reminds me of something I call a "catalog guitar", similar to something we would see in the Sears catalog, or "wish book" as it was called. it seems fine for the price point, but how happy would someone be with it? as a beginner to see if you like playing? sure. but put together a couple hundred more and you could be into a much better build. it's a great price but my LP's must be carved. if I want flat, I have some plywood on hand.
Weird flex on owning a piece of plywood.
Damn, I might bolt a bass neck onto one of these bodies, this could be the singlecut bass I've been dreaming of.
That's gonna neck dive like a mother lol
@@TheDoctor1492 nothing some extra weight can't fix. I like my basses heavy anyways.
@@moonchild4806 "And that's when I started having to see a chiropractor".
@@FretLevelMidnight Nah had to start doing that when I got my Peavey T40
How are the clear deep tones.