I'm a Harley Benton guy myself I get them setup and modded the way I like. i save a bundle and have never been disappointed where i have two lower-quality grotes. They sound good but the quality is not there. need better tuners ,3-way switch etc
Why a three way switch? It's a simple passive component which, when soldered correctly, performs at the same level as any other three way switch. Even the quality of the wiring, on a three way switch, as long as it is soldered correctly, is never going to be an issue because, it is such a short run; on a guitar cable the quality does matter due to the capacitance created by the length if the cable and also, the signal noise created by the cables components.
Some switches are just really loose. You breathe on them and they move! I like a switch that you need to expert some force to move. Cheap switches seem sloppy.
There are lots of other things that I would like to see someone with more knowledge than I cover in videos - Gig bags, straps, cables, even strings Maybe these won’t be of general/widespread interest, maybe they would be just as expensive as buying guitars, but it’s stuff that you don’t see covered generally
I wouldn't mind doing a video on strings and cables. Gig bags tend to come with just about every guitar I buy, but that's also a good idea. Thanks for the ideas.
I think it's wise to spend some more money and just get a decent bugdet guitar , these amazon knock offs with wierd names ect. really are of no use to anyone , a beginner guitar player will also be way more happy with a good squire or epiphone .
@@antoonhermans8953 I agree the one off brands are a crap shoot but you can’t go wrong with Harley Benton, Lyx, Donner, etc. They have established themselves as brands that will stick around. I just like to buy these oddballs to see what I get. Plus I can tinker with them.
A guitar needs to sound good and stay in tune. That is the basic minimum that a guitarist of any level needs. The guitar above fills those two requirements. I agree that it would a good idea to put a new nut and tuners in, followed by a fret polish but as it is out of the box and reviewed, it is perfectly usable.
@@JayceAllanGuitar"Back in my day" I've owned several electrics and amps. Sold them all. I wish I kept my Roland Blues Cube though. Anyway I've watched a ton of reviews but am kinda skeptical when the reviewer receives free equipment. Just picked up a Donner 152R (ice blue) package. It was between that and a Fesley with a similar configuration but, since I don't have an amp yet I went with the Donner. Cost $152.00 on sale (Amazon). Decent guitar, polished the frets, oiled/treated fret board, set intonation, new strings (height was really close) and put some shielding tape in the cavity. Always wanted a low cost 335 style guitar, some day. Anyway someone mentioned doing reviews on other equipment. I'm really interested in getting a low cost amp somewhere between $200-250. Don't know if you've done it yet or were thinking about it.
LOL. LMAO, even. Do you work for Gibson or Fender or something? There are *SO* many great guitars now available online, Harley-Benton is huge, and I've seen plenty of great reviews for these "cheapo" Amazon guitars. Squire and Epiphone are made in China, too. The funny part is, they're probably made in the exact same factory by the same people. It's a freaking golden age for affordable guitars. I hate shills.
So, I had bought the Semi Hollow as well. It was listed at $90 when I bought it and I think that was the last one. Showed up free bouncing around inside a big Zon box. Was not in a branded box at all. Only came with the guitar and no accessories. So I am guessing mine was a return that was shipped to me as new. Anyhow, it had a dinged headstock and a couple of small dents on the body. The dents are hard to see unless you look closely. Surprisingly, there was no more damage than that despite the lack of protection for during the shipping. Soon as I got it though, I went to try to do a replacement for it so I could get one that was new with the accessories. However, they were all sold out. No more Aubegne guitars anywhere. They don't have a website or any way to contact them. So Amazon said I could get a full refund or a $50 credit to my account. I took the credit and kept the guitar. It plays alright and looks nice enough despite the couple of character flaws I mentioned already from the shipping process. Still, I've been checking every day to see if they had come back in stock and none of that brand has. Guessing it was a fly by night company that stamped their brand on some excess stock to sell off and be done with it.
These models come and go, it's whatever that particular plant is making that month. I bought a strat style called Auriga. That turned out to be a great guitar. That was back in the Spring I think, and I haven't seen them again since. Too bad too, because that guitar is great. Full thickness poplar body, good components. The only flaw with that one was sharp fret ends.
@@JayceAllanGuitar I called it excess stock because that is what these typically are. Promo or demo stock made by a factory or two. Mostly to showcase what they can do and were not meant to be sold. The pile up on occasion. Usually a couple of dozen units are made. What happens is some small company buys these excess units, has their brand stamped on them, and then sells them. Which is why they are low in volume and usually cheap. Because these tend to be promo/demo units the QC on them can be very erratic to say the least. Same thing with the Auriga guitar you have. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the Auriga and Aubegne guitars are actually being sold from the same company. They just use different fake branding so anything that is negatively report about the product by consumers doesn't stick to them.
If you are only a home guitar warrior playing through a cheap effects unit and maybe doing some recording or even the odd gig you dont need an expensive guitar.
I’ve got 2 Tease guitars and they were both great out of the box. One was $249 and the other $165. I have 2 Leo Jaymz guitars that were $119-129, but I needed to do some mods to make them good players, so they actually ended up costing more.
Aubegne is French, pronounced oh-benn'-yuh or something close to that. The 'g' is silent. Edit: semihollow guitars like this are made with laminated formed veneers, high-quality thin plywood really that will have several thin stiff plies laminated over a form. Mahogany is pretty fragile as a veneer, so usually these hollow and semihollow guitars are made from maple veneers. That looks like plain figured maple to me. Nothing wrong with that, the top brands are made the same way except fancier top layers sometimes. The neck could still be solid mahogany but it's probably maple too. The internal center block is normally solid maple.
@@CKS64 Welcome, glad it helped. Those facts were educated guesses that might not apply to this guitar. Anybody with better info please chime in! Nice looking guitar, bet it'll play nice with a little tinkering.
@@markpell8979 kinda what I was thinking. The grain pattern is definitely maple or poplar. The neck is probably maple cause it weighs a ton. I’m guessing it’s a laminated wood top and back for sure.
@@markpell8979 I’m thinking a pickup upgrade. The pups that came off the Tele had about half the copper wire wrapped around it than it should have. The humbuckers in this guitar are really microphonic.
@@JayceAllanGuitar Some nicer pickups would make that thing come alive. Maybe it needs a better bridge or some work on the nut slots for that 'sitar' buzz. Don't sink too much money into it though! But it would be a good little setup/mod project. Enjoyed the chat J, take it easy man and good luck with this guitar.
@@marakima you bring up an interesting point. I’m actually working on a video where I pose that very question. Does the world actually need any more guitars. Would the amount of guitars already made supply us indefinitely?
Electric as we know them, yeah, more than plenty. But it’s a sad story in terms of innovations. What’s new in 50 years of guitar making? We have smartphones with insane computing power, imagine what you can do within the space of a guitar. No, keep on building 10 pound multi fx pedals and guitars from the 70’s. Sad sad sad progress.
@@Scrimjer hey thanks! I appreciate that. Was thinking one of these days I’ll do some videos about Michigan’s guitar history. Lots of instruments made here and lots of music recorded here.
I'm sure you would have to "adjust" an $8000 Gibson to do everything you wanted to do to it. Some people cover the thing with Duct tape and they go out and make millions. Go figure.!
The f holes on my Squire Affinity Starcaster aren't bound. How is it that Aubegne can finish the f holes, yet Squier can't on their way more expensive Affinity series?
Nonsense. I have a very good sounding and playing usa strat for sale . I looks a bit rough, for $ 800. If you want a great guitar to PLAY, or RECORD,it dosent matter what it looks like. Fenders are not fragile and will last a long,long time. Most guitars are bought for show. Especially Gibsons.
GOOD Because we don’t know how much more The WORLD FORESTRY can withstand. Right now if we stopped making guitars And focused on life experience music We will be way ahead And Happier
@@JamesBach-hz1pc well to be fair, most of the big guitar companies have enacted sustainability practices. Martin actually switched to a composite fretboard material. There’s a guitar company here in Michigan that uses lumber from old houses torn down in the city of Detroit. So there are ways to build guitars with minimal impact. Also if guitar companies switched to more sustainable woods like Black Walnut instead of Rosewood for fretboards that would also help. Black Walnut grows like a weed. In fact the whole idea of “tonewood” means that some woods that are probably more sustainable just don’t get widely used for guitars.
How about garage sale guitars? An old friend picked up a Stella student acoustic for me in pretty good shape for $25. It looks good and is an American made guitar (now out of business). Thanks
@@anthonypanneton923 The one I have plays nice. My cousin had a Sears Silvertone electric that you literally couldn't fret a chord with as it was so lousy.
@@williamhoppe4500 In retrospect, and knowing what I know now about guitars, it probably could have been a decent guitar with different, lighter gauge strings, and a bit of work on the nut, bridge saddle, and I'm quite certain it never had anyone check the neck truss rod, which as I remember the instrument now - almost certainly needed to be tightened. But as a 10-11 year old kid, playing my older brother's guitar - I had no clue about ANY of that. And I would not have dared to mess with any of that stuff, since it was my older brother's guitar. And back then, there was no such thing as a "guitar tech" at the local music store to take a look at it.. There wasn't even a local music store where I lived. If your Stella has survived this long, its probably worth giving it a bit of TLC. I have an old SIlvertone electric - its only used for slide with open tunings! My first real amp was the biggest Silvertone amp they made in the late '60s - solid state and (about) 50-60 watts output; with 6x10 Jensen speakers. Wish I had those speakers back!
@anthonypanneton923 I know that you hit the nail on the head just now. I put light gauge strings on my Stella as the old ones were corroded. The Silverstone my cousin owned probably had the heaviest cheap strings and no idea how to do setups in the 50s and 60s. I wish that I had all the guitars and cars I had back then but at 74 I'm happy to be alive Take care and thanks
its a Grote ,its a FyrefLy its a Donner its the same Chinese child labour sweatshop factory making the same guitars that are imported under different names and rebranded to get youtubers to review them when itrest has faded from the last "game changing" budget guitar
@@gavriloprincip11 yeah sure. Whatever. I guess you never buy anything from China. No cell phones, only wear USA made clothing? I’m sure Gibson and Fender pay all their worker a livable wage and never exploit immigrant labor.
The one thing it isn't is child labour. For one, China has inflicted a proportionately small child demographic on itself due to the one child policy. For two, China exerts a huge amount of pressure on its children to perform well at school, it has no issue with truancy as it is not acceptable; point blank. The rest of your point probably rings true. These small runs of guitar are probably made by the workers in their own time and cost, or walked out incognito.
Brilliant point! I think Fender and Gibson are far worse when you compare the relative price and quality of their products. Many of the top spec Chinese made guitars are equal in quality at a much better price point.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 86 | คู่เอก "คมเพชร vs ชาติพยัคฆ์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m3q_dRYDuU8/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm a Harley Benton guy myself
I get them setup and modded the way I like. i save a bundle and have never been disappointed where i have two lower-quality grotes. They sound good but the quality is not there. need better tuners ,3-way switch etc
@@thehappyheretic2136 Harley’s are very good. I have owned a few and Donner is also a fine brand.
Why a three way switch? It's a simple passive component which, when soldered correctly, performs at the same level as any other three way switch. Even the quality of the wiring, on a three way switch, as long as it is soldered correctly, is never going to be an issue because, it is such a short run; on a guitar cable the quality does matter due to the capacitance created by the length if the cable and also, the signal noise created by the cables components.
Some switches are just really loose. You breathe on them and they move! I like a switch that you need to expert some force to move. Cheap switches seem sloppy.
There are lots of other things that I would like to see someone with more knowledge than I cover in videos -
Gig bags, straps, cables, even strings
Maybe these won’t be of general/widespread interest, maybe they would be just as expensive as buying guitars, but it’s stuff that you don’t see covered generally
I wouldn't mind doing a video on strings and cables. Gig bags tend to come with just about every guitar I buy, but that's also a good idea. Thanks for the ideas.
There have been at least 4 changes to the "Mouse Ears" on the Gibson 335 over the years. Rounder, Pointier. Shallower and Deeper .. Just Say'n.
I think it's wise to spend some more money and just get a decent bugdet guitar , these amazon knock offs with wierd names ect. really are of no use to anyone , a beginner guitar player will also be way more happy with a good squire or epiphone .
@@antoonhermans8953 I agree the one off brands are a crap shoot but you can’t go wrong with Harley Benton, Lyx, Donner, etc. They have established themselves as brands that will stick around. I just like to buy these oddballs to see what I get. Plus I can tinker with them.
True.
A guitar needs to sound good and stay in tune. That is the basic minimum that a guitarist of any level needs. The guitar above fills those two requirements. I agree that it would a good idea to put a new nut and tuners in, followed by a fret polish but as it is out of the box and reviewed, it is perfectly usable.
@@JayceAllanGuitar"Back in my day" I've owned several electrics and amps. Sold them all. I wish I kept my Roland Blues Cube though. Anyway I've watched a ton of reviews but am kinda skeptical when the reviewer receives free equipment. Just picked up a Donner 152R (ice blue) package. It was between that and a Fesley with a similar configuration but, since I don't have an amp yet I went with the Donner. Cost $152.00 on sale (Amazon). Decent guitar, polished the frets, oiled/treated fret board, set intonation, new strings (height was really close) and put some shielding tape in the cavity. Always wanted a low cost 335 style guitar, some day. Anyway someone mentioned doing reviews on other equipment. I'm really interested in getting a low cost amp somewhere between $200-250. Don't know if you've done it yet or were thinking about it.
LOL. LMAO, even. Do you work for Gibson or Fender or something? There are *SO* many great guitars now available online, Harley-Benton is huge, and I've seen plenty of great reviews for these "cheapo" Amazon guitars. Squire and Epiphone are made in China, too. The funny part is, they're probably made in the exact same factory by the same people. It's a freaking golden age for affordable guitars. I hate shills.
So, I had bought the Semi Hollow as well. It was listed at $90 when I bought it and I think that was the last one. Showed up free bouncing around inside a big Zon box. Was not in a branded box at all. Only came with the guitar and no accessories. So I am guessing mine was a return that was shipped to me as new. Anyhow, it had a dinged headstock and a couple of small dents on the body. The dents are hard to see unless you look closely. Surprisingly, there was no more damage than that despite the lack of protection for during the shipping. Soon as I got it though, I went to try to do a replacement for it so I could get one that was new with the accessories. However, they were all sold out. No more Aubegne guitars anywhere. They don't have a website or any way to contact them. So Amazon said I could get a full refund or a $50 credit to my account. I took the credit and kept the guitar. It plays alright and looks nice enough despite the couple of character flaws I mentioned already from the shipping process. Still, I've been checking every day to see if they had come back in stock and none of that brand has. Guessing it was a fly by night company that stamped their brand on some excess stock to sell off and be done with it.
These models come and go, it's whatever that particular plant is making that month. I bought a strat style called Auriga. That turned out to be a great guitar. That was back in the Spring I think, and I haven't seen them again since. Too bad too, because that guitar is great. Full thickness poplar body, good components. The only flaw with that one was sharp fret ends.
@@JayceAllanGuitar I called it excess stock because that is what these typically are. Promo or demo stock made by a factory or two. Mostly to showcase what they can do and were not meant to be sold. The pile up on occasion. Usually a couple of dozen units are made. What happens is some small company buys these excess units, has their brand stamped on them, and then sells them. Which is why they are low in volume and usually cheap. Because these tend to be promo/demo units the QC on them can be very erratic to say the least. Same thing with the Auriga guitar you have. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the Auriga and Aubegne guitars are actually being sold from the same company. They just use different fake branding so anything that is negatively report about the product by consumers doesn't stick to them.
If you are only a home guitar warrior playing through a cheap effects unit and maybe doing some recording or even the odd gig you dont need an expensive guitar.
Very true.
I got strong Donner guitar vibes from this guitar and that picture of the Telecaster style guitar.
@@Anon-mk4ms I agree.
Hey have you checked out the Diamond Guitar blowout at World Music Supply?
I'll look into that.
I’ve got 2 Tease guitars and they were both great out of the box. One was $249 and the other $165. I have 2 Leo Jaymz guitars that were $119-129, but I needed to do some mods to make them good players, so they actually ended up costing more.
@@JAL-cc8jd I played and reviewed a Tease. Also talked to the owner. Great guy. He’s really trying to build a brand.
These are great mod platforms. Keep up the great content! I would love to see a Jet review. The tele that is around 430 looks cool.
PS I love your orange kitty!
@@hotcakesman thank you. I appreciate that.
@@hotcakesman hey thanks. That’s Stanley.
@@JayceAllanGuitar I have an orange kitty. He is the best.
He’s great but sometimes lives up to the ginger cat reputation.
Hendrix could have used a few of these, instead of burning an actual Fender Stratocaster.
Aubegne is French, pronounced oh-benn'-yuh or something close to that. The 'g' is silent. Edit: semihollow guitars like this are made with laminated formed veneers, high-quality thin plywood really that will have several thin stiff plies laminated over a form. Mahogany is pretty fragile as a veneer, so usually these hollow and semihollow guitars are made from maple veneers. That looks like plain figured maple to me. Nothing wrong with that, the top brands are made the same way except fancier top layers sometimes. The neck could still be solid mahogany but it's probably maple too. The internal center block is normally solid maple.
Thanks for the explanation.
@@CKS64 Welcome, glad it helped. Those facts were educated guesses that might not apply to this guitar. Anybody with better info please chime in! Nice looking guitar, bet it'll play nice with a little tinkering.
@@markpell8979 kinda what I was thinking. The grain pattern is definitely maple or poplar. The neck is probably maple cause it weighs a ton. I’m guessing it’s a laminated wood top and back for sure.
@@markpell8979 I’m thinking a pickup upgrade. The pups that came off the Tele had about half the copper wire wrapped around it than it should have. The humbuckers in this guitar are really microphonic.
@@JayceAllanGuitar Some nicer pickups would make that thing come alive. Maybe it needs a better bridge or some work on the nut slots for that 'sitar' buzz. Don't sink too much money into it though! But it would be a good little setup/mod project. Enjoyed the chat J, take it easy man and good luck with this guitar.
The world doesn't need any more guitars. Save resources and just play one.
@@marakima you bring up an interesting point. I’m actually working on a video where I pose that very question. Does the world actually need any more guitars. Would the amount of guitars already made supply us indefinitely?
Meh, it's better than more plastic and batteries.
Electric as we know them, yeah, more than plenty. But it’s a sad story in terms of innovations. What’s new in 50 years of guitar making? We have smartphones with insane computing power, imagine what you can do within the space of a guitar. No, keep on building 10 pound multi fx pedals and guitars from the 70’s. Sad sad sad progress.
Exactly.
... heretic.
Hey Jayce. Glad that this Aubegne is treating you better than the tele! Be well brother.
Thanks Joe! The Tele is in pieces on my bench. Gonna do a video about how it was made (very poorly I might add). Then I'm going to mod it.
I like your channel and I like you are from Michigan.
@@Scrimjer hey thanks! I appreciate that. Was thinking one of these days I’ll do some videos about Michigan’s guitar history. Lots of instruments made here and lots of music recorded here.
I'm sure you would have to "adjust" an $8000 Gibson to do everything you wanted to do to it. Some people cover the thing with Duct tape and they go out and make millions. Go figure.!
The f holes on my Squire Affinity Starcaster aren't bound. How is it that Aubegne can finish the f holes, yet Squier can't on their way more expensive Affinity series?
Good question.
Nonsense. I have a very good sounding and playing usa strat for sale . I looks a bit rough, for $ 800. If you want a great guitar to PLAY, or RECORD,it dosent matter what it looks like. Fenders are not fragile and will last a long,long time. Most guitars are bought for show. Especially Gibsons.
How about after a full set up a follow up to see if it's better?
@@davidkastin4240 definitely. Gonna get some decent, cheap pups from Amazon to upgrade. Video to come.
This
A leather strap will stop neck dive. 🎸
Not always.
GOOD
Because we don’t know how much more
The WORLD FORESTRY can withstand.
Right now if we stopped making guitars
And focused on life experience music
We will be way ahead
And
Happier
@@JamesBach-hz1pc well to be fair, most of the big guitar companies have enacted sustainability practices. Martin actually switched to a composite fretboard material. There’s a guitar company here in Michigan that uses lumber from old houses torn down in the city of Detroit. So there are ways to build guitars with minimal impact. Also if guitar companies switched to more sustainable woods like Black Walnut instead of Rosewood for fretboards that would also help. Black Walnut grows like a weed. In fact the whole idea of “tonewood” means that some woods that are probably more sustainable just don’t get widely used for guitars.
How about garage sale guitars? An old friend picked up a Stella student acoustic for me in pretty good shape for $25. It looks good and is an American made guitar (now out of business). Thanks
@@williamhoppe4500 I always look for gear at garage sales but rarely find stuff around here. I did find an old acoustic once.
I learned how to play on a Stella acoustic back in the 1960s. It was absolutely the worst guitar I have ever played.
@@anthonypanneton923 The one I have plays nice. My cousin had a Sears Silvertone electric that you literally couldn't fret a chord with as it was so lousy.
@@williamhoppe4500 In retrospect, and knowing what I know now about guitars, it probably could have been a decent guitar with different, lighter gauge strings, and a bit of work on the nut, bridge saddle, and I'm quite certain it never had anyone check the neck truss rod, which as I remember the instrument now - almost certainly needed to be tightened. But as a 10-11 year old kid, playing my older brother's guitar - I had no clue about ANY of that. And I would not have dared to mess with any of that stuff, since it was my older brother's guitar. And back then, there was no such thing as a "guitar tech" at the local music store to take a look at it.. There wasn't even a local music store where I lived.
If your Stella has survived this long, its probably worth giving it a bit of TLC.
I have an old SIlvertone electric - its only used for slide with open tunings! My first real amp was the biggest Silvertone amp they made in the late '60s - solid state and (about) 50-60 watts output; with 6x10 Jensen speakers. Wish I had those speakers back!
@anthonypanneton923 I know that you hit the nail on the head just now. I put light gauge strings on my Stella as the old ones were corroded. The Silverstone my cousin owned probably had the heaviest cheap strings and no idea how to do setups in the 50s and 60s. I wish that I had all the guitars and cars I had back then but at 74 I'm happy to be alive
Take care and thanks
I would guess it’s
Awe-Ben-Yay.
🤷♂️
Doesn’t look or sound like not much worse than a lot of higher end axes I’ve bought
@@rodneykitchen3869 unfortunately that is sometimes true.
Was that a cat?
@@JoaquinGonzalez2014 hahaha. Yup, that’s my supervisor Stanley!
its a Grote ,its a FyrefLy its a Donner its the same Chinese child labour sweatshop factory making the same guitars that are imported under different names and rebranded to get youtubers to review them when itrest has faded from the last "game changing" budget guitar
@@gavriloprincip11 yeah sure. Whatever. I guess you never buy anything from China. No cell phones, only wear USA made clothing? I’m sure Gibson and Fender pay all their worker a livable wage and never exploit immigrant labor.
@gavriloprincip11 Donner is higher quality than those. youre just lumping everything together so you can be negative.
@@johnnynbk Basically.
The one thing it isn't is child labour. For one, China has inflicted a proportionately small child demographic on itself due to the one child policy. For two, China exerts a huge amount of pressure on its children to perform well at school, it has no issue with truancy as it is not acceptable; point blank.
The rest of your point probably rings true. These small runs of guitar are probably made by the workers in their own time and cost, or walked out incognito.
Brilliant point! I think Fender and Gibson are far worse when you compare the relative price and quality of their products. Many of the top spec Chinese made guitars are equal in quality at a much better price point.
yeah because of people like you... that's why !
WOW! I must be all powerful to single handedly take down the cheap guitar industry! LOL.
the world of badly brand named guitars! are these companies trying really hard to call themselves pathetic words nobody else would think of?