What Happened to Firefly Guitars?

If you’re reading this article, then you’re probably wondering what happened to Firefly Guitars?

You probably saw a review on YouTube, saw what a great value they are, and wanted to get your hands on one. 

Sound about right? One problem. 

They’re nowhere to be seen! If you’ve looked on Amazon for the Firefly FF338 semi-hollow body guitar, you’ll notice that they are nowhere to be seen anymore. 

At this point, you’re probably wondering what happened to them. Are they still in business and producing guitars? Where can you buy one?

In this article, we’ll be going over everything you need to know about what happened to Firefly Guitars.

So what happened to Firefly Guitars? In short, Firefly guitars have gained massive popularity within the guitar community. Due to their limited supply and high demand, they are very hard to find.  Occasionally, Amazon will have some inventory, but typically sell out within days of restocking them. 

Who Makes Firefly Guitars?: Some Background Info

Before we start talking about what happened to Firefly Guitars, it’d be helpful to have a little bit of background information. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the brand and just want to know what the fuss is all about, then here is a quick summary of their guitars. 

First of all, Who Makes Firefly Guitars?

Firefly Guitars seems to be its own independent brand that mass produces their guitars in China and sells them through third-party vendors, such as Amazon. Regarding who makes Firefly Guitars, there is not much that is known about the actual brand behind them.

Guitar Gardens is the only other website that exclusively distributes Firefly Guitars other than Amazon, so it’s possible that Guitar Gardens is the company that makes Firefly Guitars.

Firefly guitars were completely under the radar, swooped in, and generated a lot of buzz in the guitar community in the past few years.

Firefly Guitars have gained a lot of popularity in recent years for producing high quality budget electric guitars.

These guitars are essentially low-cost clones of some of the most iconic guitars in the world.

By far, the most popular Firefly Guitar that got everyone talking about their brand is the Firefly FF338. 

And if you know a thing or two about guitars, you’ll know that the design is almost identical to the famous Gibson ES 335. 

Firefly Guitars were appealing to many guitar players because of their low price and surprisingly good quality. 

To put it into perspective, if you want a real Gibson ES-335, it’ll run you upwards of $3,000. In comparison, the Firefly FF38 costs a mere $139.

For a guitar that captures the same look and feel at that price point, then you understand why the guitar community was raving about it. 

Now, obviously a Firefly FF338 is not quite on the same level as an authentic Gibson ES-335.

But for $139, that’s insane value you’re getting with this guitar. You’d be hard pressed to find any other electric guitar that’s on par with it at this price point.

So What Actually Happened to Firefly Guitars?

So now let’s get into the meat and potatoes of this post. What actually happened for Firefly guitars and why can’t you find them anymore?

Well, Firefly Guitars are still around today. The brand didn’t go out of business or anything. They’re just hard to find. 

As you probably know, these guitars were primarily sold on Amazon. They were not distributed by your typical guitar retailers, like Guitar Center or Sam Ash. 

Therefore, they were already in limited supply, since Firefly Guitars is not one the more established brands that pump out millions of guitars every month. 

But what actually caused them to gain popularity?

One of the main reasons Firefly Guitars really blew up in popularity was due to some YouTube reviews that went viral. 

Popular YouTuber “Guitar MAX” made a video reviewing the Firefly FF338, and it had quite the reception. 

The guitar community was astonished by the aesthetics, build quality, and sound of the guitar. And the best part, the Firefly FF338 only cost a whopping $139. 

So as you would expect, everyone flocked to Amazon to get their hands on one. And the rest is history. 

Ever since then, whenever Amazon gets a new shipment of Firefly Guitars, they usually completely sell out within days. 

In addition, since these guitars gained so much traction in a short period of time, other YouTubers, such as Darrel Braun, also caught on and started making videos on Firefly Guitars as well, resulting in a snowball effect. 

Nowadays, people wonder what happened to Firefly Guitars simply because they are so hard to find.

While they are still around and Amazon occasionally gets shipments, they sell out so fast that it’s like they were never even there, leaving consumers thinking that they must not be in production anymore. 

Where are Firefly Guitars Made?

Firefly Guitars are made in factories in China. This is likely why they are able to get the price of their guitars down to a measly $139.

It’s common for guitar manufacturers to have their budget line of guitars mass produced overseas in China due to the lower labor costs. 

This way they can mass produce the guitars in bulk and pass on the savings to the end consumer. 

Since Firefly Guitars is a less established brand than, say, Epiphone, they can further reduce the price for the users since they aren’t charging extra for the branding. 

Because Epiphone is owned by Gibson, they can licence official Gibson designed guitars. For example, an Epiphone Les Paul is technically considered a “real Les Paul” and not a clone. 

Whereas, a Firefly FFLP model would be considered a Les Paul knockoff, copy, or clone.

Since Firefly Guitars are mass manufactured in China and don’t belong to a major brand, they can get away with charging much less for their guitars and still turn a profit if they consistently sell all of their product. 

Popular Firefly Guitar Models

Undoubtedly, the most popular Firefly Guitar model is the Firefly FF338 semi-hollow body guitar. The design of this guitar is inspired by the Gibson ES-335. 

This guitar is what really launched the Firefly Guitar brand and remains their best seller. It’s nearly impossible to find a Firefly FF338 these days as they completely sell out as soon as they’re listed on Amazon. 

However, Firefly also has some other popular guitar models that sell out nearly as fast. And as mentioned before, these guitars are pretty much modeled after other iconic designs. 

The Firefly FFTH is another popular Firefly guitar inspired by the iconic Fender Thinline Telecaster. Similar to other Firefly Guitars, it comes in at under $150, making it an excellent value for the money. There aren’t too many other comparable Thinline Telecaster clones on the market, so the Firefly FFTH is a popular option for those on a budget.

But good luck finding one. Just like the FF338, they’re usually sold out as well. 

Another popular choice is the Firefly FFLP. This guitar is inspired by the Gibson Les Paul. These days, I feel like all companies have their own version of Les Paul and Firefly is no exception.

You can’t blame them either. It’s the most iconic guitar design in the world bar none. These guitars are still hard to find due to their limited supply. 

But since there are so many low cost Les Paul alternatives on the market, this really isn’t an issue. If you want a budget Les Paul style guitar, just about every guitar manufacturer has one. 

Where Can You Buy Firefly Guitars?

So after reading this post, you’re probably considering getting your hands on your own Firefly Guitar. Based on the value you’re getting, who wouldn’t?

But where can you actually buy Firefly Guitars?

Well, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that they are EXTREMELY rare and hard to come by. They completely sell out everywhere within days of re-stocking. 

But if you’re really eager to buy a Firefly Guitar to see if the hype is real, here are a couple of places where you’ll have the best chance of finding one. Keep in mind that they’ll still probably be sold out, so you’ll need to check back frequently to see when they are back in stock. 

Amazon – Amazon is still the main retailer that carries Firefly Guitars. Since they’ll typically have the largest inventory, they are still probably your best bet. If you’re looking for the popular models including the FF338, FFLP, or FFTH, then you’ll need to wait a while. Firefly also has another solid body guitar, the FFDCS, which doesn’t seem to be as popular, and is often in stock.

Guitars Garden – While we’re unsure if this is the official Firefly Brand’s website, Guitars Garden seems to be the only other online retailer that sells Firefly Guitars. They exclusively sell Firefly Guitars on their site, so it’s as official as you’re going to get. While they too are almost always sold out, since not as many people know about their site, your chances of finding one might be better than Amazon. 

Reverb – If you want to get your hands on a Firefly Guitar without waiting, then you might want to consider buying a used one on Reverb. There’s usually several of them floating around at any given time. However, keep in mind that since the supply is low and the demand is high, prices might be higher than usual. If so, it basically defeats the purpose since the main selling point of Firefly Guitars is the low price tag. 

Firefly Guitar Alternatives

If you’re reading this post, then there’s a good chance that you’re interested in Firefly FF338 but couldn’t get your hands on one.

Firefly guitars are hard to come by these days since shipments are rare and sell out so quickly.

However, the Firefly FFF38 isn’t the only budget Gibson ES-335 clone. There are plenty of other budget semi-hollow body guitars out there that have the same shape, design, and overall sound.

The neck is fairly thin, similar to a 60’s style Les Paul, and has an excellent feel to it.

In terms of build quality, this guitar is excellent for the price. I didn’t notice too many imperfections with the finish.

I noticed that there were some rough fret edges towards the higher frets, but that’s fairly typical for a guitar at this price range.

In terms of sound, the pickups aren’t too hot. The clarity does sound very good though. These pickups definitely excel in low to mid gain, which is to be expected from a Gibson ES-335 clone. This guitar can handle high gain music, but you’ll need to crank the amp.

There aren’t too many budget alternatives to the Gibson ES-335 to choose from, so if you can’t find a Firefly FF338, this would be my next choice. It’s a bit more expensive, but is still an excellent value all-in-all.

The Grote 335 is one of the only other Gibson ES-355 clones that can even compete with the Firefly FF338 in terms of price.

And it still costs more, coming in a little under $200. That just goes to show why the Firefly guitars are so sought after. The value is simply too good!

But that said, the GROTE 335 is still a fairly decent alternative to the Firefly FF338 if you can’t get your hands on one.

It features everything you would expect including a semi-hollow body design, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard.

The finish is near flawless. This guitar is stunning with hardly any noticeable imperfections. The frets are filed and rounded nicely, so there aren’t too many sharp edges.

The one negative I found with this guitar are pickups. They are also fairly low output, making them ideal for clean tones. This guitar is clearly meant for jazz.

However, they do lack clarity. I noticed that they do sound pretty muddy. While they’re not a total deal breaker, if you end up buying this guitar, you might want to consider swapping out the pickups.

Unlike the other guitars mentioned above, the Gretsch G2622 Streamliner is actually superior to the Firefly FF338 in most ways.

That said, it does carry a much heftier price tag coming in at about $450.

While, it’s still considered a budget guitar compared to a real Gibson ES-335, it’s about three times the price of the Firefly Guitar.

The Gretsch featured a laminated maple body, Nato Thin “U” neck profile and Laurel fingerboard. I wish they would have gone with Rosewood instead, but it’s by no means a deal breaker.

The overall build quality is solid. I saw no issues with the finish at all.

In terms of the general setup, the action was low out of the box with no buzzing at all.

The pickups also sound great. The stock picks have very good clarity and responsiveness. I did not find it necessary to change them at all.

Overall, the Gretsch G2622 is an excellent intermediate level guitar. For the price, you really can’t go wrong. If you’re looking for a Gibson ES-335 alternative that will last you a while, then you won’t be disappointed.

Conclusion

So to answer the original question, “What happened to Firefly Guitars?”

Nothing happened to them. Firefly Guitars still exist. They’re just really hard to find. 

They have gained massive popularity and hype in the past few years, so whenever Amazon receives a new shipment, they sell out within a few days. 

If you’re in the market for one, it’s still possible to get your hands on one. But you’ll need to be patient and check back frequently to see when they are back in stock.