Firefly - John(ny) 5 Tele - Do I Now Believe in Ghosts?

Today Keith take a look at Firefly's take on the John 5 Tele. Does this have a "Ghost" of a chance of winning Keith over? Let's find out.
Time Stamps:
Intro - 0:00
First Impressions - 0:24
Who is John 5? - 2:32
Stock Demo - 3:53
Overview - 5:12
Final Thoughts - 9:13
Keith Leedham is an independent recording artists/studio owner/tinkerer.
He owns "The Tape Farm" a recording studio that specializes in transferring "pro-sumer" analog tape formats from manufactures like Tascam and Fostex.
Website: www.thetapefarm.com
Facebook: / thetapefarm
As an independent recording artists Keith has released singles, EPs and full length albums. With styles ranging from Progressive Rock to Country to Singer/Songwriter to Hard Rock to what ever the song dictates.
Website: www.keithleedham.com
He also tinkers with various audio equipment such as tape machines, guitars and guitar amps. When he comes across something interesting he posts the progress/results on KZbin.

[@peter636]

'Ghost Of A Chance' ..Good Tune from Band ..THE BLADES.. from Ireland.. ________________

[@eddiejr540]

That flamed neck is like something you would see on a custom shop fender…holy crap!!!!

[@TheTapeFarm]

I know. In person it’s really something. The flame moves in the light. Very hard to show on camera. It’s pretty slick.

[@Ksantipacat]

I was hoping you would get your hands on one of these. Mine is spectacular player. Not sure why I bought it except maybe for the novelty. I'm not a John 5 fan, but this instrument is up there with the most impressive fireflies. I own. The other one is the Adam Jones Les Paul.

[@danwilhite]

That's pretty cool! Hope they'll start using that headstock shape for all their Tele style guitars. Not a fan of the other one.

[@Ksantipacat]

Should be another batch coming in a couple of months.

[@DrMurdercock]

John 5 Grew up idolizing Hee Haw players like Buck Owens. It's rare to catch John 5 with out one of his MANY tele's in his hands. The dude is one of those guys that we all wish we oculd be, who wakes up and grabs his guitar

[@TheTapeFarm]

@@DrMurdercock a musician’s musician.

[@DrMurdercock]

@@TheTapeFarm haha, I literally made this SAME comment yesterday on another video. hahaa. I agree 100%

[@TheTapeFarm]

The slanted heel is what I was talking about.

[@zuperdee]

I just realized that when I re-watched the video. 😂 I made that comment only because I’ve seen so many people saying now that they don’t understand why that carve out is on the back! As I say, I believe it’s there in order to make a graceful transition from the slanted heel.

[@zuperdee]

2:10 - Quite frankly, I do NOT think the purpose of that carve-out on the back of the horn is to improve upper fret access. Look at it again, and look VERY carefully… You might notice that the bottom of that carve runs along the same plane as the bottom of the slanted neck joint! I think the REAL reason that horn carve is there is because they needed some way of transitioning gracefully between the slanted heel and the wood around the bottom of the horn. If there weren’t, you’d be left with a horrible looking gauge or a notch or something along the neck heel slant, which would be just plain ugly. In short: that carve is there because of the slanted neck heel, for transition purposes, NOT to improve access to the frets. The slanted neck heel is definitely a welcome functional feature though. I also LOVE the more Fender-like headstock on this one, compared to the usual Firefly headstock design, which is a little ugly, in my personal opinion.

[@oldasrocks9121]

It's exactly like the Sires. Schecters cant the heel also but in a single plane. Sires spoon out the front of the horn a touch as well which makes more ergonomic sense than the FF but Sires have pickguards unique to Sires, not off the shelf Chinese strat copies. Follow the money. I like handshake neck heels and despite the spoon cut on the back of the horn this is one FF feature that's not just smoke. The "ball end" frets are smoke: I'd rather have frets that go all the way to the edge of the fretboard and dress them myself. Most FF "upgraded specs" are just hoo-ha.

[@robraaiii]

Did you see the FFTL Semi Hollow with “Bigsby” they got out right now? Pretty sharp lookin’

[@TheTapeFarm]

Yes… 😖 almost hit the buy now button multiple times…

[@robraaiii]

@@TheTapeFarm it was a struggle here too. Lol. The red one sold out FAST, so did the non relic frankenstrat. There was a bunch of new stuff this morning. The BBKing Lucille with the switch is calling me. If they made the 338 with gold bigsby and hardware, probably would have grabbed it. I was a kid in the candy shop this morning, wanted one of everything. I’m house shopping tho, so I can’t 😞

[@TheTapeFarm]

@@robraaiii some really good stuff lately.

[@zuperdee]

They look like a cross between a Telecaster and a Gretsch, with those Gretsch-style inlays and pickups-apparently, these Firefly models are based on some Custom Shop models that Fender did as a tribute to Gretsch, called the “White Chicken,” “Orange Chicken,” and “Black Chicken.”

[@MrKengabe]

where can you buy firefly guitars?

[@TheTapeFarm]

www.guitarsgarden.com

[@k-9thecat765]

John 5's personal guitar collection is mostly Tele's...

[@matts8657]

That thing is HOT 😮

[@acidbran]

Not on Guitars Garden ATM.

[@zuperdee]

Keep checking! I’m sure they’ll have another batch soon.

[@user-fb4xr5wh5x]

they're back!

[@jamesonpace726]

Like everything about it except for the sound of the pickups & the dark fingerboard, seems like a screaming deal....

[@oldasrocks9121]

Lots of Chinese roasted flame maple necks on eBone these days, its kind of funny (to me) when Chinese guitar makers start copying themselves... My relic'd Tele neck (compound radius) is 2mm thinner at the heel than all the other 16" radius bolt on FF necks here. Needed a fat shim too. It sounds like they left the ceramic magnets in those pickups... 🤘🤘🤘

[@TheTapeFarm]

Definitely ceramic magnets, just like the DeMarzio super distortions.

[@oldasrocks9121]

@@TheTapeFarm Yeah, the A5 FF humbuckers are built for ceramics with a shimmed alnico magnet, loose internal parts like the screw pole keeper is why they're microphonic.

[@oldasrocks9121]

@@TheTapeFarm Posting an FF humbucker autopsy video now, take a peek.

[@TheTapeFarm]

@@oldasrocks9121 will do.