Michael Kelly Hybrid - Honest Review - Spalted Maple Tone Factory!

This guitar has been around for awhile and I was happy to get a chance to try out all the different tone options on this.

[@popsfitch7938]

My nephew Jake bought one of the Korean hybrid models for my younger brother Ray (“Mac”) and he loves it. Mac has an unbelievable collection of top shelf Fender, Gibsons and Ibanez but when he broke out his Michael Kelly and let me try it I was so impressed with it I was speechless. This guitar made me play and sound like I knew what I was doing with a guitar almost a real musician. Mac was even surprised. So much so that he searched out another Korean hybrid and purchased it FOR ME. I also own several nice instruments but this Michael Kelly is the one I go to first. Mac and I both shaved the bridge to lower the action a bit but that’s the beginning for me. I mounted a Roland GR-3 to go along with my GR-55 synth. I have it all now. Our matching guitars are so similar side by side the only real differences are the external piezo and Mac’s headstock reads Michael Kell, no “Y”. LoL factory foul up. At jam practice this last weekend the “lead” guitarist had Mac turn his Kell down. It cut through the mix so well everyone thought he had cranked up his volume when Al he had done was swap out instruments. We love these guitars so much I’m in search for one for Jake who is a died in the wool headstock sticker man. I cannot say enough good about this model. Thanks, Pops Fitch

[@raisedrichnot512]

I own a 20th anniversary hybrid special. It is fantastic. Very well built, and I love that it is so lite. It got some jam too. I put a heavier gauge set of strings on it. For the acoustic setting. The only thing I don't like about is nothing!

[@mikemackinaw]

I owned one for about 2 years before finally selling it out of frustration. The intonation was off and the guitar was always out of tune when playing chords. I sent it back in and they cut the nut slightly but that didn't help. There was no way to adjust the bridge to fix this. It was just installed slightly off at the factory. The push pull volume control crapped out after about 6 months and it had to be sent back for repair. Two months later the pickup selector switch crapped out and they sent me a new one that I had to install myself so I would not have to pay to have it shipped again. Not long before I sold it,the volume pot that they fixed crapped again. I had it replaced locally to avoid paying shipping again. It breaks my heart to have sold it,I wanted to keep it so bad,but it was just such a dog and unreliable. It sounded and looked amazing! I really wish I had one that was actually good. It was supposed to be my forever guitar! Like I said,I am heart broken....BTW, I took a big hit when I sold it because I disclosed all of its problems to the buyer.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

This long term feedback is always super valuable. Sorry to hear about all the drama! What did you replace it with?

[@frankmoccia3875]

Top is actual a piece of spalted maple top and knobs and pick covers are are actual wood. I spoke to Michael Kelly reps.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Awesome info!

[@StephanFourie-mb1ky]

On the spalted maple: I believe its authentic. I have one, yet no one of those guitars are identical. I believe if it was printed, you would lose any 'unique' identity

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Great to hear! Thank you@

[@stringsattached67]

I have one of these thats was made in South Korea im nor sure what the difference is but mine has the screw down battery cover and both the pickups are indeed wood not plastic.

[@kdc300z]

Kemper for showing the tones of a guitar? Odd choice.

[@jacobbockover1628]

So I have done of those. I almost sold it. But im thinking ill scotch pad the neck and i feel them pickups are sorta dull and dark. I had to da is the treble side a lot. Im looking into replacing them. The tone it have came with really good action so that's a plus

[@rw7562]

Great demo, Jon. Agree with your take on all the settings.. especially hit by the depth of the last few. For the $699 it sells for new, could be the steal of the year.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Right!? Pretty amazed! More tests are needed!

[@Noodleboy56]

@@RamonaMusicCenter Try playing it with the piezo through an acoustic amp or a PA. The full range speaker will really make the piezo shine. I split my output and send one signal to my amp on stage and send the piezo to FOH and back through my monitor. For the $$ this is a great guitar in my mind.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

@@Noodleboy56 Great suggestion! I tried this on a couple newer piezo guitar reviews and your absolutely right! Check out the Carvin review coming out next week.

[@FantasticF113]

Thanks for the vid. After watching a few different reviews of this guitar, I've noticed the output is noisy. Like, *annoyingly loud*. No one seems to mention this. The guitar looks and sounds fantastic. Personally, that noise kills it for me. I hear you saying 'just get a noise gate' or a Boss EQ pedal...but really for the price they want, it just shouldn't be that noisy. My 2 cents.

[@DaleRobertSzyms]

I have one and it IS noisy, after some experimenting I found it’s because the strings aren’t grounded because there is no metal in the bridge so running a ground wire to there won’t help. I’m thinking of trying to ground the strings where they go through the body somehow (or just try and EQ the noise out).

[@markbarrett4482]

Im getting back into playing after a 40-year hiadous.would this be a good guitar to ease back into playing? I don't want to drop a ton $$$. I sucked 40 years ago so im that much worse today.😂

[@sketchyold]

What makes hybrid instruments “weird”? If you mean unique, that’s a good thing. There are enough companies trying the same old Strat, Tele, LP etc. update.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Absolutely! Unique and awesome! Weird as in unconventional but in a wonderful way.

[@BonkeyMucket]

I like this guitar. I might have to get one.

[@jacobbockover1628]

In one add I remember a disclaimer that grain patter may change

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Certainly implies non photo flame. Thank you!

[@Zxqueb]

One thing I don't think you mentioned in your video was that the output is stereo. If you use a splitter, it is possible to run the piezo and humbuckers simultaneously to separate outputs and provide different effects to each channel. It let's you do some cool sounding things.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Absolutely! Thanks for the reminder! I will add as a pop up on video. What creative ways do you use that?

[@FantasticF113]

Yeah, I got that as well. No one seems to be demo-ing this feature

[@brentcraig]

@@RamonaMusicCenter the guitarist from Tantric Todd Whitener would be a great person to ask this question to.

[@FIVE_DOLLAR-DAVE]

I have the model previous to this with a single humbucker placed halfway between the last fret and the bridge. After hearing yours I have to say the bridge pickup is way too bright for me also. Mine gives me enough variety with the 1 humbucker and the piezo and both together. Recently I tried some nylon strings with the piezo and it was good for that type of sound too. Of course without metal strings you can't use the magnetic pickup. Overall though a playable guitar. That being said if you want a great hybrid-for-the-price....try a Crafter SAT. Used is about the same price as this new and the acoustic/hybrid sound is excellent. Next level

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Wow great suggestion!! Will check out Crafter!

[@hutchfromba]

Personally, as a Blues player, I ❤ it.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Great to hear! What are your favorite tone settings?

[@hutchfromba]

@@RamonaMusicCenter Warm clean but I have acoustic and electric amps so I would try to blend them with a boost on the front end and a little Reverb in the FX.

[@bluegarret]

That would be interesting to hear the piezo in a common PA, flat hopefully :)

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Totally agree!

[@bluegarret]

@@RamonaMusicCenter so do it :P That would be just great!

[@jeffhatcher6778]

Top is veneer.... Not photo.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Thanks for the info!

[@45zapatero]

Is recently purchased one : on the body indeed certainly no photo but veneer. The headstock is a photo I think.

[@cleysouzaoficial]

Este instrumento tem importadora para o Brasil?

[@dm_hater8388]

Does a top not changing with angles indicate a print-top? My Ibanez Prestige changes a lot with different lighting and angles and I didn’t think it was a real top

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Typically that is correct. Print tops dont change with lighting unless the technology is changing. Very thin veneers can still change too. My guess is that the prestige line uses real wood

[@dm_hater8388]

@@RamonaMusicCenter cool. Probably a real-Wood veneer, I’m guessing

[@markhamilton8765]

@@dm_hater8388 it is real book-matched veneer.

[@tomritter493]

Hope nothing goes wrong i got a 53 quad mod tele .been tring to get hold of m.k for a month it has issues

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

What issues do you have? Haven't tried that model yet

[@tomritter493]

@@RamonaMusicCenter neck is angled wrong .vol.knob scratches Neck p.u wont sit straight Way under powerd neck pickup caise ots crooked well made great finnish

[@thearoom]

How's the intonation?

[@TheBbtlegit]

That's a really nice guitar.

[@WildMilesBeading]

I may mainly use this guitar for its piezo sound. Do i have to use acoustic strings? Can i get almost the same acoustic tone with electric strings?

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Yes! The humbuckers will sound much better with nickel strings! I noticed that the guitar sounded great with 11 gauge strings and would be smart to have those to keep that acoustic tone for the piezo.

[@robermartinez-espineira8439]

Yes, make sure you do not use purely acoustic strings, you need the magnetic pickups to pick up some tone. 11s at least, since you want the piezo to work too

[@TheBbtlegit]

I'm looking to buy one of these i was looking for a used one no luck so far.

[@lurklingX]

seems like it isn't printed.... so many diff patterns on diff guitars.

[@fabiogasperini4809]

Too many sound options. It distracts you from actually playing the thing. And when you have found your voice, what are you going to do with the rest?

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

I think it could be perfect for someone in a really diverse band. I have had some gigs where I had to to play piezo acoustic on a verse and humbucker on the chorus so it may be niche but could be pretty useful!

[@fabiogasperini4809]

@@RamonaMusicCenter Of course. I was talking from a personal point of view. I see that when I have many options, i waste a lot of time trying to follow the feeling of the day, and after 1 or 2 hours, I still haven't practiced at all, even though it may have been fun.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Totally get that!!

[@analogblues9606]

Is the finish nitro?

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Looks to thick to be nitro but I could be wrong, Nothing on their website states the finish so I would default to poly.

[@crapadopalese]

It's ridiculous to review a guitar and record the audio through the camera's mic. I would say with your setup it would even be hard to tell apart a Strat from a Tele.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Yeah I'm learning as we go. My original problem was that the mics gave a filtered version it more than the built in Iphone mic seemed to. Always good to get feedback though. Been experimenting with setups and through headphones this seemed pretty decent so far.

[@xxxvdmxxx]

Hi please let us at this guitar.trough.a real AMP on the.CLEAN.channel.....please. If you.use an AMP simulator it seems you want to hide the natural tone of this guitar.

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Great feedback- I went full clean for the acoustic pickup but I will separate clean/gain next time.

[@xxxvdmxxx]

@@RamonaMusicCenter Dear this Is not meant as a critic. I' m really interested in this Guitar, but to really know its voice i would likes to hear the clean sound of those humbukers (i cannot find this model in the city where I live). Is a tone knob/control available? In any case thanks to post the video and to share information about your products. Merry Christmas!!!!!!

[@RamonaMusicCenter]

Always appreciate feedback! :)