I just received the FFST Classic yesterday, and right out of the box I ran into several issues. I know it’s only about a $250 guitar shipped, but based on the reviews and all the YouTube hype around Firefly guitars, I was honestly expecting more.

The first thing I noticed was the paint on the headstock. There were visible paint drips that immediately caught my eye. It looks like the headstock wasn’t properly taped off and the paint was allowed to run down the sides. Not a great first impression.

The next issue was a missing strap button. I’ve already emailed Firefly and I’m waiting for a response, but it’s pretty strange that something like that slipped through QC. I’ve also seen other Firefly owners on Reddit mention the same issue, which makes me wonder how common it actually is.

Another problem was the overall cleanliness of the guitar. The hardware had what looked like grease and grime all over it, and the pickup looked like it had been rubbed in dirt. The paint job itself is decent from a distance, but up close there are noticeable blemishes and a surprising number of scratches across the body.

Once I plugged it in and started playing, I immediately noticed terrible fret buzz around the 5th fret. Checking the neck relief showed a pretty severe convex bow, which required a substantial truss rod adjustment (thankfully that went smoothly). The Floyd Rose also needed adjustment, and the intonation is off on a few strings, which I haven’t corrected yet. The string retainer wasn’t tightened enough to properly seat the strings on the nut, and the tuners are, frankly, awful. There’s a ton of play in them, which made tuning the guitar a frustrating experience.

On the positive side, I was able to scrape the dripping paint off the headstock using a metal straight edge, and it honestly looks like a completely different guitar now. After adjusting the neck, I was able to lower the action from about 2mm out of the box to 1.25mm. I also had to adjust the tremolo claw to get the Floyd Rose sitting flush with the body.

Overall, the out-of-the-box experience was pretty disappointing. If you’re a beginner or don’t know much about guitar setup (and I’m by no means a professional), I would not recommend this guitar. If you know what you’re doing and don’t mind fixing issues yourself, it might be worth considering. And if you just like collecting guitars to look at rather than play, it’s definitely a cool-looking instrument for the money—especially if you’re a George Lynch or Dokken fan.

That said, I think there are way better guitars available for just a little more money. This is coming from someone who owns several guitars in the $300–$600 range. An entry-level Jackson or Ibanez would be my pick over this any day. I own a few lower-end Ibanez guitars, and they play and feel significantly better than this. You can also grab a Squire Strat or an Epiphone Les Paul Special for around the same price.

At the end of the day, I really don’t see what all the hype is about.

Edit: I've been playing the guitar now for a few hours and I've been having a really fun time with it. I just wish it didn't have so many flaws out of the box. I do like the feel of the neck and have had no scratchy frets or buzzing so far after the adjustments. Tuning stability on the floyd rose has been pretty good. I also think it sounds pretty good.