Firefly PJ Bass Guitar Review: Commie Trash or Dumpster Gold?
If you know the name Firefly, it’s probably either because you’re really cheap or you spend a lot of time on YouTube looking at guitar mini-influencer reviews. At the end of virtually every such review you find, the reviewer in question probably says some version of the following: “It’s not Gibson or Fender quality, but at this price, you’d be crazy to expect that. For what it is, it’s a great guitar.”
What does this tell you? Absolutely nothing. After all, the vast majority of internet consumers aren’t nearly experienced enough to know why an expensive guitar sounds like an expensive guitar and if that’s even a good thing. Most are still dimeing every effect on their Line 6 pods and wondering why Rhett Schull tones don’t come out of their digital cabinets.
The world of bass reviews is even murkier. Bass sounds aren’t the easiest to pick out in person, but by the time they’ve been converted digitally, all you’re hearing is an overcompressed, overproduced mess. Plus, reviewers bend over backward to make sure they sound good for the algorithm.
So what can be done to give you an actual idea of whether you should buy this bass?
We can go by purpose. Why do you want the bass? Is it a bedroom toy, a touring backup, or a studio fixture? In the end, budget instruments are so wildly unpredictable and musician-dependent that all I can do to recommend one is tell you what works and what doesn’t for what purpose.
Features of the Firefly PJ
As the name suggests, the Firefly is a precision-jazz hybrid bass. It has a standard tone, volume arrangement, mahogany body, and a maple neck.
Bedroom
If you’re a bedroom player, you’re at the bottom of the expectations pillar. You might revel in this fact, or you might have greater ambitions, but whatever your aspirations are, you don’t need the most precise, noiseless, intonated, and high-fidelity instrument.
For such a player, just about any properly set-up Squier, Epiphone, Harley Benton, Glarry, or Firefly will do. Bedroom players love fun and experimentation, so decent tuners, decent pickups, and level frets are a must.
For this reason, whether we recommend the Firefly PJ to bedroom musicians comes down to how comfortable you are with handling intonation and setups. Your bass might arrive in perfect condition like mine did, but as with other cheap Chinese brands, it might show up a mess.
Can you do your own intonation? Are you comfortable adjusting a truss rod? Are you capable of filing down high frets? If so, go for it. The PJ is fun above all else.
Touring, Playing Live
The PJ’s tones are pretty good and stand up to distortion, effects, and volume. I haven’t tried them at extreme volume or extreme distortion, but I have noticed a threshold level at which noise increases.
The electronics aren’t very well shielded, so I wouldn’t expect it to remain silent at live venues with lots going on. If you play in a loud rock band with tons of fuzz, this is probably fine. If you play some kind of quiet post-rock or whatever, I’d buy something higher-end.
Another thing to consider is the PJ’s weight. Though it’s less than some of Harley Benton’s offerings, it’s still a considerable chunk of wood. This thing isn’t fun to carry around and is certain to exacerbate any back issues you may have.
If you’re a touring musician, a Firefly bass probably isn’t your first or best choice. You’ll have to do too much work to nail down an ideal setup, and your back won’t appreciate the abuse.
Backup
Fireflies make great backup guitars. Still, if you’re doing well enough to play live for a living, you can probably afford a better backup. And if you aren’t playing paid gigs much, you probably aren’t abusing your instruments enough to need a backup.
A Firefly PJ would be a good option, but it’s a bit weird to buy something just to not use it.
Recording
I’ve recorded quite a bit with my bass, and I’ve had good results. I mostly record DI, so most of the signal gets picked up very clearly. If there was any innate dullness or lack of EQ balance, I’d know about it. Fortunately, I’ve noticed no such issues.
There are certainly clearer, more powerful pickups out there, but the difference is hardly noticeable in the low tunings I tend to use frequently. Bass guitars are support instruments, so tone isn’t as noticable or impactful as it is in higher ranges. In my experience thus far, the PJ is just fine. Here are a few clips:
With this, hopefully you have more than enough to decide for yourself. If it sounds like a deal to you, then pull the trigger. If you have serious hangups about sending money overseas, then skip it.
And if you happen to reside in the Philadelphia/Central New Jersey area and need help with guitar repair or maintenence, feel free to use the contact form below!