You've Been Sold a Lie

I put the most DANGEROUS GUITAR IN THE WORLD, a $200 Leo James, up against some of the industry's most revered guitars in a double-blind test. And the results were a complete catastrophe. Not because the cheap guitar failed, but because it got way closer than anybody was comfortable with. Buckle up because this is the video where secret myths vanish into the ether like Spider-Man did in Infinity War. And the guitar snobs collectively pissed themselves in outrage for merely suggesting that their $4,000 piece of very shiny wood might not indeed be superior in every single way. Today, we strike back at the forces of stupidity and reveal what's really going on. — Hi there. I'm Glenn Fricker and guitar builders hate me. That's because I've run a studio since 1998 and over the years I spent a lot of money on things that made some very big promises and failed to deliver where it actually counts, like how it actually [ __ ] sounds. And I made it my mission to help you wade through the worldwide slime pit of internet misinformation and make an informed choice before you take your hard-earned money and light it on fire. Now, one thing I learned many years ago is that electric guitars really don't sound all that different from each other. Let's say that again so the snobs in the back can take their noses out of PRS's ass. Electric guitars really don't sound all that different from each other, at least as far as recording them. Sure, they can sound wildly different acoustically and yes, single coil versus hum bucker. Sure, of course, nobody's denying that. But once you plug them in, especially in a humbucker to humbucker situation, those differences get a lot smaller. And when you take away the brand logos, those differences suddenly shrink to damn near nothing. And that's why I do these blind tests, so you can make a choice based on what you're hearing instead of staring at a gigantic price tag. Because if it's expensive, it's obviously better, right? Yeah, I've fallen into that trap more times than I care to admit. Now, while the initial review video was sponsored by Leo James, today's video isn't sponsored by anybody because test results shouldn't be beholden to anyone. You should get the goods without any corporate [ __ ] which is great because this didn't exactly go well for Leo James. At least not the way how I expected. — So, when I reviewed this dirt cheap $200 Leo James, I put it up against a PRS McCarty 10-Top from the early '90s valued at about $4,000. Now, what I didn't tell you was that I also threw two more damn expensive guitars into the mix, a King Blossom Single Cut with a True Temperament fretboard valued for around $4,000, and a Les Paul valued at around $9,000. Signal chain for this test was a Zuta GBG-120, one of the most magnificent guitar amps ever created, and that's going into my Angle cab loaded with those wonderful new UK V30s, and that's miked up with an SM57 and a Beyerdynamic M160 ribbon, which has become my default mic combo because they work so damn well together. Now, this of course was all being run into this wonderful Neve Genesis Black console back there and blended on the board. Now, this is what you would call the wet dream level of signal chain, and I still can't believe that I get to work with this stuff every day. And yet, I still get comments from random [ __ ] who failed miserably at sounding like they have even the slightest clue of what the [ __ ] they're talking about. Like this one from Dog Day 66. — You're playing a cheap guitar through a digital rig. Totally a bogus test. CHEAP-ASS CHINA GUITARS ARE CRAP. NO COMPARISON TO A USA CUSTOM SHOP GUITAR. — SO, according to Dumb 66 there, uh price equals performance. So, the Leo James shouldn't stand a chance because there's no comparison to a USA Custom Shop guitar. His words, not mine. But, I've done enough of these blind tests now to form the basis of a working seventh grade level scientific theory. And that is, don't believe your eyes. Because it is honestly shocking just how well the cheaper models perform against guitars that cost 4,400% more. Now, to make this even more fun, I played back only three of the guitars for each section, and then scrambled the order every time because I don't want random guesses. I want judgment based on what you are actually hearing. So, I put a quiz up asking a very simple question, which guitar sounds best? And I also scoured through over 2,500 comments you left to tally your votes as well. That took a lot longer than I thought it was going to, but I am genuinely grateful to everybody who left a comment because this stuff is invaluable. So, I got an idea. Let's see just how well those USA Custom Shop guitars hold up against a cheap piece of crap from China where it really counts. On the cleans. —

— You know, it's amazing that I constantly get told in the comments that I use just too much distortion, and that you can't possibly hear how a guitar sounds because of it. And yet, as far as the comments go, the Leo James won this round? Hold on a second there. THOSE OTHER GUITARS HAVE AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP AND TONEWOOD AND SUPERIOR PICKUPS. DUMB-ASS 66 EVEN SAID THERE'S no comparison to USA Custom Shop guitars. And he said it on the internet, SO HE'S GOT TO BE RIGHT. I know, it's the test that's got to be [ __ ] because that's the only answer that doesn't upset people's feelings. Now, if you're enjoying this video, and you want to see more like it, please consider hitting the subscribe button. It's absolutely free, and we would be a tremendous help to the show. I've been doing this since 2014, and I'd really like to get that gold play button one day. But right now, I'm just shy of 662,000 subscribers, and I'd really like to break 700,000 this year. With your help, I can get just a little bit closer. Please hit the button, it would mean the world to me. — Now, let's be clear, this was not a case with some clear runaway winner. In fact, the numbers were pretty damn close, with the Leo James only scoring 11 votes higher than the Les Paul. And the King Blossom, with its true temperament frets, should theoretically sound the best, right? Well, that one placed last. Hmm. Not by much, mind you. In fact, the differences here are so small, you could honestly call this a statistical three-way tie with no real clear winner. Now, I wish I could tell you the same thing happened across all three tests, but the Leo James did fall short on one of them, and I'm going to show you that in just a sec. But first, I want to bring up the YouTube quizzes. They're a new feature YouTube added after creators have been begging for them for about a decade, and honestly, it's definitely faster than reading through thousands of comments manually. But I got a number of comments like this one from Bart Summerson 2099. — Small thing, but was anyone else getting right and wrong ticks taking the quiz? Felt slightly condescending to get marked wrong for my answers. — Okay, for the record, I don't want the quizzes to be condescending. That's my job. But the fact that YouTube was handing out wrong check marks makes me question just how neutral the system actually is, especially because you can also see the poll results before voting, and that opens the door to dog-piling. people voting based on what they think they're supposed to pick instead of what they actually hear. Again, this is a fairly new feature, so I'm sure YouTube will iron out the bugs eventually, just like they did with those false copyright claims. Ooh. Think I just heard Rick Beato's head explode. SORRY ABOUT THAT, DUDE. LOVE your work. That flicker stick track was a banger. But one comment came up that I think really deserves repeating. This one's from Zener looks. Add an option to the quiz of no discernible difference. All right, that's actually a pretty great idea. In fact, I'm going to do exactly that on this video because I've got a question burning in my mind that only you can answer. So stay tuned for that. But that was one of many comments basically all saying the same thing. And that being that all the guitars basically sound the same, or at least so close to each other that people couldn't reliably tell the difference. That is until you include the visual. I think that says a lot about how we perceive things. Now let's see how well this Leo James did on the edge of breakup test. — In this case, the Leo James actually won the edge of breakup test by about 19 votes, which is insane because if you listen to all the internet hype surrounding that kind of sound, only the most expensive guitars are supposedly capable of pulling it off properly. And yet, here we are. Interestingly enough though, in the quiz, the Leo James placed last, 12% behind the blessed Paul. Again, I'm really starting to wonder just how much people being able to see poll results affects the outcome because there's a much higher chance that people won't read through thousands of comments before leaving their opinion. And trust me, after a decade on YouTube, I can absolutely tell you for certain this is indeed a thing.

I've always said that the best science happens when we don't get the results we expected. One of the earliest videos I ever did on this show was called is the sound really in the hands? And as it turns out, on solid body electrics, not really. And boy, did that video ever piss a lot of people off. The comments outright denying reality were legendary because the results directly contradicted accepted wisdom. But when it comes to recording guitar, accepted and wisdom rarely belong in the same sentence. Hence, comments like this. — Do not compare THIS TO A TRUE HIGH QUALITY instrument like PRS or Gibson. — Ah, what's the problem there, bike man? Is it that there's no point in putting awesome guitars against a cheap import, or are you afraid your preconceptions might get shattered like a pipe wrench through a mirror? So, tell you what we're going to do. We're going to break bike man's rule, and we're going to see just how well this Leo James compares against a true high quality instrument. — [screaming] [screaming] — Mhm. Okay, that didn't exactly go the way how I expected. In fact, the Leo James scored 209 votes lower than the King Blossom, the same guitar that lost on the cleans. And the quiz results are saying something very similar with the PRS and King Blossom being in a statistical dead heat while the Leo James just got absolutely curb stomped at only 19% of the vote. Considering it lost on both versions, the comments and the quiz, yeah, I can say with certainty that it absolutely got annihilated. Now, if I was some smooth brained internet guitar word, I'd just BE SCREAMING, "SEE, SEE, THE LEO JAMES SUCKS! " AND I'D LEAVE IT AT THAT. BUT, I've done enough of these tests to know that things usually don't swing this wildly unless there's something else going on. And if you look back at the original shootout footage, I think I can see the issue because we did the shootout before removing the pickup cover. A pickup cover that was causing all kinds of nasty microphonic issues. — All right, into the pickup. You can just talk right [screaming] into it. So, — It's the phrase microphonic, which was most likely creating some unpleasant resonances in the lead tone. At least, that's my guess anyway. And the only way to verify that is to run another test instead of just making assumptions. So, I'm going to need your help here. I'm going to run the test one more time. Same guitars, same setup, but this time with the pickup cover on the Leo James removed. This should give a much clearer idea of whether the pickup cover was the real culprit or if the Leo James guitar just sucks giant hairy donkey on leads. So, please leave a comment and tell me which guitar sounds best, A, B, or C, or take the quiz. And yes, this time I added no discernible difference as an option as well. — This Leo James for 200 bucks actually performed pretty damn well on the test except for the leads. And honestly, it shouldn't be all that surprising because the sound of an electric guitar is the sum of its parts. The amp, the speaker, the mic, the preamp. All of those have a massive effect on the final sound. The critical point being the speaker because that's the ultimate filter of everything coming out of the amp. Now, the guitar itself, it has far less to do with the final recorded sound than most people are willing to admit. And that's the part that never gets repeated to the customer and you will never ever hear those words uttered by a guitar salesman because we spend insane amounts of money chasing a result that often has very little to do with the instrument itself. And please, do not misquote me here. I want to make this clear. There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying an expensive guitar. I own several myself. I just want you to understand what you're actually buying cuz it sure as hell isn't some gigantic sonic advantage over less expensive instruments. And I got to say, the Leo James here plays absolutely brilliantly. — It's so great, in fact, that you're going to be seeing it on the show regularly just like the Harley Benton Goto, this Cardinal, or the Steve Brown

signature. The only problem is that the model with this particular color is sold out at the moment. Now, they do have other colors available, but this one, well, let's just say I'm going to put the word out when they get a new batch in. And uh I also want to let you know that they're aware of the issues with fret markers getting the Roman numerals wrong and they're working on that, too. Once again, please leave a comment or vote in the poll for the retest and I'll post the results up in a couple of weeks. A huge thanks go out to Chris and Faye for the awesome playing on all the tests. And if you want to see the original test or review of this guitar, you can check out the Leo James right here.