Monoprice Retro Classic Electric Guitar - Ambidexterous, Gig Bag, Blonde - Indio Series

The Indio Tele arrived today and I wasn't sure what to expect, even though it has great reviews. I'll preface this by saying that I own a mix of high and low end guitars... from an Acoustic Electric Urban to a U.S. Fender Strat and in between. I carefully opened the box with no preconceived notion as to what I'd find. Once opened, I unzipped the case and proceeded to slip the protective bag off the guitar... Wow! Let me just say that my first glance at it, brought back memories of the first Electric Guitar my parents bought me in 1970... a Sunburst Harmony Strat copy. This was impressive to behold, so I began scrutinizing the fit and finish and I just couldn't find a flaw! Heck, my Washburn 12 String wasn't cheap and it's beautiful to behold in a Wine Burst Flame top finish however, I did find some minor cosmetic flaws in it, as I did my Strat... so this, was completely unexpected! Moving past my initial impression, I checked the action of the Volume and Tone knobs, the Pickup Switch, tuning keys etc... it all felt fine. Next, I inspected the bridge and frets and it all looks fine visually however, the fret ends WILL slice your hands open... so a setup is definitely recommended. I'll put it on the bench later, remove the strings, make sure the bridge is straight (which it appears to be) and level any frets that may need it. All in all though, I'm very impressed at the quality of the Guitars Fit and Finish as well as the fact that intonation is fine and it is playable right out of the box... except for the sharp fret ends. For the $94.99 I paid for it... it was a steal! Of course, I've already ordered a new pickguard and I've got plenty of spare Fender parts in my parts bin to do some upgrades... to suit my personal taste in style and tone. Definitely worth the purchase price... if not more.

I needed a Tele for recording. I didn't want to sink a bunch of money into one, so I just picked this one up on Amazon after reading reviews all over the Internet about how good it was. I wasn't disappointed, but it took me a few weeks to learn the guitar's idiosyncrasies. First, take screwdrivers, wrenches, and whatever else you need. Remove the factory strings and go all around the bridge and body, tightening up the screws from the factory. Flip it over and do the neck and tuner screws as well. Second, setup. You can run 10's on this guitar, and get the intonation set properly, but it's not going to have that Tele twang. If you try to run 9's, you won't be able to pull the saddles back far enough on the low E and A to get a correct intonation setting. Cutting or removing the saddle springs helps, but on the low E I just removed it altogether. Still no joy. My solution was to run "light top, regular bottom" string sets, like the D'Addario EXL125's. Top E is a .09, bottom E is a .46. You still get the twang, but on the bottom, the larger diameter slows the string vibration down enough that pulling the saddles all the way back isn't necessary. I found the twang to be more pronounced when top-loading the strings (through the back of the bridge) rather than through the body. Another is getting it to stay in tune. If you're having this issue, it is an easy fix. Get some Vaseline and lube every string contact point. Start with the undersides of the string trees on the headstock, then the nut, then the string saddles, then re-tighten your strings and retune. Stretch the strings if necessary (and it probably will be). Grab and tug upward on each one firmly, but not so hard that you break them. Keep doing this until the tone doesn't change when you to it, then tune normally. A more permanent fix would be to get a set of nut files and change the dimensions of the area where the string goes through the nut. But, that's definitely a job for a luthier, because if you change the nut dimension too much, you can seriously mess up the guitar's playability. The Vaseline trick isn't permanent, but it's cheap, impossible to mess up, and it works. That's it. If you have problems setting the intonation or keeping it in tune, those two procedures should help. Once you get it sorted, it sounds great. The pickups aren't super hot, but boy do they have a great sound. Roll back the tone while using the bridge pickup, and you've got something special. As far as fit and finish go, the Classic is a great looking guitar. I got the Sunburst and it really scratched an itch I've had for a long time about getting a sunburst Telecaster. The wood does have some tiny, almost unnoticeable knots in it, but they're off center, almost within the black part of the sunburst, so not super visible. Neck is wide and flat. After I got used to playing it, it was difficult to go back to my home-built Stratocaster, because the neck is much narrower. It also has pretty big frets, which makes it easier to play. it also makes chords go out of tune if you push too hard. This guitar likes a light touch. All in all, I've enjoyed this guitar and I've already recorded some with it and it sounds great. I'm in the process of building a Tele right now, so I'll probably keep the Indio until at lest then and continue to use it for practice and recording. Update, 11/5/22 - Nearly three years on, now, and the Indio is still one of my favorites. The finish has held up incredibly well for a cheap guitar. It still looks like new, even though I've not babied it. I bought at custom maple Tele neck for it and pulled the fantastic rosewood original for another project. The new neck fit perfectly, and makes a classic looking guitar. I upgraded the original saddles, which were conventional saddles, to brass roller saddles that further enhanced the tone. Eventually, I'll drop a set of Wilkinsons in it, as the factory pickups are not as hot as some of my other guitars. Don't notice it much when recording, but Wilkinsons would really improve the tone...every set I've ever gotten has been fantastic. If you're wanting to get into Teles but don't have a ton to spend, if you want a nice project guitar, or want to buy something interesting for a beginner, you really can't go wrong with one of these.

I previously bought a Monoprice Cali Stat copy ($119) teal color and loved that as I noted in my previous review. Having owned a lot of guitars over my 79 years I was eager to see how the Telecaster ($109) Classic version played. I was not disappointed. Excellent fit and finish and the pots and pickups are surprisingly responsive (better than the Cali Classsic Strat version pots). The action was set dead on and the intonation only required a quick adjustment to the G string. The fret ends were a little rough but I had those smoothed out in 10 minutes with some 800 grit paper. The neck and fretboard edges were a bit sticky so I hit that with some 1000 grit paper and now they are smooth as silk and super fast. I was all set to change out the pickups for EMGs but I actually like the trashy sound of the exisitng ones as I'm mostly a blues player and they do respond. I've got a $900 Tele and although the Monoprice one obviously isn't that good it sure is a solid contenter for second place. Around the house I play all my guitars through a little Donner Cyclops amp and this thing is AMAZING!!!. Lots of effects, reverb, drum beat and its loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Can't believe it's only $79!!!!. I actually have 2 of them for when the neighbor comes over and we can jam. Of all the guitars I've owned I like Teles the best, both for the sound and the feel of the neck. This is a super value and a great performer if you're in the market for one. A little revision here several weeks after purchase and use. I noticed that the string spacing at the nut is NOT per Fender spacing. The nut is 42 MM...same as Fender Tele but the E to E spacing is only 32.5 MM whereas the Fender is 35mm. I've found this actually makes a difference in the playability of the neck. Here's a bone nut set with the right spacing........The bone improves the tone and now plays better for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFR2PM8R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought this guitar to modify and play, it needed a little a clean up on the fret ends and a action set up. Out of the box a very clean build, good quality control, great value for the price, now I own two -1 maple -1 rosewood.

Got this guitar in amazing shape! Intonation was almost spot on and but the action was a little high but was tweaked very easily. The pickup sound great in my opinion. The bridge has a normal tele twang style pickup and the neck pickup sounds creamy and nice too. For the price you definitely can’t go bad and in the future I will probably change the tunners (not the best but has of now, they hold tune well) and probably the pickups and will eventually put brass saddles!

La guitarra es hermosa y muy buena por el precio. Soy guitarrista desde hace 12 años y puedo decir que es la mejor guitarra económica que he conseguido. Muy buen sonido, peso considerable, acabado hermoso y de buena calidad. CONSIDERACION: El circuito tiene ese hum característico de las patillas Single Coil pero es el hum normal. Es tolerable y no es molesto al tocar.

Bonjour ! La guitare est arrivée rapidement et en très bonne état. Malheureusement la guitare n'était pas jouable en sortant de la boîte. Et en plus pas de saddles individuels et les cordes ne passent pas à travers le corp de la guitare. J'ai dû faire un setup et après la guitare est devenu super fun à jouer. J'aime bien cette guitare, elle semble solide et fonctionne parfaitement. Merci

Muy buena guitarra a un muy buen precio. Tuve suerte de encontrarla porque al parecer ya se agotaron. Muy bien hecha y con un sonido característico de las Teles. Es algo pesada y muy resonante, el acabado de la pintura es perfecto y el brazo y diapasón de maple son muy bonitos y se sienten muy bien en la mano. Los trastes están nivelados y solo necesitaron pulirse, y los bordes no son perfectos pero nada que moleste. La pastilla del puente tiene ese "twang" metálico caracterísitco de la Telecaster y un brillo muy acentuado, a veces hasta un poco abrasivo. La del brazo suena más profunda y grave, con mucha definición. Viene con el puente de 3 sillines y sus respectivos tornillos por lo que no se puede octavar a la perfección, pero se puede dejar bastante cercana y no se nota a simple oído. Solo trae la opción de encordado desde el puente y no a través del cuerpo. En conclusión, una gran compra por la excelente relación calidad - precio.