MonopriceIndio Series California Classic 6 String Solid-Body Ambidextrous Black, (610370)

I bought this Monoprice Indio Dark Blue HSS guitar for about $80 new to see what modern manufacturing techniques could produce, thinking that I could return it if it really sucked. It actually turned out to be surprisingly well-constructed and playable with some adjustments and setup. This guitar was originally intended to be a project guitar for practicing my evolving lutherie skills and to be a “beater” for casual playing. Surprisingly, I find myself picking it up and playing it more frequently than some of my expensive axes.The 6 screw trem bridge is a nod to the original Fender Strat, and can be tweaked and lubricated to stay in tune nicely; it has been replaced by a replacement Guyker bridge due to the original screw-in trem arm breaking off at the threaded tip. I think that was due to my rough and many experiments with using small springs to stabilize the arm while playing - probably it would have been fine if I left this more alone. The Guyker has a push-in arm with a small tightening bolt - a big improvement, along with quality parts such as a much heavier trem block and a better claw and springs.The tuners are decent and seem to hold proper tuning; locking tuners are on my list of future upgrades though not needed right now, especially with proper string installation. I’ve gotten lazy with my other guitars having locking tuners and/or locking nuts. Fretwork was surprisingly good, and was made better with light use of a sanding block on a few rough fret edges. Thankfully, the manufacturers didn’t blindly follow old vintage dogma (e.g. 21 narrow frets, truss rod adjustment requiring neck removal) - this guitar has 22 medium jumbo frets with truss adjustment available at the headstock.I also ended up installing a loaded Colaxi pickguard with HHH (rail style HBs for middle and neck, full-sized HB for bridge); each HB can be individually coil-split. I figured I’ve added about $45 of upgrades in keeping with the original intent of spending as little as possible. For myself, it would make no sense to spend more than the guitar cost on additional parts. I would say that if this guitar were available back in the 50s, it would be better than the Strats available then. Of course, it doesn’t have the brand clout that some would like. Personally, I’m more into what a product offers as far as features and quality, and this Indio really delivers at this price point, even punching above it.* As an additional bonus, the guitar came with a decent padded gig bag that has backpack type straps as well, much better than some of the very thin unpadded plastic or nylon ones. It's not at all up to the same top quality standards as a Kiesel gig bag, but gets decently close enough at this price point - I wouldn't try throwing it off the roof loaded to test it.

I'll preface this review by saying I'm not a professional musician nor a guitar expert, and guitar is not my first instrument. I'm self taught over many on-again-off-again years, mostly on acoustic guitars. If I had to put a label on my experience level, I'd have to say I "dabble" in guitar. Having said that, based on what I do know about guitars, here is my review.I bought this guitar for my 16 year old son who has expressed interest in learning to play. However, like most 16 year olds, he bounces from thing to thing, so I wasn't looking to break the bank until I know he is serious. In looking even at used guitars, I was seeing prices at $400 and up. A buddy of mine who does play and has some pretty high end guitars told me to check out two budget brands... Firefly and Indio. He said he'd never played either, but that he'd heard great things about both, given their price. When I looked into them, both got fantastic reviews! After researching, I actually wanted a Firefly, but they are pretty tough to come by, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown when, apparently, everyone decided to learn guitar at the same time. So, I looked into the Indio, and it got pretty impressive reviews, both on Amazon and on the internet. After watching a couple of video reviews on YouTube I decided to give it a shot. I had very low expectations.The guitar came in a sturdy, undamaged box. Inside, it was wrapped in a pretty decent, although unpadded, gig bag. After a minor tuning, I plugged it in and started playing. Here's what I noticed:Pros:- It's well made. Sturdy. Most notably, the fret wires are in great shape! They're a little low, requiring a fair amount of pressure to sound your notes, but they're finished/polished. No rough edges anywhere, which is unexpected on a $150 guitar.- Very playable! Smooth neck and relatively low action make it easy to play, especially for a beginner.- It has a humbucker at the bridge- fully functioning 5 position switch- Holds a tune REALLY well. Like, surprisingly well, considering it has generic, non-locking tuning machines. For $150 I legit thought I'd be re-tuning every 5 minutes. Not the case at all.- The price!Cons:- The pickups are what you'd expect on a $150 guitar. On most tones, I don't notice a big difference between the bridge, mid, and neck pickups. I also don't notice the tone knobs making a huge difference in sound.- Crank the volume knob to 10 and leave it there, or the pickups won't pick up the high E string unless you absolutely hammer it.- The tremolo system feels like it will snap at some point. I'm afraid to really give it a work out. (I'm also not Eddie Van Halen, so it doesn't get a ton of hard use anyway.)- Did I mention the pickups?In general, this is a GREAT guitar for the price. It's a true Strat knockoff with all the same features, even if those features are budget grade. It's been fun to play around with and has gotten me back into playing, and it's keeping my son's interest which is cool. I believe, especially with instruments, that you get what you pay for, and I was super leery of buying a $150 guitar. I'm telling you now... if you're looking for a budget guitar to learn on until you're ready to upgrade, DO NOT HESITATE to buy one of these. It's a winner.

Beautiful guitar. Sounds great, and is a joy to play. It arrived well packed and seems to have been well set up. Overall a great value.

Malheureusement pour les nouveaux acheteurs le prix a déjà augmenté! La guitare que j'ai reçu était en excellente condition, malgré une boîte de transport plutôt mal en point. Le manche, les frettes, les micros, l'intonation, bref ce qui est important pour un son de qualité s'avèrent très bien configurés. Bien entendu à ce prix il y a des compromis (essentiellement les clés d'ajustement des cordes, la plaque de rétention du manche, le bloc du trémolo), mais la guitare est à peu de chose près aussi bonne qu'une Squier pour moins cher et les possibles améliorations pas très onéreuses. Je ne sais pas si il y a de nombreuses variations d'un exemplaire à l'autre, mais le mien est excellent.

Pretty good material and sound quality. I bought it to practice on and later modify the pickups and tuners. Possibly make it a good sounding unit

For the price this guitar is as good as a Mexican made fender

Thougth ti would at least play decently but I was never able to tune the string at the bridge level. Neck was right, and felt great. The sound was amazing. The finition is not bad at all but beware that you could receive a "lemon". I guess I wasn't lucky. I ended up buying a real fender pro classic! lol