IT DOESN'T SUCK! 🤣 Indio Retro Classic by Monoprice "Telecaster style" guitar review & sound demo
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2024
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This is the Indio Retro Classic by Monoprice. It's their very cheap (I paid $63.80 including taxes and shipping) Telecaster style guitar. The regular price is $109.99, which is also very cheap. They often have discounts to bring it under $100. Join Riff City and I'll let you know about that: artofshred.com...
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At this price nearly anything that works is almost worth it. But this guitar is actually pretty good! (But did have some issues out of the box.) I mean, listen to how it sounds. I like it better than the Glarry GTL I reviewed last year. And it sounds better than a lot of other cheap guitars. The pickups, to my ears, don't give me "immediately need to replace these" vibes. I actually like them.
Sound demo begins at 9:22
Full written review coming soon to artofshred.com
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The gig bag is worth at least $20, so that puts the guitar at $43ish. I love inexpensive guitars. Blind folded most people couldn't tell what sounds better between that and a $5000. custom shop fender.
I like inexpensive guitars too but there's definitely a feel difference between one of these a Fender telecaster. The sound is less obvious depending on who's playing.
That might be the smoothest sounding Tele I've ever heard and maybe even the Best. Incredible.
It surprised me too 😆 But I wouldn't say it's the best sounding tele. It's just really good
Carl is the sheddiest of shredded wheats. Dude I love the channel straight up!
Ha, thank you!
I got the blue one, just wanted to try a tele and didn't want to risk too much money. It ended up being my favourite guitar. Aside from some fret sprout, which was easily fixed, I just love it. Neck is thick but silky smooth. The pickups are super versatile, can do any rythmn (they really pack a punch with overdrive and distortion). It's also very comfortable to play, the rounded edges don't get into your ribs when playing seated. Pleasently surprised with this guitar.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I actually just gave mine a trip to the spa last week (fret polish, lemon oil, and string change) and I still can't believe how good it is for such a low price.
An Indio Telecaster copy is NOT a crummy guitar. It is a lot more guitar than most fellows can even set up and play well.
It's really nice for an ultra cheap guitar, that's for sure!
Your video shows the metallic red really well! Looks fantastic.
With this guitar its a box of chocolates, some buyers got 6 saddle string through, some got top loaders....also some got a solid red, non metallic!
If I knew the red was metallic like that, I would have grabbed one. But are sold out now, except for amazon and walmart, but to get it to here in canada it will cost me $220!!
Aww damn, it's good but not $220 good
Yep. I got the candy apple red, six-saddle, string-though version, too. $59.50 plus tax, $62.76 shipped. And a gig bag that's truly a gig bag, not a dust cover. What a deal. Only real issue was sharp fret ends. The birds-beak headstock is a turnoff, though. A necessary evil to avoid trademark violation, I suppose. My brother-in-law is a serious woodworker with a big workshop that includes a disc sander and a spindle sander. Hmm ... I wonder if Fender would mind? I mean, it's not like I'm ever gonna play a stadium.
The finish on the body is amazing. I wish they still sold this colour.
I would reshape the headstock to look like a proper Tele shape, but beyond that this guitar is fantastic.
Yeah it's nice 🤘
I bought a Monoprice Indio strat style guitar for my son. Out of the box it had problems. I was going to return it but the shipping cost was most of the price of the guitar. I hope to get it to play better as I tinker with it. Unless you want to give it a go, I will lend it to you.
Ahh damn. Sorry, that's too bad. Most of the problems should be fixable but if it needs fret work that'll require some tools.
@@ArtOfShredYT I think it really just needs to be setup correctly, but I never really tried.
I got the same one and it's very good!
I get the impression this is in a somewhat higher league than an Affinity. Anyway, it looks/sounds damn great. Some of the dirty bits directly reminded me of The Clash (their earliest stuff), and their rhythm guitar player was partial to Telecasters, lol. The very heavy bits toward the end... Seeing stuff like that makes me happy, because the reason the Super Distortion and high output pups were introduced was because in the early/mid 70s, most amps were "just amps", and didn't have distortion channels, so these pups were offered in order for people to gun the amp channel harder for getting more distortion. Okay, now there's dirt boxes including pedals which actually sound like specific amps, not to mention your Rats and your DS-1s and other boxes which offer plenty of distortion, stuff which wasn't around yet then. I remember when the only distortion pedals were "fuzz boxes", which sound great but they sound nothing like amps. I think fuzz is an "effect" in that sense. Now, people born 6 months ago think that even though they have a 6505 half stack, they still need a $500 set of EMG SuperSatan Baby Torturer nuclear pickups, which is missing the whole point, lol. No one ever notices you can get the same level of distortion by turning the gain knob up 1/8 of a notch and using a Strat or a Tele. Lol. Good demo.
Yeah man I love a heavily distorted single coil. Buuutttt I am still partial to humbuckers in general. Thanks for your comment, happy you dug the demo! 🤘
Oh, I should add that I'm not sure these are necessarily in a higher league than Affinity, but it's not a completely absurd idea. I do really like my Affinity Strat, though.
I bought this same model over 1 year ago.. got the navy blue and black pickguard..love it..plays and sounds great.i payed $100 ..worth it.
Nice! Thanks for sharing 🤘
Hey it’s the guy that commented earlier I was just joking really great video very useful sorry if it came off as trolly have a good one!
I bought one and I replaced absolutely everything on it. Had to do a bunch of work on the frets. I reshaped the neck. I like turning crappy guitars into great guitars. I did that with my Indio.
Nice project!
I got one all i did was change strings and adjustment is awesome!!!
Heck yeah, nice! Thanks for sharing
Satriani doing video guitar descriptions. I dig..
points for originality!
@Art of Shred seriously from one guitarist to another you could pass for his doppelganger. That's a compliment in my book .
The string thru body with the 6 independent saddles is definitely the better guitar vs the top loader & 3x barrel saddles that share 2 strings each.
It's personal preference. I prefer individual saddles, but I still love the vintage look of barrel saddles. My CV '50s Tele has barrel saddles and it's great. Agree with you re: string thru, though.
Thank you for posting this helpful video!
You're welcome, thanks for watching!
Nice pedal demo...
?
I found this guitar to be much heavier than the Squier bullet.
I love Indios, but ya better be ready to do some mods if you are going to get one. I don't care which model it is, it'll need work if you plan keep it very long, or play it at all. I replace the pots, switches, and plugs right away. The electronics from the far east are always poor metal and already well corroded by the time they get to the end user. CT
S pots are FAR superior, and not that expensive. The pick-ups work much better if you'll just tear the ceramic strip off and replace with alnico magnets then rewax. It's a simple job even my 11y.o. can do, and the little magnets are like 16 cents each.
That goes for about any made in China knock off, they're all made in the same plants no matter who's name is on em. Glarry I try to stay away from, they seem to have the most problems, and Monoprice (Indio) or Squire, or Wolf seem to be about the best of the lot in the "beginner" price range.
I started out fixing up "hanger queens" and "guarillas" I found in the bargain bins at pawn shops, because I couldn't afford a real Fender, Gibson, or PRS for my kids.
Now thanks to YT, and a small investment in some serious tools, I'm a serious tech with a loyal following, and a few modest inventions to my name.
Thanks for that insight!
@@ArtOfShredYT Tanks Art! I would love to get together with you and others in a forum and swap ideas. I have hundreds of ideas gleaned from bringing in methods from other industries I'm involved in, as well as innovations I've seen and modified from other content providers.
One of the biggest upgrades I think that music tech vids, as well as other music content providers need right now is a network of their own separate from YT. Who knows what comes next with the "woke" crowd? Charging some exorbant fee to watch or contribute? Declairing guitar reviews, "hate speech" ? Pricing advertisers out of the market, anything is possible! If we had our own network and operated it as a represenitive co-op sharing the advertising revenue instead of giving the lion's share away to YT? Much like artists are doing, producing, recording, and monetizing themselves, instead of letting the "promoter\managers" rip em off for 80% of gross.
It's an idea!
@@popogejo7245 are you drunk?
Im gonna paint my headstock and pickguard on mine..make it alittle diff...fun times...buy one..and i also love the pickups..sound pretty good to me.
I bought the classic sunburst. Love the feel of the neck.
Yeah, it's a real surprise the neck on a ~$100 guitar feels so good
@@ArtOfShredYT can’t believe it was well. Bought mine for only £72
Between this guitar and the donner DST 100, which do you think is better overall?
That's a great question. I haven't reviewed or played a Donner yet. They're on my list to review though!
G'day, Karol, I'm in my sixties and mostly play chords. I have a '98 Chinese-made Squier. The tone knobs don't work at all and the volume pot is questionable. I'm going to have a go and replace them myself. Never done it before. 😳.
An absolute beginner might be a bit intimidated doing a set-up, fret filing etc and the value of the guitar you demoed doesn't justify paying someone to do it. Yeah, fine mod, but a beginner would be better off with a cheap Yamaha. That said, it sounds great. 🤓.
Yeah I agree. Not for beginners out of the box, but really nice if you get one that doesn't need anything done with the frets. Yamaha PAC112V or Mitchell MS450 are still the best cheap guitars out of the box that I've reviewed.
As for your tone and volume pots. It's intimidating the first time but remember you can't make it any worse than it already is. Fun learning experience!
I totally agree with Art! Learning to do the repair on one isn't that difficult, and damn sure rewarding. Remember in our grandparents time everyone was still making their own for the most part, and tuning by ear!
Did your guitar 🎸 come with amplifier? Mine came with amplifier and the phone entrance doesn’t work
No I didn't buy a package so it was only the guitar
Have 10 monoprice guitars none had problems you mentioned. Also they give a great warranty and will send you a new one. Squire quality is hit and miss. Almost no guitars come set up just for you. Take the time and get to know the instrument you are playing. There are enough videos on CZcams to teach you if you give the slightest care for your guitar.
I feel like you didn't watch this video.
I chose mine over the bullet because the first two were defective . The only thing that I did was tighten . None of your problems .It's the best Tele I've ever had
I've never considered modeling
Cheap .
The 6th fret is raised
Ok
Is that pick guard interchangeable with a fender?
it's pretty unlikely that a fender pickguard would be a direct drop in, but I don't know for sure
Nice video! How much does this guitar weigh
Thank you! This one is 7.6 lbs
Bad Cat guitars are good too
Thanks, Jose. They're on my list of guitars to check out, but I haven't ordered one yet.
@@ArtOfShredYT Wonder if necks could be interchanged between. Cat,s,indio and Squiers ...I have a semihollow tele bad cat . But neck fretboard is flat (no radius ) Maple ...I would like to change it to a rosewood . Squier or Indio . It's cheaper than getting the neck by itself new
@@matrixmatico695 That's a great question and my gut tells me maybe. haha
I think it is discontinued edit you state it in your video
Hehe yeah. Still mostly the same guitar except the new ones aren't string-thru, and have the vintage style 3 saddle configuration.
I considered getting one but am leaning towards the Ibanez ax120 would love to see you review that one the sea foam green one is $199
I plan on reviewing one of the cheap Ibanez guitars, but haven't decided what yet. Thanks for the suggestion!
btw, where did you find the sea foam green for $199?
@@ArtOfShredYT guitar center you have to type sea foam green or it will take you to the other colors that cost $229
Cheap price,cheap hardware, cheap strings,cheap wood,cheap frets.Replace all that,some hardwork,and you may have a playable guitar.i did with two of them.
Sure, it could be modded and improved, but if all you're going for is playable then it's playable after a setup.
Guitar center wants 79 dollars for the gig bag 🎒
Haha that's about right
You want a good sounding, good playing guitar that feels good in the hands? LEARN TO WORK ON AND BUILD YOUR OWN.
Worst advice I've seen in days if not months
Good video. You pointed out the standard shortcoming - the sharp frets. Bad for a mom'n'dad giving this to their kid for Christmas. And this is not something that a music sore wants to fix properly because free set up is a hoax for cheap instruments. But it's as easy to fix as trimming your nails. No training required other than CZcams. It is Guaranteed that some frets will need to be filed down/leveled. Truss rod will need adjustment. But I don't care bout all that. I bo't a 2nd hand 2019 model, did the work and I like you am amazed at the quality of this guitar. Extreme low action with no neck shims required. Beauty workmanship. A joy to play. I am a poster boy for Momoprice. Got their strat too.
Thanks for commenting. This one didn't require all the work yours did, but I agree it's fun to play!
You look a bit like Lance Henriksen lol
Ok
@@ArtOfShredYT that was not an insult
@@Night_Rider83 Never heard of him. But it's better than the more common Joe Satriani I guess haha
@@ArtOfShredYT I can kinda see it lol. Lance Henriksen is an actor who played Bishop in Aliens, he was in Terminator I think as well
🤘 Buy it on Amazon amzn.to/3QHNoyq (aff link)
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LOL It won't sukk..... when you pull that neck off of it, and use it for a tool or firewood... and replace it with a legit looking neck / headstock. I can't believe they're still putting them out like that. I can't look at it. I wouldn't mind having the body tho.
Ok
Update my ass. The older model I have had string through and top loading bridge.
ok