Indio Cali Classic Electric Guitar with Gig Bag-Blue Burst

The media could not be loaded.  First off, I want to apologize for the audio quality in the video. I recorded it on my phone, which is dampening the higher volumes. You may have to turn your volume up a bit to compensate for the drops, but hopefully you can still hear the tones.I've been playing guitar for over 30 years. In that time, I've played or owned instruments in almost every price tier. I saw this Indio Cali Classic a few weeks ago and was genuinely curious if a guitar that costs just $138 could possibly be any good. As it turns out, it DEFINITELY is! I think this might offer the best quality-to-cost ratio I've ever seen on any guitar. I bought it with the intention of using it as a project guitar (to scallop the fretboard, repaint it, and turn it into an Yngwie-style Strat), but I like it so much I've decided to just keep it as is.Delivery was much faster than expected. It shipped from Indiana on February 4th and arrived at my house in Nova Scotia on the 8th. I had expected at least a week in transit, so that was a very pleasant surprise. Unboxing revealed that came packed inside a sweet little budget gig bag, and the setup was absolutely excellent. The action and intonation were set perfectly...all I had to do was tune up and rock out.Quality control appears to be top notch. There is a small gap in the neck pocket, but I've seen worse from guitars that cost far more. The neck itself is absolutely gorgeous, with a slim, shreddy profile that's very comfortable to play. The edges aren't exactly rolled, but they're trimmed to make them less pronounced (not something I expected to see at this tier). I anticipated having to dress some frets and file down some ends, but the fretwork is superb for the price point. The nut isn't cut well, but the tuners feel better than expected and the bridge holds tune better than most budget Strats (including Squiers). The body is chunkier than a normal Strat and the bevels are much shallower, but it feels reassuringly solid.Tonally, the pickups are a bit weak, but that was expected. Even though they're lower output, they still sound good and offer a solid tonal palette. They can deliver almost all of the basic Strat sounds, though you might prefer a guitar with humbuckers if you're seeking a saturated metal sound. Regardless, this would make a lovely guitar for beginners, intermediates, and seasoned players alike. It's a joy to play, and I find myself picking it up and noodling around every time I pass by.Pros:-Incredible value-Fast shipping-Top notch setup...perhaps the best I've ever seen on a budget instrument-Feels very solidly made; workmanship is fabulous for such an affordable guitar-Excellent fretwork for the price range-Gorgeous satin-finish neck with a slim, shreddy profile-Chunky but comfy body sounds bright and energetic even when playing acoustically-Bridge stays in tune better than many Strat copies I've used-Tuners aren't high end, but work far better than most budget models-5-way switch works well, and pots are responsive and free of scratchiness-Nice padded gig bag included; I'd happily pay $15 for that on its own-Pristine paint job-Quality pickguard-Ship-on strings aren't bad at all; feel like 9'sCons:-Pickups are a little lower output than other single coils I've used; they're good for most styles of music, but won't deliver heavy saturated distortion like a humbucker will-Nut is made from plastic and isn't cut especially well-Body curves are a bit off compared to a real StratFrom what I've seen, I think this is currently the cheapest electric on Amazon. In all honesty, I have absolutely no idea how they've managed to pack so much quality and performance into a $138 guitar. I've owned guitars costing 3-4 times as much that didn't feel this good, and that totally blows my mind. This guitar certainly isn't the best I've ever played, but the value for money is truly astonishing.I'm a little saddened though, because it seems like Indio (Monoprice) may be letting this line drop. If anyone from the company happens to read this, please, please reconsider. You've made a truly amazing guitar for the price, and I would dearly love to buy at least one more (as well as a Jamm bass or two, if you wouldn't mind bringing those back in stock). I realize it might not be especially profitable, but I beg you not to let this line die out.These guitars aren't just good for the price. They're simply good.My rating: 5 stars

Es excelente la guitarra, solamente es necesario ajustarla, calibrarla, rebajar los extremos de los trastes y cambiar las cuerdas. Parece mucho trabajo, pero vale la pena. Al final se obtiene una guitarra muy aceptable a un costo bajó.

EDIT: I finished a modding project on this guitar, and I am over the moon. I replaced all of the electronics, the bridge/trem, string trees, and tuners. I also sanded down the edges of the neck, so the frets no longer stick out. Lastly, I did a custom paint job. So yeah, believe it or not, if feels like a whole new guitar...because it mostly is. BUT consider that body of the guitar and the neck are both fantastic. This is a great guitar for learning how to do all of those things that I mentioned above. The whole project only took about a week and for sub $300 (including paint and tools) I have a really awesome new axe.I bought this guitar as a project instead of a kit guitar. I expected so much worse than what I got. I can't really believe it.The good-The neck feels great. It has a satin finish, the wood itself is quite beautiful, and it actually plays very nicely. I am enjoying it more than my PRS neck, to be honest. It's also straight and the action was perfect straight out of the box.The paint job on this guitar is flawless. I am still going to do a custom paint job, because, well, I want to. But having a perfect surface to start is going to make my work easy.The body shape is nicely contoured. It feels like the cutouts for a player's leg, body, and picking motion are just right.The bad-The hardware stinks. The tuners are mediocre, the string trees are crummy, the bridge is thin, and all of the plastic parts feel cheap. Then again, they are cheap. This guitar is cheap. What do you expect? All of those parts are easy to swap out if you want. As it stands, I wouldn't use the whammy bar- the hardware is too sticky, so the strings go out of tune immediately. The guitar stays in tune well if you don't use the whammy bar.The neck- specifically, the fret metal sticks out of the sides of the neck. It's pretty harsh. However, for ~$5 you can buy a sanding block and soften those edges tremendously. That's what I am going to do later today. There are some great videos on how to do that.The surprising- these pickups + electronics don't sound too bad, actually. They don't sound *great*, but with a little amp EQ, I got some legit strat sounds both clean and dirty. A good amp obviously makes a ton of difference.I'll swap out the pickups, switch, and pots, but I don't feel like I need to. If you're a beginner or just want to mess around with single-coil sounds, this isn't too bad. I am truly impressed.If you can pick up this guitar for $100 or less, go for it. It's a steal. A little TLC and this thing is going to be a great sounding player.

I've been reviewing many different guitars and guitar-related items from Amazon over the last several years and I've seen some really disappointing stuff, some ok stuff, and some spectacular stuff. Most of what I review is within the budget price range (under $500), because the more expensive well-known brands like Fender, or Gibson are usually quite good and worthy of 5 stars for their quality. But you pay for that quality. And usually you pay over $1000 to $4000 a guitar. Same with guitar accessories. The well known brands of amplifiers and effects processors and pedals we all know are usually high quality but again, for high dollar. I'm more interested in what you can get these days for much less money, and I've been pleasantly surprised with some items. Disappointed with others.This Monoprice guitar I have been eyeing for a good 3 years now. I have a large collection of guitars and have found some real quality gems here on Amazon for very low prices such as IYV. That brand is really killing it and trying to grow on Amazon. Their stuff is priced low and quality is always high above what I expect for the money.So when I saw this monoprice Indigo Cali strat guitar go on sale for $130 Canadian, with a gig bag, I thought I would get one because I've generally heard and read good reviews on them. I was really curious how it would compare to my IYV branded strat, and how all the parts used would compare, like the hardware, knobs, tuners, etc...I'll say this - if you can get this guitar on sale, it's worth it. But don't buy it when the price is around $200 or higher. It's not worth that money. Here's why: these always come in and out of stock, and when they're in stock and ready for next day shipping I notice the price is up high. When they're on order, you can get them for about $130 CAD but you may have to wait a couple weeks because it's on order.It comes down to the hardware mainly. The body is good. I liked it better when the blue was the "burst" paint job, like you'll see in some other older reviews of this same guitar, but Monoprice seem to have finished with the blue burst. It's just solid blue now. Anyway, the body is good and the paint job is good. For the price. I like that the body is full thickness like a Fender Strat. To me, that's a big advantage over the Squier Strats which have thinner bodies. Then there is the neck. The headstock isn't anything pretty, but remember, we're talking about a $130 guitar on sale. So the neck, it has regular sized frets... no fret sprout on my specific model. It's not a gloss neck, it's unfinished, or satin finished I suppose. The strings are garbage, so change those out right away before you bother with doing a setup. Speaking of setup, it comes from factory with a setup, but it's a quick rough setup. The intonation you can tell was set and the bridge saddles are adjusted to an acceptable level of action and intonation. However a little TLC with a good set of strings will go a long way because they manufacture these so fast, the last part of the assembly process is the setup and inspection. Can you imagine doing hundreds of guitars a day? They're done very quickly by the techs at the factory in China and using bad strings. So keep that in mind. Now the tuners... they're your typical no name Chinese made tuners. Some are smooth and some are clunky. They're sealed so you can't service them. They're acceptable (for the money) and they hold a tune once everything is set up right. The nut is a piece of plastic. While very common at this price point, and cut decently, if you want good sustain and good tuning stability (especially if you're going to use the "whammy bar") then I highly recommend upgrading the nut to a bone or graphite style nut, properly slotted and lubed so that you have optimal tuning stability. Now the bridge and trem system. It's quite cheap metal. I actually opt not to use the trem (whammy bar) because I am afraid of it breaking off inside the bridge. I've had this happen before with these cheaply made bridges and screw-in trem bars. So use it gently and don't dive bomb. The metal is not that great. However, for the price, it's acceptable. Oh, I forgot to mention, while you have the strings off, take that chance to polish the frets. Lots of youtube videos on how to do this for less than a dollar using certain abrasive materials, or spend $15 to $25 on a fret polishing product. It will make a huge difference in how much easier it is to bend notes and play. The knobs, pickguard and other plastic pieces have a cheapness about them when comparing to other strat style guitars in this category. The sound is not too bad for the price. The entire loaded pickguard is your expected cheaply made Chinese product and can be easily upgraded to something much better for only about $40. The input jack plate uses that same cheap pot metal with almost jagged burrs on some edges, and when I compare all the hardware on this guitar to all the hardware on a Squier or an IYV strat, you can tell that this monoprice is using the low grade stuff. I've heard this guitar sells for $75 USD when it's on sale in the USA. So all this is to be expected. So here's my conclusion:If you want a decent body and neck for $130 and plan to spend another $150 on some hardware and loaded pickguard, then this is a great buy. But if you're expecting Korean quality hardware, beware that none of it is. It's all lower end Chinese made hardware.If you're a beginner, not much of this matters other than having a proper setup. In fact I gifted this guitar to a friend who is a complete beginner, after I gave it some TLC with new strings and fret polish.That's my 2 cents. If you can score an IYV IS-200 strat copy when they're in stocks, you'll be getting all good hardware and decent setup. So take a look at that company, and the price is the same as this one.If you're a guitar collector and you like to have a little of everything and tinker to make them play good, then $130 is a good price considering it also includes a gig bag which actually isn't bad and good enough for taking to guitar lessons or a friend's place or just having as a spare.Just note, for about $300 CAD, you can find something of much better quality even locally... so be careful if you're a Canadian and don't spend full price on this guitar, because we don't get as good a deal as the Americans do. Wait until it's on sale, or I'd look at other options.

I've been playing guitar a long time, and despite using mostly inexpensive instruments I do not like inexpensive sound. This Monoprice Indio Cali Classic guitar is well constructed but the cost is partly saved by lack of additional features (no separate overlaid fretboard here) and lack of setup. For starters, though, this guitar is playable right away - no fret buzz, straight neck, the pickups are ceramic but the sound surprisingly good. However, if you are willing to put in some effort to set up this guitar properly, or to pay a professional to do that, then you will be rewarded with a guitar whose sound well exceeds the investment.Here's what I did to set it up my guitar: 1) right away you will want to file down the edges of the frets to be flush with the edge of the neck because they protrude the side of the neck and make it hurt to play, 2) set the string saddle height so the strings match the radius of the neck (9.5"), 3) the tremolo (whammy) comes locked down but I loosened the springs and floated it with the two-pivot method (see FruduaTv instruction videos on Youtube) - works great now, 4) intonate it by checking the string harmonic at the 12th fret versus the 12th fret fretted note, adjusting the saddle forward or back, etc. For the intonation I had to set some of the saddles all the way back. Problems with the intonation were two things, where the bridge probably could have been mounted slightly further back, and the string slots at the nut were cut flat (and also where they seemed to be binding the strings a bit, affecting tuning) and not angled. I angled the nut slots and this improved the intonation right away, especially for the low E string. Now, between the saddle and nut adjustment I've got the guitar well intonated where I can play octaves across the whole fretboard in tune. Lastly, 5) I replaced the stock metal string trees with Tusq string trees to improve tuning stability especially when using the tremolo.In summary, when I first got the guitar it was in a raw state that needed setting up: the sound was good but the fret edges hurt, the trem was locked down too tightly to use, the intonation was not set, and the tuning was not stable ("pinging" sounds from the strings when tuning or using the trem. Now, with the above changes I'm super happy with this great looking, feeling, and sounding guitar. Amazing value for the money. Especially recommended if you are willing to put in the effort to fix it up, and hey, you might learn something by setting it up yourself (unless you pay a shop to do it for you, and if so, good on you as well).