Indio Flamed Maple Electrical Guitar Assessment

What? Why the hell is there a guitar assessment on Area of interest Gamer? Effectively, our mates at Monoprice needed to ship us a novel Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar controller to take a look at, so right here we’re. As I typically take pleasure in dabbling in classes of Rocksmith 2014, I believed why not attempt my hand at one thing somewhat bit totally different? With none additional delay, right here’s my assessment of the Indio Flamed Maple Semi-Hole physique Electrical Guitar:

Indio by Monoprice Flamed Maple Semi-Hole physique Electrical Guitar (Charcoal Gray) 
Producer: Indio
MSRP: $249.99 USD

I’m not going to fake like I’m some type of a shred lord and even inform you that I’m even remarkably “first rate” at enjoying guitar, however I take pleasure in dabbling after I can and I’ve spent numerous further time attempting to be taught.

Proper out of the field, I seen that this Indio guitar is significantly larger high quality than I anticipated it to be. I figured for $250 it was going to be shoddily put collectively, really feel low-cost, or simply be throughout janky – however the Indio model appears to be surprisingly first rate high quality.

Taking the Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar out of the field, every thing appeared good however I seen a reasonably tough little ding on the bottom of the guitar the place it appeared like one thing banged into it and the wooden was barely dented and there was a chip within the paint with a little bit of cracking within the shiny coat round it.

Monoprice’s PR agency shortly provided to RMA it and ship me a substitute, however since this was solely a loaner for a assessment, I didn’t actually see the necessity. Generally issues occur in delivery and it’s good to see that they had been understanding.

The Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar is available in a skinny zippered bag which feels fairly good – it definitely isn’t climate proof nor wouldn’t it have the ability to soak up numerous harm, but it surely’s a step above merely being a mud cowl, and it’s bought backpack straps to make transporting your Indio guitar round simpler.

The Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar got here pre-strung with D’Addario strings and was supposedly pre-set up in home by their grasp luthier, which was a pleasant contact because it didn’t imply I needed to instantly take it to an area guitar store to have it arrange earlier than I may even test it out.

The guitar has a pleasant weight to it, and the fretboard feels fairly nice given the finances pricing of this guitar. I performed it for a couple of hours, testing out totally different tunings and it by no means struggled to carry tone or keep in tune.

This is much better than I can say in regards to the Epiphone Les Paul Junior that got here with my OG copy of Rocksmith years in the past that also requires retuning when you put it down for greater than half-hour.

In the end, I discovered that the Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar feels fairly good compared to different entry stage guitars between the $150-$350 worth vary, however its flaws instantly present as soon as it’s put subsequent to a costlier guitar.

It holds its personal fairly effectively in comparison with the LP Jr, but it surely feels low-cost and unrefined in comparison with my Schecter Omen Excessive 6. The in-house tech clearly likes the motion on their guitars a lot larger than I do, as a result of my fingers had been fairly sore from having to press down so laborious to correctly hit clear notes on the Indio, regardless of how first rate it felt in hand.

I by no means seen any type of intonation points or something like that whereas checking the Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar out, however my private preferences make this one somewhat bit tough to advocate and not using a few caveats.

The motion was significantly larger than I’d favor, as I’ve bought small stubby fingers so I favor my strings a lot nearer to the neck. I additionally discovered that the steel on the ends of the frets had been a bit sharp. Throughout seemingly regular bends, I truly caught the underside E string on the fret edges a couple of instances, which resulted in the entire string being pulled beneath the fret board.

I’m additionally not a fan of getting the strap peg beneath the face as an alternative of up on the surface above the neck, which meant I all the time felt like my strap was twisted and it bugged me. These are principally minor complaints, however I’d argue with a purpose to get this Indio guitar into the state you’d need it in, you’d doubtless have to take it into an area store for changes and somewhat bit of additional cleanup.

The Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar case is first rate, however at $250 you’re nearly higher off shopping for a guitar starter equipment to get the strap, case, and a follow amp/picks when you’re taking a look at this for a newbie. For $329 you may get a Squier knockoff strat and full equipment they usually’d do the skilled setup for you within the retailer when you purchase it from a spot like Guitar Heart.

You’d in all probability be taking a look at $325-$350 when you’re like me and like it modified from the way it’s more likely to arrive from the manufacturing facility. All and all, it is a very nice Semi-Hole physique possibility for the price, particularly if you realize somewhat bit about guitars could make your individual changes out of the field. Hell, you may even decide up a used one if you need one for somewhat cheaper to bang round on, however for the price, you may as effectively pay the additional $20 to get the gig bag.

For an skilled participant who doesn’t wish to drag their $600+ guitar to native gigs or needs to make use of a less expensive guitar to bang round in follow on, the Indio Flamed Maple electrical guitar is a surprisingly first rate instrument for the value – and one of many lowest prices you’ll discover on a semi-hollow physique throughout any model.

And sure, earlier than you ask, we’ll be doing a assessment for Rocksmith+ as soon as we’ve had a while to play with it.

The Indio by Monoprice Flamed Maple Electrical Guitar is out there for buy from Monoprice (insert affiliate hyperlink). Monoprice offered Area of interest Gamer with a loaner unit for the needs of this assessment.