Pulled the trigger last night on Monoprice's butterscotch Tele, on sale for $84.99—looked at Amazon Prime, two vendors asking $152.99 … like, I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid!!
Free shipping, 30-day money back return, what's not to like?
I've been hankerin' for some Tele goodness for a while now, and this offer came up right before my birhday next week—did a quick CL sale on a VOX AD15, plus $25 from last gig's tip jar. The boss was somewhat peeved at first, but came around finally (phew!)
Due to have shipped today, can't wait to see what I'm getting for my $$—reviews overall are very good …
Anybody out there have one, and what was your experience? Expecting to do some setup and maybe fret polishing, of course.
Would have preferred maple board, but that only comes on the other colors (was thinking about getting one of each and switching necks, but that won't fly!)
Mods? Baja? Nashville? 5-way switch? P90's? Gold foils, etc?
Monoprice Indio Tele
- t100d
- Reactions:
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 8:39 pm
- Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
- Gearlist: '62 Guild T100D Slim Jim
'76 Ibanez 2405 Custom Agent
2004 Ibanez SA220EX
2009 Douglas WNO 630
2019 Peavey JF1
2021 Indio Retro Tele
'70 Gianninni Craviola
Córdoba Mini II EB-CE
Aria A542F
Takamine TC132SC
Rivera BC-394C
'70's Hohner PJ fretless bass
'84 Ibanez Roadstar II bass w/ SX Ursa neck
YouRock Midi guitar
Fender Acoustasonic 40
Fender Mustang III
Vox DA5
Monoprice 40W SS w/ 10" speaker
"Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it."
- BatUtilityBelt
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- Joined: Thu May 28, 2020 4:25 pm
Happy pending NGD! If it sounds like a tele, that's the important thing. As for tele mods, the one I can't rave enough about is the 4-way switch mod. Instead of just 1-Bridge, 2-Bridge+neck in parallel, 3-Neck, it adds a 4th - Bridge+neck in series. Fantastic rich tone.
I have a green one. I like it. It required a lot of work on frets. Sprouts, level et al, I also recently and to mallot down 2 frets (I think 19 &20) that worked up. I put in the 4-way switch. I put in a set of Dragonfire pickups because I could.t100d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:04 pm Pulled the trigger last night on Monoprice's butterscotch Tele, on sale for $84.99—looked at Amazon Prime, two vendors asking $152.99 … like, I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid!!
Free shipping, 30-day money back return, what's not to like?
I've been hankerin' for some Tele goodness for a while now, and this offer came up right before my birhday next week—did a quick CL sale on a VOX AD15, plus $25 from last gig's tip jar. The boss was somewhat peeved at first, but came around finally (phew!)
Due to have shipped today, can't wait to see what I'm getting for my $$—reviews overall are very good …
Anybody out there have one, and what was your experience? Expecting to do some setup and maybe fret polishing, of course.
Would have preferred maple board, but that only comes on the other colors (was thinking about getting one of each and switching necks, but that won't fly!)
Mods? Baja? Nashville? 5-way switch? P90's? Gold foils, etc?
For the price it is great for me because I've learned a lot on it and how bad could I screw it up?
It was my first and only tele tele, I have a double cut tele too.
I think you'll like it or will at least be worth it.
- sabasgr68
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- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 10:11 pm
- Location: Venezuela, Caracas
- Gearlist: Mossman Sunking Strat (model MN001) - Zoom G3xn - My hands
- Contact:
Great! Show it here as soon as you get it!
I´m the guy from Venezuela (Not Communist/Socialist) - Catholic - Husband - Father
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
I just bought the stuff to do the 4 way mod on a squire affinity tele. I don’t love the pups either so I’m thinking about replacing everything at once but everyone says that’s the best mod for a tele.BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:16 pm Happy pending NGD! If it sounds like a tele, that's the important thing. As for tele mods, the one I can't rave enough about is the 4-way switch mod. Instead of just 1-Bridge, 2-Bridge+neck in parallel, 3-Neck, it adds a 4th - Bridge+neck in series. Fantastic rich tone.
As far as your mono price, I don’t have that guitar but have the 5w amp and the California strat. Their stuff is usually good and the return policy is very good - that strat came with three tone knobs instead of two tone/one volume. When I emailed to ask for a replacement they apologized because they don’t keep any parts so they couldn’t send me a new knob. They did offer to send me a replacement guitar, which I thought slightly overkill…
- sabasgr68
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- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 10:11 pm
- Location: Venezuela, Caracas
- Gearlist: Mossman Sunking Strat (model MN001) - Zoom G3xn - My hands
- Contact:
Did you show yours here, Brian? Not sure if I remember...ID10t wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:26 pm
I have a green one. I like it. It required a lot of work on frets. Sprouts, level et al, I also recently and to mallot down 2 frets (I think 19 &20) that worked up. I put in the 4-way switch. I put in a set of Dragonfire pickups because I could.
For the price it is great for me because I've learned a lot on it and how bad could I screw it up?
It was my first and only tele tele, I have a double cut tele too.
I think you'll like it or will at least be worth it.
I´m the guy from Venezuela (Not Communist/Socialist) - Catholic - Husband - Father
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
I've had it a while and I'm not big on NGD for myself, I'm not worth listening to or reading.sabasgr68 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:34 pmDid you show yours here, Brian? Not sure if I remember...ID10t wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:26 pm
I have a green one. I like it. It required a lot of work on frets. Sprouts, level et al, I also recently and to mallot down 2 frets (I think 19 &20) that worked up. I put in the 4-way switch. I put in a set of Dragonfire pickups because I could.
For the price it is great for me because I've learned a lot on it and how bad could I screw it up?
It was my first and only tele tele, I have a double cut tele too.
I think you'll like it or will at least be worth it.
- sabasgr68
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- Posts: 1412
- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 10:11 pm
- Location: Venezuela, Caracas
- Gearlist: Mossman Sunking Strat (model MN001) - Zoom G3xn - My hands
- Contact:
I´d disagree on the last part, but it´s ok if you prefer not to NGDed yourselfID10t wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:59 pmI've had it a while and I'm not big on NGD for myself, I'm not worth listening to or reading.sabasgr68 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:34 pmDid you show yours here, Brian? Not sure if I remember...ID10t wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:26 pm
I have a green one. I like it. It required a lot of work on frets. Sprouts, level et al, I also recently and to mallot down 2 frets (I think 19 &20) that worked up. I put in the 4-way switch. I put in a set of Dragonfire pickups because I could.
For the price it is great for me because I've learned a lot on it and how bad could I screw it up?
It was my first and only tele tele, I have a double cut tele too.
I think you'll like it or will at least be worth it.
I´m the guy from Venezuela (Not Communist/Socialist) - Catholic - Husband - Father
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
Yes, yes, and no. I don't play standing, however... It balances well when I play sitting and I did stand and play it for a minute, just for you.
No neck dive and balanced and adjusts well if you move the neck up a little or down a little until you get to about say 4 o'clock, at which point momentum makes it want to continue to 5 o'clock.
I did also change the tuners to Amazon bought Wilkinson which weight wise are really no different than stock.
I also have a cheap 2 inch nylon strap, if I got well-hung then the total cost wouldn't allow me to appreciate its value.
Hope that helps.
@t100d Did yours ship?
When I ordered the listing said "in stock", ships today ....... but hasn't shipped yet.
Got an email says they are experiencing delays.
When I ordered the listing said "in stock", ships today ....... but hasn't shipped yet.
Got an email says they are experiencing delays.
Old AGF since Feb. 2015; refugee of the Great MOMO Purge of May 2020.
- t100d
- Reactions:
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 8:39 pm
- Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
- Gearlist: '62 Guild T100D Slim Jim
'76 Ibanez 2405 Custom Agent
2004 Ibanez SA220EX
2009 Douglas WNO 630
2019 Peavey JF1
2021 Indio Retro Tele
'70 Gianninni Craviola
Córdoba Mini II EB-CE
Aria A542F
Takamine TC132SC
Rivera BC-394C
'70's Hohner PJ fretless bass
'84 Ibanez Roadstar II bass w/ SX Ursa neck
YouRock Midi guitar
Fender Acoustasonic 40
Fender Mustang III
Vox DA5
Monoprice 40W SS w/ 10" speaker
Ordered mine on the evening of the 23rd, and it came this afternoon (25th)!
Do you really need pics? We've all seen them ad, right? https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=610261
In my OP I said it was Butterscotch, but actually it's "Blonde", kind of a 1950's kitchen-remodel rich cream—maybe I'll send pics when I'm done setting it up …
Gig bag is great value, well padded.
As expected, frets were level but minimally dressed—spent a happy half hour with my trusty FretGuru file and made a first pass at the fret ends and also softened the ends of the nut, which was protruding a bit at the high E end.
Adjusted the action—D was high, lowered it and the A and E, and intonated the bridge which was a fair amount off, but no issue with low E as some have experienced. Love the 6-saddle bridge, I wasn't looking for Ur-Tele format …
Strings are serviceable, and I played for 2-3 hours—fast neck, nice pickups (no noticeable hum), good pot action, selector switch solid. Nice tonal range, plays well through my Mustang III, can't wait to try it with the '51 Fender 5A3 Deluxe. All my other guitars are humbuckers, except for the Guild Slim Jim with those marvelous Franz P90's, so am enjoying the single coil experience—my wife says she can't hear the difference, but to me it's really apparent.
Jack socket is really tight, but I guess that's a plus …
Balance is perfect, not too heavy, not too light, right in the Goldilocks zone for me.
When I have a little more time I will take off the stock strings (which aren't bad), moisturize the fingerboard, check fret leveling, which seems to be good, and major chore will be to touch up crowning and give the frets a badly-needed polishing, then throw on a set of Thomastik-Infeld Power Bright 10's (stock are 10-46)
Tuners seem to be good so far, might put on some Kluson string trees and Dunlop StrapLocks—don't know if I'll mess with the headstock shape, I can live with it for now.
Still can't believe I only paid $84.99 plus tax, and with free shipping and a gig bag? Sheesh!
Do you really need pics? We've all seen them ad, right? https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=610261
In my OP I said it was Butterscotch, but actually it's "Blonde", kind of a 1950's kitchen-remodel rich cream—maybe I'll send pics when I'm done setting it up …
Gig bag is great value, well padded.
As expected, frets were level but minimally dressed—spent a happy half hour with my trusty FretGuru file and made a first pass at the fret ends and also softened the ends of the nut, which was protruding a bit at the high E end.
Adjusted the action—D was high, lowered it and the A and E, and intonated the bridge which was a fair amount off, but no issue with low E as some have experienced. Love the 6-saddle bridge, I wasn't looking for Ur-Tele format …
Strings are serviceable, and I played for 2-3 hours—fast neck, nice pickups (no noticeable hum), good pot action, selector switch solid. Nice tonal range, plays well through my Mustang III, can't wait to try it with the '51 Fender 5A3 Deluxe. All my other guitars are humbuckers, except for the Guild Slim Jim with those marvelous Franz P90's, so am enjoying the single coil experience—my wife says she can't hear the difference, but to me it's really apparent.
Jack socket is really tight, but I guess that's a plus …
Balance is perfect, not too heavy, not too light, right in the Goldilocks zone for me.
When I have a little more time I will take off the stock strings (which aren't bad), moisturize the fingerboard, check fret leveling, which seems to be good, and major chore will be to touch up crowning and give the frets a badly-needed polishing, then throw on a set of Thomastik-Infeld Power Bright 10's (stock are 10-46)
Tuners seem to be good so far, might put on some Kluson string trees and Dunlop StrapLocks—don't know if I'll mess with the headstock shape, I can live with it for now.
Still can't believe I only paid $84.99 plus tax, and with free shipping and a gig bag? Sheesh!
"Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it."
- sabasgr68
- Reactions:
- Posts: 1412
- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 10:11 pm
- Location: Venezuela, Caracas
- Gearlist: Mossman Sunking Strat (model MN001) - Zoom G3xn - My hands
- Contact:
Congrats! Enjoy it! Good summary/review. No neck dive then?t100d wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 6:58 pm Ordered mine on the evening of the 23rd, and it came this afternoon (25th)!
Do you really need pics? We've all seen them ad, right? https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=610261
In my OP I said it was Butterscotch, but actually it's "Blonde", kind of a 1950's kitchen-remodel rich cream—maybe I'll send pics when I'm done setting it up …
Gig bag is great value, well padded.
As expected, frets were level but minimally dressed—spent a happy half hour with my trusty FretGuru file and made a first pass at the fret ends and also softened the ends of the nut, which was protruding a bit at the high E end.
Adjusted the action—D was high, lowered it and the A and E, and intonated the bridge which was a fair amount off, but no issue with low E as some have experienced. Love the 6-saddle bridge, I wasn't looking for Ur-Tele format …
Strings are serviceable, and I played for 2-3 hours—fast neck, nice pickups (no noticeable hum), good pot action, selector switch solid. Nice tonal range, plays well through my Mustang III, can't wait to try it with the '51 Fender 5A3 Deluxe. All my other guitars are humbuckers, except for the Guild Slim Jim with those marvelous Franz P90's, so am enjoying the single coil experience—my wife says she can't hear the difference, but to me it's really apparent.
Jack socket is really tight, but I guess that's a plus …
Balance is perfect, not too heavy, not too light, right in the Goldilocks zone for me.
When I have a little more time I will take off the stock strings (which aren't bad), moisturize the fingerboard, check fret leveling, which seems to be good, and major chore will be to touch up crowning and give the frets a badly-needed polishing, then throw on a set of Thomastik-Infeld Power Bright 10's (stock are 10-46)
Tuners seem to be good so far, might put on some Kluson string trees and Dunlop StrapLocks—don't know if I'll mess with the headstock shape, I can live with it for now.
Still can't believe I only paid $84.99 plus tax, and with free shipping and a gig bag? Sheesh!
I´m the guy from Venezuela (Not Communist/Socialist) - Catholic - Husband - Father
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
Looking for online/remote job - Income on the internet
Always grateful to the AGF community and friends
AGF refugee - Banned by MOMO
I bought the blue one as i wanted the maple neck. Just the fret ends needed touch up and the usual setup. Its a nice deep navy blue color, looks really good, and is the best value in a guitar today id say, far better then any Firefly lottery.
- t100d
- Reactions:
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 8:39 pm
- Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
- Gearlist: '62 Guild T100D Slim Jim
'76 Ibanez 2405 Custom Agent
2004 Ibanez SA220EX
2009 Douglas WNO 630
2019 Peavey JF1
2021 Indio Retro Tele
'70 Gianninni Craviola
Córdoba Mini II EB-CE
Aria A542F
Takamine TC132SC
Rivera BC-394C
'70's Hohner PJ fretless bass
'84 Ibanez Roadstar II bass w/ SX Ursa neck
YouRock Midi guitar
Fender Acoustasonic 40
Fender Mustang III
Vox DA5
Monoprice 40W SS w/ 10" speaker
Gigged the Indio last night for the first time—lots of tonal variation, no neck dive, and not heavy at all. Then the band leader called "Cissy Strut" and I cranked the bridge pickup in my "Scofield" amp setting— OMG!! What a sound! Sustain for miles and miles, bright and warm at the same time. We had a big crowd (outside Art Walk), and the response was like they had had a direct spinal injection!! I'm sold …
Apparently a friend did some video, if it's any good I'll put it up.
Apparently a friend did some video, if it's any good I'll put it up.
"Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it."