California Classic Solid Body Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

What you see (in my case) was a black Stratocaster knock-off and what I got was black Stratocaster knock. The quality is decent (downright great for the price). but of course, that means although the basic guitar is well mased the hardware and pickups are not of stellar quality. If you expected anything else you must be crazy. The guitar arrived in good shape … I put on new strings and straightened the neck, then checked the intonation which was good… This is an EXCELLECT beginner's electric guitar. I have been playing for 50 years and I bought this guitar to practice my guitar repair skills. I will pull all the frets and re-radius the neck then refret the guitar and perhaps replace the pickups. If you buy one of these, be sure have a luthier (guitar builder/repair person) set it up for you if you don't know how to do that for yourself. These are great low-end guitars but (like any other guitar) they do need a setup. I am old enough to remember all the bad ( as in almost unplayable) beginner's guitars from back in the day. Now with CNC machining the quality of the low-end guitar market has increased greatly and this guitar is the result. The beginner can now get a decent guitar at a decent price. This is one of the best guitars the low-end market segment has to offer. Rawk On!!!Thomas

Amazing shipping, Ordered 12/22, arrived 12/26, a SUNDAY, even in our historic supply chain crisis. If I'd known they'd be so fast, I'd have ordered a day or two sooner to have it here for the little ones on Christmas. Everything as expected, except not a trace of the blue burst shown on the website; just solid blue. Pretty color, seems well done, but lost a lot without the burst. The biggest problem is that the bridge (a 6-screw version) is mounted off-center towards the treble side. This means the bass strings are way in on the neck, and the treble strings are close to the edge. Also, they don't line up right with the pickups. (see photos). I hope that's not a problem, it'd be a real bear to fix, and given the automated production of a unit like this, a replacement would probably be the same. Neck has a satin finish, knobs all work smoothly, no scratchies, arranged as Volume, Neck Tone, Center Tone. The selector switch feels stiff but solid. Jack nut seems tight (always seems to be a weak point in electrics) but we'll see for how long. I like the block saddles. I doubt I'm going to gig with this one (I play upper-tier Strats mostly) but it seems like the perfect "bathroom guitar" or kids guitar, certainly better than the plywood crap I learned on. A great replacement for Squier Affinity that now costs $249 street. I wanted a guitar to tinker with, and I sure got one. New strings, tuners, pups… fun for me and the grandkids. I won't save money when it's all done, but the experience for me and them will be golden.New User

I bought this a little over a month ago, and I play it every day. I'm a beginning guitar player, and I'm happy with my purchase. The reviews I read prior to buying this varied: some said it was flawless, others found multiple problems. It appears that while it is an overall good value, the individual guitars may vary in quality. I haven't had a "set up" done on it yet, so I've been playing it just "out of the box" and I'm impressed with the sound and playability. Pros: Looks good. Sounds good. The little practice amp that came with it sounds very nice, and you're not gonna play a bar gig with it, but it's sufficient for practicing at home or even in a garage jam. It's built to upgrade over time, so you can easily customize it how you like. Cons (bearing in mind this is just "out of the box" with no setup): The frets are installed inconsistently. Some frets are flush to the edge of the fretboard, a few are a bit short of the edge, and others stick out past the edge, making it difficult and painful to slide your hands down the fretboard. (See the photo.) This doesn't seem to affect the sound. There's a light intonation issue on the higher strings: a perfectly tuned E on the open string gets to be a sharp E in the 12th fret (so it's about halfway between an E and an F), but this could probably be fixed with a proper set up. Very minor issue: the strap that comes with it is AWFUL. It's thin, it's itchy, it has no pick holders, and the slots to go into the buttons on the guitar don't lock well. Very minor issue: the gig bag is flimsy. Consistent with the reviews I read before buying this, it is definitely worth the money if you are a beginning guitar player or are looking to customize your own guitar over time. The sound is good out of the box and it's a great guitar that can grow with you as you grow as a musician. The quality of individual components (the finish, the frets, etc.) may vary a bit from item to item, which is to be expected at this price point.New User

Got the newer retro classic with 3 saddle bridge. Is a great value and equal to squier bullets for half the price. The newer indio needed a little work, but so did two squiers i have bought. The indio had rough fret ends and nut was a little tall. Sanded fret ends and sanded the bottom of the nut to reduce the height. Tuners are not smooth turning but stays in tune really well. Will remind again my squier bullets both needed much more work than this indio. Have sold both bullets and kept the indios. The indio plays great and is really slinky. I guess due to top load bridge. Indios are probably the best value out there.Travis

The guitar is surprisingly good considering the very low price. It did have one significant issue though that would make me hesitant to recommend it to a beginning guitar player. I'll start with the good stuff. The basic build of the guitar is very good. The finish is well done. The neck pocket is a good fit. The tuners are good. The nut was cut well. The included gig bag is similar to those I've seen selling in the $30-$50 range so it's a great value too. The electronics and pickups are the typical cheap and generic components that you find on guitars in the sub $200 price range. They aren't terrible though. The bridge design on mine is different than what was pictured. This doesn't matter to me but it does seem to vary. The bad thing on the guitar was the fret edges. I checked the level on the frets using a fret rocker and found them good but the edges were very rough. Since I do guitar tech work as a side gig, this was easy for me to fix but a beginning player might find this to be an issue.New User

This is a fantastic guitar for any beginner or someone who wants to see if a Telecaster is for them or to mod or even just to play. I've got Mexican and American Fenders and have had lower end Squiers. I'd say this guitar is the equal of the Bullet line but costs considerably less. The finish is flawless, electronics are fine, tuners are good and the neck is decent. The biggest problem I have with the guitar is the very small frets (not tall at all) and the sharpness of fret ends. The fretboard is listed as being rosewood but it's more likely what is called "engineered rosewood". It looks good and I like it but could be a little smoother. Buyers should note that Fender parts are not totally interchangeable. For instance, the neck plate is a different size so if you're planning to swap necks be aware. The pickguard holes and shape are not the same as Fender's, nor are the holes drilled appropriately for Fender's tuners. The ferrules fall out the back of the body when changing strings which is ridiculous and if you look in the holes you will notice that they are not drilled straight through the body. It appears the front and back of the body are actually two separate pieces of wood glued together with holes for strings drilled separately and they don't line up properly. That is unbelievably bad but you can still insert the strings so it doesn't negatively impact much. I would definitely buy this again and I'm even contemplating getting another.Steve

The guitar came fast. Box was destroyed when arrived. Guitar was actually shockingly nice. The neck was nice, though a little bit rough. It played well and sounded OK, but noisy. Was a nice guitar. However there was a major hash down to the bare wood. It played so well I thought about keeping it. But in the end requested a return. Will update when receive replacement.Paul

I got one a few years ago and liked it a lot so I got another one a few weeks ago. There are some differences from the older ones. The new body is top-loader only, which would be fine if it wasn't for the bridge with sharp edges of the string holes, which then breaks strings like crazy (even broke the B and I don't remember breaking B like… ever). I will file those edges down on the next string change so it's an easy fix/adjustment. Also, the new body is tiny bit thinner (1.65 in. vs 1.75 in.; not a big difference) and has sharper edges to it which I like more as it looks the part more (the old one had rounded off edges which is a bit more comfortable but looks less like what a Tele should). The pickups are about the same, i.e., not the best so I replaced them. Finish on the body has some hazing but it's in the cutout so not as visible and I don't really care; it looks fine. The neck, however, was the biggest surprise – it has rolled edges and all fret edges are smooth – that's something you only get with $1K+ guitars. I don't know if I was just lucky or they are all like that but I love it! I did not have to do a thing to the neck – it was great out of the box. Fretboard radius is 16" and the grain on my copy looks great too. The frets themselves look a bit bigger/taller/better than on my old one. The back of the neck is unfinished but smooth and I prefer that over the finished necks. Tuners are the standard bottom-of-the-bin stuff but they work and I have no intention of replacing them soon. The string tree for G and D is unnecessary so I am bypassing it at the moment and will probably delete it. The headstock logo is a bit "loud" (I like the old one better) so I may have to do something about it. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a budget-friendly Telecaster style guitar and does not mind doing a few things to it to make it a great playing instrument.Igor

Excellent shipping time. I ordered the guitar on a Friday morning and received it the next day. But it helps that I am in the same state that is ships from. As with the previous guitars I have purchased from Monoprice, it is a great value for the price, especially considering it was on sale and I also got an additional promotional discount on top of the sale price. It pushed me over the edge in deciding to make the purchase. I have several guitars and have trouble justifying additional ones to my wife. This black & white Retro Classic (very similar to a Telecaster body design) will be for modifying (pickups, tuners, etc.). Out of the box there was some fret sprout, but letting the guitar sit with my other guitars for a week and will play it to get some tonal samples before doing the make over. The Retro Classic is a nice, solid guitar to start out with or add to your current arsenal, but may need some clean up (i.e. addressing fret sprout, set up, cleaning frets). Still recommend it. Again, cannot beat the quality for the price.Mark

What you see (in my case) was a black Stratocaster knock-off and what I got was black Stratocaster knock. The quality is decent (downright great for the price). but of course, that means although the basic guitar is well mased the hardware and pickups are not of stellar quality. If you expected anything else you must be crazy. The guitar arrived in good shape … I put on new strings and straightened the neck, then checked the intonation which was good… This is an EXCELLECT beginner's electric guitar. I have been playing for 50 years and I bought this guitar to practice my guitar repair skills. I will pull all the frets and re-radius the neck then refret the guitar and perhaps replace the pickups. If you buy one of these, be sure have a luthier (guitar builder/repair person) set it up for you if you don't know how to do that for yourself. These are great low-end guitars but (like any other guitar) they do need a setup. I am old enough to remember all the bad ( as in almost unplayable) beginner's guitars from back in the day. Now with CNC machining the quality of the low-end guitar market has increased greatly and this guitar is the result. The beginner can now get a decent guitar at a decent price. This is one of the best guitars the low-end market segment has to offer. Rawk On!!!Thomas

Amazing shipping, Ordered 12/22, arrived 12/26, a SUNDAY, even in our historic supply chain crisis. If I'd known they'd be so fast, I'd have ordered a day or two sooner to have it here for the little ones on Christmas. Everything as expected, except not a trace of the blue burst shown on the website; just solid blue. Pretty color, seems well done, but lost a lot without the burst. The biggest problem is that the bridge (a 6-screw version) is mounted off-center towards the treble side. This means the bass strings are way in on the neck, and the treble strings are close to the edge. Also, they don't line up right with the pickups. (see photos). I hope that's not a problem, it'd be a real bear to fix, and given the automated production of a unit like this, a replacement would probably be the same. Neck has a satin finish, knobs all work smoothly, no scratchies, arranged as Volume, Neck Tone, Center Tone. The selector switch feels stiff but solid. Jack nut seems tight (always seems to be a weak point in electrics) but we'll see for how long. I like the block saddles. I doubt I'm going to gig with this one (I play upper-tier Strats mostly) but it seems like the perfect "bathroom guitar" or kids guitar, certainly better than the plywood crap I learned on. A great replacement for Squier Affinity that now costs $249 street. I wanted a guitar to tinker with, and I sure got one. New strings, tuners, pups… fun for me and the grandkids. I won't save money when it's all done, but the experience for me and them will be golden.New User

I bought this a little over a month ago, and I play it every day. I'm a beginning guitar player, and I'm happy with my purchase. The reviews I read prior to buying this varied: some said it was flawless, others found multiple problems. It appears that while it is an overall good value, the individual guitars may vary in quality. I haven't had a "set up" done on it yet, so I've been playing it just "out of the box" and I'm impressed with the sound and playability. Pros: Looks good. Sounds good. The little practice amp that came with it sounds very nice, and you're not gonna play a bar gig with it, but it's sufficient for practicing at home or even in a garage jam. It's built to upgrade over time, so you can easily customize it how you like. Cons (bearing in mind this is just "out of the box" with no setup): The frets are installed inconsistently. Some frets are flush to the edge of the fretboard, a few are a bit short of the edge, and others stick out past the edge, making it difficult and painful to slide your hands down the fretboard. (See the photo.) This doesn't seem to affect the sound. There's a light intonation issue on the higher strings: a perfectly tuned E on the open string gets to be a sharp E in the 12th fret (so it's about halfway between an E and an F), but this could probably be fixed with a proper set up. Very minor issue: the strap that comes with it is AWFUL. It's thin, it's itchy, it has no pick holders, and the slots to go into the buttons on the guitar don't lock well. Very minor issue: the gig bag is flimsy. Consistent with the reviews I read before buying this, it is definitely worth the money if you are a beginning guitar player or are looking to customize your own guitar over time. The sound is good out of the box and it's a great guitar that can grow with you as you grow as a musician. The quality of individual components (the finish, the frets, etc.) may vary a bit from item to item, which is to be expected at this price point.New User

I was kind of apprehensive about buying this because it was so inexpensive. However I thought with a solid ash body, maple neck, And rosewood finger board if it was decent how could you go wrong. All I can say is wow! There were absolutely no flaws that I could find! Set up was great right out of the box. The neck has a flatter radius than a fender strat, for me that makes playing it easier because of my large hands. Feels and plays at least as well as the mim strat I had a number of years ago. Frets were dressed nicely and there were no fret sprouts at all. Satin finish on the neck makes playing a dream.Marc

This guitar is amazing. It's built with good woods, and the workmanship is almost perfect (One minor flaw.) This guitar is a very good deal. I like the maple neck, because of the sturdiness of maple (How many Gibson and Epiphone headstocks have you seen snap off ?) Using maple, for the neck, along with a Fender style design around the headstock make this guitar look sturdy. The sound of the guitar is just lovely. I play jazz (no distortion or string bending.) The tone is clear, but with a thickness (fullness) with the stock pickups. The tuners are good. All in all, I call this a heck of a deal. The neck profile on this guitar is a little thicker than the Squiers.Ken

I have read good reviews about this guitar, but the real thing turned out to be above my expectations. I own Gibson and PRS guitars and was curious how this ~$150 version stands in comparison. And to my amazement it rocks no bad at all. Craftsmanship and performance are very good out of the box w/o adjustments and settings, just tune a bit, plug and play. Considering the price there are lot of options to upgrade, but I will keep it as is for now. Monoprice service was also remarkable. Guitar was delivered in 3 days, new in factory box and perfect condition. It comes with Indio tailored padded gig bag, very handy. Great guitar to start music journey for beginner, pretty good for intermediate player like myself. Highly recommend.Vladimir

The Indio Retro DLX Plus Solid Ash is a quality guitar. I purchased the Blonde with Maple Fretboard and found the guitar to exceed my expectations. The solid ash body puts this guitar in a different league. The satin finish on the maple neck is smooth and playable. The frets are dressed decently with no sharp edges or major buzzing. The Wilkenson hardware and electronics are above average. If you're looking for a telecaster-style guitar, this is it!Curt

Good sound, nicely finished. HEAVY! Set up pretty well out of the box. Neck is chunky, much thicker than my Fender Tele. Overall, good value for the money. But did I mention it's heavy?Bill

My Blonde top loading Retro Ash guitar arrived ready to play! This guitar was about as well built as my Squier Classic Vibe 50s Strat. The neck is very professional with superfluous flaws unmentionable at this price. The tone is very similar to the Indio DLXPlus Cherry Burst string through… The top loading Tele is every bit the Tele… I couldn't tell the difference blind folded. Monoprice DLX guitars still maintain the king of gig ready professional guitars at outrageous prices.New User

The neck has a great feel. The pickups are decent starters. The tuners are decent as well. The tune-omatic is inexpensive. The neck did have sharp edges. Upon arrival the strings were loose and the neck was straight. The action was high. Lowered the action and tuned with original strings and relief was spot on 0.010". There were two strings, G and B, at the bridge that buzzed. Three tuners need tightening. Three frets were barely high in one spot each. Pickup switch is solid, and action of pots great. Replaced strings and smoothed B and G saddles. Removed high spots on frets. Tightened all nuts. Lightly sanded neck for extra smooth action. Plays better than most inexpensive guitars I have. Not 5 stars because of buzzing, which may be beyond a student to fix. Beautiful finish. Lightweight and rests easy when playing. Room in electronic cavity for modding.New User

I buy inexpensive instruments as "projects" that can occupy my time. I enjoy being an armature luthier and assume that there will be issues that need correction. In this case, I was please (and yet disappointed) to find there was nothing, of significance, wrong with this instrument. All that was needed was a, mild, intonation adjustment. Otherwise, the tone is good, it plays well, the neck is comfortable and the frets are well dressed. Even the gig bag is nice. Further, I missed the sale price. on this guitar. by three days. My order had not even shipped when the sale took effect. I appealed and Monoprice was generous enough to extend the $25 credit. This is, actually, a good guitar at $120 and a really good guitar at $95. As a project, I may change the color to white with black hardware to match since I feel the instrument is worth the investment, but it is a definite "player" as it sits.Kimberly

At a price of $106.00 it is a nice guitar. I assemble and upgrade guitars as a hobby, so minor issues are not a problem. Pros : Nice dark blue color . Maple neck feels and looks really nice. This neck is about 43mm wide at the nut and the fretboard is flat like a LP. 12 inch radius , I think. Basically a C shaped neck. Pickups sound fine. Cons : Needs a set up. The strings buzz slightly. The fret ends are sharp and need attention. Not hard to fix and is commonly found on budget guitars. I'm going to replace the tuners and the nut with a bone nut blank and file it myself. Overall a good instrument at this price.New User

So, just received this guitar after a hard time with UPS. I was so excited to get this guitar but after many failed attempts by UPS I was ready to just cancel the order and forget about it. Once I plugged it in however, I was hooked and blown away by the tone and playability. After many failed "G" Les Paul attempts, I have found my dream LP. The Dirty Lemon aged finish is stunning as is the attention to detail and craftsmanship. I've never owned a G custom Shop LP but this one blows away the standard line by miles.Guhacc

This is, without doubt my favourite guitar! I have owned guitars since I was a teenager and have had about 100 since then. All the top American brands and many others but this is fabulous! The aged finish is easily equal to another top brands custom shop models. I know because I have one. Looks fantastic, feels just lovely and plays so good!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I've been playing for almost 42 yrs and I've played(owned) many guitars in this body style. These are the real deal. Made by the same luthiers, same methods, same equipment the Holy Grail cousins where made in the same place, Its a no brainer why these are such incredible guitars. I've played many of these and own(ed) a few every one I laid my hands on felt alive resonate and gave me a thought as to why I didn't jump on these years ago. Don't listen to the naysayers ,It doesn't get any realer than these. You want one of these golden era style guitars with out the $150.000 plus price tag? Buy these used or new you'll be a believerPostman

Overall: I purchased this guitar from zZounds about 2 years ago. Black and amazing: Before I made the move I played over 100 Gibson Les Paul and other brands, every time I came back to this exact model as the "Standard" to compare, after 6 months or so I pulled the trigger and received this Les Paul. The only thing I have a problem with is I wish I had all colors as this guitar will be a collector in time. The neck, profile, binging, hardware, pickups and electronics are perfect, not a single issue. The tone pull knows are extremely functional and the lower right tone when its "pulled up" is all on gain, treble tone and right into lead solo's without playing pickup selector and tones adjustment. Brilliant.This is players guitar, not a case queen. So glad Gibson came back from the dead.I've owned original 1969 Les Paul's and some 60 Stratocasters all of which have been narrowed down to 4 amazing Stratocasters, and a few other gems for live, scoring to film and all go to instruments.BUY THIS GUITAR and YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED.I am not endorsed by any companies!!!!Michael S. SmithMichael

I've been playing guitar for almost 4o years and have always wanted a Gibson Les Paul because my favorite players use them. As a teenager, I couldn't afford one and saved up for a Washburn WP-80 (licensed les paul custom copy) and loved it. Ever since it has been my #1 and I've always regarded Gibson to be all about the name and not really worth the money. Well, I heard about the new Gibson line up a few years ago, decided to check them out, and discovered the Les Paul Classic model. It checked all of the boxes for my dream guitar. Plain top subtle burst, bound body and neck, coil splitting buckers, and weight relief. I saved up and ordered it through MF and it arrived 3 days later (on my birthday, no less!). Man, I don't know why I waited so long to own a Gibson. It is the sweetest playing/sounding/smelling guitar I have ever held. I was concerned about the wood grain when ordering sight unseen, but was relieved when I finally opened the case (see pics). Set up was good right out of the box. Pickups sound amazing, clear, open, and woody. The only disappointment was that the "9-hole" weight relief really isn't that noticeable. It's still a hefty Paul. Which is fine now, because I'm getting older and usually play sitting down. Also, there is a "freckle" on the fretboard. I know some would take issue with that, but to me tiny little imperfections like that just make the guitar special and unique, and It doesn't affect playing at all. Overall, I LOVE this guitar and am very satisfied!Ryan

Overall: I've been a guitarist since the late 80's, but I no longer play professionally, but I do play at home a lot. I've sold off most of my Gibsons (I held on to my '19 Les Paul Traditional) and I'm having a blast with these new Epi models. Everyone is raving about the Standard and the '59 models, and rightfully so. I own both, as well as a new Custom Silverburst and they're all great. This Classic is no exception. It actually arrived needing the least amount of setup work of all the others. The Alnico Classic Pros are brighter and a bit hotter than the Probuckers, but they're not at all harsh. The electronics work as expected, the neck pickup sounds sweet when split and the Phase feature sounds good with some moderate gain. The nut was cut extremely well and the frets don't need really much dressing. The neck is a little slimmer than what I'm used to, but it's easy adapting. The fretboard is a bit dry, but that's normal. Actually, these new Epiphone models all arrived in better condition than most of my Gibsons did in the past. The new Epiphone models are players guitars. Not wall art or collector's (cork sniffers) guitars, I wouldn't hesitate to take any of them to a gig and have fun with them. That's the whole point, right? I just wish they had made import guitars of this quality when I first started playing.Uriah

Out of the box and tuned, this guitar was completely unplayable with the neck so bent that pressing the strings at anywhere beyond the 8th fret fouled the frets higher up the neck, this also meant the action (measured at the 12th fret) was over 6mm. Fortunately I’ve a good understanding of how to set-up a guitar so adjusted the neck to have minimal relief with the truss rod – as a point of interest there was no truss rod allen key in the box, so just as well that I have my own tools. Once the action was set to my preferred settings (and by no means not as low as many like it) I had loads of fret buzz all over the place. So resetting the neck flat and using a ‘fret rocker’ I found 17 of the 22 frets (at various points across the neck) in need of remedial work to get them level. However as the guitar was new I decided initially to just add a bit more neck relief & set the action a shade higher, while I decided if I should just send it back or spending some hours sorting the frets in the near future? There are some positive points! I really liked the ‘worn’ (satin) finish although I feel there should have been a higher discount over the gloss finished versions as this must have saved loads of time during the finishing process. The Alnico Classic PRO pickups sound powerful with loads of variation between the neck and bridge and support coil-splitting. With the coils split option, with push/pull volume pots, there is (as expected) a significant drop in output but they do sound good, verging on P90 territory, rather than Strat/Tele sound ‘alikes’. One of the areas that lower cost guitars usually fail on is the quality of the tuners, here they have fitted Grover Rotomatics with an 18:1 ratio. They are smooth and easy to operate with the large kidney button heads, holding tune very well. The nut, a Graph Tech, was superbly cut, but unfortunately this was completely wasted with the poor quality of fret levelling from the factory as several of the strings would buzz when played open when set at a reasonably low action! The trapezoid neck inlays are very well fitted and although acrylic, do a very good impersonation of mother of pearl. Visually the guitar look stunning with its unusual colour and matt (worn) finish, but I do find the inclusion of gold knobs a bit of a clash with the all Nickel hardware and at the back cream control plate covers just don’t look right and should have been black. But both of these last two issues are a really cheap to resolve at about £12 for both black cover plates and 4 clear knobs. Overall both positives & negatives to consider and if I’d been unable to adjust the guitar myself, there would have been no option but to just send it back for a refund/replacement (hence 3 stars which I think is quite generous) as it is I’ll be keeping this. If I could have bought this locally it would have been great to try before I bought, but my local Epiphone dealer (90 mile round trip) didn’t have any in stock and was unlikely to get one, so I went the mail order route. The guitar is now playing well and will be even better when I get the time to sort out the frets and put a set of 9-42 gauge strings on.Paul

This guitar is absolutely stunning. At about $450 the Epiphone Les Paul Special certainly hits its price point without question. This is the 2nd time I bought this guitar, but I couldn't resist buying this again. I'll start with the cons first, that I noticed applied to both Special's I've owned.. The poly finish is thick. The combination of the "tv yellow" color and the thick polyurethane sort of gives a toy like feeling, or a bit of a cheapness to it.. Speaking of "tv yellow," it's really more of a Dijon mustard/ Carmel color. I don't think that's a bad thing or ugly by any means, but as other reviewers may have stated, the Epiphone isn't quite as accurate to its high end counterpart. The pickup routes and control cavity were also a little bit choppy, but that's just nit picking. If you buy this guitar, you will most likely need a setup. 2nd time around, I knew that going in but both guitars I bought needed set ups. That being said, this guitar is awesome. Surprisingly the laurel fingerboard was really smooth and moist. I do not sense bad or tall frets, but are scratchy at first. The P90 pros are so good. The CTS pots are so dynamic. The volume and tone sweeps combined with these P90 pros are so dynamic and touch sensitive, that they can hang with the best of em. The guitar resonates so well and plays both clean and crunchy top notch. Punchy and warm…Absolute quality electronics. I haven't found a bad tone in any position. If your used to playing your guitars with everything at 10, this guitar with inspire you to play around with all the tonal possibilities by simply rolling in & out your pots. The neck on this is fat, and so nice but not absurd. I highly recommend it. For the price, you can't go wrong and will love the tones, just plan on getting a setup and you will absolutely love this guitar.Zac F

I bought the black and gold edition of this guitar and I was pleasantly surprised when it sounded so good and looked absolutely stunning! My only problem with this guitar is that the pickups look a little tarnished or rusty but it doesn't affect the tone but other than that it's definitely worth the money.Angel

I was amazed at the quality for the price on this guitar . I own over 20 guitars and actually purchased this one for my sons birthday. All my guitars will be my boys one day but wanted to ad one to his current collection and this was a great choice. I have been a AMS customer for over a decade and love their prices, selection and payment plans. I always recommend AMS to my musician friends, they are the best!!!!Mike

LOVE this guitar! It have a smooth rosewood fret board which makes soloing slick and precise. The tone is perfect for Metal & clean playing. It stays in tune & is all around well built. Great price too!traviveg_9

I expected better from Jackson. Pickups are iffy,tuners are junk will not stay in tune. Pickup selector switch is scratchy and works sometimes. Action is ok after a good setup and string change. Had it for about 5 months now and thinking about trading it in for something a little better. It does look great hanging on the wall though.Keith C.

I was gifted this beauty for my birthday. I had a 2PU version before, but through my own innatention, cracked the breadstick at the neck. I repaired it, but then sold it. I giggled and recorded extensively with that guitar. I was missing it, and thanks to my kid brother and his wonderful girlfriend, the Caddy has joined my guitar tribe. It sounds, feels, and plays like and old friend!L.B.

I love this guitar. This guitar completely rocks. Plays great sounds great and looks great. It came out of the box almost set up perfectly. The only thing is the action could have been Lowered just a tad. But this guitar is two thumbs up. This is my main guitar for now on.Lee

Not one single regret about adding this Dean Cadi to my arsenal!! No sharp frets, no dead frets, the neck plays super fast and this is a very comfortable guitar to hold! You simply do not want to put it down!! Get your wings!Christopher

This is without a doubt one of the best budget guitars made. They set this up nearly perfect from the factory. I barely had to make any adjustments when I took it out of the box. Great resonance from the ash body, bridge and pickups are very good. Satin maple has excellent feel. I sold my PRS SE shortly after receiving this guitar.Kevin

It's another great guitar from Indio by Monoprice—No damage in shipment or blemishes from factory and after the setup it's got great playability and that vintage 1950's Fender Daphne blue with maple fretboard and triple ply pickguard look—I'm glad I got it !Mark

I just got a grey aerodyne SSH strat. I've never gelled with a fender before. After playing my first gig with this thing I'm so impressed. The neck is amazing. Looks are a amazing. The weight is perfect. That top contouring is so comfortable. The controls… I thought I would want to swap the metal knobs out for traditional plastic knobs because they were smooth, however I had no issues making adjustments to the volume and tone mid song… and they look amazing. The knobs are staying. The pickups. wow. just wow. The traditional strat sounds are here, but they offer more to my ears. More aggression when I needed it. The neck and middle pickups worked perfectly with that bridge humbucker. Switching to the bridge for leads was so satisfying. The sound guy came over after we finished and complimented my tone. He asked me what pedals I was using, and was surprised when I told him I just used delay and reverb. Everything else was the amp and adjusting the controls. These pickups… even when I roll off the tone they somehow still retain clarity. The right kind of clarity. I've played other strats, even American strats (but never custom shop), and these aerodyne pickups are in a league of their own. Bottom line… I've never bought a guitar and wanted to immediately go out and buy another if the same guitar "just in case" something happens to the first one. This guitar is THAT good.Sam

Everything they said about this guitar in the reviews is correct. Quality product and great pick ups. Like the colour, sound and feel.Will M.

I was skeptical, having never heard of the brand, but am very happy with what I paid. It has a very solid feel to it, bridge and everything was already set up, and after a quick tune was ready to go. I am no expert by far, but I am happy with my purchase. Clean, quiet, has some weight to it, plays well, stays in tune, decent intonation, sounds somewhat like a tele, and I have no choice but to say this guitar is fabulous for the price.crafter4life

There are way……way better guitars out there in this price range. Mine was damaged on arrival due to terrible packing. Neck needed shims, tuner are terrible. Frets are very rough.Adam

I received this lovely white guitar today, and it was well-packaged – no obvious flaws or damage. I already have the Tele model (yellow) and am extremely pleased with it in every way – especially since I caught it about a year ago @$79.99. I haven't modded the Tele model in any way, although I may equip it with locking tuners and different pick-ups eventually. I did try to replace the factory pick guard with an actual Tele tortoise shell one, only to find that a couple of the screw holes are just slightly off enough to make that impractical without further adjustments – drilling a couple new holes, shaving it where it slides under the neck, etc. So, that's ok. The original is fine. Other than that small issue – wonderful axe for the price. Now, to the 66 Classic Les Paul-like copy: First, I HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING WITH OR TO IT, except tune it, until it has acclimated to room temperature for a few days (it's a long, cold way from L.A. to Lewisburg, WV (and it took 2 wks. to arrive). So, this review has to do with one thing only: THE FRET BOARD. I unwrapped it, admired it, checked for dings, scratches, etc. and was pleased. It really is a beautiful guitar. I doodled around with it only long enough (maybe 5 minutes) to see that the neck seemed true, and noted that the action was a little high, but will correct that and whatever else later. BUT, THE FRET ENDS, ESPECIALLY ON THE NEAR (LOW E) SIDE OF THE FRET BOARD, WERE AS SHARP AS FRIGGIN' RAZOR KNIVES – SERIOUSLY! In fact, they were so sharp that I didn't know until I had put the guitar on a stand and walked away, that I quite unconsciously touched my left index finger to my left thumb, as everyone does, that it seemed as if there was something on my thumb – maybe like salt or fine sawdust. I looked at my thumb to find a sleigh ride of fine cuts – so fine that I was unaware until that moment that it was shredded skin. Fortunately, my hands are pretty calloused all over, and no blood was drawn, but it is totally unacceptable for an instrument to come from the factory to the consumer in this state. Make no mistake, this can and will be easily corrected with a fret file, and in one sense, isn't a big. big deal, but I wish to warn others. Be advised that I haven't even hooked the guitar up, have no idea how good/mediocre/bad it may sound, but I can tell you that the fret board on this particular one is down right dangerous. The frets seem to be well-seated, but are just too wide and WAY TOO SHARP ON THE ENDS! There will be a follow-up review once I have had the opportunity to file the fret ends, do a set-up, plug in to my Line 6 and put it through its paces. Best wishes! I'm gonna give it a preliminary 3 stars right now, but that could be way better if it goes as I hope. JBJoseph

I've had this guitar for just about a year. When it arrived it didn't need a setup, but the wood had contracted and the frets were sticking out of the sides a bit. However I unknowingly let it sit in my basement for a while while I ordered some fret filing tools and the wood expanded again by the time they arrived. So no issues there! The pickups, if I were a beginner would have been sufficient, but I decided to replace them with Wilkinson vintage style PAFs (which, by the way is a brand the Indio DLX models use, they sound fantastic) and now, to my intermediate ear it sounds absolutely very good. The build quality is still good, the only (really a small issue) I have found were when replacing pickups, there seem to be some old holes that have not been filled in. It's no big deal though, you can't even see it if you haven't unscrewed the pickup covers, but it did confuse me for a second. The tuners are okay for now but I will have to change them out. The gig bag it comes with is good, and it comes with hex keys for setup which I appreciate a lot. The guitar itself is nice and light, it is basswood which causes me to be more careful since basswood is one of the softer woods. It's way lighter than my Squier Affinity Strat, so it feels really good to take around, and the neck is a good size for my large hands, it is very comfortable to hold and play in the upper and lower neck. It is a project guitar for me, I will probably replace some more parts, but as of now only having replaced the pickups I am very happy with it after one year! I have and will continue to buy from here! It's seriously good quality for a low price!Dimitri

So, I recently became aware of this awesome company thru a ridiculous amount of positive buzz & reviews on Amazon, YouTube and Google. Amazon had one marked down for $80 so I jumped on the Super Strat (Cali) with SSH & haven't looked back but rather forward to more for my collection. The quality is amazing is playability perfect (Right OUT of the box) in my case. The weight surprised me as I thought basswood was light. The finish is flawless & the sound was the biggest surprise so I scrapped plans for a PU mod . Nice case too,BTW ! Thank You Monoprice !!New User

Beautiful guitar, but…the tremolo arm didn't fit. The hole in the bridge was too small. Contacted Monoprice, they offered a refund or an exchange. Decided to carefully ream out the hole with a small, fine circular file. Fret ends as usual were very sharp, easy fix with a foam sanding block. Other than those two bugs, I love the guitar. Wonderful neck, plays and sounds great. Fret work was excellent (except for the VERY sharp ends). Oh, and the bridge saddles are garbage. They are good copies of the original Fender saddles, but those were garbage too. $20 at Eyguitar for brass replacements.Daniel

My OS40 DLX did not arrive with a trem bar so I sourced one from Amazon—it's a standard 5mm with no threads. The bridge was extremely loose (which is normal for a Jazzmaster-type guitar), but the posts AND the sleeves were way too sloppy. Fixed that with some aluminum foil tape. The trem on this model is one way only (tunes downward) and cannot be made to float–like real Jazzmasters–due to the spring being too strong. I replaced the spring with a much weaker version and now it floats and actually stays in tune very well. Last, the bridge is the vintage version which looks like it was made from threaded rod, and the strings will easily shift position when strumming hard. The remedy is a steeper break angle which requires tilting the neck slightly with shims or (like I did) installing a Micro-Tilt device like on real Fenders. This increases the downward pressure on the saddles and along with 11-50 strings the whole thing works great. The body on mine is 2 piece solid wood–not a bunch of scraps like on many cheap guitars–and the fingerboard is exceptional. No shielding under the pickguard but it's an easy fix. Even with the extra work this guitar is a bargain.Matthew

Based on the guitar I received, this is a good starting point if you don't mind doing some work. On the plus side, the finish was very nice and the overall wood components, pickguard, and pickups are solid. On the minus side, there were some issues. The tone pot fell apart and had to be replaced, one of the pickguard screws fell out (stripped), the fretboard was very, very dry and the frets needed some minor work. Also of note, while the neck and body are very nice, the do not join smoothly. the veneer of the body extends beyond the side of the neck at the pocket and took about 2 seconds to crack. All of these items are repairable, but a bit excessive for most beginners.Cullen