Monoprice Cali Classic Electric Guitar - Black, 6 Strings, Double-Cutaway Solid Body, Right Handed, SSS Pickups, Full-Range Tone, With Gig Bag, Perfect for Beginners - Indio Series

Wow! A basswood body, and a straight maple neck with well-finished frets, that sounds good out of the box....and a NICE gig bag, with some padding. The finish is even nice! Very impressive.While mine came nicely set-up out of the box (action just right; intonation is good, etc.) I did see another one which would have required a proper set-up- so it might be the luck of the draw as far as that goes- but even assuming you need to do a set-up; hey, you have to usually do that with the big name brand ones too- so it wouldn't deter me in the least- but yours may well arrive not needing to be set-up, and so mich the better!As for the hardware and electricals: Well, naturally, the pots and pick-ups are the cheapest....but it still sounds quite good- and the single-coil pick-ups don't seem to be any worse than what you would get with a lower-end name brand guitar for nearly double the price.Likewise, the bridge is really cheap, as one would expect at this price point- as are the tuners- but it all works just fine- and the beauty is, you can easily upgrade anything you want to with standard or aftermarket Strat parts- used or new- but I'm perfectly fine with this guitar just the way it is.As far as cheap guitars go, from what I've seen, this is the best one out there- very comparable to a Squire Standard Strat- but for less than half the price- and in prettier colors!The price of these does tend to fluctuate. For 99 clams, it's an AWESOME deal. Wouldn't hesitate to pay 139 either. I've seen 'em for 159 and higher too. For that, I might just consider kicking in a little more and buying the Squire Standard Strat- because it has a better bridge/block and tuners- so value wise, it would really be about the same as if you upgraded the Monoprice.But rest assured, you will NOT be disappointed with this guitar! Sounds good and plays well- it's not some junky toy, that you might expect for the price. Looks nice too, in-person.

I was looking for something for my studio that was not too expensive. I happy to say that this guitar feels my needs. sounds good out the box.

This is my first electric guitar and I'm really pleased with it, I have been playing bass guitar for 2 years now (I am currently using Schectar Bad Omen), and I am on my 1st month of music theory studies. I thought I would get an electric guitar to doodle with in my free time, but this guitar is surprisingly great for the price. However, for the low price you can tell in the feeling, and when I'm recording in my focusrite 2i2 on amplitube 5, I get this horrendous buzzing sound when the volume and treble knobs are above 6, and the slightest movement causes quite a bit of feedback when plugged into an amp while standing, but this could be just my guitar. It is also very light weight, and the neck don't feel the best, but it is totally do-able. For 100 bucks this is a damn good guitar, it sounds better then some 150-200 dollar guitars, and sounds pretty good when plugged in for the most part, but like I said for recording it leaves a little to be desired, but I'd imagine no one is doing that with this guitar, I was just experimenting. If you want to dip your toes into guitar, or on the fence, or just want a cheap guitar etc. BUY THIS GUITAR! It's a good deal, but like said don't expect the world.Rock on guys 🤘🎸

Mine (white ash st style HSS Cali dlx) was close to 10lbs.Welcome to the world of modern guitar manufacturing in China. The factories can turn out good "standard" guitars. That has led to some problems. Just about anyone can buy guitars from China, put their name on the headstock and quickly go into the guitar business. It's an interesting business. At the lower end of the price range, a few extra bucks spent on the right part upgrades can make a HUGE difference in how the guitar feels and plays. You need to buy from a company you trust to make the right decisions on where to spend money. Monoprice has made good choices on their entry-level guitars. Things like pick-ups that aren't completely awful, a fast satin neck and cheaper tuning machines that hold tune. Some things they can't or won't do. The flatter 14" radius popular in China is going to be your radius and that's great, if you don't do a lot of big bends. Also, the Chinese guitars can be surprisingly heavy -- even with the basswood bodies like this one. Mine was 7lbs 7oz. That's a great weight for a strat, even though it's a bit heavy for basswood. Basswood is soft and you have to be careful with the screws if you take anything apart. But with heavier basswood, this guitar is not so light that you have to work to keep the neck aloft. The guitar feels good and balanced on your right leg when sitting.Secondly, guitars from China often don't have the best quality control. Jacks drop out. Knobs pop off. Strings run past the edge of the neck. Whoever you buy from needs to check their guitars before they get shipped to you. Monoprice does that on their entry-level guitars. They also appear to check the lower frets by the headstock and adjust them. They set the action to be playable on these frets and maybe a few other things. You can play the guitar when you pull it out of the box. You do NOT have a guitar reclamation project when you pull it out of the box or need to take it immediately to a luthier.Thirdly, this is Amazon. If a lemon sneaks through, it's very easy to send it back if you are prompt.As a beginner, you are looking for a good experience that makes you want to play more guitar. You feel good because it didn't take much cash. You got a gig bag to store it in a corner and maybe a guitar strap and a whammy bar and a cord. You probably need to drop 10 bucks on a headstock tuner and some picks and you are set. A set of wired heaphones and a headphone amp (I love the Valeton Rushead Max because it has reverb, gain, chorus, fuzz and a few other things. Buy from the right Valeton page and you get two picks.) Hate heaphones? You can plug the amp into one of those tiny bluetooth speakers with great sound and a 3.5mm line-in jack. (I use an Oontz Angle 3.) You can also use it as a bluetooth speaker for your phone. With both devices, you get a nice portable, rechargable amp that sounds great. The guitar is comfortable, the neck is inviting, the sound is decent.Got a few extra bucks? A new set of strings will help sweeten the sound. Buy some Ernie Ball super slinky 9-42s or similar D'addario XTs.If you find yourself turning into a guitarist or already are one, you will want to take care of the 2 or 3 high frets on high end by the body that I and others have run into. There's a million YouTube videos on how to identify high frets and level them. The same goes for getting upgrade advice. I decided my Monoprice didn't have enough bottom end and needed a humbucker. I bought a loaded HSS pickguard with Wilkinson pickups and the Pink Floyd mod (why not?) that lets me play the neck and bridge pickup together. Pickups make the most improvement in sound, so I'm happy. If you start thinking this way, you are a guitar player.A postscript. Chinese electric guitars in the $180-$400 range are a whole other thing. That includes the DLX Monoprice models. At the very least, you should know never to purchase a guitar online unless it's easy and inexpensive to return. Ask. Also, you really should know its weight. Ask. You can't fix weight with upgrades and Chinese ash or alder can run in the 10-12 pound range. Many struggle with this, while some love it.

the sound is great for the price. i made mine into kurt cobains vandalism stratocaster and ive never been happier with a guitar project. very good durability and the strings are very high quality. would recommend to a beginner and even an intermediate player.

Très impressionnant certaine ajustement pas très compliqué avec un bon câble et ampli aucun souci et surtout pour le prix SQUIER VIBE EPIHONE AUX QUART DÛ PRIX,

Excelente la funda. Muy buena guitarra en relación al precio. El brazo un poco grueso. En general muy aceptable.

From the reviewx on youtube, this guitar is not what I was expecting. Frets are a bit on the rough side, strings are buzzing and it will need some setup if I want to be able to do something good with it. I also need to change the strings.For the price, not bad but could be better

Elle est arrivée ajustée et prête à jouer. Les clés d'accord sont de très mauvaise qualité mais elles restent accordées. Le reste de la guitare est étonnamment bon pour un si faible prix! Une excellente base pour modifier. En passant, j'avais commandé la noire mais j'ai reçu une bleue. Et elle est assez incroyable pour vouloir la garder.

Arrivec in perfect condition, neck is straight, for the price, its a steal, put new ernie ball strings, new toy!!