Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 A number of shops around these parts have started carrying cheap strat knockoffs by "Indiana". One has some tele's as well. Whenever I'd stop by I'd usually grab one off the wall and play around with it (never plugged one in) and was surprised how good the necks were. The only ones I've seen have maple fretboards, but I do believe they have some with rosewood. Normal price varied from $119-$139, depending on which shop I was at. Well, one of the larger dealers decided to drop his price to $89 for Xmas...so I just had to do it.... It needed to have the frets ends cleaned up and while I was at it I tinted the neck a light amber. It's all dialed in now, neck straightened and intonated. The pickups sound surprisingly good, definitely better than entry level Squiers. Good enough that I doubt I'll change them any time soon. Plays really well, now that it's tweaked. If there's interest, I'll post pics tomorrow when there's more light to work with. If you run into these and are looking for something to mess around with that doesn't cost and arm and a leg, I recommend you check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members music_mike Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Nice! I have found several low budget Strat knock off companies that make pretty good stuff. Theres one company in particular but I cant remember their name, they sell copy Strats and they are damn nice and only run about $100 at my local pawn shop new. They had a few in the other day and I thought about picking one up, but this close to Christmas I think Im gonna hold off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 A number of shops around these parts have started carrying cheap strat knockoffs by "Indiana". One has some tele's as well. Whenever I'd stop by I'd usually grab one off the wall and play around with it (never plugged one in) and was surprised how good the necks were. The only ones I've seen have maple fretboards, but I do believe they have some with rosewood.Normal price varied from $119-$139, depending on which shop I was at. Well, one of the larger dealers decided to drop his price to $89 for Xmas...so I just had to do it....It needed to have the frets ends cleaned up and while I was at it I tinted the neck a light amber. It's all dialed in now, neck straightened and intonated. The pickups sound surprisingly good, definitely better than entry level Squiers. Good enough that I doubt I'll change them any time soon. Plays really well, now that it's tweaked.If there's interest, I'll post pics tomorrow when there's more light to work with.If you run into these and are looking for something to mess around with that doesn't cost and arm and a leg, I recommend you check them out. yes please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 I was at GC before getting this and they had a couple of Bullets there, which don't have nearly as good a neck as this guitar does. And based on my experience with Standard Squiers, the pickups in these Indiana's are way better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roygbiv Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 If I remember correctly, Frets99 used to sing the praises of the Indiana brand. Methinks he used to say that the tele stacked up nicely against much higher priced models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 yes please Will do... This is it, from their website (mine has no logo now): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 If I remember correctly, Frets99 used to sing the praises of the Indiana brand. Methinks he used to say that the tele stacked up nicely against much higher priced models. I've played a couple of them and both had nice necks and were well made. Don't know how the pickups sound because I haven't plugged one in yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Those last couple of threads got ya all worked up huh? :thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Those last couple of threads got ya all worked up huh? :thu: LOL yeah...I had to go buy something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 LOL yeah...I had to go buy something! Me too, went to Wendys for lunch today:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Will do... This is it, from their website (mine has no logo now): cool. I'm mostly interested in your tinted neck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 I bought one that looked just like that but with a rosewood board and no name on the headstock last year about this time. It had a real chunky neck and a pretty flat radius which I liked. When I took the lid off to shield the pickguard (anal about static), I discovered that the entire body was paint shielded (good); that the front cavity went all the way through to the back: and there was a metal plate in the middle holding the trem in place. Kinda weird construction but it really had a great vintage sound. A friend of mine who is an accomplished musician (played in a Ska band with John Mayall's son in England), but didn't have an electric guitar (plays five instruments) has it now (gift) and really enjoys it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cassette Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 my only playable electric is an Indiana tele. Sounds and feels a lot nicer than what it cost. It's even got faux-binding! I guess its because mine is a bit higher model (still only like $150) but it came stock with a tinted neck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members music_mike Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Holy hell!! Thats the same brand that I bought! Those are damn nice guitars for the price. Way better then Squires. I wish I still had mine. It was a semi transparent vintage yellow finish. I dont think it was alder wood because it was substantially heavier then Fenders but it was still really nice! Good buy man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funderbunk Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Nice! I have found several low budget Strat knock off companies that make pretty good stuff. Theres one company in particular but I cant remember their name, they sell copy Strats and they are damn nice and only run about $100 at my local pawn shop new. New in a pawn shop? If I had to guess, I'm guessing they're either Kona or Eleca; I see those new in pawn shops around here quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trash metal Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 i just braught a used fender strat a couple of days ago but it dident have a neck so i braught a sx standard series neck. cost me 15 bucks and its got to be one of the most comfortable necks ive played with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 If I remember correctly, Frets99 used to sing the praises of the Indiana brand. Methinks he used to say that the tele stacked up nicely against much higher priced models. Why yes.... yes I did! And I stand by that. The teles I've played were as good, if not better than anything Squier had at the time and easily went into MIM territory for quality while being priced at entry level Squier prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 $89 is a good deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lowbrow Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Their teles are actually pretty damn nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 This strat should be a piece of crap for $89 new. But it isn't...not at all. Dealer cost on this was about $65 (they have gone up a little of late) and that would mean the distributor can't have much more than $40 in them. So that would mean the Chinese manufacturer is probably has around $20-22 a piece in them. What kind of guitar, a simple strat copy or not, can you make for that kind of money? A suprisingly good one, from my limited time with it... Pics of the actual guitar coming in a few... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evh1984 Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Just a little sandpaper right there, and this thing has a genuine Fender approved headstock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Just a little sandpaper right there, and this thing has a genuine Fender approved headstock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Why don't they sell the teles for $89? They must be cheaper to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted November 17, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Here's the pics of the actual guitar, sans logo and with the neck tinted. The light was not good this morning, but these will do for now. I'm posting a few of the neck, since Roy was interested in how the tint came out. I softened the edges of the headstock just a little when I lightly sanded the neck, to get it to hold the tint. I like the headstock shape. Sorta Fender, but not quite...and not fugly, like some strat copies can be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted November 17, 2009 Members Share Posted November 17, 2009 Nice! Hmmnn.... a few months ago, I picked up a chap Tele copy, used, on the 'Bay for about GBP30.00. Natural wood finished in gloss (possible a laminate top, I suspect). Sounds surprisingly good acoustically. I bought it with the intention of fitting a black guard and tuning it into an Esquier. Slightly different shape in the body than my "real" Tele, but not as looks unpleasant. It's a toploader, so I'm planning to fit it up with a Bigsby.... Really nice neck - pleasantly chunky in a way that really works on a Tele, beautifully finished fret ends. Hardware isn't bad - bridge feels a touch cheap, but thhat may be purely my own prejudice as someone who prefers through-body stringing. I have to decide what pup to put in it - whether to stick with its own, or to drop in something from GFS. I like the idea of reusing as much of the basic guitar as is possible.... as long as it sounds ballsy, I'm quite happy for it to be a bit noisy, as this is not intended to be a 'polite' guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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