February 09 – Guitar & Bass 5756 February 09 – Guitar & Bass

Indie is not just another name on a Chinese guitar – it’s a UK-based business with its own dedicated acoustic and electric factories in Korea. Marcus Leadley tastes the difference

Indie’s headstock design is a little bit twisted Ovation, a tiny touch like a Music Man. Chrome tuners are Grovers

The vibrato is a Wilkinson while the humbucker/single/single pickups are Indie’s own, with ceramic magnets

FACTFILE

FirstIm

ppressionFirstIm

press

ion

Firs

t Impression

FINAL SCORE

Build Quality ...........................18/20

Playability ...............................19/20

Sound .....................................18/20

Value for money .......................18/20

Vibe ........................................16/20

TOTAL ...................................89%Good for... most genres of guitar music and winning whammy bar action

Look elsewhere... for Floyd Rose capability, more mellow tones or edgy single coil action

THE COMPETITION

I ndie guitars are the brainchild of Keith Willis. Based at Compton in Berkshire, the company has been

around for about five years. The guitars are manufactured in Indie’s own facility in South Korea. Capacity is limited to around 1700 per month to keep the quality up, and a big part of the Indie promise is that every guitar gets the personal treatment at the UK facility before it goes out to a dealer. If the company can maintain this attention to detail then it will soon build a reputation among players for getting the important things right.

SHAPE DOUBLE CUT Everything about the Double Cut Standard says ‘working guitar’. There’s nothing flash about it, but the look and appointments all make complete sense. The body shape is a comfortable double cut variant, more PRS than Gibson in outline but not a close copy of anything in particular, which is to be applauded. Who needs another lookalike?

Coming up with an original but functional headstock design is always a challenge. This one reminds us of a Music Man, but with a more traditional three-per-side tuner arrangement. Under a two-tone black-to-yellow sunburst lies a mahogany body and a mahogany set neck. The heel is nicely angled to provide good upper octave access, giving the impression that plenty of thought has gone into the finished product. This is equally apparent up along the edges of the rosewood fingerboard where the fret tangs have been recessed and filled to ensure no sharp edges: extra points for

attention to detail. The pickups are Indie’s own M8’s. These have ceramic magnets, and the company has taken some care to offer tonal options – the bridge humbucker and two single coils are wired to a five-way selector, as well as a master tone and volume control.

Overall the guitar’s acoustic tone is rich, loud and resonant. Intonation and action are spot-on – even if the latter is a little on the low side for my personal taste. The Wilkinson vibrato bridge is a well-chosen piece of quality hardware and it’s been nicely set up for both forward and reverse bends, neither of which put the guitar out of tune… more evidence of post-production care.

SOUNDS The bridge humbucker offers a clear, clean and uncoloured tone close to

SHAPE DOUBLE CUTDescription: Solidbody electric. Made in South Korea

Price: £339

Build: Mahogany body, mahogany set neck with 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. Wilkinson vibrato bridge and Indie brand tuners

Electrics: Bridge humbucker and two single coil pickups – all M8s with ceramic magnets. Master volume and tone controls and five-way selector

Finishes: Tobacco sunburst

Scale length: 635mm/25"

Neck width:Nut 43mm12th fret 53.1mm

Depth of neck:First fret 21.8mm12th fret 24mm

String spacing:Nut 35.3mm Bridge 53.2mm

Action as supplied:12th fret treble 1.5mm12th fret bass 1.8mm

Weight: 3.1kg/6.8lb

Contact:Indie Guitars:01635 579 3000www.indieguitars.com

IndieShape Double Cut & Shape Total Natural

The body shape is comfortable double cut and not a close copy, which is to be applauded. Who needs another lookalike?

Electric Review

Price: £339Original

designs for

nearly-pro

players

PRS EG

Mahogany set neck, HSS pickup configuration, vibrato bridge. A big name with a price likely to come in well below RRP

RRP: £499

IBANEZ SAS36FM

A set neck, powerful pickups and a SAT Pro vibrato make this a mean modern rock guitar from one of the best-known brands in the business

RRP: £379

ARIA Mac 60

Similar appointments including HSS pickups and a Wilkinson trem but with a bolt-on neck. Worth checking out, as Aria quality is well up there

RRP: £399

58 February 09 – Guitar & Bass

Electric Review

Price: £489

A maple headstock facing and black hardware makes for a distinctively clean and modern looking guitar

Mahogany body, mahogany neck, maple cap: all pretty normal. But a maple fi ngerboard? That’s unusual

Mahogany body, mahogany neck, maple cap: all pretty normal. But a maple fi ngerboard? That’s unusual

FINAL SCORE

Build Quality ...........................18/20

Playability ...............................18/20

Sound .....................................19/20

Value for money .......................18/20

Vibe ........................................ 17/20

TOTAL .................................. 90%Good for... Buzz-free, hi-fi clean tones and jazzy rock with a mature character

Look elsewhere... for a vibrato bridge or single coil sounds

FACT FILE

THE COMPETITION

the guitar’s acoustic signature – which can be tricky with a humbucker, so full marks. The tone is remarkably sweet and jazzy, a character which persists across the other settings. Switch positions 2 and 4 offer funky out-of-phase tones… good for Mark Knopfler impersonations but generally a little less quacky and more sustaining than the Fender equivalents. Overall, though, sustain is a characteristic of the whole guitar, and this really pays off when you start to drive the amp, giving big, clear, rocky tones all the way.

The bridge pickup offers the most bite and retains a good degree of clarity. It’s best with natural amp distortion: a range of budget overdrive pedals failed to excite, yielding precise if slightly clinical results. Other settings have more warmth and are generally more pedal-friendly.

SHAPE TOTAL NATURAL We’d challenge you to name another guitar with a mahogany set neck and a maple fingerboard, and no, the Peavey EVH Wolfgang doesn’t count – it had a bolt-on neck. The Natural’s finish is excellent, the big slab of maple that caps the mahogany body suggests tone all the way to 11, and the veneer on the top is beautifully flamed. Hardware includes a hardtail bridge, a pair of alnico GR8 humbuckers and Grover tuners.

This feels like a simple, serious, professional instrument. The Natural positively zings when you give it an unplugged strum and the neck has a chunky feel that’s quite unusual for a Korean guitar; it’s pleasing in a Gibson sort of way, even if the 25" scale is slightly longer. The grain on the neck is quite

open and feels rough to the touch but this open and feels rough to the touch but this is quite charming once you get used to it, is quite charming once you get used to it, and it rather adds to the hand-built feel and it rather adds to the hand-built feel of this mass-produced instrument. of this mass-produced instrument.

SOUNDSWe’re about to blow this guitar’s chances of becoming a well-kept secret chances of becoming a well-kept secret by hollering about how good it sounds by hollering about how good it sounds from the nearest hill. There isn’t a huge from the nearest hill. There isn’t a huge degree of difference between the pickup degree of difference between the pickup selections, but they all deliver clarity or selections, but they all deliver clarity or warmth by degree and perform well warmth by degree and perform well in all circumstances. Even without coil tap options this guitar gives you great versions of practical, classic tones: you can forget the technology and just get on and play. The maple fingerboard – which doesn’t have a raw or oiled finish, but seems very lightly sealed finish, but seems very lightly sealed – is fast and adds a bright, zingy, snappy character. This guitar is loads of snappy character. This guitar is loads of fun to play and ideal for speedy prog or fun to play and ideal for speedy prog or jazzy rock with the amp nudging into distortion – or more pyrotechnic stuff when driven harder. It also excels at clean runs and licks in a way that few dual-coil guitars can. It’s very hi-fi. I can imagine Bill Frisell digging it.

VERDICTDo beginners spend £400-plus on their first guitar? Probably not. So Indie is aiming at people who’ve got over the first hurdle of mastering the basics and are looking to find a guitar that can out-perform the one they’ve just grown out of. In terms of materials, set up, sounds and playability Indie guitars are definitely a step up. They sound good and they feel

great. Indie isn’t trying to re-invent the wheel, but these guitars do have a sense of individual character… the type that often takes a lot more cash to buy.

The Total Natural excels at clean runs the way few dual-coil guitars can. It’s very hi-fi , and I can imagine Bill Frisell digging it

SHAPE TOTAL NATURALDescription: Solidbody electric guitar. Built in South Korea

Price: £489

Build: Mahogany body with maple cap and maple flame veneer, set mahogany neck with 22 fret maple fingerboard. Chrome hardware including tune-o-matic/stoptail bridgeand Grover tuners

Electrics: Twin humbucking GR8 pickups with alnico magnets, volume and tone controls, three-way selector

Finishes: Natural

Scale length: 635mm/25"

Neck width:Nut 43mm12th fret 52mm

Depth of neck:First fret 22.2mm12th fret 23mm

String spacing:Nut 34.8mm Bridge 51mm

Action as supplied:12 fret treble 1.5mm12 fret bass 2mm

Weight: 3.4kg/7.5lb

Contact:Indie Guitars01635 579 3000www.indieguitars.com

VINTAGE Advance AV1

A pair of humbuckers, set neck, a carved flame maple top and a natural finish option. No maple fingerboard version

RRP: £349

IBANEZ SZR720

Set neck, two humbuckers, a hardtail bridge and red or black quilt top finishes. Extremely good value and another real player’s guitar

RRP: £399

PEAVEY JR Special

Go on, push the boat out. This is a custom shop model for Josh Rand of Stone Sour with a maple fingerboard, two humbuckers, a hardtail bridge and a camouflage finish

RRP: $1599