Monoprice 625882 Electric Guitar: Full Review

The Monoprice 625882 is an electric guitar model from Monoprice, a company known for making affordable music gear and electronics. This guitar features a double cutaway design with 22 frets, providing good access to higher notes on the fingerboard.

Monoprice has emerged in recent years as a leading budget brand for musical instruments and pro audio equipment. They offer very low prices by selling direct to consumers and cutting out traditional retail markups. However, their guitars still aim to provide decent quality and playability at an entry-level price point.

The 625882 electric guitar is one of Monoprice's most affordable models. It's designed to be a starter instrument for beginners or a solid backup option for more experienced players. While made with cheaper materials and hardware, it provides the basic specs needed in an electric guitar at a fraction of the cost of bigger brands.

Body & Neck

The Monoprice Stratocaster features a solid basswood body which helps produce a balanced tone across the frequency range. Basswood is a common choice for budget-friendly guitars as it offers decent weight, resonance and sustain without breaking the bank.

The neck is made from maple, another very common guitar neck wood. Maple necks offer stability and brightness while remaining comfortable to play thanks to the smooth, sanded finish. The C-shaped neck profile will feel familiar to most players. It provides a slim but not super thin neck that fits nicely in hand without digging into your palm.

The dark fretboard contrasts nicely against the natural maple. Its rosewood material gives a smooth feel under your fingers while adding some depth and character to the overall tone. The frets are medium size making them comfortable for both rhythm and lead playing.

Overall the body and neck woods check all the boxes for a student-level electric guitar without any major weak points or drawbacks. It's crafted from quality tonewoods prized for their playability, brightness and balanced voice.

When looking for a high quality, affordable electric guitar, check out the Ortega Guitars RCE138-T4BK-L. This full-size electric guitar comes in a beautiful transparent black finish with a linden top, mahogany back and sides. It features a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard for smooth playability. The Ortega RCE138 is equipped with a custom preamp system featuring 3-band EQ, tuner and feedback control for excellent amplified tone. Chrome sealed die-cast tuners keep it in tune through extended playing sessions. This is an excellent choice for the beginner to intermediate level player looking for an affordable, quality instrument. With versatile electronics and comfortable playability, the RCE138 delivers impressive value in its price range.

When shopping for an electric guitar, you'll find many options in various price tiers. While more expensive models from premium brands provide exceptional quality and tone, there are also plenty of great choices that won't break the bank. The Ortega RCE138 is one such option that punches above its weight class. Despite the budget-friendly price, it uses quality components like the solid linden top and electronics from industry leader Fishman. This allows it to compete with guitars costing twice as much. The transparent black finish is both beautiful and durable. Overall, the Ortega RCE138-T4BK-L is an excellent electric guitar for the money. It's comfortable to play, sounds great plugged in, and looks fantastic.

Hardware

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar features quality hardware that punches above its low price point. The chrome hardware has a shiny, polished look that pops against the classic sunburst finish.

The guitar includes a vintage-style tremolo bridge with a whammy bar for adding vibrato effects and pitch-bending techniques. The whammy bar is smooth and sturdy. It stays in tune well, even with aggressive use, allowing for intense dive bombs and squeals. The tremolo bridge has a smooth, responsive feel when used for subtle pitch fluctuations too.

The tuners are die-cast sealed tuners with a modern locking design. They hold tuning accurately, even during heavy playing. The machine heads turn smoothly for quick and precise tuning adjustments. Overall, the hardware performs as well as guitars costing much more.

Electronics

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar features two humbucker pickups that provide a thick, rich tone perfect for rock and metal styles. The pickups are controlled by individual volume and tone knobs, allowing you to shape your sound by blending the output of each pickup.

The volume knobs control the overall output level of each pickup. Turning the volume knob down cleans up your tone and reduces distortion. The tone knobs allow you to cut high end frequencies, taking some of the bite out of the bridge pickup or adding warmth to the neck pickup. With both pickups blended, you can find a balanced tone.

The electronics seem solid and noise-free, providing good tonal versatility between clean and distorted tones. Both pickups have decent output levels, capable of driving amplifiers into a natural overdrive. While the pickups may not stand up to high-end aftermarket models, they perform admirably for a guitar in this price range.

The Monoprice 625882 offers great value with quality components and good playability. However, more serious players may eventually want to upgrade from this budget model. The Fender CD-60S is an affordable upgrade option with better electronics and a solid wood body construction. It has a warmer, richer acoustic tone unplugged and more detailed amplified tone. The all-mahogany body resonates beautifully with enhanced low-end response. It also features upgraded pickups and pots/caps for better tonal control. While it costs more than the Monoprice, the Fender CD-60S is an excellent electric guitar for intermediate players ready to step up their gear.

Sound

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar provides versatile and well-rounded tones suitable for a variety of music genres and playing styles. The dual humbucker pickups deliver a balanced sound with tight low end, pronounced mids, and singing highs.

When driven with overdrive or distortion, the guitar retains note definition and articulation. The humbuckers handle gain exceptionally well, delivering rich and full distorted tones without becoming muddy. Chords have a satisfying thickness and crunch when distorted. The bridge pickup brings out the brightness and bite for aggressive lead playing.

Combining the neck and bridge pickups produces a balanced and more rounded distorted tone. There's enough warmth from the neck pickup blended with the edge from the bridge. This creates distortion tones that work for both rhythm and lead playing.

Clean tones have decent warmth and character. The neck pickup brings out a smooth jazz-like sound. Using the 5-way switch provides a good range of usable clean tones. Overall the pickups and electronics equip this guitar with versatile tone shaping options.

Playability

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar excels when it comes to playability. It features a thin, comfortable neck that allows for easy fretting and fast playing. The neck has a modern C-shape that fits nicely in the hand. It is not too chunky like some vintage style necks, nor is it too thin to lack stability.

The guitar also has very low action right out of the box. The action refers to the distance between the strings and the fretboard. Lower action makes the strings easier to press down without excessive finger effort. Many budget guitars come with high action that causes fatigue, but not this Monoprice model. Both the nut and bridge are cut properly to allow low action without fret buzz.

Overall, the thin neck and low action result in an extremely playable guitar. It's comfortable to wrap your hand around the neck and lay your fingers on the strings. Chords and single note runs are smooth and easy, without any undue hand fatigue even during long practice sessions. The Monoprice 625882 feels great for fast lead playing styles or mellow rhythm work. Playability is top notch for an affordable instrument.

Quality

For the price, the quality of the Monoprice 625882 electric guitar is quite good. The guitar features a solid agathis wood body, which is known for being dense and resonant while still being relatively affordable. The neck is made from maple with a rosewood fretboard, a common combination in mid-range electric guitars.

The overall fit and finish is decent, with no major flaws in the paint, fretwork or hardware installation based on customer reviews. The tuners and bridge feel solid and hold tune properly. There are some reports of minor cosmetic blemishes out of the box like uneven paint lines, but nothing that affects playability.

Considering most major guitar brands sell their entry level/budget models for twice the price or more, the Monoprice offers respectable construction and playability. While it may lack some refinement in aesthetics, owners generally agree it punches above its weight class in tone and reliability. The quality is suitable for beginners, intermediate players, or even more advanced guitarists looking for an affordable backup option.

Pros

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar offers good value overall considering its components and price point. Here are some of the highlights:

• Quality hardware: It comes equipped with decent hardware like sealed die-cast tuning machines, a Tune-O-Matic bridge, and smooth volume and tone knobs. The hardware feels solid and durable for an affordable guitar.

• Playability: The action and neck feel quite comfortable right out of the box. The neck shape is slim and fast. Combined with the 25.5" scale length, it's an easy guitar to play.

• Electronics: It has a pair of humbucker pickups that provide a decent variety of tones. While not the most nuanced, they handle rock and metal styles well. The 5-way selector switch lets you tap into the pickups' tonal range.

• Appearance: The guitar features an attractive quilted maple top veneer and back veneer. The transparent blue sunburst finish looks good, especially considering the low price.

• Overall quality: When you consider the guitar's quality components, playability, electronics, and appearance, it offers excellent value at this very affordable price point. The quality is impressive for the cost.

Cons

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar does have a few downsides to consider:

• The tuners are on the cheaper side and may not hold tuning as precisely as higher-end tuners. As a budget guitar, some compromises had to be made and the tuners appear to be one area that was saved on. For more serious players or frequent gigging, an upgrade to locking tuners may be worthwhile.

• The guitar does not come with a case or gig bag. You'll need to purchase a hardshell or padded case separately if you want to protect the guitar during transport and storage. While not unexpected for a guitar at this very affordable price point, it's an extra expense to factor in if you need a case.

Overall the cons are quite minor and wouldn't be dealbreakers for most players looking for an inexpensive yet playable electric guitar. The guitar itself seems well-made given the low price tag. But be prepared to potentially swap out the tuners and purchase a separate case if needed.

Conclusion

The Monoprice 625882 electric guitar is an excellent option for beginners or those on a tight budget. While it lacks some of the refinements and attention to detail of more expensive models, it provides great value given its low price point.

The guitar features a basswood body and maple neck that feel solid and deliver good sustain and resonance. The hardware, electronics, and pickups, while basic, are perfectly serviceable and allow beginners to experiment with different tones. Intonation and action may need some tweaking out of the box, but overall the guitar plays well once set up properly.

Some compromises were made to meet the low price tag, like cheaper tuners that may need replacing and subpar fretwork that creates sharp edges. But nothing deal-breaking for a starter instrument.

The Monoprice 625882 punches above its weight class, offering a playable, decent-sounding, and versatile guitar that lets beginners get started without breaking the bank. It's a great way to try an electric guitar and hone skills before investing in a more expensive instrument down the road. Overall, this guitar is easy to recommend for new players shopping on a tight budget.