Indie #5 - 'Shape' Tribal Extreme Tiger Eye

Here we have an Indie 'Shape' Tribal Extreme. Being a second generation Indie it's got the 3-a-side headstock and the top is more heavily carved than the early ones with the controls slightly inset.
Specification is similar to the Sun Extreme with the cosmetics being different.

• Body: Mahogany, Quilted Maple Top, Abalone Binding
• Neck: Set Neck w/Abalone Binding, Graphite Nut
• Fingerboard: Rosewood 22 Fret
• Headstock: Grover Machine Heads Abalone Binding
• Hardware: Chrome, Tune-O-Matic Stop Tail
• Pickups: Neck GR8, Bridge GR8

The body has what looks like the 'stringers' you'd find on a neck-through one but it's in fact abalone inlay. The obvious standout feature is the fretboard inlay which is reminiscent of a 'tribal' tattoo. It's certainly eye-catching but I prefer the inlays on the other Extremes.
The finish on the body is not the usual flame/quilted maple affair. I think it's their 'tiger eye' finish but hard to know given they've pulled this model from their website now.

The pickups on this particular one are Indie GR8s and more 'classic rock' than the 'heavy metal' of the Extreme pickups fitted to the others. Coil tap again is on a slightly ugly, overly functional mini switch given how beautifully the rest of the guitar executed. Indie seem prone to this on their high end models and I asked them once why they don't use push pots instead. In their opinion they are more practical and they have a point but this wasn't designed just to be practical it was designed to be looked at and lusted over too.

Indie #4 - 'Shape' Sun Extreme

This is another Extreme series Indie, similar spec to the Extreme plus but less bling. Although it's still pretty bling. The quilted top is great and the single inlay in the ebony fretboard is reasonably subtle compared to the other Extremes. Sound wise it's less dark than the Extreme Plus and is without the active boost. Not necessarily a bad thing. It's still very 'heavy rock' though.

• Body: Mahogany, Quilted Maple Top
• Neck: Set Neck w/Abalone Binding, Graphite Nut
• Fingerboard: Rosewood 22 Fret, Sun Inlay
• Headstock: Grover Machine Heads Abalone Binding
• Hardware: Hard Chrome, String Thru Bridge
• Pickups: Neck Extreme, Bridge Extreme
• Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 3 Way Toggle, coil tap

Indie #3 - 'Shape' Extreme Plus

As a mate said on Facebook, 'how bling is that guitar!'.

The Extreme Plus is at time of writing Indies top end 'Shape' model.

• Mahogany body hand carved with a 'vine' pattern.
• Five piece set mahogany neck
• Ebony fretboard with 'vine' inlays
• Strung though body with tune-o-matic bridge
• Black hardware with matching black Grover machine heads
• Indie 'Extreme' pickups with coil tap and active pre-amp
• Satin black finish

That's right somebody in Korea has had to hand carve that design on the top of the body, it's not painted or CNCed. You can see tiny chisel marks in it if you look carefully. It's probably not to everyone's taste and even I think it's a bit ostentatious

When I bought my first Indie they had one of these on their stand. I lusted after this and the other 'Extreme' models badly but there was no way I was going to pay RRP for one.

This came up on eBay and with a bit of enthusiastic bidding it was mine. I'm a bit paranoid about buying delicate things like this and having them sent through the post so we did a road trip to Leicester to collect it.

It was owned by a guy who lived as a Warden in one of the University halls which in a bit of small world syndrome I'd stayed in a few months earlier at a convention.

So on to the sound. It is a veritable force of nature. It's sheerly monstrous with the active circuit switched on, it can be dark as the endless depths of space. With the active circuit off it's just hefty, very hefty. The coil tap isn't actually that inspiring but does add a little more choice.

Like my other Indies it plays nicely, about as good as a Korean guitar is going to and the open pore satin finish on the neck is so much nicer than the gloss finishes I was previously used to.

So, it was time to order yet another hard case.