Indiana Guitar Company SCA-BL-SH Scout Deluxe

Made in China
14 Fret
Spruce Laminate Top
Sealed Die-Cast Tuners
Polished Nickel-Silver Frets
Solid Rosewood Bridge
Solid Rosewood Fretboard
Catalpa Wood Back
Built-In Chromatic Tuner
Built-In Active 551EQ / Preamp
Extended Cutaway Body
Chrome-Plated Hardware
Compensated Plastic Saddle
Truss Rod Wrench Included

I play mainly finger style with some light strumming. Eagles, Clapton, Dylan, and some folk music.

Sounds decent with fairly warm tones through a Behringer ACX1000 acoustic amp or plugged directly into a Mackie board and speakers.

Neck was set too low from the factory (a straight edge layed on the fretboard is at least a 1/16" too low at the bridge). If I knew then what I know now I would have sent it back.

Action: Fair out of the box, about 5/32" at the 12th fret. A little high at the nut but to be expected on a new guitar.
Intonation: Poor, all strings go flat going up the neck.

Finish: Pretty good overall. There is one place where the glue squeezed out from under the fretboard extension but is hardly noticeable.

Nut is cut with "v" grooves instead of slots causing some string binding.

A couple of the tuners were loose out of the box with the rest loosening after a few months.

After a couple of months the 2nd string started sounding noisy plugged in, kind of a static sound. The bottom of the saddle was concave and felt rough like it had been installed right out the mold with no attempt to flatten it. Fixed the saddle and it sounded fine for a week or so, then the 3rd and 4th strings developed the same symptoms. I removed the saddle and the pickup this time and cleaned the sawdust and splinters out of the bridge slot. A week later the 6th string started doing the same thing. The break angle over the strings was too shallow so string ramps in the bridge were necessary. This cured the static sound but I had to EQ out about 50% of the bass to get a balanced tone.

After eight months I finally replaced the cheap plastic saddle with Tusq. It sounds brighter with more sustain and I can set the EQ flat and get a balanced sound.

I've played out with this one nearly once a week for the past eight months except when I was having problems with the sound.

Hardware is iffy at best. I'm still debating if I want to spend the $$ to replace the tuners and nut.

The electronics have given no trouble what so ever.

Finish is holding up well, considering the amount of playing I've been doing with this guitar.

I would never go to any gig without backup, regardless of the gear.

Haven't dealt with customer support. It's cheap enough that it can be a throw away.

Manufacturer offers a 10 year warranty.

I've played off and on for over ten years now. The only other guitar I own at this time is a 40 year-old classical.

I've owned this guitar about 8 months and waited this long so I could post an honest evaluation.

If this one were lost or stolen I would buy something else.

I think I like the price/feature ratio. Built-in electronics in a cutaway dreadnought for $129.00.

They could have payed a bit more attention to detail in manufacturing but not going to get that in such a low priced instrument.

Favorite Feature? Built-in tuner, EQ, and volume control.