REVIEW: Spear SHL1 Evil Monkey

Single pickup single cut that is affordable and great out of the box for beginners and experienced players looking to add to their collection.

Evil Monkey

Facts:

• Vietnam made
• Single Seymour Duncan SH-4 Jeff Beck
• Mahogany body and maple top
• RRP £379 GBP

Build Quality
As with other Spear guitars reviewed the build quality is excellent for the money, no sharp frets and well setup.  In particular the binding is excellent and no issues were found on this review guitar.

Looks like it will take a beating, but please don't and treat this Monkey nicely.

In use
A single pickup at the bridge makes this an easy guitar to use, only a volume and tone to worry about.

Nice weight for a single cut and comfortable to play standing up.

Sounds
The SH-4 is a very bright pickup but also holds it's own when used in conjunction with a OD pedal, recommended for rock and punk players.

The clean tones are nice and clear and I found it to be great for playing lead.

Overall
This isn't going to be for everyone due to only having a single humbucker at the bridge, but what a pickup...  It will be great for people looking for a straight up no nonsense rock and punk machine.

Pros:

• Nice and simple
• Funky graphic
• Quality pickup
• Great for beginners looking for a single cut

Cons:

• Not versatile for someone looking for one guitar that covers a lot of bases due to the single pickup

G | H rating 4/5 - pure rock and punk at a great price.

Thanks to Black I Distribution.

- Lee