Since you brought up Dean Guitars

[sixesandsevens]

I really like the 81 and earlier stuff. Not a single Dean after that interests me in the slightest. I've owned a few-if you're looking for the V neck-81s had a pronounced V in most examples I've seen.

I wouldn't mind picking up an original ML. Here's an 80 Z, an 81 ML Bass and an 80 V. All were nice and clean, but not at the level of a Hamer.

I'll bite... When's the Dean book coming?

[sixesandsevens]

That Black Z with blocks is sweet!

Agreed. And you can pick one up right here!

[Turdus]

Top is Czech... Bottom USA, '96 from what I recall.. S/N stamped in fingerboard.

[zorrow]

Man has to work and pay for them guitars! PM sent. I can answer more in a 5 minute conversation than I can type.

Edited to add: 1997-2000 era Czech made cuties Tatiana and Tanya, Korina Vs had for half the price of a Hamer Korina Vector. Not Hamer quality but very good stuff. The Amber one sports Duncan Antiquities procured from the Murkat man himself and that one RIPS!!!

The master has spoken!

My side, I've found that the C neck on Schenkers and Czechs fit me better than the skinny vintage and US Masters era V-necks. I do like the V-necks, but I still like them chunkier than that. Some Tampa-made Series 1000 feel better in my hands because of that.

[diablo175]

Have owned two Dean guitars- a Dean Dime Razorback Slimebee ML and a Matt Heafy Sig Rising Star ML.

My impressions were such: Both were Korean made IIRC and the Dime, after several mods, played really well- fast neck; good profile for me, and the Dimebucker in the bridge sounded really good. I swapped out the shit lic'd Floyd for an OFR and had it installed & set up professionally by Kim Coffey who used to work for Kramer on the EVH guitars. My only gripe was the 22 frets.

Despite the fact that the Matt Heafy came cheap- that line was slated to be discontinued and dealers were blowing them out at half the usual price- it never really hit it off for me. Damned shame too, because I loved the features & the Rising Sun graphic. The MH sig p'ups didn't really bowl me over. Kinda meh and uninspiring. The trem was an OFR but was set up for shit and despite several attempts to correct, couldn't get it to my standards. The killing stroke was the Trivium shit all over it- I am not really a fan of the band and even if I was, I really didn't feel like being a walking promotional for the band. I might suck ass as a player but I still have enough pride to avoid being a shill for the band. Flipped that one in a big hurry.

[Andrew]

Top is Czech... Bottom USA, '96 from what I recall.. S/N stamped in fingerboard.

Who was making them between Chandler in 89 and USA Masters in 2000? I have seen several from the nineties with the number stamped into the end of the fingerboard. Weird idea!

[BTMN]

Chandler and Samick made Deans sporadically in the early 90's for Tropical Music, a company out of Miami and the Tampa Bay area. In early 1996 Tropical started a build shop east of Tampa in Plant City with Pat Baker, Ben Chafin, and Jon Hill after a bit. That shop was continued for a short time after Elliott bought the name in late 1996 or early 1997 IIRC. No USAs I know of other than one offs and customs until 2000. I could be mistaken on that aspect but I can ask about it. Samick or the parent company has made Dean imports over the years until recently too. Aren't they Unsung or are they World Guitar? World currently builds PRS SEs and Unsung is building the new import Chicago Series Deans.

I have 4 1996 USA Deans and they are real tasty. I have a Korina Z and a Korina Caddy. The other two are a Black V and a Trans Cherry Red V. The Caddy and the Red V are sequential numbered guitars from October 1996. Bought 18 months and 1200 miles apart.

[DaveL]

That Black Z with blocks is sweet!

Agreed. And you can pick one up right here!

too late...

[BTMN]

I saw what you did there.

[Armitage]

I have a butt load of U.S. Deans here, their V with a hard v-shaped neck is probably my fav guitar after Hamer's Standard Custom... I've probably bought more brand new Deans then anyone else. A dozen custom orders by '82 alone. Way back in '82 Dean Z sent me what turns out to be the last surviving actual framed print of the Girl in the Water photo. I still have it, all other copies and the negatives have been lost. All the posters etc now are blown up from ads, with all the text intact, and missing a lot on the sides. It got to a point that Dean was still signing my guitars, but turning down Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Sheron Alton of Toronto... It really P.O.'d Sheron when my two guitars came in the same day as hers, and mine were signed, hers weren't. I still have'm, we call then "The Twins", a Cherry and Brazilliaburst set of Vs with block inlays.

http://s5.photobucket.com/user/warmitag/media/My%20Gear/Armitage_Dean_Headstock.jpg

(I'm having a heck of a time posting photobucket pix on the forum from work...)

A lot of people don't know it but Toronto wrote and recorded "What About Love" but it didn't make it onto their album for some reason and it got passed on to Heart who had a big hit with it!

Toronto - What About Love

As far as Dean's go, I found the '78-'83 Deans really inconsistent and would want to play one before I bought it (unless I got it from someone trustworthy). I could pick five off the wall and love three and hate two. I think the first bunch of years for the Time Capsule series were killer, then some iffy issues showed up like multiply binding bleeding issues. I have two or three of the new Custom Shop guitars and still prefer the original Time Capsules {ducks}, though the Pat Backer pickup is a fav!

[Andrew]

As far as Dean's go, I found the '78-'83 Deans really inconsistent and would want to play one before I bought it (unless I got it from someone trustworthy). I could pick five off the wall and love three and hate two.

I agree. They can vary from responsive, long sustaining instruments to dead-planks. A close examination of the wood shows that Dean wasn't very fussy about the mahogany grade used and I am sure many weren't strictly speaking the Honduran mahogany species as wood colour varied from almost Korina through to very dark brown (that's without lacquer). The pore size is usually larger on Dean mahogany too and I can't explain that.

That is partly why Hamers are more consistent - same high-grade mahogany throughout.

[Ting Ho Dung]

This is in the Music Go Round that just opened up down the street. I'm going to check it out. They say 1980. How can I tell?

[serial]

Serial number. I doubt that's from 1980. Might be their '1980 Reissue'. Two pickup Cadillacs were pretty rare. E'Lites with the full trim package even more so.

[Steve Haynie]

For the thousandth time let me add that my 1982 Dean ML had one of the best feeling necks ever, but that neck would move/waiver when I turned or moved. As good as it sounded, that guitar had to be played standing dead still. It would be nice to have it back, but then it would be sold again for the same reason.

[hikarateboy]

For the thousandth time let me add that my 1982 Dean ML had one of the best feeling necks ever, but that neck would move/waiver when I turned or moved. As good as it sounded, that guitar had to be played standing dead still. It would be nice to have it back, but then it would be sold again for the same reason.

That's a bummer Steve, I bet if it were a birdseye maple neck you'd never have had a problem with it.

[hikarateboy]

Wow this is great information and really helping or hurting my decision for getting a Dean. I still think they are super cool and want one but sounds like finding a good one can be like navigating treacherous waters. Cadillac with V shaped neck might be hard to find.

[Andrew]

Wow this is great information and really helping or hurting my decision for getting a Dean. I still think they are super cool and want one but sounds like finding a good one can be like navigating treacherous waters. Cadillac with V shaped neck might be hard to find.

81, 82 or 83 would have the vee-carve neck but not 80.

The only problem is that each of those three years has a different headstock (very big, big and shrimp fork respectively).

Serials right - 1980 is a model designation in the current import line-up. A true USA 1980 would have a serial number 80 2000 (for example) and MADE IN USA above it in a vee-shape (in the headstock indent). Deans conform to a pattern even less than Hamers so any combo is possible, just some are rarer than others.

[dgstandard]

....

A lot of people don't know it but Toronto wrote and recorded "What About Love" but it didn't make it onto their album for some reason and it got passed on to Heart who had a big hit with it!

Toronto - What About Love

...

Sorry for the hijack but I played the heck out of a couple of Toronto's albums during my teens - I still have them and I'll play them tonight!

[Rich_S]

Just to add fuel to the fire, here's me, circa 1983 with my white Dean V. At teh time, I had no idea what a V neck was, but this guitar had one. Didn't like it then, don't like 'em now. Back in the day, I didn't know we were supposed to have a preference for neck shape, I just played it and accepted it for what it was.

Funny story about this guitar: I had friends who played in a popular cover band on the South Jersey bar circuit. One night, I was watching them play for the first time with their new guitar player. His main axe was a cherry sunburst Les Paul. His backup guitar was a cherry sunburst Les Paul. At the time, my two guitars were both LP Standards, a goldtop and a tobacco burst. Watching him play that night, I thought, "Dang. Everybody on the f'ing planet plays a Les Paul. I need something different." So, the next week, I ordered the white V from Dean through Zapf's Music, and subsequently traded in both of my LPs.

The next time I went to see my friends play, the dude was playing a Mockingbird.

[Ting Ho Dung]

Serial number. I doubt that's from 1980. Might be their '1980 Reissue'. Two pickup Cadillacs were pretty rare. E'Lites with the full trim package even more so.

Saw it. It's the reissue. Good guitar for $449

[tomteriffic]

Briefly had my mitts on what was purported to be the prototype Cadillac in the winter of '77/'78, I think. The guitarist in a band I was doing sound for had it and would take it out to gigs in between layers of clear coat. Cherry sunburst, all the bling and binding and a big-ass neck. Oh, and it had a snap-on/off belt buckle pad on the back, a-la Gretsch/Chet Atkins. Wish I remembered more, but those were different times. Besides, I didn't know there was going to be a quiz.

Man! There's a lot of lore/versions/stuff to know about Deans! Back then he was just a new builder who had a shop up the street from me!

[Armitage]

My Early 80's USA Deans I still have (I've still got an ML Bass around here too);

My USA Dean Time Capsules;

Next is a set of three I custom ordered, followed by a Custom Ordered matched pair;

The back of the headstocks are all signed.

Wow.. what crappy pix...

[Armitage]

And my Michael Schenker Limited Edition Models in Custom Colors;

Black and Chrome

Black and Gold

Two of the only 25 made Water Vs;

[Armitage]

The rest of my USA Dean Time Capsules;

With Abalone inlays

With Mother of Pearl inlays

[zzzdat]

I had an 81 white dean elite ordered custom with ebony board and black binding. I sounded great but also had the don't put pressure on the neck or it will go out of tune syndrome. It is long gone to a shop in Charlotte NC in the 80's.

I still have a 78 Dean elite in plain mahongany tobacco burst that is a great playing and sounding guitar, but the bridge is almost in the wrong place. new strings will barley intonate right, but after playing them a while there is not enough room to adjust intonation, I guess I could swap the tunomatic for a bridge with more adjustment range or have the bridge moved. That guitar has a great neck and plays like a dream though.

Cool Beans

Gene