Dean Guitars

Dean MI - Slick New 6-Strings

SOLIDBODY ELECTRICS

SLICK NEW 6-STRINGS FOR EVERY TASTE AND BUDGET
The guitar manufacturer aisles at NAMM were like a modern-day Turkish bazaar of noise, color, crowds, and music, where guitar shoppers could find just about anything their hearts desired and their wallets could handle. The teeming, four-day music fair demonstrated the vitality and imagination of an industry that is producing a broader range of fun and sensible instruments than ever before.

DEAN
Dean is making an effort to build really nice, affordable guitars -- and succeeding big-time. Their European-made X Series instruments ($349) come in six different flavors -- from the pointy-body/split-headstock shapes of '80s-era Dean to more traditional designs that echo PRS and Fender -- along with a choice of black, transparent blue or red, or "braziliaburst" finishes. Features include basswood bodies and Grover tuners, and Dean provides a five year warranty.

ACOUSTICS & ARCHTOPS

ALL SPRUCED UP
Let's face it: The NAMM show is primarily about new technology. Many people come for the gear -- hi-tech amps, multi-tasking stompboxes, and the latest in digital home recording equipment. But there are also shoppers who eagerly saunter right past the show's "louder, faster, better, more" booths, and follow their noses to the smell of wood. Most of us, after all, started out on some kind of acoustic guitar -- even if it was an El Cheapo handed down from Uncle Ed -- and are still in love with the sparkle and resonance that only an acoustic can provide. This year's show offered a bountiful assortment of instruments for acoustic-minded folkies, flatpickers, and jazzbos -- from traditional styled to modernistic models.

DEAN
Dean surprised a lot of guitarists by introducing a line of admirable acoustic guitars. And, no they're not just hollowbody versions of Dean's notoriously pointy solidbodies. We're talkin' classic, affordable dreadnoughts here, complete with Grover tuners. The Dean Tradition retails for $300, and an electrified, solid-spruce-top version, the Dean Tradition SE, goes for $400.

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