Dean Guitars

A Tonic For Ailing Budgets

A Decade before sport utility vehicles replaced the Soviet Union as the biggest threat to human survival, the rock world became infatuated with angular axes. Poised to benefit from this obsession with all things pointy was young Dean Zelinsky, who, after graduating from high scholl in 1976, began producing some of the flashiest 6-string expressions of sex, drugs, and testosterone the world had ever seen. The 7,000 or so Deans built between 1977 and 1986 are now excellent choices for those seeking big rock tone on the cheap.

The Dean V Standard shown above (one of the more traditional offerings from the Evanston, Illinois, company) is an affordable, well-made guitar that features a bound, curly maple top over a mahogany body plus a mahogany set neck with a bound, 24-3/4" scale ebony fretboard. Its two DiMarzio humbuckers feed a 3-way selector, and the in-line controls consist of two volumes and a master tone. Gold-plated Grover Rotomatic tuners are fitted to the V-shaped headstock, and the rear-loaded strings rest on a gold Tune-o-matic bridge.

While some tongue-in-cheeck attitude may be helpful when strapping on a Dean, The V Standard is a serious guitar in all aspects. The neck-to-body joint is sleek, the low, wide frets are well finished, the binding is reasonably crisp, and the thick, slightly V-shaped neck is exceedingly comfy. At a squinch over seven pounds, our V Standard feels light and resonant.

This meaty-sounding guitar has enough output to pummel the bejesus out of any amp, and its lead voice is sassier than a Poison groupie. As Heart's Howard Leese once said: "I love the way my Dean sparks under the lights. It's so hot, it actually makes my amps sound great." (Makes you wonder what he played before he got a Dean.) Thereisn't a lot of crispy rhytm vibe happening here, but who cares? Vintage Deans crunch harder than Gene Simmons' boots whilst taking a small bite from your wallet. Priced a Gibson Flying V lately? When you've recovered from the sticker shock, head for your local used-guitar store and see what it feels like to play a real sex machine.

June 1998 - Guitar Player

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