Dean Guitars V Coustic (VCO)

The features have been covered exhaustively by the previous review so no need to go over that again. I have the one with the natural finish. It's very striking in conjunction with the white binding.

First, you have to assume because of it's shape and relative thinness that the sound will be adversely affected and it is. It sounds small and a bit trebly when unplugged and not nearly as loud as a standard dreadnought would be.

Second, this guitar is made to sound like an acoustic guitar when plugged in and it pulls that off magnificently. When plugged into an amp or even ran into a P.A. system this guitar sounds very good.

It does take some tweaking of the on-board eq to get the appropriate sound, but that is also to be expected.

So official rating:
PLUGGED IN- 9
UNPLUGGED- 4

The factory strings should be replaced immediately. It plays very well and easily giving you acceptable reach of the higher frets. The one I recieved did not have any flaws in the finish or otherwise.

I have yet to play this guitar live, but I will and hopefully things will go well. I don't understand why it only has the one strap button on one of the wings and not one on the heel of the neck joint. I suppose you're supposed to use a leather strap to tie the stap above the nut. I will have mine modified to add another strap button.

The only thing that worries me so far is the plug jack. When plugged in the cable end sticks out precariously and I'm not sure that it could withstand a bump into something solid and not break. We shall see.

It does come with the warranty, but I have yet to need it. I've never dealt with the company before and hope that I don't have to.

It's striking visually and plugged in it sounds awesome. It's very affordable as well. We'll just have to wait and see how the plug jack stands the test of time.

V shaped acoustic/electric,w/ select spruce top/laminated mahogany sides/back w/ gloss finish,20-fret rosewood fingerboard w/dot markers, and Dean trademark "cresting wave" pin bridge.. Dean trademark "V"headstock w/die-cast chrome tuners. 24 3/4"scale.Piezo pickup w/ 5-band pre-amp (AR-5) w/rotary prescence ( -12db+12db range)/volume controls and slider switches(-12db +12db range) for bass,mid 1,mid 2, and treble. Battery condition light illuminates when you plug in.. Input jack located on outside of lower bout. Strap buttons located on bass side of neck/heel joint and inside of bass bout.Comes w/ a nice "V" shaped gigbag w/shoulder straps.

Realizing that the shape of the body will be a factor in contributing to what it will sound like, the guitar unamplified sounds overly "trebly". Amplified, I had to adjust the Mid 1 and Mid 2 to their lowest settings and the Bass and Treble to "0", to get any decent semblance of tone..( That was just on the guitar). Everything else was done on the amp (a Behringer ACX 1000 was used in this case.)This would make a good "Nashville tuning" guitar, if anything. There is just not enough "body volume", compared to a normal auditorium sized ( forget dreadnaught), to get a "balanced sound.

the finish was fine, except for the fact that the bridge has a 1/32 x1/4 gap at the rear (right behind in/line w/the low(6th)"E" string. The bridge has two inlays covering what may be screws/pins between the "E" and "A" strings, so for the moment it is not a concern.The body is only 2"thick (measured at the sound hole) and there is only 1 1/2" from the bridge pins to the apex of the "V", so even w/ an inspection mirror, there is no way to tell how large the corresponding bridge pad is. It is standard tuned and the interior "X" bracing meets at a point 4" from the saddle and 1" from the soundhole, so the potential for bellying of the top, in front of and behind is there, as on my guitar. It came strung w/D'Addario extra lights (11-52's),so they are almost as light as you can go, unless you put on a custom set.

It is a great idea, but the actual design/construction did not translate well.. There just is not enough support in the bridge area to prevent the bellying of the top behind/in front of the bridge for a hollowbody of this design. The "V"shape reduces the lower frequencies/overtones, resulting in the dominant "trebly"-thin soundg that is the result. The appearance is something, I will say, but other than the fact it has possiblities as a "Nashville tuned" guitar,it is just that, a unique looking guitar. I am getting another one for that purpose.

Comes w/a 5 yr.warranty.They have been responsive when I have e-mailed them for info. in the past.. I am going to monitor the little "gap" at the back of the bridge/top for now.

I have been playing for 43years now, play classic '60's,'70s, rock, country, own about 225 different electrics, acoustics, mandolins,banjos, lap and pedal steels, acoustic,electric basses and percussion.

I have had one on order since December. I think Dean has been having difficulties receiving them from their Chinese manufacturers. I ended getting this one off of EBay at a "premium", while keeping my order open from a major Internet music store ( original order cancelled w/o my knowledge,even after I told them verbally to keep backorder active), and had to reorder.. the due date has gone from 1-17-07 to as of now 6-8-07. If I tweak the controls enough, I eventually will get " my sound" out of it, but as this writing, I am not impressed.