Dean Guitars EVO Special Select

This is a beautiful, Korean made (year-unknown), solid body, carved top, "Les Paul" style guitar. The body and neck are Mahogany with a carved arched top of AAA select Maple. The neck has hour glass inlays from the 1st fret to the 22 fret. It has, what I take to be described as a 60's style slim neck profile with a Rosewood fingerboard. Non-locking Grovers. 1-tone and 1-volume, 2 zebra colored humbucker pickups. Tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tail piece.

I have been looking for a guitar that rings out each notes in chords evenly and this guitar does just that. The guitar has a Les Paul sound with a extra punch for tone. I will definately say that everyone comments on the pickups sounding muddy. THEY ARE ALL WRONG! I have more of a brighter sound than muddier sound. I have my Dean running through a digitech GNX4 so this maybe my a extra help-Digitech kicks ***. The tone knobs offers a range to alter your sound. Mine does not come with the push/pull knobs so i don't know the last owner changed them or not. The sustain on this guitar is AMAZING!!!! Whether your playing clean or distorted, this guitar delivers the goods!

My guitar was a second hand, but played like brand new. The action was a little to low, but a quick adjustment and I was all set. The pickups had to be adjusted to my personally preference. Also, I changed out the crappy control knobs for some PROLINE metal knobs. Now the guitar as better apperence.

The finish on this guitar is awesome. I was able to rub on three coats of carnuba wax and I am constantly blinding people with the light reflections.

The neck is remarkably fast! I would say to take a strats neck and cut the rounded backing off and you that much more to move with. I am about to reach all second octave notes without trouble! I couldn't ask for a straighter neck.

The chrome hardware is something to be aquired. Since this was second hand, I had to polish the crap out of the chrome to get them to shime. So if you get yours brand new, KEEP IT CLEAN!

From the mail box to a four hour band audition, this guitar is very reliable. I have been playing for 14 years,I feel very confident of taking only this guitar to a gig and not thinking twice about it!

Overall if the guitar is taken care of, the parts will last the life of the guitar

personally I changed out my strap buttons with strap locks.

I haven't had to deal with the CS yet

As I have stated, I have been playing for 14 years and have never felt more alive than when I am playing this guitar. I own a marshall half stack, Digitech GNX4, Custom Bridgcraft strat, Dean EVO, and a crybaby 535Q. Before getting this guitar I read tons of literature about it. I felt compeld to post my own review about this guitar. This guitar will not disappoint you or let you down! This has become my stage guitar because of reliability and playability.

Not sure of the year this guitar was made. I'd been admiring it in a store window for some time before I purchased it. It came with two Dean zebra humbuckers, and a 3 way pickup selector switch. The push pull volume knob splits the neck humbucker's coils, the push pull tone knob splits the bridge pickup.

The finish is beautiful, the guitar looks like it ought to cost 3 times as much. Mine is the tiger eye deep red/wine finish on top, black on the underside. I talked the store owner into a free case (it wasn't a Dean case, but it fit ok). Non-locking tuners with the tune-o-matic bridge, but this guitar stays in tune. I play heavier gauge strings than were included, had to adjust the intonation, it was easy to do and has required little tweaking since.

The sound of the guitar was OK. Like other reviewers, I thought the pickups were a bit muddy. I replaced them with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, and it made a world of difference. With the coils split and the pickup selector switch in the middle, I get a really nice strat sound, otherwise the full humbuckers give me a very fat, rounded tone. I'd give it a 10 now, but with the factory pickups it'd have to be a 7.

I mentioned above I'd admired the guitar for a while before I bought it. Obviously one of the first things I liked about it was it had my name on it! Second thing I liked was the finish. It looked perfect. I asked the clerk to take it out of the window so I could try it out, and before I even plugged it in, I hated it. It played awful, action was bad, intonation was off; it was just horrible.

A month or so later, this store had expanded and when I went inside the guitar was no longer in the window, but it was inside on the wall. For some reason I picked it up again. I could tell before I plugged it in, someone had taken the time to change the strings, set the intonation and action. It played great! I bought it on the spot.

I guess the point of the story is that leaving a guitar neglected and in a window front during the Winter is not a good way to treat an instrument. Properly set up, this guitar played like a dream.

I always put stap locks on my guitars; the hardware that came with it is solid. The knobs are a little cheap, and will occasionally come off when splitting the coils. If that were to happen live, I'd blush and go on playing...

The finish is great, has held up well. I take care of my instruments, I usually wipe the sweat off the finish and electronics right after playing.

Emailed the company for wiring schematics on a Friday, got a reply on Monday!

Overall, I'd give this guitar a 9. For the price, I'd bump that rating up to a 10. I've got several other guitars, including a pricey custom Schecter, and this Dean plays easier than all of them.

If it were stolen, I'd be looking to replace it right away, and I'd definitely consider another Dean.

This is a beautiful, Korean made (year-unknown), solid body, carved top, "Les Paul" style guitar. The body and neck are Mahogany with a carved arched top of AAA select Maple. It has, what I take to be described as a 60's style slim neck profile with a Rosewood fingerboard. Non-locking Grovers. 1-tone and 1-volume with pull switches for coil-taps on the 2 zebra colored humbucker pickups. When I got mine, it was missing the top on the pickup selector switch, and the control cavity cover, see the section on support for the solution to those problems.

For me, playing guitar is a hobby. I mostly play Classic Rock (i.e. Rush, Judas Priest, Cheap Trick), so it suits that style perfectly well. Like most single-coil pickups, there is a little bit of hum when tapped with a high-gain amp setting, but overall, a very nice mix of Strat-type sounds and Les Paul-type sounds.

I don't know how it comes from the factory, but mine was way too high on the action, so being the tinkerer that I am, I lowered it and found out exactly why the action was set so high... The nut at the low-E was cut so low that it buzzes open! As far as anything else (factory setup wise), I can't answer since I got mine used, but the finish on the guitar is simply stunning! Nothing is loose, out of place, or otherwise broken or poorly made. Very solid.

Extremely solid, well made guitar. Everyting thing is quality. If I could play well enough to gig, I would risk doing it without a backup if I needed to.

Ok, if you have read everything till now, I will outline my experience with Customer Support. In a word: Super-Excellent-Fantastic-Perfect (you pick the word!!)! As I stated, I was missing a few items on the guitar (contol cavity cover, nut cut too low, switch knob), so I sent an e-mail to Dean and got a prompt reply on how to get the items I was looking for. Suffice it to say, within 2 weeks, I had a complete guitar! It was also not very expensive, $16.00 got me all the parts I needed (includes shipping)!

I have been playing guitars off and on since High School (about 24 years), and I have always wanted a set-neck Les Paul (this guitar fitts the bill quite well). I also have a Squier Bullet Strat, a Marshall MG-15CDR amp, and a Digitech RP-70. It ain't no USA made Les Paul, but a worthy instrument none-the-less. Besides, I got it for a killer price!

- 2006 Dean EVO SS (Special Select)

- With a quilt vintage sunburst, and laminated top, this guitar does well to re-envoke the old Beatles style look. (Also comes in a Tiger Eye Dark gold brown type color)

- Mahogany body and neck (22-frets).

- Tune-O-Matic bridge with non-locking Grover tuners. Zebra pickups.

- 1 volume and 1 tone knob (pop tab buttons in place of tone switch) along with a pickup select switch with passive electronics.

I enjoy playing blues, rock and some heavy metal. This Dean seems to accommodate to practically any style. (Probably best for slide solos and chorus style tunes: just an opinion.)

- Bright and vibrant sound with 'almost' no "dirty-sounds" ie: buzzing, humming, etc. (I've tried it on several amps including Crate, Marshall and Samick, and managed to deliver a comfortable sound every time.) Palm muting produces interesting affects as well due to the bridge type.

- Thanks to the Tune-O-Matic bridge, it practically NEVER goes out of tune.

- Interestinlgy enough, it never seems to output 'too' loud, even when alternating pickups.

- Great for sliding as the sustain is very exceptional. Not so much on pedals however, it is my belief this guitar was made to play clean.

- Aside from having to adjust string height when I first purchased it to keep from buzzing (as they were ridiculously close to the fret board) each string sounds great.

- As mentioned earlier, the only adjustements I have ever had to make were to the string height over the fret board to allow a little more space for the strings to dance (I sometimes get ahead of myself and tend to try and 'rock' a little much).

- The pickups are ok, you can buy better, but for what they are, they have been set well and I haven't felt any urgent need to adjust or replace them.

- Unforutanetly, when I first spotted this guitar, it was flawless in finish. But in time needed to save up and purchase it, it did sustain some minor damage on the body. Never-the-less, the feel is sturdy and almost every inch of this thing has been gone over and made sure to look and feel soft and comfortable.

- The hardware on this guitar is of very high standard, everything is tight, nothing has begun to vibrate or come loose, even after a solid year of playing.

- Quickly to become apparent, the finish, though not thin, does tend to scrath rather easy, especially without a pick gaurd. No big deal to me, that's how it goes, though some prefer a pick gaurd, or even a non gloss finish.

- The hardware has never frittered, and the pickup selection switch has retained it's seductive flick and operation

- Strap buttons are nice and stubby, which is good as this guitar is slightly heavier than some I've played.

- I can never go as far to say that you shouldn't need a backup for a gig, but the chances of something happening (if you're responsible) are slim.

Haven't needed any

I've been playing for about 8 years and have owned 4 other guitars including Jackson and Fender. I quickly came to love this guitar and it's vibrant sound and still discover something new every now and again. I most adore the sturdy feel to it, and though this is one of my favorite parts about it, it comes with a price, as I have often caught myself thinking (especially after picking up another guitar and going back) just how heavy it can be. The best feature is by far the the pickups and the selection between bridge and neck. You almost jump from one sound to a completely other, which is a rarity in most guitars to have that variety.

If there is any guitars I could compare it to, it would have to be Gibson's Les Paul model, or a couple PRS's (Paul Reed Smith). Simply due to it's solid feel and fret-to-string height ratio.

In my own 'opinion', if you've never played a DEAN, go out somewhere ASAP and try one, they have quickly become 'one' of my favorites and for the price, you just can't beat it. It's just one of those rare brands you pick up and say, "Wow, I can play just about anything with this."

1 volume, 1 tone

mohagany body

awesome Grover tuners

Coil Splitters(which i hated)

These pickups sound great and dont feedback at all and no hum what so ever...but they are muddier than I wanted...but not muddy...feel me?

The pickups are hot...not very bright...switched with burstbuckers for more clarity and better cleans.

awesome low end and good highs

It has awesome looking woods.

The fretboard has cool inlays

The action is low and very minimal fret buzz.

Stays in tune FOREVER,,,GROVERS!!!!

I would give it a Ten and a Half....but the pickup selector switch sucks...sometime when i switch from bridge to neck and vice versa...the sound just shuts off.

Everything else is perfect...I would really,seroiusly, compare it to a les paul in quality

The neck is super fast and the fretboard is really fast.

This guitar plays better than alot of Gibson and Fenders.

All the hardware is rock solid and doesnt come loose etc.

I have played many Gibsons and Fenders that just dont even touch this guitar...SERIOUSLY.

When I play an other guitar they feel so cheap compared to this...and this guitar is cheap(money wise)

The sustain and puch is disgustingly awesome

Th eonly problem ever had was the pickup selector switch.//Ive had it for 2 years

I love the neck...sooooooo comfy

Why is this guitar cheaper than a Les Paul?!?!?!?!?

year:unknown

frets: 22, normal size

solid top, pickups are the zebra-stripe model from Dean. the electronics style( passive/active.), but they sound good to me. My Dean has a solid top, only one volume nob and one tone nob. It has a 3 way switch, and a quilted top. It has a Les Paul style body.

This little guitar is great for blues and jazz. It really suits me really well. I am using the Vox Pathfinder 10 amp, but I can't really recomend any effects accept for gain, or drive. It has a nice rich sound. Mostly it sounds best when you are playing blues, but can go jazz as well.

When I got this guitar, it sounded great, and I have left it as I got it, and it sounds really nice. The guitar had nothig wrong with it when I bought it, but I wouldn't really know where to look for things, because I really don't know much about what to look for.

Will probably stand up to most gigs, and/or playing alone with your house.

N/A

I have only been playing for about a year, but I would try to replace this guitar if it was lost or stolen. I compared this guitar with Epiphone Les Paul copies, and this one was the best. I would highly reccomend it for anybody, from beginners to pros.

GUITAR: Dean EVO Special Select
Year: Not sure
Where it was made: Korea

It has 22 frets, a solid maple top, with two nobs for volume, tone, and splitting, and a 3 way switch. It has two humbuckers, they are made by Dean and are Zebra colored. It's got a Tiger Eye finish and a single cut away (er, well, close to it). It has a Tune-O-Matic bridge and Grover Tuners. As far as I can tell, it's neck and feel is similar to a Gibson Les Paul, 24 3/4 scale, etc. It has a case, but I have no idea if it's stock. I would have liked two volume controls atleast, so I can turn one pickup on and one off, thus, making a killswitch with my pickup selector.

The pickups are fairly versitle, but aimed for rock. I mostly play progessive rock, and some metal, alot of Muse, Radiohead, and Rammstein songs. It can pull them off most of the time. The pickups are great for the price. It does sound flat and muddy, and the cleans aren't anything to brag to your buddies about, but you should not be expecting more from a $450 ROCK rock guitar. For the price, it sounds a heck of a lot better than what I've seen from Epiphone. It has some pretty bad fret buzz on the third string, but that can be fixed with the Tune-O-Matic bridge and neck work.


In the bridge position, the tone is bright and hard, which is great for lead. This pick up responed very well with heavy fuzz and crunch distortions. I am running this through a BOSS GT6 and a Traynor Mark 3 (1972, love it. 100watts of weird glory). With both pickups selected, I can get a pretty good blues sound, but it's a bit too edgy to be a REAL BLUES SOUND. The neck pickup is alot cleaner than the bridge pickup, with modified EQ I can get a great clean sound. The neck pickup is the best part of the guitar.

God, when I first saw this guitar, I thought I was getting a real high end American built guitar. I took a closer look and found some small blemishes and marks in the finish, but dang, It's the best looking guitar under $500 I've seen. The guitar has not been modified, and the action is very low and fast. It's a bit too low, there is some fret buzz, but that can be changed. It seems to be tuned up like Deans higher end guitars. But the control nobs are really cheap, they feel like cheap plastic and pop off really easily, it makes splitting coils a pain. I don't want to mess with the pickups, but I think if I change the height I can get a better sound in the bridge pickup.

The hardware will totaly last. It's build like a rock. It has not stopped playing a sound. However, the output jack get's loose, but like I always say, that can be fixed. The strap buttons are solid, but I would still get some strap locks. The finish seems tough and long lasting. I would never go without backup, but if I ever changed my mind, this might be "the one." The 2nd string goes out of tune a bit, I think one of the tuners might be damaged, but that's rare with Grovers.

I have never dealt with customer support, but I've read articles how the dean CEO invited someone who got a lemon to the DEAN HQ to pick out a new guitar, right from the storage.

I've been playing for years now, and I own a Squier strat. It's time for me to move on, and I've been trying so many guitars. I've tried Ibanez S's, Jackson Dinky's, Gibson les pauls, Dean Hardtails...alot. If it was my guitar, and it was stolen, I would buy another. I love how, even though it's a low end guitar, Dean treated it like their $3000 USA Hardtails. I compaired this guitar to a few Epiphones, Staggs, and other Les Paul rips in the same price range and this was the best pick.

No real need to go into this much, as the reviewers below me have covered all the guitar's features. I would've preferred an extra set of volume/tone knobs, just to add to the guitar's already considerable versatility.

My main playing styles are, like almost eveyone else, rock and blues. I'm actually an acoustic guitarist, but I was looking for a new electric to cover many different music styles I tend to play, ranging from hard rock to jazz. The EVO fit the bill excellently. This guitar handles hard rock with surprising ease, but also sounds great played clean. You can get some gorgeous clean tones from this guitar, provided you split at least one of the pickups. The neck pickup sounds very dark and muddy in humbucker mode, and the bridge can sound harsh at times. Splitting any one of them, though, makes a huge difference.
Distorted is where this guitar shines - provided you have the right match amp-wise. I play through an Engl Screamer 50, which has some awesome lead tones of itself. I usually use my Marshall Guv'nor pedal for my crunch sounds though, and it sounds simply wonderful with the EVO. Think Guns and Roses and AC/DC at high gain, and modern Lynyrd Skynyrd at lower gain. I have had some difficulty dialling in some decent blues tones, but I've managed to get a convincing sound now. It'll never sound as good as a strat or tele for blues though. Overall: dark and full tone, very versatile, quiet, just bit muddy at times.

Out of the box the EVO was not in bad shape, nor a particularly good one either. It does have slight intonation problems, most notably strumming a full G bar-chord could sound horribly false. There's also some slight fret buzz at the 10th fret, which I'll have to get fixed sooner or later. Apart from these minor issues though, it was fine.

Seems sturdy enough. I'm a bit skittish about overusing the pickup switch, as it just 'feels' a bit frail to me. The strapbuttons are okay. I used some little rubber caps from beer bottles to seal them off properly, and the strap hasn't fallen off since. I still wouldn't gig without a backup though.

They answered some of my emails within a day. Haven't had to deal with them besides that though.

I've been playing as an acoustic guitarist for a few years now, but started on an electric less than a year ago. I also own a Fender American Strat to cover the blues/classic rock areas. The EVO and the strat complement eachother beautifully. I'm considering replacing the pickups for the EVO with some Seymour Duncans, getting rid of the muddy clean tones but still retaining its versatility. It's not a neccesity though, as the instrument is perfectly playable without pickup changes.
I may not have the decades of playing experience some people here have, but I am *very* critical when it comes to my quest for tone. As a student, I don't have a lot of money to spend and for the price, the EVO is an excellent guitar. I compared it to a couple of Ibanez and Epiphone Guitars, and the EVO beat them all (even some costing twice as much). Amazing value for money.

Made in '04, played it in the store, felt great, but there was some fret buzz, had to clean it up to discover it was beautiful. Solid Mahogany body & neck w/ Arched Maple top, 1 vol/ 1 tone (coil taps), passive Dean zebra pickups Grover tuners, sounds awesome - real rich, but not muddy.Would have gotten a 10 w/ 2 vols & tones

sounds great awesome cleans, & very flexible, playing through a Line 6 spider II, have to push the amp a little to get a bright tone, can't believe the variety, single coild sounds are decent. I love the sound.

Factory setup was not great, had to setup myself to get things as tight as possible w/o buzz, intonation was a little poor to, but finish is excellent, fit is awesome, no major flaws, & I've never liked a factory setup yet... even my '79 les paul, man I wish I still had that to compare directly... 'cause this on is close now... and more flexible.

seems solid, I used to play my Les Paul w/ no backup... but that was out of necessity... I'm very confident in this one, but would still carry a backup...

no dealings yet, this is my second Dean..

love it

Ok, by now everyone is aware that this guitar is based on a Les Paul standard and has basically the same neck scale, body style, wood, and pickup configuration. A primary difference is the use of a single tone and volume control with pull switches for coil taping. I'm pretty sure this guitar is made by KLH of Korea. When I get my KLH/Wolf LP standard copy delivered, I can be more specific. I got 2005 with Tiger eye finish, deluxe case, free tech setup, and free shipping. The guitar is real wood and the figured maple top is not a photo print or laminated as far as I can tell. The pickups are unique to dean. The frets are too thin and small for my liking (almost like a LP fretless wonder).

It sounds pretty good, but I would prefer more articulate pickups. It has a unique humbucker sound that some may love and others may hate. It sounds real good through my JTM 35 tube amp and my Plexi 100 but not so good through my Line 6 Flextone. I really like the coil tap feature, which makes it tonally very flexible.

When I first opened the case and looked at it all I could say was WOW!! A really great looking guitar. The polyurethane finish is basically flawless. The frets were nicely finished and the neck had just a slight bit of relief. It played very nicely right out of the case, but I can make it play even better with a little tweaking. All the hardware was OK. I had to tighten the output jack slightly. The fretboard inlays were perfect (no filler).

Seems real solid to me. I don't trust Korean hardware using past experience as my guide.

Have not used CS.

I have been playing guitar since 1964. I have 15 guitars including 6 I have made my self. All my other guitars except for a 79 LP Custom and 58 LP junior use tremolos (primarily floyd rose) and range from a silver anniversary strat to two Ibanez Jem Blue Sparkles (my favorite guitar and the one I play 95% of the time). For the money, this EVO guitar is a real value. It looks great, plays nicely and sounds good. It looks better than any of my other guitars. If you don't like the sound, then change the pickups. It will still be a bargain. The only thing I would kind of complain about are the small frets.