Dean Guitars Bel Air

1983 USA - Dean Bel Aire, Black with silver burst, rosewood fretboard, fat maple neck with jumbo frets. H-S-S pickups, floating tremolo. The shape of the body is really exaggerated unlike any other guitar I have seen. Looks like a stretched out stratocaster. the neck plays like a gibson les paul. headstock is the classic shrimp fork with split tuners, 3 on each side of the headstock. Has 3 way selector switch with 1 volume for each pickup, really weird compared to your normal setup.

The sound is bluesy, rock n roller, metal. very unique considering the guitar looks like a metal head guitar. you can really tone it to your liking using the single coils or the humbucker. It can have a rich full sound or a treble sound from the single coils. lot of variety! fun to play.

The guitar is in pretty good condition considering its age. The guitar needs a setup but is not bad. Slight checking in the finish but not really noticeable. frets in excellent condition, solid pots and everything is working the way it should. solid workhorse guitar, built in the USA, they way they should be built. everything looks original except the hard case that it was sent with.

This guitar is more of practice and play. I would use it for gigs but I have other favorite guitars in my arsenal at the moment. the guitar is reliable, stays in tune and performs each time. looks like you could drop it and it would hold up, as stated before very solid build. it has lasted this long!

don't know, haven't found a need to use them. I have called dean in the past about pickup information and they were super friendly and fast reply. I like the company and appreciate their contribution to the guitar world! they make some crazy, awesome sounding guitars! recommend them to any metal head or rock n roller. i am sure they will answer any question you throw at them.

I have been playing for quite sometime, have several instruments and amps. I don't think I could ever settle on just one axe as my main instrument. each one is unique in their own right, each one is different compared to the other. depends on your style and approach! I would get another if this were stolen, no doubt. super hard to find one though! I wish the guitar came with the original case but I truly don't care...just answering harmony central's questions. LOL

These guitars were made from the early 80's to the mid eighties. One of the first imports offered by Dean. First to offer stock S/S/H pickup configuration. Alder body, maple neck, brazilian rosewood fretboard, 22 frets. Originally with a "Fender type" tremelo bridge. FYI pickups made by ESP.

The guitar I owned was a great classic guitar. 5-way switching provided me with a variety of pick up combinations. I used a 60 watt 1x12 Gorilla amp and a Tube screamer. Sweet!

I didn't buy the guitar brand new so I don't know how it was from the factory. But after a good professional set up, it played with low action.

I played many a gig with my Dean Bel-Aire. It lasted me many years. Finally, I sold it for $175.00 about 7 years ago. I always wonder what I'm thinking when I sell a guitar.

I am a thirteen year-old, classical-trained, lead rock'n'roll guitarist, but I've been playing for awhile, so TRUST ME!!! This is the best guitar I've ever played. I don't know lot about the history of these 'Bel-Aires', but mine was purchased in 1982 by my father. Mine has EMG Select pickups(humbucker/single coil/single coil config.)and a Floyd Rose locking tremolo. It purple and it fades to silver in the middle(sort of like a sunburst scheme, definately a head turner!) I think the neck is rosewood, but I don't know what the body is made of. There's 1 volume knob, 2 tone knobs, and a 5-way selector.

PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in a grunge/metal band(like Soundgarden, Van Halen, Guns 'n' Roses, and Metallica mixed together, but we have our own sound)and this is perfect for it! It'll do everything from big band/swing to Cannibal Corpse. Right know, I'm running through a Crate FXT120 120 watt combo(solid state, but I'm saving up for a B-52 AT100 tube half stack). I'm getting a great sound now, though.

The action is very low, and very good! I've taken very good care of it, so it's in very good shape for being over 20 years old. I am VERY satisfied with the factory setup on everything except my Floyd Rose. I was replacing my lock-nuts on the top bridge. I discovered that the wood under the nut was cracked, and I don't stay in tune when I use the tremolo. However, this is most likely a rare problem. It sounds like an easy fix.

This is an American made guitar and it is STURDY. It's built like a Mack truck. I can't depend on it for whammy-bar use, but I've played a couple of solo acts with it for medium size audiences(before I was in a band)and it's very reliable. I would use it as an olny guitar for gigs, however the music that I write requires several different tunings, so it's sort of tough to use 1 guitar.

Never dealt with Dean. I'm a pretty handy kid, so anything that's ever gone wrong on this guitar(mostly from my own doing), I've fixed myself.

Like I said, my father bought this guitar back in the early '80s(before my time, needless to say). It was handed down to me, so I didn't really have a say in the purchase. However, I've compared this guitar to many PRSs, Fenders, and high-end Jacksons, and this guitar kicks their ASS! I own 8 guitars including this. I have 2 guitars that I would consider professional quality-this one and a 1973 Harmony Les Paul copy(said to be as good as Gibson, expensive guitar) with an EMG 81/85 pickup config. I've trying to make some money to support my music on a larger scale, but with the laws in this country, it's very hard for me to find a good paying job!!! If it was stolen, I would only buy another one if it had the same features as mine.

This is early 70's action. I'm not sure but I think this is a USA made instrument. This guitar is very light in weight and has a maple neck and fingerboard with black dot inlays. Tuners are three to each side with Dean Bel-Air on headstock in black on maple headstock in the shape of an owls head. The dean has a solid wood body that is black and looks a little like a strat that has been stretched on each of it's sides. I have three pickups two single coils and a humbucker at the bridge with a 5-way selector. I changed the neck pickup to a stacked semour duncan that can be split single or bucker (coil tap). This is set up like a strat with twenty-two flat wide frets and a strat style dive bar. Between the nut and the tuners could use more slant because it dose not take much for the strings to slip out from the nut. I've also changed the nut to a brass nut for more sustain. This is a passive instrument. I bought this with case which is a very light weight plywood case.

This guitar has a very wide range of tones for a just about every style of music you can think of. Very rich sound, a lot like a Fender strat. Actually I wanted a strat but they were too expensive for my taste at that time so I purchased the Dean.

Action is great. Factory setup was good. The only set up I didnt like was the angle between the nut and the tuning pegs.

Very reliable guitar. I had this since the seventies and it still rocks. The finish is black but not a very attractive or quality finish I think. Not like a Gibson or Fender that use very good quality work. Hardware is chrome, clean look. I put gold barrel knobs on it to bring out the beauty of the instrument.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 35 years. I play this through a Yamaha G-100 two ten amp. If this guitar was stolen it would be a task to find another one. I would probably get a strat this time with a humbucker in the bridge position this time. I've never seen anyone with one of these yet. They are rare now to find. I love the sound and feel of this instrument and I would never sell it.