Dean Guitars Cadillac Elite

Korean made I assume sometime in the late 90's. 22 frets. two piece matched solid mahogany, 2 vol, 2 tone, three way selector on the bottom wing, two screaming humbuckers (I'm told they are Duncan designed). Neck is glued with rosewood fretboard. Finish is My favorite flavor Cherry-Red, transparent. Top portion of this guitar's body looks like an Explorer, the bottom looks like a Les Paul and has a tune-a-matic style bridge and stop tailpiece, all chrome. Tuners are chrome Grovers neck has nice fat frets and it ends up in the classic Dean 'V' shaped headstock. The previous owner has had a bone nut installed. Came with a sweet tweed case.

I've been looking for something to replace my beloved PRS Standard on stage but needed something economical, thin, light, and able to stand up against a Strat and a Les Paul Standard through a 5150 on a regular basis. Ideally, I would have wanted a Firebird since we are doing Southern Rock and 70's material, but I don't have that kind of cash. I tried a number of different alternatives. I have an Ibanez Performer PF300 (heavy LP style post lawsuit axe that I ALSO wish to preserve so no go gigging), Raven RM6000 (LP DC model), HM Strats, ESP LTD H100, numerous others but this is the first one, at this price that have been happy with tone and feel. I play straight through a Carvin X100B head with a 4X12". Guitar is relatively silent and has a full rich chunk sound plus a nice clean tone. I have heard this guitar refered to as sounding like 'A Les Paul Junior on steroids' and I have to agree. I needed a solid body about the same specs as a junior (again, couldn't afford the $800+ for one). I remember reading about Dean Zelinsky when I was a kid and while I never went for the ML or V shapes, I always had a liking for the shape of the Cadillac guitars. The only thing that's a bit annoying is that it's top heavy, much like an Explorer but I've found that this can be remedied with a strap that has a felt or rough back that will grab the clothes on your shoulder... summertime... I'll deal with that when it comes (it's December).

Previous owner has this thing set up perfectly. Kudos to him along with being a pretty nice guy. The pickups are high off the guitar but the action is in excellent shape and I think he's got them perfectly honed. The back of the guitar has a better bookmatch than the top but I'm not really concerned about that. The only ugly thing that I found about it is that there's some cracking at the neck joint. I understand this happens occasionally to even the best of guitars (I can be a snot here and say 'not my PRS') and it doesn't effect the playability of this axe. One must wonder if it is the quality of the wood they used but otherwise it sounds great!

I have gotten such a high off of playing this guitar at rehearsal I have no qualms using it live without a backup. The finish seems good and thick all hardware is securely fastened to the guitar and seems as though it will last a while. While there are minor flaws on this and a couple of the other low line Korean guitars I've seen, the one thing they can sure do is make a nice top to a guitar. The Raven I had had a solid mahogany body with a tiger strip maple top and it was emerald green but, like this Dean, the neck joint is not perfect and the finish there is a bit off.

Haven't dealt with Dean yet but I will definitely be stopping by their booth at NAMM this year when I go. No warranty at this point in the guitar's life.

Overall, if all of the Korean Deans are this good, you got a great axe for the money. If it were stolen, I would be extremely upset since as I have said, I have looked for a reliable guitar at this price for a long time. Took almost 2 years. I would definitely be interested in getting another one if I needed to. Probably my favorite feature is the sound. I need something that's going to cut when I need it to and it also had to be a thin line, mahogany body that was something akin to a LP Jr, Firebird, SG etc. I had actually been looking at Cadillacs for a long time but when I saw this one, I had to jump on it since it was the right price and the type of axe I wanted.

Purchase in '98 Made in Korea by guitar-making Koreans. 22 Frets, Solid Mahogany body and neck with Maple top. Very nice flamey Sunburst Cherry finish with glossy overcoat. Two humbuckers, passive electronics, two volume pots with push-pull phasing, two tone pots. I love the design-very Dean; V-shaped headstock, lower bout resembles a Gibson Les Paul, upper bout resembles a Gibson explorer.This guitar looks as though it's clocked at mach 3! Grover tuners, Tune-o-Matic bridge, stop tailpiece. All hardware with gold finish. BIG FAT JUMBO FRETS!

I discovered Dean Guitars while strumming the vintage guitars at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI. I had narrowed the field to Les Pauls and picked up a used Dean Icon AX-it looked cool! It sounded so similar and felt so much like the Gibson that I asked the salesperson about it. He raved about the quality and features of the Dean, but commented that because of the low price, they were not taken seriously by many guitar elitists. This Dean is fitted with very thin gauge strings and very low action- bends and pull offs/ons are easy to perform. As far as action is concerned it ranks among the best three guitars I have experienced (1.Paul Reed Smith, 2.Gibson Les Paul and 3....Dean Cadillac Elite? Go Figure! If you like Les Paul tone you'll like the Dean; Zelinski did his homework with this one! Best for screaming rock, thrash, acid, guitar soloing to make your ears bleed. Don't buy it to do fingerstyle or Jazz- it's like a Fishman out of water! I bought a Washburn J6 for Blues & Jazz.

I purchased this guitar on-line from Ed Roman Guitars ($399 an absolute steal!)The amount of flame on the top and excellent bookmatching is shocking for a guitar of this price. Ed Roman, a luthier who makes ultra-high $ guitars for Ace Frehley, among others, considers the Dean the best bang for the buck available-I agree. Some of the previous reviewers refer to less than perfect quality on other model Deans. I can only speak from my experience- my Dean totally blows away the similarly priced competition. Compare the Dean to an Epiphone solid-body guitar- no contest! Fresh from the factory, the set-up was excellent. 5 ply binding is very well done. I'm not totally satisfied with the look of the rosewood fingerboard-a little too grainy for my taste.

This Dean seems very well-made. Perhaps Ed Roman chooses only the best Deans to sell- I was amazed at the price versus performance. I would gig without a backup- no sweat.

Never dealt with Dean, although I understand Elderly dropped the line because of problems with service and support. Sounds to me as if Dean is a bit weak in the support department. Their website is attractive, but very sparse with information. A big question mark.

I've been playing since the 70's and now taking fingerstyle lessons. My interests have shifted since I bought this guitar...mostly to Jazz, Blues, which this guitar isn't best. But for Rock? Very nice. I would love a top of the line Les Paul, but just don't want to give up the cash. This Dean is high power, low dollar, but unlike the Gibson, it probably will not appreciate over time...the tradition with Dean Zelinski seems to have ended when he sold the company. If return on investment is important to you, buy a vintage 70's-80's Dean, the prices of the Chicago-era Deans are going up!