Dean Guitars Chafin Sarasota 12-String

This is just an idea. But you know those wrist weights people wear for light weight-training? Why don't you attach one of those to your guitar strap just above where it attaches to the strap button at the bottom of the body? Yes, it will add to the over-all weight but I'm guessing the Sarasota isn't all that heavy a guitar. This might counterbalance the neck, fix it so you don't have to tie the strap at the headstock and solve your problem. While you're at it, get a nice wide leather strap that doesn't slip. Then you can play your Sarasota 12 in complete comfort. I'm thinking of getting one myself. I'd rather have some of that acoustic resonance than have something that sounds like Stairway To Heaven, but I don't particularly like the thin, jangly Rick sound either. I want something with humbuckers, but different. And the price is right.

I was looking for a hollow body 12 string with dual humbuckers. Thought this would do. I have no idea what happened to this guitar from Korea to U.S. but it never saw the setup in the U.S.. The intonation was out, still had some kind of coating on the chrome. Had what looked like soda on the saddle. I put this in my registration online to Dean with no reply.. Well I cleaned it up, set it up and it's really not bad.

I love the wide neck. My grab and go guitar is a classical and when I grabbed this guitar it felt like an old shoe.. The sound is what you would expect from "Zebra" pickups, could be better. No noise.

The guitar was not setup. I had to pay my tech to do what Dean says they do when the guitar reaches America. When all was said and done the guitar is very easy to play and "Very" easy on the eyes, I love the flame maple. About top heavy,,,,I do play it with the strap around the headstock but I play my "Fat Strat" the same way..

I have been playing for 35 yrs.. If you can adjust and get the guitar adjusted I think you have a piece for life.I think you may wind up modifing the electric end. I had a bad experience, but I would take this to my favorite jam..

I left the same message here as I did on thier web site,,,notta..
I paid to fix...Warranty???? You are on your own !!!

Well check the website for the exact specs, but what sticks out to me is: Korean made, 12-string semi-hollow body, grover tuners. Cheesy faux flamed top (which still looks great hilariously), tune-o-matic style bridge with 6 saddles, wide-ish neck, 2 generic humbuckers, no split coil. For an odd specialty instrument (electric 12 string), it manages to get a lot right.

I do like how it sounds, bright jangle. The humbuckers are very quiet. I like to think the semi-hollow body adds a certain acoustic shimmer...the guitar is quiet but has a pleasing chime unplugged. I am no expert on Rickenbackers etc, but the sound of this guitar isn't an embarassment. I've used it in my home studio for covers (Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin) and it does a fine job.

Well I can't comment here really, I got a factory second cheap off of ebay. Mine has serious checking in the finish at the neck/body joint. It also had an off-center volume know which needed to be adjusted to avoid rubbing into the body. The binding isn't anything close to as clean as what is on my Martin, or my DeArmond Jetstar even, but is reminiscent of other Korean guitars I have had.

As I mentioned, the flamed top is as fake as can be, but still looks rather stunning. The guitar plays fantastically out of the box, with superb intonation for a 12-string. This knocks the socks off my Tacoma DM18-12 acoustic 12 string for how in-tune it sounds. Rather shocking. I have recently become a fanatic for compensated nuts and super intonation, and I was fearing the efforts that would be needed to get this thing sounding crispy. They may be unecessary.

I was also immediately surprised at how well it stays in tune. It has quality tuners, but I think the cheap plastic nut is cut well enough to prevent any serious sticking. Again, humiliates my Tacoma for staying in tune.

The neck is superbly straight with the perfect relief for very low action with esssentially no fret buzz. Even way up the neck the action is great, and with the double cutaway you can get way up there. With light, electric strings it plays extremely easily.

If I didn't have a factory second, I'd give it an 8 here.

Only had it a few weeks, I really cannot say. Seems solid.

NA

Another reviewer mentioned it is neck heavy. He/she was right, it is. Almost painfully so. I had to put my acoustic strap on (ties at the nut), and this works fine. The double cutaway gives great upper fret access. The body itself is a moderate size and is very comfortable. The nut is rather wide, which really makes it easy to play, especially if your technique isn't too good (I am sloppy as hell).

It's hard to find a good 12-string electric for cheap. Sort of like trying to find a lefty, there are just way fewer out there. Ricks are out of the question in this price range, but you can find some nifty Danoelectros and other imports (I liked the Danos I was checking out). I ended up with this puppy on a whim and I am not too dissapointed.

I love how stable it is tuning-wise, and how easy it is to play. It doesn't feedback much at all, and it does seem to impart its acoustic richness when amplified. It also seems to be sound structurally, and should hold up fine over time. I dislike the faux appointmnets, but I will live.

I've been playing for 20 years, but don't have a gigantic arsenal of American guitars. Apart from my Martin DC-16RGTE, Godin LG, and Carvin B4, all my guitars are korean. I've come to appreciate what you can get for cheap out of an ambitious Korean company. This Dean excels in some ways (better hardware and finish) over my DeArmond Jetstar (great example of a killer Korean guitar), and fails in other ways (sloppier binding, inferior pickups, inferior mojo), leaving it slightly beneath it overall IMHO. I'd love a Ric (who wouldn't), but I have to wait on that. This is a legit guitar that will hold its own in my home studio (back bedroom PC-based low end setup) until I really need something else.

I have been looking for an affordable, quality electric 12 string for years. I love that trebly 12 sting Rickenbacker sound associated with many of the artists I love most (Byrds; McGuinn; Petty; Harrison; Setzer). I came close to biting the bullet and picking up a Rick 360-12 or one of the other Rick 300 series 12 strings. The problem is they are very difficult for me to play with their very narrow fretboard. In desparation, I almost picked up a Dean Boca 12 sting from Musician's friend, but was hesitant to purchase their low end version (no binding, bolt on neck, etc.) I picked this up at Classis Axe in Centreville, VA (outside DC) for $500. Although this is a fairly straighforward guitar (two Dean Humbuckers; a single set of knobs [tone and volume]; a three way switch), it has a nice binding, a set neck, and was worth the wait. I LOVE this guitar. With its 1 7/8 inch neck, it is much more easy to play than Rick's which cost 2-3 times as much (I've never played a 660-12, which is the Rick with the wider neck). It sounds like a Rick to me and at an affordable price. I would recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a quality 12 string. Any one in the Northern Va/DC/Md metro area who is interested in an electric 12 should check out Classic Axe to compare htis guitar head to head with the full line of Ricks they stock (they're a Rick and a Dean dealer).

For that classic rock 12 string sound, it delivers. I can't play like Roger McGuinn or Mike Campbell, but it's not the guitar's fault. The three way switch allows you to get 3 distinct sounds, including the classic Rick sound. The semi-hollow body makes for a fuller sound than other solid body 12 stings I played (older Fender Coronados; Gibson Pacifica 12s).

The action on this guitar was perfect !!! Russ at Classic Axe told me he didn't have to tweak this at all out of the box. The wider fretboard makes this much easier to play than most 12 stings. My guitar is also transparent amber, and its gorgeous. Upon close examination, I haven't found a single problem with it. My major concern with ordering this guitar was previous reviewers who complained that it was tremendously unbalanced. Well, all electric 12s are unbalanced to some extent. I don't find this one to be particularly unbalanced: nowhere near what I was led to expect by prior reviewers. Overall, I would have expected to pay twice the amount for a guitar with the fit, finish and action of this guitar. This is a guitar you can be proud to be seen playing.

I can't judge the durability/reliability. I can only say that this is a quality instrument with quality fittings.

I give Dean a 5 because I had to email them several times to find a dealer in my area, and then had to do almost all of the legwork myself. I have not had any dealings with them about the guitar itself. I'm dinging them because they offered no help in my search for a place which carried the guitar in the DC area, and quite frankly, were remarkably unfriendly. I'm sure that they will be better in the event I have to deal with them about the guitar.

I have loved this guitar!! It offers everything I was looking for at a very reasonable price. I was fortunate to find a Dean dealer at Classic Axe who was willing to order one with no obligation, to allow me to play it before I purchased it. I only needed about 2 minutes with the guitar to realize that my long search for a quality, affordable 12 string electric was over. I cannot imagine another guitar offering this quality at this price.

I have played and owned several 12 strings. This guitar is made in Korea, it has the most frets available of any 12 string I have played and its tuned to concert pitch! The wood finish on this guitar is very beautiful and that is what I noticed right away. When it arrived it was very out of tune. Once it was tuned it stayed in tune.

The only problem with this guitar is it is extremely UNBALLANCED. The neck is so top heavy (similar to Gibson SG's, but much worse). Your left hand almost has to hold the neck up at the same time you play it. (somewhat of a drag). The body needs to be heavier so that the neck won't fly to the ground. I consider this a MAJOR design flaw in this guitar.

Although it has two volume knobs for the two pickups it has no tone controls. That "jangy" sound (which I hate about 12 strings) can be had by using the bridge pickup. The neck pickup was a little too bass ridden, however the middle selection of the pickup switch was perfect.

I play rock and instrumental music. For rock this is NOT the guitar, however for instrumental it is perfect. It sounds great and the sound alone has made me really like this guitar, despite the poor features.
There is not much variety in the sound, but for what you get it does sound nice.
I am using it through a Marshall AVT150 stack, add a little effects and it sounds incredible!

This guitar actually looks beautiful. Transparent Amber is the one I have and anyone who looks at it notices that right off.

The guitar had no flaws that I could see. The action was setup fairly well.

I think this guitar would withstand live playing, IF you made sure that the guitar strap was welded to the guitar. The neck is so top heavy that if you take your left hand off the neck the head of the guitar FLYS toward the floor. (You can not take your fretboard hand off the neck). Use a poor strap system and you can bet your going to have a broken guitar neck someday.

I have been playing for 25+ years, and I own a Fender Strat and Gibson Les Paul Standard. This 12 String will fill the gaps the other two guitar have in them. My favorite feature is the sound and the color of the finish, my least favorite is how badly unbalanced this guitar is. This guitar was obviously not played very much by the designer while standing. If the body of this guitar was as heavy as my Les Paul this would be a really awesome guitar....