Dean Guitars Chrome S

Import, Chrome plated steel, single cone. Grover tuners, (that's good), good neck, fret board & frets are fine, chrome plateing is what I would expect for an import, which means it will rust over time.
I do have to mention again, the neck is good, since I upgraded and reset all the rest.

I have a great blues band at the momemt, and wanted to add a new intro set to some of our shows featuring some Robert Johnson, Johnny Winters and the like, and wanted the sound from a steel dobro.
Stock as it comes .... I would have been disapointed to say the least, however after reading some of the previous reviews from a few that I felt knew what they were talking about, I had already ordered the National 9 1/2" cone in advance.
It brought the life to it's sound, so all is OK. Rating is based on the cone upgrade

Besides the issue with the original cone, the postion of the saddle kept the intonation out of wack.
Just a side to note about a couple of previous reviews stating that the guitar wouldn't stay in tune, I don't think it is a issue with the tuners, you need to fix the issue with the intonation. Once I did that, the guitar played perfectly. Before it acted like it would not stay in tune. Here is the secret... measure from the inside of the nut (top of the neck) to the 12th. fret. Multiply that by 2, then add 1/16" for the high E string, and 3/16" for the low E. Use that measurement to adjust to, (the saddle needs to set at an angle for the intonation to be correct). You may also notice to do that, you will not be able use the small screw to attach the saddle to the cone. "Liquid Nails" worked perfect to glue the saddle to the cone in it's correct position. Again, readjusting the string height, setting the intonation, life was good, and that is how I will rate, otherwise the rating would be a LOW 3.

Like anything, take care of it, and it will be fine.

Never contacted

I've been playing for 40 years, more serious the past 4 years. I own lots of equipment, and tone & quality is something I don't cut corners on. So here are my thoughts:
If I had purchased this at full retail value, I would not have been happy at all, however, since I bought on EBay, spending the additional $100, and 4 or 5 hours setting it up, I will rate it 7+.
I also added a Fishman Resophonic pick up, and through my Ultrasound DI box into the PA ..... sweet!!
If it was lost or stolen, well shame on me for letting that happen, I would by another only if the price was right, and I wanted to go through the same process again. ALSO.... there is a website, www.stewmac.com that gives great advice on setting up a dobro.. They list it under their "Free Stuff". Also, if you ever decided you want to tackle the cone replacement, intonation, etc., send me an email & I will be glad to offer some free advice.

A basic single resonator guitar.

I was looking at Nationals and Dobros and this sounded just as good to me. I like it and it does well mixed with other instruments.

I like the way its built. Thick neck, good finish, nice woods and the frets were even and smooth. No rattles or buzzing. Haven't done athing to it.

Grover tuners should last and the guitar is very solid. Stays in tune well.

Havn't needed them yet.

I've been playing 26 years. I've been dealing with jeff for the last
10 years on and off and bought 4 guitars this past year after getting rid of some things. I had no clue how much I didn't know until I bought amps and guitars from him. He's seen more than I'll ever see and he's put into some great gear that i've had no regrets about. I like buying things once. I've bought Dean evo premium also this year and its excellent. These Deans are an excellent buy. I own a real '62 strat, a G&L legacy special, a mexican tele, a martin j-40, a warmouth strat, and an early 70's les paul also, plus a bunch of amps.
The Deans stack up well in my opinion.

I recently bought this steel bodied mojo machine and for an entry level Korean copy of an old National its not a bad axe. It has 14 frets clear of the chrome plated body and a chubby mahogany neck. I suppose the beefy neck is well suited for using heavy gauge strings. The weight of this tank forces me to play it with my legs splayed and with the body held between my legs. I plan on making some setup changes to improve the tone and playability and therefore I won't give it a rating higher than eight.

The stock cone must be replaced with a genuine National cone if you want it to sound like a National. The tone, volume and sustain with the stock cone leaves a lot to be desired. That's not to say its a lousy guitar because it has potential since its pretty well made and has the "tone stick" and stuff like that. Its really just a matter of installing a good cone and doing some setup work. I gave it a sound rating of six based on the stock sound with stock cone, etc. With upgraded components the sound is good for some nasty blues.

For slide work I prefer the action to be a little higher and I'll be installing a taller ebony capped saddle to get it where I want it. The neck relief is excessive and I'll be sorting that out as well. Overall construction of this resonator is pretty good and the only cosmetic flaw I've noticed is a rather spacious gap between the fretboard and the top of the body in the upper register of the fingerboard. I'm givin' it a seven here because it needs some setup work to really be playable.

If you have to change the oil in your car and you don't have ramps or a jack you could probably drive up onto a pair of these metal bodied behemoths and start wrenching. Or if you own a yacht it would make a nice shiny anchor. Alas, this is a versatile instrument that should withstand eons of Bukka White style pounding. I'd give it a ten, but I wouldn't give my girlfriend a ten.

I've never dealt with DeanGuitars. I don't think I'll have to. Maybe if it gets tossed into a wood-chipper or something.

I bought this guitar in june 2001. I can't find any labels showing which year it was manufactured but it probably was in 2000.
It's a single-cone resonator guitar, made in Korea, with chrome-plated steel body and mahogany neck with a 19 fret rosewood fingerboard, 14 frets clear of the body. The fingerboard is medium wide and has a slight radius. The head has an inlaid Dean logo and is equipped with Grover tuners.
Overall it's a very nice looking instrument in the style of an early National resonator guitar.

I've been playing mostly folk music for almost 40 years. Recently I've taken an interest in early blues and was looking for a guitar suitable for bottleneck playing and for that musical style.
I decided to buy the Dean Chrome since it was very well made and was rather cheap, at least compared to a National. I didn't buy it becourse it had a great sound. It didn't. The treble strings where best, but not very good, some of the bass strings where rather dull and over all there was a lack of string definition and overtones.
Luckily I had read the review by Jim Mathis so i knew there where things to do. I started out to find an original National resonator cone, which turned out to be difficult i Sweden. Finally i found a store i Switzerland that sold cones and a week later it arrived by mail.
The new cone fitted perfectly. I had also ordered an original National bisquit bridge and since it was an all-purpose type it took a while to sand it down to a suitable hight. But after two hours work i could put everything together again and make a sound check.
And what a difference it was! Now the tones ring out with a whole new clarity och definition. Lots of overtones and punch! With the new cone I would give the sound at least a 9 in rating.
A comparison between the original cone and the national cone shows that the Dean cone is made of thicker material. It also has some extra grooves stamped on the outer rim. This is probably why the guitar, with it's original cone, sounds so dull. I can't understand why Dean don't put in a better cone in an instrument that costs several hundred dollars. A Quarterman cone would improve the sound enormously and it wouldn't cost many dollars extra.

I got the guitar by mail straight from the swedish importer and it was OK right out of the box. The string action was rather high, suitable for slide playing och OK for fretting notes, especially on the lower frets. I'm going to play for a while before I decide if I'm going to make any adjustments.
Over all it's a very good looking guitar with great finish. Only you look very close you can find som minor flaws in the chroming, tiny spots and miscoloured areas.

I can't think of anything less than a bazooka that could destroy this instrument. It's extremely sturdy and it weights a ton.

Haven't had any reason to cobtact the company yet.

It's a beautiful instrument. If it got stolen I would buy it again. But the first thing i would do with the new guitar is replacing the original cone with a Quarterman or a National cone. With a new cone it's a super instrument at a quarter of the price you'd have to pay for a National.

Made from 2000-2002(?)-14 frets at body/19total-Chrome plated steel-
Rosewood fingerboard n neck-Korean made-Almost Identical body to the
old 14fret nationals-Biscket bridge resonator-One unique factor about this guitar that differs from other singlecone resonators is the huge
block of wood inside its body which gives alot more sustain than most single cone 's-

I play Folk/Acoustic blues-Fantastic for slide/fingerpicking and songs that you need emphasis on the treble side-this guitar is LOUD!
Because of the inner block of wood meantioned above this almost sounds like an excellent blend of a tricone and single cone-it has great loud attack yet a very good sustain-sweetsweet tone with new strings/decent with olderstrings-The down side is that the treble end
of the guitar is louder than the bass end-I find this fault with all resonators-Im going to upgrade with a national cone n see what happens
I payed 600 for this and it sounds ALot better than some of the new expensive nationals Ive tried-

Action is great-Frets feel wise is fair-IMO they can use alittle bit of filing down-The nut looks wise could of been fitted better-Minor flaws in the frets above the 15-they could of been put in better-
THe chrome is starting to oxidize a bit even though I wipe down after I play-might just be my body chemistry-However it does give it a cool older look to it-the wood on the neck n fretboard feels very good and width wise on fretboard is slimer n more comfortable than most resonators-Overall Id say the cosmetic craftsmenship is fair but on a superfical level-Playing wise over all aside from the frets that can be adjusted Id say its very easy to play

THis guitar definetly seems solid and reliable overall-I would use it without a back up-considering its steel body its probaly going to out live me-(a 27 year old)I cant say the same for the finish chrome wise-
Its shows signs of oxidation early and I can see myself sanding of the chrome down the road-But Im not paticular about cosmetics-all I want is is guitar to play well n be trustworthy stage wise and this one definetly is

Ive been looking for a resonator for about a year-Ive tried the regal and continental knockoffs of the national guitars-they were poor in sound and quality IMO-Ive tried National's 1930's tricones n single cones,as well as there new reissues as well-The vintage nationals sound great however im my option there necks are too fat and are not worth the "vintage collectable"based price tags(2000-10000)-The new nationals seem really about the brand name more than the sound of the guitar-This may sound crazy but I actually prefer the sound of the dean single cone copy to the national original-the extra block of wood in the deans body makes a big differnce-the nationals look cooler
and have better cosmetic craftsmenship however when it comes down to the sound Id have to say this is the guitar for me-not to mention the 1200+ bucks Ive saved Im a happy bluesman-There are some mod's Im going to do it but overall a fantastic sounding guitar

This guitar was purchased from musicians friend for $569 US in Aug. 2000. It is a very handsome instrument with glossy finish neck and chrome plated steel body. 14 frets clear of the neck with radius fretboard and Dean logo and wing emblem on the headstock. It's a buscuit bridge resonator type made in Korea.

This baby is LOUD!!! Much more so that the very modified Johnson JM998 i have. It is made of plated steel so the sound is very brash and bluesy, especially in open "G", but it also sounds quite well played in regular tuning(with new cone). As delivered the sound is somewhat lacking in definition and the bass is heavy with a weak treble. It really doesn't sound too spectacular but a change to a National cone makes and incredible difference. This balances out the sound perfectly and allows the guitar to be played in a more versatile manner. Although the body is steel, due to the chrome plating it sounds a bit more mellow than a regular painted steel National. Actually in my opinion, better although with the stock cone it wouldn't compare at all. If you buy one change the cone immiediately, you'll be glad you did. Its strictly a bolt in replacement. the info for modifying it is here, www.geocities.com/truckerdave10.

This guitar is typical of foriegn manufacture guitars in that it is not 100% flawless. There are a couple of minor finish flaws on the neck and one very small spot around one of the F holes where the plating is a bit discolored. The guitar has no serial number at all, inside or out. The fretboard in very well finished with low wide frets. As delivered it was perfect for slide with kind of high action but a half turn on the truss rod adjuster would lower it for regular low action. I inspected the interior wood construction when i replaced the cone and it was top quality with good workmanship on the support braces and a proper tailblock installed.

This thing could deflect bullets. It seems like it weighs a ton. Since it is made out of steel, unless it is run over by a car it ought to last forever.

don't know anything about dean support, but musicians friend is ok on returns.

The only thing i do wish this guitar had is an electric pickup installed. Highlander makes a very good sounding one but the preamp is in an external box connected by cable. I do plan to install a Highlander in conjunction with a top mounted equalizer/pre-amp. This is not a valuable collectors item and a hole could be carefully cut in it. I would defininety buy another one if this one ran away and i do have a room full of other guitars, including 2 more steel body resonators.