Dean Guitars EVO Exotic

This review is for a Dean EVO Exotic Burl guitar. It is Les Paul style body with a 25" scale(as measured on my guitar). The body is mahogany back with a carved maple top and maple burl veneer and matching headstock and Grover Rotomatic tuners. It has a one-piece mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard with a dark brown binding on the neck and body. It seems to be more of a 50's profile style neck that fits my hand perfectly. The inlays are abalone modified block style and the guitar has gold hardware. It came with two zebra passive humbuckers, a single volume and tone control. The volume pot taps the neck coil and the tone pot taps the bridge. There is a three way switch on the upper bout. The tune-o-matic bridge and stoptail are mounted Les Paul style. The fit and finish is near perfect. This a very beautiful guitar that was manufactured in Korea in 2007 and has drawn many compliments. I purchased it new from a local music store in August 2007. The fret work is some of the best I have encountered at any price level. The neck is very stable and requires few tuning changes, though I do have a humidfied music room which certainly helps.

The sound fits my style of music, which is blues based, and is easily tailored due to the variety of tones from the individually tapped humbuckers. This gives you eight different pickup combinations. The neck (rhythm) pickup has a great jazz sound, as well as rock and blues rhythm sounds. With both humbuckers in phase it stays in rhythm territory with a little more bite. Bridge pickup has great bite and is a good lead guitar tone. It handles distortion very well. Switching to single coil modes you get more of the strat/tele style tones. In combination with a single and a humbucker the tone is still rich and full and takes a little edge off. This is a very versatile guitar. I have used it for Jazz, blues, Rock and a little metal experimentation. It has performed flawlessly.

The guitar, as stated above, was near perfect in the fit and finish department. The description may sound gaudy, but it has been tastefully crafted. It has drawn many compliments from friends and other musicians. The fret work is perfect, no sharp edges and a good height for aggressive bends. The action is low and fast playing. The weight of the guitar is on par with a Les Paul, which would be heavy to some. I have not found any flaws in the workmanship. I could not be happier with this guitar.

I have played this Guitar constantly for over a year and a half and it looks, feels and plays as good as the day I brought it home. I change strings about every three months and have the guitar tech tweek the neck, though it has needed little adjustment. The music store I purchased it from had performed a great set up so it played well from the start. It came with d'addario strings, which is my brand of choice. This guitar should last my lifetime and I hope to pass it on.

I have had no service issues, so I have no opinion of Dean's Service Department. I believe the guitar has a limited lifetime warranty.

I have been playing guitar for over 40 years. I have guitars in all price ranges including a Hamer Monaco Elite USA, Washburn WI-580 USA custom shop, Gretsch 6120 and an Eiphone Casino with an American Bigsby added. I would buy this guitar again if it was stolen. I have really enjoyed playing it and it compare favorably with guitars costing 4 times as much. It represent a beautiful guitar (looking and sounding) for a rock bottom price. A bigsby vibrato option is the only other thing I could ask for.