Dean Guitars EVO Special Select

This is a beautiful, Korean made (year-unknown), solid body, carved top, "Les Paul" style guitar. The body and neck are Mahogany with a carved arched top of AAA select Maple. The neck has hour glass inlays from the 1st fret to the 22 fret. It has, what I take to be described as a 60's style slim neck profile with a Rosewood fingerboard. Non-locking Grovers. 1-tone and 1-volume, 2 zebra colored humbucker pickups. Tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tail piece.

I have been looking for a guitar that rings out each notes in chords evenly and this guitar does just that. The guitar has a Les Paul sound with a extra punch for tone. I will definately say that everyone comments on the pickups sounding muddy. THEY ARE ALL WRONG! I have more of a brighter sound than muddier sound. I have my Dean running through a digitech GNX4 so this maybe my a extra help-Digitech kicks ***. The tone knobs offers a range to alter your sound. Mine does not come with the push/pull knobs so i don't know the last owner changed them or not. The sustain on this guitar is AMAZING!!!! Whether your playing clean or distorted, this guitar delivers the goods!

My guitar was a second hand, but played like brand new. The action was a little to low, but a quick adjustment and I was all set. The pickups had to be adjusted to my personally preference. Also, I changed out the crappy control knobs for some PROLINE metal knobs. Now the guitar as better apperence.

The finish on this guitar is awesome. I was able to rub on three coats of carnuba wax and I am constantly blinding people with the light reflections.

The neck is remarkably fast! I would say to take a strats neck and cut the rounded backing off and you that much more to move with. I am about to reach all second octave notes without trouble! I couldn't ask for a straighter neck.

The chrome hardware is something to be aquired. Since this was second hand, I had to polish the crap out of the chrome to get them to shime. So if you get yours brand new, KEEP IT CLEAN!

From the mail box to a four hour band audition, this guitar is very reliable. I have been playing for 14 years,I feel very confident of taking only this guitar to a gig and not thinking twice about it!

Overall if the guitar is taken care of, the parts will last the life of the guitar

personally I changed out my strap buttons with strap locks.

I haven't had to deal with the CS yet

As I have stated, I have been playing for 14 years and have never felt more alive than when I am playing this guitar. I own a marshall half stack, Digitech GNX4, Custom Bridgcraft strat, Dean EVO, and a crybaby 535Q. Before getting this guitar I read tons of literature about it. I felt compeld to post my own review about this guitar. This guitar will not disappoint you or let you down! This has become my stage guitar because of reliability and playability.

Not sure of the year this guitar was made. I'd been admiring it in a store window for some time before I purchased it. It came with two Dean zebra humbuckers, and a 3 way pickup selector switch. The push pull volume knob splits the neck humbucker's coils, the push pull tone knob splits the bridge pickup.

The finish is beautiful, the guitar looks like it ought to cost 3 times as much. Mine is the tiger eye deep red/wine finish on top, black on the underside. I talked the store owner into a free case (it wasn't a Dean case, but it fit ok). Non-locking tuners with the tune-o-matic bridge, but this guitar stays in tune. I play heavier gauge strings than were included, had to adjust the intonation, it was easy to do and has required little tweaking since.

The sound of the guitar was OK. Like other reviewers, I thought the pickups were a bit muddy. I replaced them with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, and it made a world of difference. With the coils split and the pickup selector switch in the middle, I get a really nice strat sound, otherwise the full humbuckers give me a very fat, rounded tone. I'd give it a 10 now, but with the factory pickups it'd have to be a 7.

I mentioned above I'd admired the guitar for a while before I bought it. Obviously one of the first things I liked about it was it had my name on it! Second thing I liked was the finish. It looked perfect. I asked the clerk to take it out of the window so I could try it out, and before I even plugged it in, I hated it. It played awful, action was bad, intonation was off; it was just horrible.

A month or so later, this store had expanded and when I went inside the guitar was no longer in the window, but it was inside on the wall. For some reason I picked it up again. I could tell before I plugged it in, someone had taken the time to change the strings, set the intonation and action. It played great! I bought it on the spot.

I guess the point of the story is that leaving a guitar neglected and in a window front during the Winter is not a good way to treat an instrument. Properly set up, this guitar played like a dream.

I always put stap locks on my guitars; the hardware that came with it is solid. The knobs are a little cheap, and will occasionally come off when splitting the coils. If that were to happen live, I'd blush and go on playing...

The finish is great, has held up well. I take care of my instruments, I usually wipe the sweat off the finish and electronics right after playing.

Emailed the company for wiring schematics on a Friday, got a reply on Monday!

Overall, I'd give this guitar a 9. For the price, I'd bump that rating up to a 10. I've got several other guitars, including a pricey custom Schecter, and this Dean plays easier than all of them.

If it were stolen, I'd be looking to replace it right away, and I'd definitely consider another Dean.

This is a beautiful, Korean made (year-unknown), solid body, carved top, "Les Paul" style guitar. The body and neck are Mahogany with a carved arched top of AAA select Maple. It has, what I take to be described as a 60's style slim neck profile with a Rosewood fingerboard. Non-locking Grovers. 1-tone and 1-volume with pull switches for coil-taps on the 2 zebra colored humbucker pickups. When I got mine, it was missing the top on the pickup selector switch, and the control cavity cover, see the section on support for the solution to those problems.

For me, playing guitar is a hobby. I mostly play Classic Rock (i.e. Rush, Judas Priest, Cheap Trick), so it suits that style perfectly well. Like most single-coil pickups, there is a little bit of hum when tapped with a high-gain amp setting, but overall, a very nice mix of Strat-type sounds and Les Paul-type sounds.

I don't know how it comes from the factory, but mine was way too high on the action, so being the tinkerer that I am, I lowered it and found out exactly why the action was set so high... The nut at the low-E was cut so low that it buzzes open! As far as anything else (factory setup wise), I can't answer since I got mine used, but the finish on the guitar is simply stunning! Nothing is loose, out of place, or otherwise broken or poorly made. Very solid.

Extremely solid, well made guitar. Everyting thing is quality. If I could play well enough to gig, I would risk doing it without a backup if I needed to.

Ok, if you have read everything till now, I will outline my experience with Customer Support. In a word: Super-Excellent-Fantastic-Perfect (you pick the word!!)! As I stated, I was missing a few items on the guitar (contol cavity cover, nut cut too low, switch knob), so I sent an e-mail to Dean and got a prompt reply on how to get the items I was looking for. Suffice it to say, within 2 weeks, I had a complete guitar! It was also not very expensive, $16.00 got me all the parts I needed (includes shipping)!

I have been playing guitars off and on since High School (about 24 years), and I have always wanted a set-neck Les Paul (this guitar fitts the bill quite well). I also have a Squier Bullet Strat, a Marshall MG-15CDR amp, and a Digitech RP-70. It ain't no USA made Les Paul, but a worthy instrument none-the-less. Besides, I got it for a killer price!

- 2006 Dean EVO SS (Special Select)

- With a quilt vintage sunburst, and laminated top, this guitar does well to re-envoke the old Beatles style look. (Also comes in a Tiger Eye Dark gold brown type color)

- Mahogany body and neck (22-frets).

- Tune-O-Matic bridge with non-locking Grover tuners. Zebra pickups.

- 1 volume and 1 tone knob (pop tab buttons in place of tone switch) along with a pickup select switch with passive electronics.

I enjoy playing blues, rock and some heavy metal. This Dean seems to accommodate to practically any style. (Probably best for slide solos and chorus style tunes: just an opinion.)

- Bright and vibrant sound with 'almost' no "dirty-sounds" ie: buzzing, humming, etc. (I've tried it on several amps including Crate, Marshall and Samick, and managed to deliver a comfortable sound every time.) Palm muting produces interesting affects as well due to the bridge type.

- Thanks to the Tune-O-Matic bridge, it practically NEVER goes out of tune.

- Interestinlgy enough, it never seems to output 'too' loud, even when alternating pickups.

- Great for sliding as the sustain is very exceptional. Not so much on pedals however, it is my belief this guitar was made to play clean.

- Aside from having to adjust string height when I first purchased it to keep from buzzing (as they were ridiculously close to the fret board) each string sounds great.

- As mentioned earlier, the only adjustements I have ever had to make were to the string height over the fret board to allow a little more space for the strings to dance (I sometimes get ahead of myself and tend to try and 'rock' a little much).

- The pickups are ok, you can buy better, but for what they are, they have been set well and I haven't felt any urgent need to adjust or replace them.

- Unforutanetly, when I first spotted this guitar, it was flawless in finish. But in time needed to save up and purchase it, it did sustain some minor damage on the body. Never-the-less, the feel is sturdy and almost every inch of this thing has been gone over and made sure to look and feel soft and comfortable.

- The hardware on this guitar is of very high standard, everything is tight, nothing has begun to vibrate or come loose, even after a solid year of playing.

- Quickly to become apparent, the finish, though not thin, does tend to scrath rather easy, especially without a pick gaurd. No big deal to me, that's how it goes, though some prefer a pick gaurd, or even a non gloss finish.

- The hardware has never frittered, and the pickup selection switch has retained it's seductive flick and operation

- Strap buttons are nice and stubby, which is good as this guitar is slightly heavier than some I've played.

- I can never go as far to say that you shouldn't need a backup for a gig, but the chances of something happening (if you're responsible) are slim.

Haven't needed any

I've been playing for about 8 years and have owned 4 other guitars including Jackson and Fender. I quickly came to love this guitar and it's vibrant sound and still discover something new every now and again. I most adore the sturdy feel to it, and though this is one of my favorite parts about it, it comes with a price, as I have often caught myself thinking (especially after picking up another guitar and going back) just how heavy it can be. The best feature is by far the the pickups and the selection between bridge and neck. You almost jump from one sound to a completely other, which is a rarity in most guitars to have that variety.

If there is any guitars I could compare it to, it would have to be Gibson's Les Paul model, or a couple PRS's (Paul Reed Smith). Simply due to it's solid feel and fret-to-string height ratio.

In my own 'opinion', if you've never played a DEAN, go out somewhere ASAP and try one, they have quickly become 'one' of my favorites and for the price, you just can't beat it. It's just one of those rare brands you pick up and say, "Wow, I can play just about anything with this."

1 volume, 1 tone

mohagany body

awesome Grover tuners

Coil Splitters(which i hated)

These pickups sound great and dont feedback at all and no hum what so ever...but they are muddier than I wanted...but not muddy...feel me?

The pickups are hot...not very bright...switched with burstbuckers for more clarity and better cleans.

awesome low end and good highs

It has awesome looking woods.

The fretboard has cool inlays

The action is low and very minimal fret buzz.

Stays in tune FOREVER,,,GROVERS!!!!

I would give it a Ten and a Half....but the pickup selector switch sucks...sometime when i switch from bridge to neck and vice versa...the sound just shuts off.

Everything else is perfect...I would really,seroiusly, compare it to a les paul in quality

The neck is super fast and the fretboard is really fast.

This guitar plays better than alot of Gibson and Fenders.

All the hardware is rock solid and doesnt come loose etc.

I have played many Gibsons and Fenders that just dont even touch this guitar...SERIOUSLY.

When I play an other guitar they feel so cheap compared to this...and this guitar is cheap(money wise)

The sustain and puch is disgustingly awesome

Th eonly problem ever had was the pickup selector switch.//Ive had it for 2 years

I love the neck...sooooooo comfy

Why is this guitar cheaper than a Les Paul?!?!?!?!?

year:unknown

frets: 22, normal size

solid top, pickups are the zebra-stripe model from Dean. the electronics style( passive/active.), but they sound good to me. My Dean has a solid top, only one volume nob and one tone nob. It has a 3 way switch, and a quilted top. It has a Les Paul style body.

This little guitar is great for blues and jazz. It really suits me really well. I am using the Vox Pathfinder 10 amp, but I can't really recomend any effects accept for gain, or drive. It has a nice rich sound. Mostly it sounds best when you are playing blues, but can go jazz as well.

When I got this guitar, it sounded great, and I have left it as I got it, and it sounds really nice. The guitar had nothig wrong with it when I bought it, but I wouldn't really know where to look for things, because I really don't know much about what to look for.

Will probably stand up to most gigs, and/or playing alone with your house.

N/A

I have only been playing for about a year, but I would try to replace this guitar if it was lost or stolen. I compared this guitar with Epiphone Les Paul copies, and this one was the best. I would highly reccomend it for anybody, from beginners to pros.

GUITAR: Dean EVO Special Select
Year: Not sure
Where it was made: Korea

It has 22 frets, a solid maple top, with two nobs for volume, tone, and splitting, and a 3 way switch. It has two humbuckers, they are made by Dean and are Zebra colored. It's got a Tiger Eye finish and a single cut away (er, well, close to it). It has a Tune-O-Matic bridge and Grover Tuners. As far as I can tell, it's neck and feel is similar to a Gibson Les Paul, 24 3/4 scale, etc. It has a case, but I have no idea if it's stock. I would have liked two volume controls atleast, so I can turn one pickup on and one off, thus, making a killswitch with my pickup selector.

The pickups are fairly versitle, but aimed for rock. I mostly play progessive rock, and some metal, alot of Muse, Radiohead, and Rammstein songs. It can pull them off most of the time. The pickups are great for the price. It does sound flat and muddy, and the cleans aren't anything to brag to your buddies about, but you should not be expecting more from a $450 ROCK rock guitar. For the price, it sounds a heck of a lot better than what I've seen from Epiphone. It has some pretty bad fret buzz on the third string, but that can be fixed with the Tune-O-Matic bridge and neck work.


In the bridge position, the tone is bright and hard, which is great for lead. This pick up responed very well with heavy fuzz and crunch distortions. I am running this through a BOSS GT6 and a Traynor Mark 3 (1972, love it. 100watts of weird glory). With both pickups selected, I can get a pretty good blues sound, but it's a bit too edgy to be a REAL BLUES SOUND. The neck pickup is alot cleaner than the bridge pickup, with modified EQ I can get a great clean sound. The neck pickup is the best part of the guitar.

God, when I first saw this guitar, I thought I was getting a real high end American built guitar. I took a closer look and found some small blemishes and marks in the finish, but dang, It's the best looking guitar under $500 I've seen. The guitar has not been modified, and the action is very low and fast. It's a bit too low, there is some fret buzz, but that can be changed. It seems to be tuned up like Deans higher end guitars. But the control nobs are really cheap, they feel like cheap plastic and pop off really easily, it makes splitting coils a pain. I don't want to mess with the pickups, but I think if I change the height I can get a better sound in the bridge pickup.

The hardware will totaly last. It's build like a rock. It has not stopped playing a sound. However, the output jack get's loose, but like I always say, that can be fixed. The strap buttons are solid, but I would still get some strap locks. The finish seems tough and long lasting. I would never go without backup, but if I ever changed my mind, this might be "the one." The 2nd string goes out of tune a bit, I think one of the tuners might be damaged, but that's rare with Grovers.

I have never dealt with customer support, but I've read articles how the dean CEO invited someone who got a lemon to the DEAN HQ to pick out a new guitar, right from the storage.

I've been playing for years now, and I own a Squier strat. It's time for me to move on, and I've been trying so many guitars. I've tried Ibanez S's, Jackson Dinky's, Gibson les pauls, Dean Hardtails...alot. If it was my guitar, and it was stolen, I would buy another. I love how, even though it's a low end guitar, Dean treated it like their $3000 USA Hardtails. I compaired this guitar to a few Epiphones, Staggs, and other Les Paul rips in the same price range and this was the best pick.

No real need to go into this much, as the reviewers below me have covered all the guitar's features. I would've preferred an extra set of volume/tone knobs, just to add to the guitar's already considerable versatility.

My main playing styles are, like almost eveyone else, rock and blues. I'm actually an acoustic guitarist, but I was looking for a new electric to cover many different music styles I tend to play, ranging from hard rock to jazz. The EVO fit the bill excellently. This guitar handles hard rock with surprising ease, but also sounds great played clean. You can get some gorgeous clean tones from this guitar, provided you split at least one of the pickups. The neck pickup sounds very dark and muddy in humbucker mode, and the bridge can sound harsh at times. Splitting any one of them, though, makes a huge difference.
Distorted is where this guitar shines - provided you have the right match amp-wise. I play through an Engl Screamer 50, which has some awesome lead tones of itself. I usually use my Marshall Guv'nor pedal for my crunch sounds though, and it sounds simply wonderful with the EVO. Think Guns and Roses and AC/DC at high gain, and modern Lynyrd Skynyrd at lower gain. I have had some difficulty dialling in some decent blues tones, but I've managed to get a convincing sound now. It'll never sound as good as a strat or tele for blues though. Overall: dark and full tone, very versatile, quiet, just bit muddy at times.

Out of the box the EVO was not in bad shape, nor a particularly good one either. It does have slight intonation problems, most notably strumming a full G bar-chord could sound horribly false. There's also some slight fret buzz at the 10th fret, which I'll have to get fixed sooner or later. Apart from these minor issues though, it was fine.

Seems sturdy enough. I'm a bit skittish about overusing the pickup switch, as it just 'feels' a bit frail to me. The strapbuttons are okay. I used some little rubber caps from beer bottles to seal them off properly, and the strap hasn't fallen off since. I still wouldn't gig without a backup though.

They answered some of my emails within a day. Haven't had to deal with them besides that though.

I've been playing as an acoustic guitarist for a few years now, but started on an electric less than a year ago. I also own a Fender American Strat to cover the blues/classic rock areas. The EVO and the strat complement eachother beautifully. I'm considering replacing the pickups for the EVO with some Seymour Duncans, getting rid of the muddy clean tones but still retaining its versatility. It's not a neccesity though, as the instrument is perfectly playable without pickup changes.
I may not have the decades of playing experience some people here have, but I am *very* critical when it comes to my quest for tone. As a student, I don't have a lot of money to spend and for the price, the EVO is an excellent guitar. I compared it to a couple of Ibanez and Epiphone Guitars, and the EVO beat them all (even some costing twice as much). Amazing value for money.

Made in '04, played it in the store, felt great, but there was some fret buzz, had to clean it up to discover it was beautiful. Solid Mahogany body & neck w/ Arched Maple top, 1 vol/ 1 tone (coil taps), passive Dean zebra pickups Grover tuners, sounds awesome - real rich, but not muddy.Would have gotten a 10 w/ 2 vols & tones

sounds great awesome cleans, & very flexible, playing through a Line 6 spider II, have to push the amp a little to get a bright tone, can't believe the variety, single coild sounds are decent. I love the sound.

Factory setup was not great, had to setup myself to get things as tight as possible w/o buzz, intonation was a little poor to, but finish is excellent, fit is awesome, no major flaws, & I've never liked a factory setup yet... even my '79 les paul, man I wish I still had that to compare directly... 'cause this on is close now... and more flexible.

seems solid, I used to play my Les Paul w/ no backup... but that was out of necessity... I'm very confident in this one, but would still carry a backup...

no dealings yet, this is my second Dean..

love it

Ok, by now everyone is aware that this guitar is based on a Les Paul standard and has basically the same neck scale, body style, wood, and pickup configuration. A primary difference is the use of a single tone and volume control with pull switches for coil taping. I'm pretty sure this guitar is made by KLH of Korea. When I get my KLH/Wolf LP standard copy delivered, I can be more specific. I got 2005 with Tiger eye finish, deluxe case, free tech setup, and free shipping. The guitar is real wood and the figured maple top is not a photo print or laminated as far as I can tell. The pickups are unique to dean. The frets are too thin and small for my liking (almost like a LP fretless wonder).

It sounds pretty good, but I would prefer more articulate pickups. It has a unique humbucker sound that some may love and others may hate. It sounds real good through my JTM 35 tube amp and my Plexi 100 but not so good through my Line 6 Flextone. I really like the coil tap feature, which makes it tonally very flexible.

When I first opened the case and looked at it all I could say was WOW!! A really great looking guitar. The polyurethane finish is basically flawless. The frets were nicely finished and the neck had just a slight bit of relief. It played very nicely right out of the case, but I can make it play even better with a little tweaking. All the hardware was OK. I had to tighten the output jack slightly. The fretboard inlays were perfect (no filler).

Seems real solid to me. I don't trust Korean hardware using past experience as my guide.

Have not used CS.

I have been playing guitar since 1964. I have 15 guitars including 6 I have made my self. All my other guitars except for a 79 LP Custom and 58 LP junior use tremolos (primarily floyd rose) and range from a silver anniversary strat to two Ibanez Jem Blue Sparkles (my favorite guitar and the one I play 95% of the time). For the money, this EVO guitar is a real value. It looks great, plays nicely and sounds good. It looks better than any of my other guitars. If you don't like the sound, then change the pickups. It will still be a bargain. The only thing I would kind of complain about are the small frets.

OK....update on this guitar (my review is right below this one). I dropped a set of Dimarzio's in it (a Tone Zone in the bridge and an Air Classic in the neck). Oh my God!!! What a HUGE difference. I also completely rewired the guitar and replaced the crappy pickup selector switch. This has now replaced my Ernie Ball SS and Jackson solist as my main axe. I wired the pickups to be out of phase in the middle position and I get this great rythm sound now (less gain with a slight boost in mids and highs). As I mentioned in my last review the neck intonates nicer than any guitar I've ever owned. Perfect all of the way up and down the neck. I wonder if they are all like this.....or if I just got lucky. My next upgrade will be Sperzels and a better bridge. If you are willing to replce the pickups this is definately a great sounding (and looking) axe. Oh yeah......I complained mercilessly about the finish flaws and got a hardshell case as compensation from the dealer. I figured with my gigging schedule I'd bang it up anyway, so better to have the case than an axes with no finish flaws (for a short period of time). One last thing. I noticed that in the review below I stated the guitar had Gotoh tuners. Incorrect. They are Grovers.

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Mine is a 2004 model, dropped shipped to my door straight from Dean. 22 Frets, maple capped mahogany body. Two humbuckers (which sound muddy). Mine is the "Tiger Eye" finish, which really looks stunning. Stop tailpiece, which seems a bit on the cheesy side to me. I'll likely replace it with a tone pros bridge. It sports Gotoh tuners, which are very nice, but I replace all the tuners on my guitars with Sperzels anway. The neck is quite fat and chunky, which was my biggest disappointment. If you like thinner necks this guitar is not for you. The two humbkers can be split with coil tap pull switches on the volume pot (neck coil tap) and tone pot (bridge coil tap).

Hmmmmm.......I don't think so. Many of you have been way too generous on this forum concerning this guitar. The pickups are muddy. The tone at both the neck and bridge is muddy. I HOPE I can resolve this with a new set of Dimarzio's. Anybody who says this guitar sounds good out of the box either doesn't know what they are talking about and/or has never played a decent guitar before. I'm going to drop something brighter in this, probably a Dimarzio D-sonic in the bridge....possibly a Tone Zone. I'll update this board when I do. Don't buy this guitar unless you plan on upgrading the pups. Sustain seems average. The guitar intonated nicely up and down the neck right out of the box. Current setup: Guitar to Morley Bad Horsie wah, to Peavey XXX head (with a Boss DD-5 delay in the loop) to Genz Benz 2x12 George Lynch Signature cab.

Horrid! The finish is spectacular....... but there are finish inconsistencies everywhere.....mostly where the guitar wasn't buffed out correctly. There are spots under the clear coat that look like somone took 100 grit sandpaper to the guitar. It's UNDER the clear coat, so it can't even be buffed out. Some sloppiness on the binding, and the edges on the headstock are atrocious. I'm sending this one back for another one.....and if that one is just as bad then I'm going to demand my money back. Too bad.....the tiger eye is such a pretty finish. Frets seem OK. Action was OK as well....perhaps just a little high for my taste but there was ZERO buzzing. Chrome was all slightly tarnished. Oh yeah.....when I first tried it out, the bridge humbucker didn't work. It just started magically working a day later.....I'm pretty sure the switch is bad. When I pulled off the plate on the back to check it out the electronics the switches, pots, and soldering all looked pretty cheesy. If I keep this guitar I'll definately replace ALL of the electronics. Input jack was loose as well. Not a big deal......just shows how poorly this guitar was assembled and QA'd.

I wouldn't trust it unless all of the electronics were replaced. Guitar itself looks OK.

So far so good. Dealer says they will ship another one out to me from Dean. Question is.....do I really want another??

Been playing 18 years, and have owned a boat-load of gear in that time. I gig just about every weekend in the area's hottest Top 40 band (www.stoneriverband.net). My other guitars are currently a Jackson soloist, a Peavey T-60 (probably the most under-rated guitar of all time) a Jackson DR-3, and a Musicman Axis SS. Honestly guys....I'm REALLY disappointed with this axe. Hopefully the replacement will be better. I definitely wouldn't buy another one again. This has been one of the biggest disappointnents ever for me. The fit and finish on my Epiphone Les Paul was a MILLION times better than this. I now wish I hadn't got rid of that guitar. Oh yeah.....another "bonus". It won't fit in a standard case. Even my "one size fits all" SKB case was a really bad fit. If you are going to be moving this around, get the Dean hard case specifically made for the EVO. I hear the American made Deans are much nicer.

This is an update to me previous review, so I won't need to go into it. The problem I had with my EVO (neck pickup failing) was still there after sending it back twice for repair. Thankfully, I managed to talk the guy at my music store into trading my old EVO for a new one.

Great! It sounds considerably better than my last EVO. Makes me realise that the first EVO was probably a monday morning monster. I had the opportunity to hear it through a Bogner Shiva combo, and the clean sound was nothing short of jaw-dropping. Crystal clear. On my Marshall MG amp, this baby handles metal distortion (though I don't play metal), and a hard AC/DC type crunch. I use a Boss OD-3 pedal to squeeze milder overdriven sounds out of it. Sound great too.
Thanks to the coil splits, this axe is amazingy versatile. Don't expect the typical Fender cleans, but you will get an easily recognisable single-coil sound from them. When splitting the neck pickup, it gives a perfect alternative rock sound when you use it with a moderate overdrive. Split the bridge humbucker, and you get clear, yet deep tones which are perfect for clean play. For some killer clean tones, use both pickups and split the bridge humbucker. Beautiful.

Granted: there are better sounding guitars out there, but you won't find them for less that twice the price of the EVO SS. The price to quality ratio is, I think, one of the best... if not THE best.

The action is a little on the low side, but it's not a very big deal. As long as there is no fret buzz (and there isn't) then I'm basically fine with it. Pickups seem well adjusted, the way the should've been on my old EVO in fact. The finish is even better than my previous EVO. It has a much denser pattern and looks really great. Everyone who saw the guitar couldn't help but comment on its beauty. The only 'flaw' I found was that the input jack was a little loose, but I tightened that easily.

I don't really dare to comment on this yet, considering my experience with the last EVO's reliability. I got another scare when the signal from the guitar started to scratch up and poop out occasionally, but this seemed to have been caused by a faulty cable and not the guitar. Thank God! Judging by the previous reviews and Dean's overall repuation for reliability, I'm quite confident this one won't fail me. I'll just give it a 10 to annull the obviously poor judgement of the guy two review below.

I emailed Dean about the problem I was having with my previous EVO. I got a reply the next morning in which they said they had contacted my local Dean dealer for me, which coincidentally was a few blocks down the road!

Great guitar, overall. Don't really need to go into it more!

Bought it new on e-bay 2 months ago. Payed such a low price for it, it seemed too good a chance to pass up. Made in Korea. 22 frets. Tiger Eye,which is a great looking finish, thick maple top on mahogany. Two controls, 1 tone, 1 volume, with coil taps, Les Paul copy, 24 5/8's scale neck, 22 frets, tune-0-matic,grover tuners. Gave it a "9" because of the finish looks good, no bad frets, no buzzing of pots, no lose parts, no fret mistakes, inlays are set well, no fret buzzing. I have 4 guitars total,so far, 1 carvin bolt kit, 1 Mex fender strat,1 Frankenstein strat copy I put together from parts off e-bay, online stores, and local stores (which is my best sounding guitar) and this Dean SS Tiger Eye. This Dean is fine, but a work in progress,( I like to redo guitars no matter what they are, pickups, tuners, etc.)

I play with a group that likes classic rock and blues. Play through a THD univalve, a Traynor YB-1A Bassmaster amp, and a Randall 100 watt combo with a E.H. Holy Grail reverb, a ProCo Rat, and a Cry baby wah. The Dean isn't noisey, and am now going from coil tab to straight pots (want straight humbucker sound). I changed out the pickups to Duncans because the Dean's were a little too hot for me (15 ohms each) and Duncans are only 7.5 ohms. It's got a nice mellow sound and response well. I'm trying different string gauges to see what it handles the best, for action and sound. Have 09 set on now and 1/16th action and no buzzing. I like thin necks but a wider neck like a Les Paul-1 11/16 as compared to 1 5/8's might be a better tool to use.

The set up was great out of the box, no problems. Everything was adjusted such fine. Finish is flawless, and can't tell where the seams are. Frets are tight, inlays set well, nothing loose, nut ok, couldn't find anything wrong and I looked for an hour or so. I did change out the Groovers tuners to Sperzel's, and the strap holders to Dunlop locking holders just because I've done that on all the guitars I have, and will always do so.

I think this guitar was well made, and will last a long time. I play it everyday plugged in or not. I never gig without a back up no matter what.

Never called Dean, for anything and probably never will. Warrenty is 5 years but I've changed the tuners, pickups, and pots, don't think it's in effect anymore.

Been playing off and on for 30+ years. If it was stolen, don't know it I would get anothter one or not, haven't had it long enough to get use to it. Read reviews of it here and compared it to others I was considering and it seemed just as good as the others.

DEAN EVO SPECIAL SELECT----- i'm going to make this short.this guitar looks great...thats it.p/ups are crap--frets are crap--electronis,wiring is very good.a very nice looking guitar,with very bad frets..........i was going to go as far as having the frets reset.the more i thought about it--the more i thought ''why should i have to do this with a new guitar''.the frets cut into the bottom of my little finger--i ordered a 2nd one--the string[high e]actually got stuck under the 1st and 2nd frets and still were sharp.emiled DEAN--NO REPLY???????? stay away from this piece of good looking junk//////

get ready to have the frets reset and replace the p/ups

nice looking piece of junk////////// hardware is very good---set-up is very poor---frets are very poor and are not finished out[sharp ends]..............no matter what the others are saying about the p/ups...you will replace them.grover tuners are nice.to bad DEAN doesn't put as much into the finished product as it does to make this guitar look as good as it does.looks alone will only take this guitar so far.good guitar,if you plan on spending another 150.00 on it.

the guitar itself seems very solid.

never returned my email/////

i've been playing for about 10 yrs.---i know a good guitar from a bad one.this would be a fantastic guitar--if your willing to put new p/ups in it and have the frets redone[reset].the p/ups aren't even the problem--it's the frets--and i went through two of them.i was going to try a 3rd...but i said i had had enough.i went to the ESP ltd 400 ats....the difference is like night and day--try this guitar,you will be happy you did[i am]...524.00 AMERICAN MUSICAL...

Arched Maple Top, Mahogany Body, 3 Star Arched Figured Maple Top, 24-5/8" Scale & 1-5/8" Nut, Grover Tuners, Nickel Hardware, Zebra Pickups, Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Set Mahogany Neck, Wood Binding, Rosewood Fingerboard, MOP Hourglass Inlays, 22 Frets, "Tiger Eye" Finish. It's your basic Les Paul setup, but lacks the additional tone/volume knobs. Personally I don't mind that.

I play mainly rock and blues. It suits both styles quite well, though I think it is definitely more of a rock guitar. The sound is dark, warm and full. I play it through a Marshall MG 50 DFX. The Clean sounds I get out of the guitar are amazing. Overdriven, it can handle both brutal distortion (which is not my style of music) and a slight, bluesy crunch, plus everything in between. Quite versatile if you ask me. I do seem to get very heavy sounds out of this guitar a bit too easily for my liking, but I blame my amp for that. The pickups are dead quiet and are capable of handling a lot of raw fretboard power. As mentioned by other reviewers, it probably belongs in a price bracket at least twice as high as the one it sits in. Absolutely smokes Epiphone LPs in terms of looks, sound and playablity. All for considerably less money.

My EVO was the showmodel. It was the only left-handed guitar in the store that wasn't a strat. I don't know if the guys at the shop tweaked it a little before displaying it, or just hooked it on straight out of the box. The action was fine though. Not too high, not too low. Being used to and acoustic guitar with abnormally high action, I'm not quick to complain about it. The finish, as others have pointed out, is absolutely stunning! It beats any Les Paul finish with ease.
I have had one problem with the guitar though. Read the next entry for that...

About a day after I purchased the guitar, my neck pickup suddenly gave up the ghost. At least that's what I thought it was initially. The real problem seemed to be with the pickup switch. It had somehow come loose, and was jangling all over the place. It only picked up the bridge humbucker. Sometimes, twiggling it would switch on the neck pickup again, but it would fall out once more after two switches. Occasionally, the problem would be the other way around (the neck pickup being the only one to function). I brought back the guitar as soon as possible to see what was truly wrong with it. The guy at the store examined the instrument and found that the hole in which the switch was placed was too large!!! Darned Korean craftsman had used the wrong drill or something. I was mightily peed off when I heard it would be gone for two weeks. I still haven't got it back, but I feel forced to handle the instrument with more care that I deem myself capable of when I get it back. I won't trust the switch until it's been proved to work flawlessly.

Haven't dealt with Dean. Heard good things though. Might send a complaint about the pickup issue and see how they respond.

I've been playing for only 6 months. This is my first electric guitar. And though I've heard lots of good things, I need to be re-convinced this is a quality instrument. The sound is okay though. I still have trouble distinguishing the difference between, say, a Mexican Strat and a Deluxe USA Strat, but in time I may learn to appreciate the sound that comes from my EVO more and more. I'm impressed by it already. Every time I'm not playing it I wish I was playing it! If it were stolen I would be mightily disappointed and probably look into buying another. For the price, I don't think there's anything like it. Hell, I played an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Zakk Wylde which was nearly twice the price but didn't sound as good. And since I'm just a poor, unemployed student price is a major factor for me.
I can't give it an overall rating as of yet, but aside from the problem with the pickups, I'd probably give it a 9.

not sure the year made in korea, 22 frets solid top one v one t and a 3-way, 2 passive humbuckers. mahogany body and neck w/rosewood fingerboard tiger eye color les paul style, tune-o-matic bridge grover tuners jumbo frets

love the sound tight and punchy, lost of tone, not noisy at all i play metal and this sounds great with my randall warhead

set up not perfect but the guitar is just beautiful

I'm not sure of the year, i bought this guitar used from a local music store (not GC)but it looked new...not a cratch on it.probably a '01 or something. Grover tuners, beautiful inlays, push/pull coil taps, tapered neck joint, tiger eye finish. It has tons of features you would find on much more expensive guitars.

This guitar fits me like a glove. I was playing an Ibanez S-470 H/S/S pickup config with the super slim body and a floyd rose trem. The Ibanez was a great guitar no doubt, but I wanted something with more tone and the Ibanez wasn't filling that void for me. I play Christian Alt/rock and we go from warm clean to vintage distortion to head chrushing distortion. It Does it all, I could not be happier with its sound, Warm and fat thats what I like. Plus with the taps you don't loose that single coil sound if thats what you like, I use them but only every now and then.I was really looking for a Les Paul when I ran accross this for hundreds less than a decent entry level Les Paul. This guitar sounds great. If you are using this axe with a cheap amp its gonna sound a liitle muddy at times and its clean tones are warm but lack a bit of that sparkle I like. But once you plug this bird into a descent box, look out...she sings. I have been using Crate's Digital combo the DX212 and I use all the Marshall and Mesa simulators as well as the fenders for the sparlies and I could not be happier with the sound. I have finally found my axe.

This guitars finish is incredible when I picked her off the rack at the music store I had no I dea how much he wanted for her. I player about 5 mins and was astonished at how well she felt, and sounded. There was no price tag in it so I asked the guy how much you asking for it? i was half expecting him to say some silly price I couldn't afford that would knock me off the stool. $450 he says, I say $350, he says sold! I peel off 350 bucks and the rest is history. Every fret wire is filled so as you run your hand along the fretboard edge you feel nothing but silky glassyness. Unbeleiveable The Les Pauls at GC don't feel like this. The knobs feel very solid when turned/pushed or pulled, A+ for quality. The Grover machines could not feel better. I think the action was set up before I got it but is excellent. the pickups were well installed and sound great. And don't forget about the finish....incredible...flawless...not one little piece of trash in the finish anywhere.

I gig with this guitar regularly, I only bring the afore mentiond Ibanez I spoke of as a safety net I have never had to use my back up. I bring a backup because our other guitarist breaks string alot and I hat stopping to change a string its so unprofessional. This thing feels like a German Tank but weighs alot less. I don't know how they shaved the weight off without sacrificing tone, but they did a great job. No corners cut here this thing is A+ top quality in my opinion

I havn't dealt with them yet, but after reading other peoples comments I'm gonna call and see if I can scam a free T-shirt.

I have only been playing a few years now and started giging after playing only 7 months, so I've been out in the world enough to have heard how alot of other gear sounds....I know what I like, and I research every piece of gear I buy. I bought this axe before doing any research it just seemed like a great guitar. Then I come here and see how most everybody gave this axe a glowing report. A+ Dean guitars, you gave me Champagne on my Schlitz malt liquor budget. The only difference is that if you set this guitar next to all the expensive gibsons, based on build quality sound and price Gibson would be in deep fecal matter. Thats no shit. If this guitar were stolen or lost I would definitely buy another one, maybe even see what was available from thier pro shop or in Deans private stash. I am a believer.

I bought the first EVO Special Select in 2002. It was a nice looking tiger finish split top. Two Dean pickups and like all the rest of the reviews. I was somewhat sold on the concept of the split coil pickups, but in the end, didn't find that the guitar sounded good in single pickup mode. When I bought this guitar, I had planned to spend more money having it set up correctly and to install new pickups. The Dean pickups I felt were a bit unfocused and maybe muddy if not quiet.

After the setup and new pickups were installed (which were Seymour Duncan - Screamin Demon in bridge and jazz in nec), the guitar guy noticed a split in the finish at the neck. He didn't think he had tweaked it that hard. The end result was a guitar that was splitting at the neck. Dean did replace the guitar through the music store at no extra cost. The newer guitar was nicer looking but again lacked the setup and I still didn't care for the Dean pickups. Oh yes, I spent even more money getting #2 in shape ... again.

Alternative rock, funk, experimental. Fender Vibroking and usual effects. Quiet guitar. Very round full sound. A fantastic guitar for rock and blues and definitely jazz.

I like this guitar and the sound. However, this guitar still seems a bit unfocused and a bit muddy. Maybe the problem is that it is fatter tonally than I had wanted. It sounds great playing it alone. However, when in band mode, I seem to cross into the bass spectrum too much where my bass player is playing. Another possibility is that I don't have the right match up amp wise. I could try this with a Marshall.

Factory setup was average. Pickups to me were lacking. There was definitely a manufacturing flaw in the original guitar. I think this was documented in a forum on Dean's website and was a common problem for this guitar and year.

The detail on the look of the guitar is unbelievable.

This is my backup guitar and I would depend on it for that.

Excellent.

I've been playing for about 16 years. I own a Fender Tele with Harmonic Design pickups that I like better. One regret I have with this guitar are the pickups I chose with this. For style, I would have gone with an active pickup like EMG-81 or possibly the Harmonic Designs humbuckers ... which I eventualy may try.

The guitar plays nice, sounds a bit bluesy to me, but is fat.

Features have been covered, and yes, the guitar's quilted top is stunningly beautiful. Wow, like a PRS for so much less money! The coil-tap works extremely well, Strat-like tones are easy to get and switching between the six available tones is great fun. The neck joint is hugely effective and beats a Les Paul cold. Probably the most comfortable neck I've played in 35 years!

I play the blues and this guitar is superb for getting vocal tones and emotion from the strings. I'm playing through a Fender 85 and have very little noise even at 120 watts at "8" setting. This guitar does not REPLACE a Tel or Strat, but does a B+ tone for either, and absolutely nails the Les Paul tones at less weight, less money and much improved playability.

Set-up was good and easily tweaked, pickups need to be set quite low to provide best tone. No flaws to finish at all and fine quality hardware. Solid and well-made with Grover tuners that are great.

This is now my main axe and I play 3 sets twice a week. After four months I have zero problems. Did replace strap buttons to match my other guitars. I still play using a Strat, Tele, and Epi jazz box. But this is the ultimate Les Paul killer!

No contact with Dean as yet, but I've heard good things. Warranty is 5 years, pretty darn good I'd say!

After 35 years I know what a guitar needs to give me: TONE and great feel without backbreaking weight. I'd buy another EVO in a heartbeat. Beat on the guitar for hours and it stays in tune. I love the bright fret markers in low light and upper fret access is first-rate. Dean makes guitars for playing rather than collecting in a glasscase. What a fine instrument this thing is, and the cost to value ratio is just hard to believe!

Like all the rest, a stunning beauty out of the box, great quilted top, always gets compliments. Great fit & finish, killer inlays. Tone Tone TONE!

I own a 63 strat, a les paul, a es-335 and a gretsch anni model... This is my favorite guitar. Best overall tone & sustain of ANY guitar I've ever owned.

A gem, always draws notice. Never needed to adjust anything. Korea, Shmorea, This is a well made guitar, my 2nd evo, (Had an FT) and feels great in the hand and on the ear. Been playing 35 years, and I've never had so much fun playing any guitar. More les paul than my Les paul! Lighter, too!

Been playing the hell out of it for 4 mos, no problems yet. My other deans never gave any trouble.

Call em & you'll see, they're great.

Like I said, this $400 guitar holds its own and exceeds the playability & tone of guitar costing 5-10 times as much. How can you go wrong? I've played a long time, and I love this one even more than the other evo I had. Dean makes the best guitars on the market in the $300-$500 price range, acoustic & electric.

Mine is a 2003 Korean made EVO SS with two Dean Humbuckers with coil taps and a 3 way switch. I think it's mahogony but not sure. Beautiful finish. It is a "tiger eye" quilt top. Solid brown on the back and neck so I figure it is a laminated top. It has Grover tuners and a Tune-O-Matic with stop bar set up. I had to buy the case seperatly. The finish is flawless.

Sounds tight and strong. Dead quiet in either humbucker or split single selection on the pickups. The pickups aren't exactly Duncans but they are much better than expected. I really get a rich full sound out of them on my Traynor YCV80Q. I've had several Les Pauls over the years and I like this equally well especially when you consider the price to quality ratio.

The action was set up before the guitar was shipped to me and it seems like I was there telling them just how I wanted it. It was perfect out of the box. The finish is perfect and it is beautiful with the tiger eye quilt finish. Everything is as it should be. No misaligned parts, everything tight. The chrome on the hardware seems to be good quality. I really take care of my gear and always wipe off sweat and finger prints when I finish playing so I think the chrome and finish will withstand the test of time. Dean quality is amazing.

This is my 4th Dean. So far they have all been durable with no maintenance required after initial set up. The Strap buttons appear to be very solid as does everything on the guitar. I would take it without a backup without worry. It stays in tune with any amount of string bends and everything seems rock solid.

I've only dealt with Dean through their website and they have answered all questions within 24 hours. The Dean Forums on their website also have all the help you would ever need.

I give it an overall 9.5. I've found no flaws and I would put it up against any of my old Les Pauls any day. I think Dean is the best price to quality you can get. Worth twice as much IMO.

Incredible bookmatched quilty maple top. Abalone fingerboard inlays. Grover tuners. Dean "zebra" pickups. Fantastic angled set neck that creates a slim neck joint that lets you get to the high notes (like the PRS -- before it became the POS). Two bogus coil splitting push-pull pots on volume and tone knob. And best of all -- pounds lighter than a Les Paul!

I've owned a bunch of guitars, and the pickups on this baby are wonderful. They sound as good or better than the USA Duncans in my Les Paul Double Cut. For real. And that's 40 years of experience talkin'.

Flawless. Like butter. Amazing. Better than on most Gibsons costing thousands more. Dean has their overseas QC nailed. However, beware that there are SEVERAL EVO models -- and the cheaper ones (with "X" in the model name) are indeed absolute dreck. The Special isn't bad, but for a few bucks more the Special Select is fantastic. Think Les Paul Classic with GOOD pickups and a neck that's not a Louisville Slugger, and not OBESE. I'm tellin' ya, ya gotta get one of these EVOs!

TBD. Everything seems solid, though. I do the three Sunday services our worship band does back-to-back with this axe and no backup. And every piece of equipment I use has to be first durable and then versatile -- and this axe does all that and more.

Called Dean to register for warranty -- they are sending me a free t-shirt (apparently a common practice for them). Try getting THAT out of the Custom Shop snobs at Fender (who make TOYS, but don't get me started on whining single coils, screwed-on necks, and bodies made out wood that was rejected by the furniture industry -- and sprayed with auto paint ala Earl Scheib). They were warm, friendly, and told me that if I ever needed parts, don't hesitate to call.

I've been playing 40 years -- everything from folk to rock to blues to worship music. With my worship band, I have to go from ballads to chicken pickin' country to rock to soul -- all inside a 45-minute set, three services back-to-back, so the stuff I take up with me has to perform. Over the years I've owned Fenders (yech!), high-end Gibsons, Korean Hamers (nice!), and an assortment of miscellaneous guitars. If I didn't already own the Gibson, I'd consider this Dean a perfectly adequate and servicable "A guitar." It's that good. And for under $400!

I'm adding a second review for a second Evo SS ,
same features, but this one is a Lemon Burst flame top, Much nicer looking than the wood on my quilt tiger.
still wish it had double volume controls

Smokin , thats why It's my 3rd Evo

it was used, an needed cleaning, a setup, an strings
afterwards its more than enough to get the job done.

playing 30+ years, this makes 9 guitars, Gibson LP, V, Schecter C1e, Michael Kelly HG, yada yada
I've got 3 dean evos, looks like this is 'my' brand an model :)
this one is a ringer for a lemon burst Gary Moore, $232 + shipping ...

EVOs baby !

2003 EVO Special Select - Lefty, made in Korea. LP body style, 22 frets, Tiger Eye quilted top (real, not "film" top). One volume, one tone, 3-way pickup selector, pull out pots to coil tap the Dean Zebra humbuckers. Mahogany body and neck, quilted maple top, tune-o-matic bridge, Grover tuners. Bought with case.

I currently play through an old Bogen PA amp modded for guitar into a 1x12 cab with a Soldano 12" speaker. I play classic rock and blues. This guitar covers that very nicely. Pickups are hot (they each ohm out to 15.6k in the guitar!), but clean up nicely by backing off the guitar volume knob. I can go from clean to scream just by twisting the volume control on the guitar. It doesn't lose highs either when the volume knob is turned down. Humbuckers are dead quiet, and some single coil buzz when the coil taps are used. This was a feature (coil taps) I didn't expect to find useful on the guitar. I was wrong. Tapping the bridge p'up gives a nice, slightly fatter sounding Strat bridge pickup tone. I normally don't like the bridge pickup of a Strat all by itself, but I like this tone! The Neck pickup, when tapped, gives a nice Strat neck pickup tone. Used together, they offer a nice twangy tone. In the end, I'm very pleased with this feature.

Action was fair from the factory. Intonation was close. Everything adjusted to my liking fairly easily. The frets are nicely finished, especially for a guitar in this price range. There are a couple minor finish blems on the back/edge of the body, and a small fill blem around one of the beautiful inlays on the fretboard. Top is perfect. I thought the top was grainy looking up close, but from about 3 feet away on back, the figuring is striking. Nothing was a showstopper for me; I did some soul searching and kept the guitar.

I think this will hold up quite well. I would play without a backup. In fact, it holds tune very well. I feel that wouldn't be an issue when playing out with it.

The pickup selector switch knob broke off in shipping. I emailed Dennis at Adirondack Guitars, and within I received 2 replacement knobs directly from Dean!

I started playing back in '85. I played out for a while in the late 80's. Now I just play for me at home. I play this through a (don't laugh) Bogen tube PA amp converted for guitar use. The amp is one on the best I've played through. The EVO can take it from clean to scream with just a twist of the guitar's volume. I do wish it had a volume and tone control for each pickup. Can't say that there is anything I dislike about the guitar. For the money I spent, I'm very happy. I'd replace it if it disappeared. For the money, it's nearly perfect for me. I rated it at a 9 only because of the minor blemishes.

Zebra pickups, Hourglass Inlays, Grover Tuners, Dean Case, Tiger Eye Finish (BEAUTIFUL)

Contemp Rock, Rock, Metal.

I actually got to open mine right out of the box at the music store, I just happen to be there when fed ex pulled up. (I bugged them for 3 days asking when is it coming.) My Action was perfect for me straight from the factory. And can I tell you about the finish on this guitar? MAN !! That's the first thing you notice ! I got the Tiger Eye Finish and it was beautiful. The hour glass inlays just set the thing off. It was as if the guy who packed it in the box, set the action, shined it up and prayed a prayer over it before he put the glue on to seal the box.

Realiability? I think this guitar will last, it's like anything else, you take care of it, you still have a great guitar.

Man, I am big on Customer Support. I do it for a living. It's been driven in me by my company. So, with that said, here's the deal. As soon as I got my guitar I called Dean, to see what would happen. I know how to register a guitar for warranty on the web, I just wanted to see if they were jerks. Dude not only registers my guitar for me but says "hey, is this your first Dean? Let me send you a T-Shirt." How cool is that!
I have not had a problem to call on them but I'm sure they'd respond the same way.

Read this !! Now guys, I rated the above high, cause I played it for a month everyday before I bought it. I knew what I was getting. So let me tell you why. I've been playing for 13 years, I know a good guitar when I play one and I hate to say it about Dean but they make some pretty crappy Acoustics. I've had a couple buddies who spent 250 on a Dean acoustic and then get pissed off cause it's paper thin wood, no sustain and doesnt sound like mine. So I ask, why did you buy it and they say "Cause it was pretty." I've learned in 13 years this one statement "SCREW PRETTY when it comes to guitars, that's the last thing I look for and it's not priority!"
So, when a friend who I trusted kept tellin me that he was saving for the DEAN EVO, I just laughed and said, your waisting your time, having never played it or heard it. So one day, as we are passing by the store he wanted to stop in and play it. I couldnt help but notice how beautiful it was and thought, another sucker! Then he played it through a cheap amp, BAM !! My ears were tingling!! This could not be !! Never being in the music store before (they only sell Deans) I asked the guy, can I plug that guitar in that Marshall over there and crank it? He nodded. I did and BAM!! I instantly turned into Stevie Ray Vaughan !! Long story short, I came by every chance I got for a month to see if what I was playing was a crappy Dean. IT WAS NOT! I'm sold on these Zebra pickups, I'm sold on the inlays and finish and most of all, I'm sold on this guitar. I love it, I would trade it and I tell my wife all the time that if she doesnt straighten up, I'm sleepin with my EVO. You cant go wrong for the money, It's worth more than I paid, honestly. I gave it all 10's cause that's what it is!

Manufactured in 2001,Korea. 6 Strings, Solid mahogany body, set in mahogany neck. Rosewood fretboard, but quite smooth, not as grainy as some. First look, thought it was Ebony. Hour-glass mother-of-pearl inlays, 22 Frets, unsure of original tuners, Tune-o-Matic Style Bridge, Tiger Eye Quilted Maple Top, wood binding all around the body, Dean designed Zebra Humbucking Pickups, three-way toggle switch, single volume & tone knobs. Very accessible neck/body joint. It tapers underneath allowing your left hand to access all the way up the neck. This particular model did NOT have the coil tap push/pull knobs.

I play mostly contemporary Christian Worship Music. But nowadays, that can rock more so than most people think. I also play a bit on the rare weekend & do Classic rock (Clapton, Santana, Hall & Oates, Eagles)I do both rhythm & Lead. This guitar fills the bill easily.
Playing through a J-Station and using a direct line to the PA, I can get great tones through the FOH system.
Depending on the volume setting & the amp setting on the J-Station, I can cover a lot of different tones.

Action, when I first got it, was Ok. The action near the nut was too high and the store I got it from just didn't seem to understand my request to lower the action near the nut. I eventually had to do it myself. Minor adjustment to the neck to get rid of a slight buzz around the 7th fret. Bridge had to have two of the saddles reversed to get the intonation perfect (or as near to perfect as anyone can get)

Pickups had a bad solder joint. The salesman told me the Bridge pickup was thin sounding. When I first got it, yeh, I thought so too. But then I noticed it wasn't just thin, it was much lower in volume. When I started looking into replacement pickups, I had to check out the wiring to see how diffictult it would be to do it myself and found the bad solder joint. Of the wire soldered down to the switch, only ONE strand had made the connection. After cleaning the old solder off & trimming the wire & resoldering, the pickup sounded as strong as expected. Nice bite & some nice overtones.

Tuning pegs, like I said, not sure who the manufacturer was, but they were a bit sloppy. (No longer Grovers?) Replaced those with a set of Locking Grovers.

The finish was what originally caught my eye. Nothing on the Rack looked anywhere near as sharp as this. The body looked great, no flaws, the wood binding is interesting and attractive.

I play this more than my American Standard Strat that I thought I could never replace. I still have the strat, but this is just too enjoyable to put down. Hardware seems pretty decent, no tarnishing after one year of daily use. I replaced the strap buttons with Dunlop locking straps. The originals looked fine, I just prefer the locking ones.
Dependable, I hope I don't jink myself by saying this, but I think it is.
I always keep the Strat at home when I have this out. Complete confidence in this thing!

I have not had to have any additonal work than the stuff mentioned. The soldering thing could have been handled by the store where I bought it, but it was faster to do it myself. Warranty is....5 years? I can't recall, the paperwork is buried somewhere, but it seemed longer than a year.

Oh yeh, the hard shell case was extra. $499 for the guitar, $100 for the case.

Been playing off & on for over 30 years. The last 10 years solid with no diversions. I own an American Standard 40th anniversary Strat. Ovation Standard acoustic/electric. Peavey Classic 30 amp.
Johnson J-Station, Behringer FCB 1010 footcontroller.

If lost or stolen, I would seriously look into getting another one.
For the money, it easily beat anything else out there at the time I was looking. I looked at Epiphone LPs and the action was comparable, but the tone was not. Nor the looks. I had an opportunity to wait another 10 months and get a Gibson LP Standard, but I just couldn't see paying the approximately $1700 (at the time) for the LP when I could get the tone, looks and playability that the Dean offered for less than half the cost. Also , the Dean has great tone & sustain and DOESN'T WEIGH A TON, like the Gibson LPs do.

Extremely happy, after a year & 4 months, with this investment.

Made 2002 in Korea, 22 frets, etc (go to www.deanguitars.com for full specs)
Coil taps were an unexpected pleasure to me. I didn't expect to see this feature on such a relatively inexpensive guitar. Dean pickups sound great to me, although the Seymour Duncan neck pu's on the Premium did sound louder with a slightly nicer sustain/tone, but thats the only pu I would replace. Grover tuners have been solid so far. Strap buttons seem very solid. I'm actually not giving it a 10 though, but a solid 9.5. It would be nice to have seperate volume/tone for each pickup.

I play a lot of different (rock) styles, but I seem predisposed to heavy/hard rock(Rush/Zep/Sabbath/Maiden) with small drifts to mellower(Santana/Yes/Trower). I usually play through a Roland BluesCube(30w) or headphone-out from my Boss ME-33 (which deserves it's own review)
The coil taps due hum nicely (as expected) but the humbuckers are cricket-chirp quiet. I LOVE the sounds from this guitar, anything from sweet singing to throaty growls. I spent WEEKS before buying this guitar, trying out everything I could (everything less then ~$1200 at least!;)) I tried almost every Epiphone I could find: G-400(SG), LP Elite, LP Custom, SheratonII (just to see if I liked the semi-hollow tone); Gibson LP Studio, LP Special, SG 69' reissue; Ibanez RG and S series;Brian Moore 8i;PRS Tremonti, Santana and the Dean EVO Premium and Cadillac Premium. All the above seemed weak in comparison to the price (IMHO), of course the $3800 Gibson LP did sound nicer, but it was pretty easy to decide between these 2. I'm giving it a 9 for it's incredible versatility, but there are better sounding guitars out there (for a lot more money of course)

Setup from the factory seemed excellent, no fret buzz, nice medium-low action. I prefer 10's to the 9's they come with, but that's pretty standard. Intonation was excellent.
The finish just blew me away though. NO guitar (again IMHO) matches the beauty of these inlays. Sorry PRS but those little birds don't match these beauties. It's really impossible to describe unless you see one in person(the web picture at Dean does it no justice). They use some kind of marblized material that shows amazing color reflections as it moves around. I watched my friend across the room as he tried it out and it was like a laser light show. The color (Tiger'sEye) is just beautiful (and unique) with a nice thick gloss. I'm hard put to find ANY flaws, and being a amatuer woodworker, I would consider them 'character' anyway (at least that's what I call any flaws in my woodwork!). Even the headstock emblems are 'pearlized'. I would give this category an 11 if possible.

I've only had the guitar for 2 weeks, so I can't give a firm opinion on this yet. Nothing's come loose yet, and the finish seems durable. My only 'gigging' is in my friend's basement with our own power trio, so I'm not really worried about a backup. I'll update this review in 6 months and see how it's hanging int here

Haven't dealt with them

I've been playing for about 3 years now. I started on an Ovation Acoustic Electric then moved over to a Peavey T-60(Strat copy w/humbuckers). If it were lost or stolen I would be seriously upset, and I would pray they still made this model. I love the great tones, the amazing finish and just how great it feels to play. I was talking to a guy who's been playing for 30 years and he said 'There'll come a time when you pick up a guitar and it just feels right for you. Somebody else may pick it up and hate it, but to you it'll be perfect. When that happens to you, don't hesitate, buy it right then and there or somebody else will.' Well this guitar is it for me. This guitar blows any other $500 guitar away, Epiphone, Fender, Ibanez, etc. Nowadays, a $500 guitar is your bottom-end model, and you can't even touch a real Gibson for that. I tried to be very methodical about buying my next guitar. I did a lot of research on every guitar(including looking here) and this guitar just shines out of the crowd. I would've paid $800-900 for this guitar and still felt like I got a deal.
If Gibson wanted to make a Les Paul that sounded and looked this nice, I would buy it, but I haven't seen any pigs in the sky recently and I'm not expecting any in the near future. At least do yourself a favor and find a Dean dealer in your area so you can at least compare them. I think you'll be amazed at the value and quality, so don't shell out for that Gibson until you do!

Dean Evo Special Select. Korean. Stop tailpiece, Dean Zebra pickups, push-pull Volume & Tone, Tiger Eye finish, Grover tuners, etc.

Sounds beautiful. I suspect (no evidence for this) that these Dean pups may be Duncans in disguise. Some hum when the bridge coil is tapped, but this is perfectly normal. The humbuckers are as quiet as a graveyard at midnight. The sound is simply wonderful, whatever the pups are. I am a natural tinkerer but I have NO desire to replace the pups (as I had to do on my Squier Stagemaster, which sounded like crap out of the box) and risk ruining its wonderful tonal character.

Well, as others have pointed out, the finish on the body is nothing less than jaw-dropping stunning. I don't care if it's quilted, flamed or pissed-on, this was easily the best-looking guitar in the entire store. The finish on the fretboard was a little sloppy near the body, but you have to look closely to see it. The coil-tap on the neck pup doesn't work and something may need replacing. I'm disappointed with the plastic nut; for a few pennies more, Dean could have fitted something better and more in line with the high-quality of the rest of the ax. Everything else looks as close to perfect as my eye can discern. The inlay work on the fretboard is beautiful and unheard-of in an ax of this price. I must mention the exquisite attention to design co-ordination that has gone into the look of this guitar. The colors, the chrome (i don't like gold), the inlay, the detailing, etc., all add up beautifully and suggest that a designer with a great aesthetic eye was at the helm. I would give this category a 10 instantly if it weren't for the non-operational coil-tap and the slight flaw in the fretboard finish.

Just got it so can't really say. But it seems like it will wear like iron. Strap buttons are metal. The gloss looks bulletproof.

I have to give this ax the highest rating because of the incredible price to quality ratio. It has a few flaws, but really nothing significant (other than the non-functional coil-tap mentioned above). Compare the tone, finish and detailing on this beauty to an Epiphone Standard (as I did) and you will buy the Dean in a heartbeat. As I intimated above, this one of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen--which would mean little if it didn't sound as fine as it does. If this ax were $700 or $800 it would still be worth it. If it had a few refinements (such as shielded cavities), better quality control and the Duncan name on the pups, it would be worth it at $1200 to $1500. But for $450 it's a proverbial steal.

I won't repeat every word already posted. This is my second Dean, my other is an Exotica BB acoustic. Dean makes an excellent guitar without a doubt ! Both guitars are of excellent quality. Someone has their eye on quality control and customer satisfaction. Also, Mr. Dean Zalinski out of the goodness of his heart took the time to sign both my guitars for me. Now, that's a class act.

Anyway, the Evo Special Select is a great guitar. I play a wide range of music (country, Rock,Jazz)and this guitar works very well for all.

Sweet, wonderful !

Fit and finish are near perfect. A couple blemishes, but so VERY minor you have to look real hard to find them.

I think reliability & durability are not a problem unless you abuse your equipment.

Customer support is excellent. Like I said, I got both guitars signed by the man himself. So how could I complain ?

Great value, well put together. I've played far more expensive guitars that didn't feel this good.

Dean Evo Special Select , Quilted Maple Cap, Maple bound TigerEye Moahogany Body,
Set 22 fret Mahogany Neck with Angled Neck heel, Rosewood board with Abalone 'hourglass' Markers,
Dean Zebra humbuckers, 3way Selector, one Volume & Tone with pull shafts for Single Coil,
Good Grover tuners, Tune0matic, Stopbar Tailpiece

I was worried about about having to buy and install pickups, but these Stock Deans , with this guitar,
sound alot like the DirtyFingers in my V, and that is a GOOD thing. (Good thing my ass, thats GREAT !)
Woulda been nice to have had two Volumes, so I could still do the toggle interupt, I like that :)
and the Single Coil sounds aren't near as single coil as the real thing, or my Schecter C1Elite,
If you just want to wail some rhythm, blues, and lead, Buy Two an hit the Road.

the TigerEye finish is Flawless and Beautiful, even if I'd have prefered a touch lighter, amber center,
I was disappointed with the quality of the Top, It looked great in the photo (on Ebay),
but after I got it I realized that , while the Quilt pattern is Quite Distinctive ,
the top looks more like Blow torched plywood than Quilted Maple...
also If Dean used Rosewood dust, instead of BLACK epoxy for the inlays, the gaps wouldn't be as noticable.

So I knock 2 points off for that.

On the other hand, the Specs for the Special Select are MOP Fretboard markers, Not ABALONE.
Thats a $100 option on Carvins. The Neck is a Joy to play, Goldilocks says 'just right' :)
Its not a fretless wonder, but they are unobtrusive, and nicely crowned and finished. I HATE Jumbo Frets.
The Long Tenon Neck Joint has been receiving alot of Press time, But if it ain't neck-thru, Give me
this Sweet Angled Neck heel everytime ! I can finally use some of those top 7 frets , yeah !

Bottom Line, while I might rather Look at a Desertburst LP Studio , I'd rather Play an Evo Special Select.
I hope this doesn't screw up my Gibson Signature deal ...

This guitar is a beauty! It's a 2001 Special Select made in Korea with a quilted maple sunburst, two 59 Seymour Duncan humbuckers (both creme/black), Grover tuners, and an arched top. Controls feature the usual LP setup: three-way switch, a tone knob, and a volume knob. Also with a stop tailpiece and a tune-o-matic bridge. Pretty solid setup for any guitar if you ask me. The neck is great! You can slide up and down that thing with the greatest of ease. It makes you feel like a rock god. The neck is rosewood (of course)and is fat (I absolutely love fat necks). It also has fairly good-sized frets.

This guitar can fit any music style. I mostly play rock and emo. But this guitar can still crank out the blues, jazz, and pop styles too. It's one of the most versatile guitars I've ever played. I play it through a 67 Fender Bandmaster head and cab. From the amp I have a buttload of effects that I run through. I'm sort of like the Edge when it comes to effects, I have about 14 stompboxes. I also own an Epiphone ES-335 Dot that sounds great too. But, this is about my Dean. The thing about this guitar is if you don't like alot of high end in your eq, this beast is your kind of guitar. My friend has a Double Fat Strat and his lowest 5-way setting is like my highest 3-way setting. It almost destroys the need to own a Mesa/Boogie amp. Anyway, this thing will sound awesome even through a shitty little Gorilla amp!

The guitar was set up pretty damn well at the factory. I had to adjust the pickups just a bit but other than that, everything has been fine. The finish is flawless. It's like a PRS top-ten finish. If it wasn't perfect, they would've sawn my baby in half and burned it.

I can get pretty wild when I play and this thing has withstood anything I can throw at it. I've tried to be really careful with it though. I replaced the strap buttons with Dunlop Strap Locks just because I didn't want my guitar to fall. The strap buttons that were on it before were fine, but I wanted to be sure nothing would happen. I would definitely gig without a backup guitar. This is the most reliable guitar ever.

Haven't had to do anything and with the way things are going I don't think I'll have to. I'm sure Dean would have good service when they do so well with their guitars.

I've been playing now for 6 years solid. I absolutely love this guitar. I compared it to about 4 other guitars before I bought it. Gibson and Epiphone being the competitors (I'm a LP freak). This baby smoked them all in everything. Sounded clearer, played better, looked prettier, and still was a LP. Plus, 2 thousand dollars cheaper (Gibson's just a name mostly). I love everything about it. If it were stolen I would go out and buy another. And if that got stolen I would buy another, and so on. It's just awesome! If you haven't played one yet, look for them at the music stores. Once you try it, you're addicted for life. Dean kicks ASS!

$439 for a 2001 Dean Evo Special Select...22 frets, Grover tuners, dual humbuckers with one volume, one tone, mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard, tune-o-matic bridge, archtop, wood binding, etc...you're probably only here because you already looked at it. Giving this an 8 because I would have liked coil taps to be there like the Evo Special.

This guitar suits my style pretty well...heavy distortion but nice, full cleans. I use it with a pretty crappy amp, a Marshall Valvestate VS100R with a TS-7 Tubescreamer, a Boss Chorus, and a Vox Wah. The pickups aren't particularly noisy. They are incredibly versatile pickups...even the bridge can get really muddy and deep if you want. But with both humbuckers going, it's a beautiful, full and clean sound. I play mostly incubus-esque stuff with some Pearl Jam / Weezer / Tool thrown in. Basically, I like everything.

The guy at the store I bought it at set it up for me...action was really good and that neck joint is amazing. It makes it feel like the neck just goes on forever. The finish is completely gorgeous. Never trust the internet pictures of it...it's breathtaking in real life. But, there is a significant buzz, especially on the fat E string. But once you get used to playing the guitar, you don't have a problem.

I'm going to have to depend on this since it's the only guitar good enough to be seen in public with! good finish (deep with lots of highlights). Strap buttons seem sturdy, hardware gives me no reason to complain...since I'm not throwing it on the ground, I don't think I'll have any problems with it's durability.

These tchochmeisters didn't get back to me until a week later when I talked to them by email.

This is the best guitar I have so I give it a 9. Great value for the money.

My dean is the same as the rest 2001 model, tiger eye finish etc.. so i wont be stating the features. The only probem though is the lack of versatility due to the presence of only one volume and one tone nobs.

Well for me, i have 3 strats having pickups from lace sensors to Jbjr and hotrails, and a gibson flying V 67 reissue.When it comes to pumping distortion, the dean kicks their ass, clean it sound better than my V, with more depth and clarity, but on the other hand cant come close to my strat plus. so i basically use it for heavier music where it provides tons of sweet sustain. I my opinion it is best for heavy stuff and leads that need sustain, may be used for jazz, but is useless for blues. I am only rating it high because it is so cheap compared to its quality.

Well here is my basic problem with the guitar. Although the neck is fat, i find it too narrow for me to be fully comfortable, and yes, the buzzing, i had to fix some frets to get rid of that. so if the neck was wider and the frets a bit more professionally set up, you would have a killer axe, but i guess the price and the sound , make up for that.

Solid, thick, the pefect workhorse. Very dependable, so unless you go breaking stuff on stage, this guitar will last a long time.

Never tried it.

wellout of all my guitars, i feel inspite of its imperfections this is my best deal. for what is lacking is made up for by the price and sound, and guys be real, it only costs a couple of hundred. Well to me i have not found a guitar that does what this guitar does better that would not cost at least 3 times as much..

For features see above reviews. The push/pull knobs are sweet. I wish it had individual tone controls for each pickup, otherwise it has all the features I need.

I play through a POD to a Crate GFX65 and i've also used my bro's Saldano head and cab. It has quite a variety of sounds available even though it has only 1 tone knob. I basically play blues and metal, great bluesy tone. I found the pickups to be pretty hot, not as hot as I would like though. I am going to rate this guitar on the quality of the tone though, it sounds great- thick, warm, and creamy like mama's milk. For my taste I would like a little more heat though so i'm going to throw in some duncan live wires and then get back to you.

The action was a little to high for my taste when I recieved the guitar. I dropped the action and its like budda now, for the hell of it I even dropped it way down to see how low I could get it before it would fret out, that sucka got shred metal Jackson low and still barely any buzz! The fit is awesome. I was a little worried at first because the neck is an unconventional size, (a tiny bit smaller than the other EVO's or a Paul) I couldnt tell when playing it though. The neck is sweet, frets are finished to just about perfection and the heel at the neck/body joint is tapered for easy playin' up high.....oh yeah baby tis nice! I have the quilt sunburst finish, gorgeous, flawless, even the bookmatching is spot on. The bridge, tuners and the rest had no flaws either and were all good quality.

As far as this catagory goes I can only offer you my assumptions 'cause i've had the guitar for just a matter of weeks. It seems plenty rugged to me. The hardware is of good quality, the tuners are Grover. The finish seems like its 1/4 inch of gloss! I dont see that it will wear off anytime soon. All in all it feels plenty sturdy for any situation.

Like I said, I havent had the guitar long so I cant rate customer support.

I've been playing for 12 years and owned and tried alot of guitars. No bullshit- this is the best bang for the buck you can get. Its in the same price range as an Epi Les Paul (actually cheaper) but is the same quality as a Gibson Les Paul. If your thinking about gettin' a new guitar, save some $ and the dissapointment of gettin' a piece of poo poo and get yerself an EVO.

Made 2001 in Korea. Features are all listed by others, so I won't bother. I do wish there were tone knobs for both pickups, but i did pay a great deal less than a Les Paul, so who's complaining? Tiger eye finish--very beautiful. Stock strings were kind of stiff so I laced it up with Ernie Ball Super Slinky's.

Sound is very good, very flexible. This is really my first electric guitar. I have been playing classical guitar for 13 years and have now decided a change of pace will suit me. I was looking at Les Pauls and PRS's, but settled on this one figuring I should save the bucks and see if I really like the electric before the heavier investment. I play it through a run-of-the-mill fender amp, and sometimes a Pandora PX3 for kicks.

Action was another feature that sold me on this guitar--very nice. Also, overall build quality is excellent, stunning even. The neck settles comfortably in the hand. Factory setup was actually pretty good, but I tweaked it anyway just because I am emotionally and anally obligated to tweak all my guitars.

I've had it a very short time, so tough to guage accurately. Based on the attention to detail on this axe, I have to believe overall reliability will be excellent.

No exposure as yet...

I have a Tiger Eye finish as well so I won't repeat this area over again. Finish is ten times as good as the one on the Dean website.

well the pickups sounded a little bit too muddy to me, so I changed them out and put a Fernandes vintage pickup from a Japanese Rubber Jig and a Seymour Duncan 59 at the neck. Now it's just an awesome tone master. I have a killer bridge tone and a very flexible neck tone suited for playing anything from blues to metal leads. The woods combined with the fact that it has a long heel tennon (les paul freaks will know what I mean by this) make sustain on this axe a breeze.

Finish is awesome. Looks like a mirrored quilt and the binding is phenomenal. Everything came great out of the box.

This guitar is one of my primary slaves on stage. I love using it for the absolutely heaviest of our sets live. I play covers and originals alike with it.

Dean's customer support is awesome. Nuff said.

I've been playing for about 7 years now and it's one of my primary axes I use to both play live with and record. That should say something right there. I have a buddy who is signed on an independent label and he used it to record his lead tracks with. He tried to buy it off of me but I just couldn't part with it. He even tried to trade me his PRS but after playing on it and having that one I just can't justify substituting a Dean for a PRS.

Manufaqctured in 2001 (Korea, but don't let that fool you!), 6 Strings, Solid Mahogany Body, Set In Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, Mother-of-Pearl Block Hour Glass Inlays, 22 Frets, Grover Tuners, Tune-o-Matic Style Bridge, Tiger Eye Quilted Maple Top, Wood Binding on Body, Dean Designed Zebra Humbucking Pickups, Three Way Toggle Switch, Single Volume and Tone Knobs. Great neck heel! Best design I've ever seen. It tapers on the underside to allow your left hand comfortable access to ALL frets! I'm deducting 2 points because of the single volume and tone and no coil tapping, which most of the lesser humbucking models in this line seem to have.

Great sound! Blues, Hard Rock, Rockabilly - it has them all. Bridge position: Les Paul with a little Tele twang. Middle position: Les Paul with some Strat overtones, clear and crisp, bell like without the nasal. Bridge position: Full rich sound. Jazz, Blues, Heavy Rhythm crunch. Very quiet through my Zoom GFX8 -> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or Marshall AVT20. My only complaint is the volume pot is really awful, to the point that it basically is an on/off switch. I'll be replacing that though when I install coil taps. Other than that this is a killer axe.

Well, the aforementioned volume pot is a negative, but it is fairly easily corrected. The finish on this baby is what sold me on picking up this guitar. It is just absolutely jaw dropping eye popping gorgeous! I've never seen a guitar with this type of quilting before. As far as set up goes, well I never expect any guitar I buy to be set up unless it's negotiated as a part of the sale. I always do my own set ups to kind of bond with my new guitar anyways. It's kind of a spiritual thing. I did have to do some minor tweaking of the truss rod though to eliminate some fret buzz. After all, this isn't a Custom Shop guitar (despite it's impeccable quality!) and I didn't talk to the guy who set it up as it was being shipped out the door along with however many other guitars were produced that particular day. Otherwise everything fits just fine. No complaints at all.

This is one solid piece of lumber! Well made with quality components throughout (except for the volume pot). The bridge posts are even sturdier than a Les Paul's! I have no doubts as to it's durability. I've just ordered an EVO 60 so I'll have a backup.

Dean has THE BEST customer support in the world! I've emailed them several times regarding different specs on different models and have always gotten a prompt reply with helpful information. The president of the company, Elliott Rubinson, has even responded personally to several of my inquiries. And Dean Zelinsky himself goes on line every Thursday night on their website for a live chat. They have a discussion board on their website that is very well maintained and monitored, so there really isn't any reason you couldn't get help if you needed it. They've proved to me that they're committed to quality customer service and standing behind their excellent products.

This is a great guitar! I was in the market for a Les Paul and willing to pay the big bucks. Then I saw this one. I can't get over the quality for the price I paid. I had never really paid attention to Deans before. Sure, it's made in Korea (they also manufacture in the U.S. and hand craft guitars in Europe). But from what I understand Dean has their own manufacturing facility there with very high quality control and I think it shows. If you really feel the need to spend a lot of money to have the "G" word on the headstock then go ahead. But every time I pick this beauty up and play it I'm glad that I made the decision to get this one instead. It sounds better, plays better, looks better, and cost about one third the price. I've been converted to Dean guitars.