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tjon901 « The Dean everyone thinks of »
Published on 07/06/11 at 08:34Dean guitars was started in the mid 70s buy a guy named Dean Zelinsky. They are known for their radical shapes. Dean had the idea that the more spread out the wood on your guitar is the better it would sound. They are also known for their V profile necks. The V profile necks fit the radical motif of having radical shapes on their guitars. One of their most recognizable models is the Dean ML. It looks like a cross between an explorer and a flying v and thats what it is pretty much. The 79 ML model is based off of the specs of what the ML would have been in 1979. The guitar has a mahogany body and a flamed maple top. It has a mahogany neck with set neck construction. The neck is the Gibson scale lenght. It has a 22 fret rosewood fretboard with jumbo frets. This model was a stop tail and it had a tune-o-matic bridge and a string through stop tail piece similar to that of a 58 or 59 model flying v. It comes with two Dean pickups and each one has its own volume knob along with a master tone knob. There is a 3 way toggle switch to switch between the pickups with. On top of the radical headstock there are grover tuners.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is very well balanced like an explorer. You can easily play the guitar sitting down or standing up in a normal position or classical. The guitar feels nice and solid and has a lot of mass to it obviously. The V profile neck has an interesting feel. Some people like it and some people dont. I am not a huge fan. I prefer a C or D shape neck. The neck is set it so you will be reaching around the body to get to the highest frets but it isnt as bad as a Les Paul. The tune-o-matic bridge that came on my model meant the tuning help stability very well and gave nice sustain. With the V shaped headstock you must be careful because you may swing and hit something and break it off. The guitar is also too big for normal cases. Many ML guitars you have seen played live by professionals will have large chunks missing out of the end of the horns. Overall the Korean build quality of these guitars is prety nice.
SOUNDS
With the maple top you get a bit of crispness to the sound. The ML has a lot of natural clarity to its tone. The stock pickups are okay. The tone is helped by the natural resonance of the guitar but the pickups could be better. The stock pickups have a decent amount of chunk. They are pretty hot. Dean knows who is going to play this guitar and how they are going to play it so they threw in some hot pickups from the factory. If you are looking to get the most out of this guitar I recommend swapping in a set of Seymour Duncan pickups. High quality aftermarket pickups will let you take advantage of all the resonance in the guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
Dean guitars are good overall but its not really a brand people fall into. If you are playing a Dean that means you wanted to play a dean and were looking to play a dean. Dean guitars are relics from the era of Arena Rock and such. When you play one of these people 100 rows out will be able to tell what you are playing. Dean guitars still has many endorsees today so they must be doing something right. If you are looking for a Dean guitar this is probably the first one that comes to mind.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is very well balanced like an explorer. You can easily play the guitar sitting down or standing up in a normal position or classical. The guitar feels nice and solid and has a lot of mass to it obviously. The V profile neck has an interesting feel. Some people like it and some people dont. I am not a huge fan. I prefer a C or D shape neck. The neck is set it so you will be reaching around the body to get to the highest frets but it isnt as bad as a Les Paul. The tune-o-matic bridge that came on my model meant the tuning help stability very well and gave nice sustain. With the V shaped headstock you must be careful because you may swing and hit something and break it off. The guitar is also too big for normal cases. Many ML guitars you have seen played live by professionals will have large chunks missing out of the end of the horns. Overall the Korean build quality of these guitars is prety nice.
SOUNDS
With the maple top you get a bit of crispness to the sound. The ML has a lot of natural clarity to its tone. The stock pickups are okay. The tone is helped by the natural resonance of the guitar but the pickups could be better. The stock pickups have a decent amount of chunk. They are pretty hot. Dean knows who is going to play this guitar and how they are going to play it so they threw in some hot pickups from the factory. If you are looking to get the most out of this guitar I recommend swapping in a set of Seymour Duncan pickups. High quality aftermarket pickups will let you take advantage of all the resonance in the guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
Dean guitars are good overall but its not really a brand people fall into. If you are playing a Dean that means you wanted to play a dean and were looking to play a dean. Dean guitars are relics from the era of Arena Rock and such. When you play one of these people 100 rows out will be able to tell what you are playing. Dean guitars still has many endorsees today so they must be doing something right. If you are looking for a Dean guitar this is probably the first one that comes to mind.