Huge Guy

Kind of a weird question I know, but I recently picked up a Dean Vendetta XM on Craig's List for cheap. The thing feels unnaturally light, supposedly due to the type of wood it's made of...

Anyway I was Googling about this guitar and I found a thread in another forum from a guy claiming he once saw one fall and when it hit the floor, it broke open, revealing that the body was a thin veneer covering COMPRESSED TRASH including syrofoam, soda labels, etc.

Anyone think it could be true? Should be buy a junker, cut it open, and check what's inside?

jpcl

Probably some kind of rapping goodies scheme. Kinda like Charlie finding the golden ticket to get a tour in the Chocolate Factory.

Huge Guy

Seriously the thing really does feel like a giant piece of styrofoam! Anyone ever broken one by accident?

jpcl

Well there's only one way of knowing weither this might be true, without breaking it. How would you say the guitar sounds? Does it sound a bit too lackful of tone even for a guitar at this price range?

I can imagine, that if it does have only a small layer of woods stuck together, that it can't be noticeable soundwise if there's a reasonable amp to use.

jeleopard

It's made of essentially plywood. It's such a poop guitar.

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dannyalcatraz

1) If it were, I'm thinking some guitar tech would have said something by now.

2) supposedly, it is actually made from an unusual wood called Paulownia.

3) as more traditional woods used in guitar making become rarer and thus more expensive, you'll see more new materials being used. Licea makes guitars out of bamboo, Nicole uses Corian, and Arestides (and many others) make guitars out of aluminum.

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lemurflames

Someone buy one and dissect it.

Would make for a fun, quick thread.

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Glenn Guitar

Not suprised, its a very cheap guitar made out of very cheap materials with extremely low quality control aimed at beginner players who are fans of a rock/metal genre demographic.

You could cut it open if you wanted, make a video about it. Would give people some good insight on budget guitar buying, and why they might be better off buying in the used market if their budget is tight.

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Robbgnarly

I have an older dean EVO XM and it is basswood with a thin mahogany viner on it and that was covered by a sticker thing to give it a stained look.

Paulowina is indeed a very light wood, but it doesnt sound horrible.

I have completely refinnished the guitar now it is solid white with all black hardware and a dimarzio SD in the bridge and a GFS dream180 in the neck.

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Huge Guy

Found a video of some idiots actually smashing one. Seems to be actual wood, if it were really just trash I'm sure it would've burst apart easily.

Huge Guy

True I think if it really were garbage a guitar tech would've blown the whistle long ago. I opened up the backplate and it does seem to be one solid piece of wood, though it's very splintery.

FenrirFangs

It's made from the body parts of small children.

Offworld92

I've owned one. My second guitar actually.

It was a real pile of shit, but I kind of miss it. 1) As you mentioned, it is light as a feather. I have never before nor since encountered a guitar as light as it was. 2) It had a really unique tone, probably due to it's questionable construction.

The piece of shit literally fell apart on me, but it's tone was really... raw and aggressive, really harsh. I know adjectives are useless, but I think it would be great for an industrial/noise band. That is, if it didn't completely fall apart over time. Which it does.

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ihartfood

lol

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ne14t

Odds are its probably Balsa wood, its extremely light weight and is the softest wood classified as a hardwood. Really cheap stuff too, not sure how it would work as a tone wood but they do make acoustic and electric guitars out of it. An electric guitar with a Balsa wood body could probably weigh as little as 3lbs

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Darkdevil725

Its made of Paulownia which is a really light wood, its not something I would personally want a guitar made of but its not too bad. I worked on a friends dean which was made of this same wood and after a good setup it actually sounded really nice. I would actually recommend this wood for anyone that plays but has major back problems.

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Huge Guy

What happened to it? Mine is practually new but it feels so fragile. I may unload it soon before it starts to fall apart!

Huge Guy

One problem with the weight is that it's so light the center of gravity seems to be in the neck somewhere.

I do think it sounds ok, though.

eddiehimself

That's pretty normal for such a cheap guitar; they generally don't spend a whole lot of time sanding the inside surface nice and smooth or anything.

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