Dean Guitars introduces the Dean HardTail -- the first guitar designed by Dean Zelinsky since his return last year. This guitar was 3 years in the making utilizing Dean's 20 plus years in the industry and all of the progress that had been made by others during his 12 year hiatus. The new guitar design was debuted at the Summer 2001 NAMM show. Only hand selected pieces of mahogany, with the highest quality of figured maple are chosen for the tops of the Dean HardTail. // 10
Sound: The Dean HardTail covers styles from country to blues, and jazz to rock with ease. The clean sound is very nice as well, very fat and bluesy. This guitar sounds great. Electronically it is quiet no hums, buzzes, or feedback issues. The bridge position is plenty bright with lots of clarity. When overdriven there is massive amounts of crunch and sustain making it a great guitar for covering rock, rythm and lead. The pickups on the HardTail gave me harmonics and overtones. Chords sound good up and down the neck. The TonePros bridge is great! No more parts falling off when changing strings. A very well balanced and full sounding guitar and every position sounds very musical. // 10
Action, Fit & Finish: The action, fit, and finish of this guitar is amazing. The flame maple top is flawless, all of the hardware is nickle, and it complements the flame top nicely. Another cool thing is the Sterling Silver inlay at the 12th fret. The craftsmanship on this guitar is excellent! There are no flaws in the construction or finish of this guitar. Inlays, frets, alighment, set-up action, finish, all premium craftsmanship. There is a small knot about the size of a pea that was strategically placed behind and adjacent to the lower volume knob. The grain was to deep and wonderful to waste so they really worked hard to hide this small "character" mark. Very tight quality control and hope Dean keeps it up. Every part of this guitar is the best. The HardTail was crafted perfectly. // 10
Reliability & Durability: It's built to last no less than a life time, and it will withstand live playing with ease. Once that laquer starts to age, this guitar will have an even warmer and Vintage appearance to it than it does now. The tone will warm up a bit, too. Strap buttons are solid. It's always wise to have your back up but hardly ever bring it. The guitar was handmade and is solidly built. Everything will last. Rock solid perfectly made guitar. // 10
Impression: No guitar can truly do everything perfectly but this Dean is an awesome alternative to an expensive (2000 and up) PRS or Gibson. If you wanted a comparable quality PRS or Gibson, you are going to pay quite a bit more and the quality of components aren't quite as good in my opinion. The HardTail is a guitar that impresses and amazes on first sight and gets better the more you play it. The beauty, quality, tone and playability of the Dean HardTail cannot be beat. // 10
Reviewed by:
tsmilliner, on december 21, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 600
Purchased from: Music City Clearwater
Features: Modeled after the $3300 USA beauty, the new HardTail Standard and Selects have a ‘set’ neck with molded heel, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, Grover tuners, nickel hardware and two coil tappable humbuckers. The HardTail Select has a solid flame maple top and is available in Trans Amber, Tiger Eye, Trans Red, Trans Blue and Trans Braziliaburst while the more affordable Standards come in Flip Pearl, Classic Black and Copper Orange. // 10
Sound: This guitar has a nice blues sound in the neck pickup, and when the bridge is selected it is a nice crunchy rock machine. Add to that coil tap ability and you can sound like a Strat. Using with Behringer GMX 212 and several different pedals. This thing has a nice full sound very impressive. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: I bought this as a Blem model so it had one or two dents on bottom of body in back. Probably less than most new guitars get in first six months and saved a lot on purchase. Other than that, this is a truly beautiful guitar, well made, set neck, grover tuners, really nice flame maple top, wow is all I can say. Knobs are nice and sturdy, no compaints, really impressive. All in all well put together. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I would take this guitar anywhere and be proud to have it shown against any other guitar any time any place. We all know that guitars are dependable, so that is not a good question, but this is one you won't be embarrassed to be seen playng Live in any forum. // 10
Impression: I play mostly blues and rock, this is a perfect match. I have been seeking my tone and I have found it in this baby. Benn playing on and off for 20 years just screwing around, but solid for last 2 to try to get good. I wish I bought this instead of the Deluxe Strat I bought before it. I would definitely replace this if it were lost or stolen. I love the whole thing, looks and sound. I will eventually trade up for an american HardTail, but this is next best option. // 10
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