A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I picked up this 2012 made in Korea Dean Evo Special today for $140, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

It’s difficult for me to realize that 2012 was actually over a decade ago. How time does fly. When I think about Korean made LP copies from that time period my mind naturally gravitates to the so-called “Golden Age of Agile.” This Dean has a very similar feel to those Agiles, and for that matter, to other brands like PRS from the same era. It’s not a stretch to imagine that they were all made in the same factory, by the same workers. I believe only the highest end import Deans are made in Korea at this point, so I feel lucky to have got one at such a good price.

This Dean has the heft of a classic Agile too. It’s not a 12 pound boat anchor, but it is probably all of 10 pounds. Overall, the guitar is in remarkable condition, with no discernible fret wear. I included a close up pic of the neck to show the impeccable fret dressing.

I love the blue flamed top, as well as the way is coordinates with the abalone dot inlays. It’s showy without being overly flashy. While it's not a burst, there's just the slightest touch of a lighter blue grey in the center. There's also some vertical lines in the flame, which I also find very appealing.

The nickel hardware feels high quality, including the Grover tuners. The bridge is the ABR-1 type, which I prefer.

The pickups are “vintagey” PAF type output, around 8.5K at the bridge and 8.15K at the neck. From their clarity, tightness under gain, and characteristic crunch I would guess they have ceramic magnets. They are independently splittable with the volume and tone knob. They sound quite good, and I don't feel the need to change them. There’s so many tone options with the pickups spilt, and the very smooth tapered volume and tone knob only add to that variety.

The only modification I made while setting the guitar up was cutting the nut slots a little deeper. It plays like a dream now. I’d feel safe gigging this guitar as my main instrument. It's solid and delivers the goods.

Nice catch! As always, what´s important is that you like it.

And yes, time passes by no matter what...

I was thinking: Have you ever seen Ibanez AR models in your frequent pawn shop quests? Just curious about it.

sabasgr68 wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 9:12 pm Nice catch! As always, what´s important is that you like it.

And yes, time passes by no matter what...

I was thinking: Have you ever seen Ibanez AR models in your frequent pawn shop quests? Just curious about it.

No, I've never seen an Ibanez AR at a pawn shop around here. That's not to say one couldn't show up, as you never know what will appear at these places. You guys would be the first to know if I ever scored one.

Nice score!
I dig the sculpted neck heel.

jtcnj wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 9:01 am Nice score!
I dig the sculpted neck heel.

Ergonomically speaking, the sculpted heel on a single cut LP type guitar is a great idea. My first awareness of it was on the Ari Pro II PE series of guitars, most notably played by Neal Schon. It allows unimpeded upper fret access. I mean, it would, if I was one of those guys who slung a LP above the belt line. I like to hang my LPs low, because sometimes looking cool supersedes practicality.

Congrats on the new guitar. My wife would love it because it is blue.

tonebender wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 10:26 am Congrats on the new guitar. My wife would love it because it is blue.

3 out of 4 of my most recently purchased guitars have been blue: The Dean in this thread, my Kramer Focus VT-211S, and my Wolf WLP 750T. Though my avatar pic (which shows me holding a blue Gibson Maestro) may lead one to believe I'm particularly inclined towards blue guitars, it's really just a coincidence that good priced blue instruments keep popping up locally. I'm really more into natural wood grain, earthy and Autumn tones, and off white. Regarding black guitars, I need another one of those like I need a hole in the head.

Nice score hell of a deal! i always liked deans there just overpriced imo, love the dean cadi found a triple pickup black and gold at a decent price few years ago but dam it was a turd flaws, frets etc it was returned. had a cheapo dean evo the ugly brown one years ago it was great for the price. With dean if its not the old korean made there crappy worst than squiers and u got the korean made the good one for way to cheap imo lol you did goood on that guitar!

Uh, I picked up same Dean model in tiger-stripe red, a few years ago, locally. Hardly any wear.
It has character, interesting feel and finish. There must be an old post of mine about it.
The pickups nature and configuration were new to me, so I played with that for a while, not really knowing what I was doing. Maybe I need to revisit that a bit more assiduously?

PoodlesAgain wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 6:56 am Uh, I picked up same Dean model in tiger-stripe red, a few years ago, locally. Hardly any wear.
It has character, interesting feel and finish. There must be an old post of mine about it.
The pickups nature and configuration were new to me, so I played with that for a while, not really knowing what I was doing. Maybe I need to revisit that a bit more assiduously?

I tried searching for your Dean but can't find it. Maybe it was on the old AGF?

I find humbuckers like those in this Dean that are in the 8K range a little anemic when split in a live situation due to the significant volume drop. Obviously, for bedroom playing or recording that's not a problem.

However, I really do like these pickups when in the middle toggle position (both pickups on), bridge pickup in full humbucker mode, neck pickup split. You can get some really nice tones that way, especially rolling back the guitars volume knob to bring out the subtle nuances. Middle position with both pickups split is also interesting, almost a Tele thing going on.