Dean Hardtail - played one today

[Norman_T]

OK finally managed to play one of these in the UK. I visisted one of my local music shops and they had one in. Just could not resist.

Faded Denim colour, ebony neck, SD pups 59s & JB, binding, abalone inlays etc etc. The cost £1760 ($3300). Played really nice although, did not have too much time as the storekeeper did not want me to play it for long unless I was going to buy it.

So my question guys - what do you think of them? Are they any good? Any suggestions/comments. I might be tempted but may have to seriously consider trading in one of my guitars. See also link below.

http://www.deanguitars.com/hardtail.php

Thanks

Norman

[Wattage]

Well Jeff H is a big fan so he'll be a long soon. Haven't played one yet but the local shop has had them and they look beautiful.

[Fatty]

Yea, Jeff will definately be along soon to sing the praises I think they're cool guitars.. the PRS style in general has never been my cup of tea, but I'd take a Hardtail over a PRS. VERY nice finishes on them.

[mrid]

Originally posted by Fatty
Yea, Jeff will definately be along soon to sing the praises I think they're cool guitars.. the PRS style in general has never been my cup of tea, but I'd take a Hardtail over a PRS. VERY nice finishes on them.

Ditto. I love those Deans! What's with the price difference though? I believe Jeff_H got his for ~$1,300. Is the faded denim that much more expensive, or did Jeff_H just get a killer deal.

[xerxes]

jeff got a killer deal from ebay......


i still havent played one, and am pissed. i havent heard a bad thing about one of those anywhere, boards or magazines.

[Fatty]

Originally posted by mrid
Ditto. I love those Deans! What's with the price difference though? I believe Jeff_H got his for ~$1,300. Is the faded denim that much more expensive, or did Jeff_H just get a killer deal.

Jeff got a nice deal on his.. at the shop I work at, we sell them for $1999.99 (or something in that neighborhood) and we only make about a 25 point margin on each.

[Sprinter]

I own three Hardtail's, and just love them. They sound great and are confortable to play. One of mine is the second prototype Hardtail, that Dean built.

Sprinter

[Jeff_H]

Originally posted by Wattage
Well Jeff H is a big fan so he'll be a long soon. Haven't played one yet but the local shop has had them and they look beautiful.

Originally posted by Fatty
Yea, Jeff will definately be along soon to sing the praises I think they're cool guitars.. the PRS style in general has never been my cup of tea, but I'd take a Hardtail over a PRS. VERY nice finishes on them.

Hardtails are very fine instruments. Great attention to detail, as is to be expected from a custom USA, limited production guitar. For me it's a nice compromise between a Les Paul and a PRS. Very nice and heavy (I've seen them listed from around 8.5 lbs to over 11), mine weighs in at 9.75. The Hardtails have a little more mass on the upper bout than a PRS, giving them in my opinion a slightly heavier, richer, meatier tone. They also have a 24 3/4" scale, which adds to the Les Paul character. For the $$ I haven't found a guitar yet that has as many standard appointments as the hardtails. Grover tuners, Tone Pro's bridge, Graphtec nut and SD's standard. Even on the LP or PRS you at least need to change the pups IMO.

The thing that sold me was the feel of the damn thing. The neck on mine (and all that I've played) is super comfortable. A really nice compromise between a meaty 50's LP neck and a Strat neck or a PRS wide thin. The Hardtail has a 12" radius, which I like over the 9.5 of Fender or the 10 of PRS or Gibby. That's what it all comes down to if your going to spend $1500 + on a guitar....feel. You're going to get a quality instrument so make sure it feels right. I will still own a PRS McCarty or CU22 someday, as well as a 57' Re-Issue Gold Top LP. I played a Hardtail locally and it just spoke to me. I got lucky and this one felt great as well.

As for price, I got a good deal at $1349 + shipping. So for $1400 it was 2 day air'd to my door.....virtually brand new. It had never been sold, just been hanging in a small shop back east. Same guy who I bought mine from was selling the black denim one I posted about recently. As for prices on new ones, generally $1,999 is the street price at an average shop. My local Deal dealer would have sold me a new Amberburst for $1799, not a horrible deal. I've found faded denim and cherry sunburst models on line as low as $1400 new, and that's a good deal. They're new enough that prices haven't really dropped a whole lot yet on the used market. If you shop around hard and be patient, you can pick one up for $1400-$1700 new - if you don't have your heart set on a partictular color. I'd say that $1400-$1500 on eBay is about as cheap as they'll get for now.

Great instruments if you like the feel and look.

[Jeff_H]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3710436457&category=41435

Here's a good deal on a Hardtail on the bay right now. This one's been listed at least twice that I can remember, I think it started at $1800 on the first listing. The pic's are from the Dean website, so I would demand a good series of pic's from the seller, but if anyone is interested it's a good deal if the condition is near new.

The color in the pics is Flame Amberburst...really nice.

[Norman_T]

Guys,

Thanks for all your comments - in particular Jeff_H. What little time that I had playing the guitar it did play nicely, although I was playing through some little old tranny amp which did not bring out the sound as it would on a proper amp. I was impressed with the overall finish and constuction but it is always difficult to properly compare unless you spend a great deal of time or take in a couple of your own guitars.

Price wise $3300 is a lot to pay for this type of guitar and it would be interesing to see what may come up on flea-bay or somewhere else at about the realistic prices of $1400 -$1500.

One more question to ask: is the quality and construction of these guitars consistent and can be relied upon? Bearing in mind that if I do find one of these for a more normal price, it is likely to be in the US and I would probably not be able to play as I live in the UK. To give you some idea I have bought Hamer guitars from the US without playing them and found that they are great.

Thanks

Norman

[Gearjoneser]

I not on the hunt for a new guitar, since I've pretty much sunk into my Pauls, McCarties, and Strats, but the first thing I'd look
at would be a Hardtail. Faded denim might be nice.

Note to self....."must resist G.A.S."

[Jeff_H]

I've played about a half dozen of them including the one I own. Each one seemed to me to be very consistent in the construction and quality. The setup varied greatly on each one as is to be expected, which may have skewed my opinion about one or 2 of them. I mainly inspected the one's I played for detail on the neck and the fret edges in partictular, the cut of the nut from the factory, bridge position and over all finish flaws. The one's I played were all very comprable in quality, and I found them to be as close to identical construction wise as is possible.

The frets really do have a finished quality, and have nice smooth nibs on the ends. No leftover glue on the frets or inlays...all very, very clean. One thing I have forgotten to mention is the heel on these things. It's a set neck like a LP, but it does not have the ledge on the rear of the neck where it meets the body. It's flush like a neck thru....almost to the point where the is no heel. I'd say similar in size to the pre 95' PRS small heel. On my guitar I can see a slight color variation in the way the mahogony accepted the grain, so I can see the line where it meets the body. On some of them I've played you would swear it's a neck thru the joint is so seamless. The necks are quarter sawn mahogany, and are just flawless.

I know I rant about this thing, but it really is an underestimated guitar and one of the finest I've ever had the privlidge to play, let alone own. It far too good of an instrument for me.

[Sprinter]

Originally posted by Norman_T



One more question to ask: is the quality and construction of these guitars consistent and can be relied upon? Bearing in mind that if I do find one of these for a more normal price, it is likely to be in the US and I would probably not be able to play as I live in the UK. To give you some idea I have bought Hamer guitars from the US without playing them and found that they are great.

Thanks

Norman

I own three Hardtail's, and have probably played 15 of them. The quality, and construction are consistantly first rate. There is a dealer near me that stocks a lot of Hardtails, and they are very competitive on price. Their web site is www.basstreble.com I was at Bass & Treble Music, this past Saturday, and they had nine Hardtails in stock.

Sprinter

[AmpliFIRE]

Originally posted by Jeff_H
I've played about a half dozen of them including the one I own. Each one seemed to me to be very consistent in the construction and quality. The setup varied greatly on each one as is to be expected, which may have skewed my opinion about one or 2 of them. I mainly inspected the one's I played for detail on the neck and the fret edges in partictular, the cut of the nut from the factory, bridge position and over all finish flaws. The one's I played were all very comprable in quality, and I found them to be as close to identical construction wise as is possible.

The frets really do have a finished quality, and have nice smooth nibs on the ends. No leftover glue on the frets or inlays...all very, very clean. One thing I have forgotten to mention is the heel on these things. It's a set neck like a LP, but it does not have the ledge on the rear of the neck where it meets the body. It's flush like a neck thru....almost to the point where the is no heel. I'd say similar in size to the pre 95' PRS small heel. On my guitar I can see a slight color variation in the way the mahogony accepted the grain, so I can see the line where it meets the body. On some of them I've played you would swear it's a neck thru the joint is so seamless. The necks are quarter sawn mahogany, and are just flawless.

I know I rant about this thing, but it really is an underestimated guitar and one of the finest I've ever had the privlidge to play, let alone own. It far too good of an instrument for me.

+1

I couldn't have said it better myself! I own a Blue flametop Hardtail and it has become my number one guitar (over about 7 other high quality axes). The overall fit and finish is TOP NOTCH. I've played Mcinturff's, Mcnaught's, PRS's etc and I'll put the Dean up there in quality with the best that they have to offer.