Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

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I bought this Dean Custom 350f last week.



As of two weeks ago, I was an Ibanez snob and have collected Fugigen Ibanez over the years. I needed a 24 fret guitar so was looking around. I didn't want to buy a new J-Ibanez (and think 1K for a Korean Ibby is too much), and ebay guitars almost always need fretwork and other repairs, so I was looking at new guitars.

I was browsing the Dean catalog and saw this Dean 350f and felt that if I designed a guitar it would be like this. Flame maple top, H-H w/ coil tap, 24 frets, pointy inline headstock, basswood/maple, rosewood w/o binding, C-shape neck, contoured top. But it was a lowly Chinese guitar with a Floyd Special. I took a chance and bought it from MF knowing I could return it.

IT was clear it had potential out of the box. It looks good, has great alnico V lead pickups (Full Shred like), and the truss rod action and neck relief were solid. ALso the Floyd stays in tune great. Knobs are smooth and heavy feeling. It sounds like an RG.

So with a little work this guitar now has playability that surpasses all my Ibanez guitars, even the ones that were plekked. The neck needed to be sanded/polished to get that silky feel. The Floyd Rose needed a brass sustain block ($25) and shims so it matched the neck radius (16"). And the nut was lowered a touch. Set the intonation. The action is <1.5mm at the 12th fret without buzzing unless I really dig in. It can go lower if I would tolerate buzz - there are no problem areas holding back the action. (I had gone lower to about 1mm @12th and there was uniform minor buzz everywhere.) I keep it a little high on the treble size for better tone. I can go bar crazy and it holds tune.The downsides?

The body has a nice finish, but the flame maple is not highly figured. And the finish is dark when not under lighting. The binding on the headstock is plastic. The pickup rings are plastic. (I have some dark nickle metal ones on order.) Some frets could use some better crowns. Guitar needed full setup. No resale value.


I am still a "buy american" guy and advocate buying USA built guitar over spending 2K on something from asia, but for $275 this guitar has alot going for it. I assume that most of the Chinese Floyd Special guitars are of similar quality because they likely come from the same factories.

 

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Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

ya know, the more I see people talk about Deans, the more I like what I hear. Aceman says that the quality control on Dean stuff is pretty astounding, so it would stand to reason that ANY guitar they make, regardless of point of origin, would be at least successful if not above average. This guitar is a good example of what "cheap" will get you nowadays.
The world is ever-changing. India is now making the bad guitars, Indonesia and China are making what Korea used to, Korea is making near-Japan quality and Japan...well, they're making stuff that could be compared to India.

FULL CIRCLE

But seriously, everyone's game has improved and it's getting harder to find complete junk when price is not figured in.

 

[Top-L]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

But seriously, everyone's game has improved and it's getting harder to find complete junk when price is not figured in.

I think the advent of online retailing and the ability for people to return things they don't like has forced an increase in quality.

Now they are using Floyd Specials where five years ago it would have been some generic liscenced trem. This Special stays in perfect tune and is compatible with Floyd parts so can be upgraded or replaced.

And they have to make them look good to make the sale.

Regarding pickups, if they are using alnico magnets, there is no reason that an import pickup cannot sound as good as a USA made one, as long as they are wound correctly and potted. They might save a few bucks using ceramic magnets. I dont think Dean is in any danger of cannibalizing their USA pickup sales by putting good pickups on these.

This guitar cost me what a plek job or good refret would cost. Mind boggling. I don't know how this will affect the used market for asian guitars, but this seems to be as well constructed as early japanese RGs. I think people will realize its silly to spend 1.5K-2K for a Japanese Prestige guitar when you can have something like this. Honestly, the lack of setup and finish is the only thing that separates this from a Korean or Japanese guitar.

 

[synzzzer]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

I'm a longtime Dean player, and am on the Dean Forum as well. I guess it's obvious, but I think you made an awesome choice. Feel free to sign up on the Dean forum. It's one of the friendliest forums around. I've really liked what Dean has come out with the last few years at NAMM. I think they are doing a pretty darn good job. One last thought, I love that blue color they dyed the guitar. That is over the top awesome.

 

[Top-L]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

But seriously, everyone's game has improved and it's getting harder to find complete junk when price is not figured in.

Would have no problems recording a record with this guitar, even with the stock pickups.

 

[Gunner4Life]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

I don't care so much about country of origin, as much as I care about manufacturer. Yeah, I'd rather not buy Chinese, but it's next to impossible to do that, without being a hypocrite, as so much of what we own is made there, OR has parts made there. I think the Chinese brands suck, in pretty much everything, but USA, Japanese, etc., companies that have stuff manufactured there, and keep a close eye on quality control, have some pretty damn good gear from all I have heard, particularly the Dean's and ESP's.

Cool looking guitar

 

[Top-L]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

I don't care so much about country of origin, as much as I care about manufacturer. Yeah, I'd rather not buy Chinese, but it's next to impossible to do that, without being a hypocrite, as so much of what we own is made there, OR has parts made there. I think the Chinese brands suck, in pretty much everything, but USA, Japanese, etc., companies that have stuff manufactured there, and keep a close eye on quality control, have some pretty damn good gear from all I have heard, particularly the Dean's and ESP's.

Cool looking guitar

That was my thinking too. If its an import from an American company, better than an import from a foreign company (including Japan). I know Dean has a USA custom shop doing great work for the brand.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

I guess I shouldn't have passed on the 6-string Dean bass I wanted...

 

[Top-L]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

I liked the first one so much, I ordered a second one.

As good as the first one is, the second one has several problems. The neck is nice and it has Jumbo frets, but none of the fret ends are finished, very sharp and running hand along neck can feel hand snag. It seems like they changed their fret process or someone didn't finish the ends.

The unfixable problem is that the bridge was installed too far from the neck. Its impossible to properly intonate. The high E string saddle is moved all the way forward and the fretted notes are flat.

This was a natural finish. The guitar has almost no grain and looks like balsa wood, and on the top side of the neck, there is an area of discoloration on the rosewood from frets 1-3. It is a little rough and much lighter, it looks like the finish may have been worn off in that location when the fret ends were cut off. Goes back to MF.

There was no hang tag, so this may have been a re wrapped return.

 

[Top-L]

Re: Chinese Superstrat Rivals My J-guitars

Here its easy to see the problem. The neck was not seated in the pocket, there is about 1/16" gap, which makes it impossible to intonate the high-E string. Saddle is pushed all the way forward.

Also, the fret ends are cut at an extreme angle in lieu of being finished properly which reduces the fret top area, yet they still snag/cut the hand. I suppose quality control is what it comes down to. One guitar is beautiful, the other is at best B-stock.