Re: Dean Hardtail owners...
Mike-
Here are my thoughts FWIW.
I own a USA Dean Hardtail in Faded Vintage Cherry Burst. I've had it for about 18 months. I'll break down individule parts below, but suffice it to say that it's a great, great guitar. It weighs in around the weight of a lighter Les Paul...mine weighs around 8 1/2 lbs. I used to think I could get all of the tones out of it a Les Paul could get....then I got a Les Paul. The Hardtail is close, but not just like. It does some things better, some things are not as good.
**Neck - probably the single best aspect of the guitar. 24 3/4 scale. Ebony board, jumbo frets. Mine came polished and leveled to perfection. It's an absolute pleasure to play, both chords and solo. The standard nut is a Graphtech Graphite nut....very nice. Profile wise it's a C shape over all. It's around the same size as a Gibson with a 60's neck....but slightly flatter on the back than the Gibson...Gibson is more rounded. Maybe that makes it more of a D....I'm no expert on that. All I know is it is thick enough to be comfortable, and thin enough to be acceptable to someone who is used to wider, flatter radius necks. Speaking of that.....12" radius 1 11/16" nut width. However, to me it feels wider than the LP's of the same radius and nut width because there is no binding....the strings are spaced slightly farther apart. I still have somewhat sloppy finger placement....and it's not nearly as much of an issue on the Hardtail as compared to the LP. Also, the neck joint is the nicest that I have played on any guitar except a neck thru. It is a set neck, but is done so well, and the heel is so small, that it might as well be a neck thru from a feel standpoint....fantastic. Dean calls it the "moulded heel". What ever it is, it rocks.
**Body - One piece mahogany body, 2 piece flamed maple top. The tops are as nice as I have seen on any other guitars. IMO, every one that I've seen would be rated a "10" top or "Artist Grade" by PRS....yes, they are that nice. The dish carve on the top is much more agressive than a Les Paul, and somewhat more than a PRS...but very, very nice. The cap is nice and thick...5/8" to 3/4"...can't remember the exact spec. Natural binding on all models. The back is contoured in the tummy section like a strat or PRS, so it sets very comfortably agains't your body...the whole thing has a natural feel to it. Great access to the upper frets because of the moulded heel. The upper horn turns some off. It's bigger than the bottom horn, not as balanced looking as a PRS...which to me looks more like a DC Les Paul shape wise. I really don't notice it personally, and the guitar is so well balanced that to me it's a moot point. I will say that even though the body shape in general is very much like a Les Paul, the Hardtail WILL NOT fit into a LP case because of the upper horn. Also, because of the contour and shape, the body is not as thick as a Les Paul.
