Dean Hardtail USA made or Not??

[zozoe]

hiya all,, well G.A.S. has struck again, & I played this super nice, small Dead HD, that had a huge Gibson style velour on the back, & the p/u's had replaced with Dimarzio X2N', a surprisingly, they offered up a great sound in all 3 positions,,, & oh yeah, it weighed a ton... There were no markings or stickers on the back of the headstock telling the country of origin,,,but the price tag thingie says USA,,, FWIW, ALL of the similar models I've seen online have no volute, & are all marked Korean or Japan....
So I'm curious to know what ya'll think,,, I'm certainly no snob to non-USA guitars, as I own 2 Epiphones, one Nighthawk Deluxe made Indonesia, and the other a Jared James Nichols LP's Custom that I believe are from China,,, & boy,,, they sound & play better than any Gibson I've tried in the past 30 yrs.,,, So, any more info out there?? Did I mention the BIG-ass volute on the back?!
Thnx a million~ I'm having trouble connecting to post the pics, but I'll try again soon from another undisclosed locale,,,,

 

[Aceman]

Like this??

 

[zozoe]

YES, big volute, but w/o the signature, or any other stickers, albeit easily removed, or any other silkscreening or markings... As I furthur investigate, I hear described that some models have more elaborate fret inlays up & down, & a unique silver one at the 12th....

 

[BTMN]

If it were USA made it would have an inked on serial number and say USA . If it is an earlier one,early 2000s, it would have a stamped number. Is the one Aceman posted the one you are talking about? That looks to be USA made.

 

[Aceman]

The one I posted is absolutely a USA made one. And yes - serial should be inked. Can't say when stamped stopped - per Gene....

 

[zozoe]

Thnx Aceman,,, I assume then that you have the fancier inlays up & down the neck, w/a specially fancy one St the 12th?

 

[BTMN]

Volute is the thing at the back of the neck. IIRC import Hardtails we’re Korean made not Japanese. Ace doesn’t have one that I know of. Neither do I.

 

[BTMN]

Here is a nice Korean Hardtail. https://reverb.com/item/41518966-de...MIk9KAvvDF8gIVwsfICh2vkAOEEAkYASABEgKQrvD_BwE

 

[Aceman]

A sweet Blue Dean Hardtail (Select) is always on my watch list at the right price.

My Les Pauls have Volutes, I don't have a Hardtail.

 

[alex1fly]

Dean was never on my radar until I walked out of GC with the cheapest P Bass in the store - a used Dean for $120 or so. It was neon green, and lovingly referred to as "The Lean Mean Green Dean Machine". A year and about 18 gigs later I upgraded to a $600ish Dean bass, Jazz bass style. That axe is just incredible. Amazing tone and punch, beautiful finish and hardware, great brass nut and bridge, dang near perfect intonation.

So yeah... I get the Dean hype. But heavy guitars are not for me. YMMV.

 

[Aceman]

Dean was never on my radar until I walked out of GC with the cheapest P Bass in the store - a used Dean for $120 or so. It was neon green, and lovingly referred to as "The Lean Mean Green Dean Machine". A year and about 18 gigs later I upgraded to a $600ish Dean bass, Jazz bass style. That axe is just incredible. Amazing tone and punch, beautiful finish and hardware, great brass nut and bridge, dang near perfect intonation.

So yeah... I get the Dean hype. But heavy guitars are not for me. YMMV.

Hahaha - we had a bass player in Hollywood Blvd. that had a Green SDean Zone. Called it the mean green dean! Really liked it and played it a lot.

 

[zozoe]

Mystery solved, & as per Dean, it's from Japan, disco'd in 2008 & not cheap!!
Thnx