NGD! My first Dean USA

[ZL1Hawk]

I was at one point lined up for a Dean Slimebolt Razorback that was an import but was one of the few that came with an OFR. Unfortunately the store I was dealing with was difficult in answering my questions and seemed lost concerning the order so I canceled it. Long story short I decided instead to get a Dean USA and saw the Dean USA Dime Roots ML at DCGL, #6 of 25, and couldn't hold out any longer so I called Jason and purchased the Roots. It arrived this morning and I quickly got the guitar plugged in to my VH4. I forgot how much fun ML's are to play, Jason at DCGL has this guitar setup beautifully, I really like the maple board with ebony inlays and the flame maple top over a mahogany body and neck with the matching headstock. I don't know if my pictures will do the trans black flame maple top any justice but it looks great in person. The guitar has all the nice Dean USA quality and right from the moment I plugged the ML in the tone put a smile on my face. Despite being used to the thin necks of my ESP's and Jackson's the V neck profile of the ML is very comfortable to me. I can already tell this Dean Roots USA is going to be Hope you all like the pics.

 

[japetus]

That is probably the coolest Dime guitar I have ever seen. I only like Maple boards, to me that guitar looks awesome as hell!!!!!!

 

[Kevin11]

I'm still rocking my 81 USA Dean ML Standard (bought new in 82). I kinda' got into the whole ML thing long before Dime came along. I just really dug the shape. Gigged everything from funk to Cheap Trick to Priest on that thing. I appreciate what Dime did for Dean and the ML, but every time I bring it out you can guess what people scream for. Regardless, it's sill one of the baddest sounding, most comfortable guitars I own. The soft V neck is killer.

Congrats on yours! I think that's THE coolest ML I've ever seen man!

 

[japetus]

I'm still rocking my 81 USA Dean ML Standard (bought new in 82). I kinda' got into the whole ML thing long before Dime came along. I just really dug the shape. Gigged everything from funk to Cheap Trick to Priest on that thing. I appreciate what Dime did for Dean and the ML, but every time I bring it out you can guess what people scream for. Regardless, it's sill one of the baddest sounding, most comfortable guitars I own. The soft V neck is killer.

Congrats on yours! I think that's THE coolest ML I've ever seen man!

Did Dean do a lot of maple board ML's back in the day? I have seen a couple, but I didn't know how common they were then..or if it was an option or not.

 

[Mailman1971]

That is one sweet looking axe.
I picked up an ML last year as well. Fun guitars to play!!

 

[rottingcorpse]

For those who are curious the signature on the back of the headstock is from Vinnie Paul.

If you are talking about the Dimebag sig,that's a decal under the clear coat. It's on all of the USA dime sig guitars. It's not from Vince.

I have a bunch of USA custom Dean MLFs. The V neck is far and away my favorite carve. If you ever place a custom order,you can go to Dean HQ and pick out your top and even fine tune the neck carve right there in the wood shop. I have done it several times. Great guys in the wood shop and custom shop.

 

[ZL1Hawk]

Did Dean do a lot of maple board ML's back in the day? I have seen a couple, but I didn't know how common they were then..or if it was an option or not.

I can't remember any to be honest other than 1 or 2 customs over the years I probably saw on a forum.

I know the trans black Roots is the first Dean Dime series guitar to have a maple board and they made 2 other Roots models since then, both with maple boards. One is an all natural ML and the other is purple. There are 225 trans black Roots ML's, 25 USA's, 200 imports and I've read some very good reviews about the import version of this guitar.

Dean showed these 2 Roots models at NAMM 2016. I'm not sure but I think these 2 are USA only and to get them you'd have to place an order. The Purple ML is going for $7k and the natural ML $5k. In fact the purple Roots ML might be one of a kind.

That is one sweet looking axe.
I picked up an ML last year as well. Fun guitars to play!!

I should have bought one a long time ago. Always enjoyed the ML's for their tone and feel.

I'm still rocking my 81 USA Dean ML Standard (bought new in 82). I kinda' got into the whole ML thing long before Dime came along. I just really dug the shape. Gigged everything from funk to Cheap Trick to Priest on that thing. I appreciate what Dime did for Dean and the ML, but every time I bring it out you can guess what people scream for. Regardless, it's sill one of the baddest sounding, most comfortable guitars I own. The soft V neck is killer.

Congrats on yours! I think that's THE coolest ML I've ever seen man!

Thanks guys! Kevin that's amazing you've had one for so long. I can only imagine how many times people asked you for a Dimebag song, I'll get that sometimes when I'm using my Dean Stealth but I'm curious how people will respond to an ML with a maple board.

 

[ZL1Hawk]

For those who are curious the signature on the back of the headstock is from Vinnie Paul.

If you are talking about the Dimebag sig,that's a decal under the clear coat. It's on all of the USA dime sig guitars. It's not from Vince.

I have a bunch of USA custom Dean MLFs. The V neck is far and away my favorite carve. If you ever place a custom order,you can go to Dean HQ and pick out your top and even fine tune the neck carve right there in the wood shop. I have done it several times. Great guys in the wood shop and custom shop.

Yup thank you I was mistaken. I misread the product description where it said the COA is signed by Vinnie. Sorry about that everyone!

rot I did not know that about the custom shop. I do want to place a custom order for a Dean V once my next guitar arrives.

Where are our Dean players placing their custom orders? DCGL? Matt's Music?

 

[rottingcorpse]

Find a Dean dealer you are comfortable with. I am sure matts music would be fine. Be prepared for a build time of up to six months depending on the build. Some of mine with exotic tops with special finishes,or custom air brush paint jobs took longer.

 

[Rising Farce]

For those who are curious the signature on the back of the headstock is from Vinnie Paul.

If you are talking about the Dimebag sig,that's a decal under the clear coat. It's on all of the USA dime sig guitars. It's not from Vince.

I have a bunch of USA custom Dean MLFs. The V neck is far and away my favorite carve. If you ever place a custom order,you can go to Dean HQ and pick out your top and even fine tune the neck carve right there in the wood shop. I have done it several times. Great guys in the wood shop and custom shop.

Thanks for posting this. I live about 15 minutes away from Dean HQ in Tampa, but I never knew they offered "hands on" customization. If I can ever afford to buy something other than a basic, off-the-rack USA model, I'll definitely look into it. (And yes, the V carve does rule.)

 

[7 Stringer]

That is one sick looking ML you got there man whoaa.

I am a huge Dean fan man, i got 8 old Deans from 79-81. And i got a nice Washburn southern cross too, that thing is a blast to play. Also i got a V signed by Dime, met him in 93 backstage in Montreal, had a couple beers and a couple puffs with him. A blast.

Enjoy that thing.

 

[rottingcorpse]

That is one sick looking ML you got there man whoaa.

I am a huge Dean fan man, i got 8 old Deans from 79-81. And i got a nice Washburn southern cross too, that thing is a blast to play. Also i got a V signed by Dime, met him in 93 backstage in Montreal, had a couple beers and a couple puffs with him. A blast.

Enjoy that thing.

The souther cross is by far and away the best dime sig ever made. I have had several,and kept the quilt top prototype. Even had a Dean one done up,but it didn't compare to the washy.

 

[Tazz3]

Thats killer congrats good luck with it what is the price tag on her
Was this guiatr made from the tree in his yard??

 

[ZL1Hawk]

Thats killer congrats good luck with it what is the price tag on her
Was this guiatr made from the tree in his yard??

Since it's a collectors piece the price was $4k and yup it's the one that has Dime's oak tree worked in to the body, the razor blade is it.

The souther cross is by far and away the best dime sig ever made. I have had several,and kept the quilt top prototype. Even had a Dean one done up,but it didn't compare to the washy.

I would have guessed the DFH but I forgot all about the cross.

That is one sick looking ML you got there man whoaa.

I am a huge Dean fan man, i got 8 old Deans from 79-81. And i got a nice Washburn southern cross too, that thing is a blast to play. Also i got a V signed by Dime, met him in 93 backstage in Montreal, had a couple beers and a couple puffs with him. A blast.

Enjoy that thing.

Wow you got the old stock on tap! How many Southern Cross's did Washburn make?

I'll do my best to enjoy it. Right now I have it in Eb and the Roots agrees with channel 3 of my VH4. A small touch of delay or some reverb (gotta have my echoes dude) and that's it. I've got a Bogner TJ, Splawn Nitro, my ENGL pre/power amp rack combination thingy that has no name, and a Diezel VH4 to run this ML through and for late night practicing I have a Mesa mini Rec. and somewhere in my dungeon is my Roland Micro Cube. I've been playing the Roots and watching Ash vs The Evil Dead, good times!


Just out of curiosity what do you all think of the Razorback inlays being on my ML? Do you think Dean should have avoided that move? Or who cares?

 

[Bloodrock]

Deans are great guitars. They really don't get the respect they deserve. The imports were shit for a while but even those are much better the last few years. I'd love to have that natural top roots ml if it were available with an ebony board.

 

[big_aug]

Sweet ML. I had a Dean USA Custom Shop ML that was freaking killer. Hate myself for trading it. I'd definitely like to have another USA ML in the future. The ML shape is awesome.

Grats on a bad ass guitar.

 

[ZL1Hawk]

Deans are great guitars. They really don't get the respect they deserve. The imports were shit for a while but even those are much better the last few years. I'd love to have that natural top roots ml if it were available with an ebony board.

The ebony blocks don't do the natural Roots any favors. I thought the same thing it needs a full ebony board.

I agree totally about the imports. I have a Dean natural Stealth import with a Floyd 1000 on it and that guitar sounded so good I ripped out the Dimebucker and that Dime Time pup and replaced them with dual Bare Knuckle Painkillers simply because they would shine in that particular guitar. Painkillers are higher output but are geared more for an 80's metal tone which works perfectly for what I do. I set my own guitars up and the Floyd 1000 has given me no problems and the guitar itself never gets temperamental. Intonation stays solid and I keep the Stealth in Eb so that small drop in tuning didn't throw anything off and I have yet to make a truss rod adjustment. Dean is doing much better with them.

My only complaints (and hardly complaints at that) were some of the frets had sharp-ish ends to them and the saddles on the bridge needed to be smoothed over a little bit. The guitar kept breaking strings and I never bust my strings so I had to smooth this fiddle out.

In the end it turned out awesome.






The only 2 Dean imports I found with OFR's were the Slimebolt (Razorback) and the Dimebonics (ML). Any of the other guitars that come with Floyd 1000's I wouldn't worry about. I would like to see the Warbird again but upgraded.

Slimebolt MSRP is $1,099




Dimebonics MSRP $999





The other Dean I liked was the V Stealth Black Satin, EMG pups, string-thru, set neck with C neck profile. Ebony board with pearl block inlays. MSRP $699 http://www.deanguitars.com/query?upc=819998174934

 

[ZL1Hawk]

One more question everyone. How did Dean do on the flame top for my ML? We can compare it to my custom shop ESP that has a 5A flame maple cap. Both are trans black.

The 5A ESP custom top





Matching headstock




Now the new Dean USA Roots ML. I'm not sure how they pick 'em at Dean for USA models but I think they picked a nice piece of maple and did a great job in comparison to the ESP, I'm overly pleased with both guitars tops. Obviously I enjoy the ESP top more but I paid for it but the Dean holds up nicely. Would you guys agree or disagree?





Matching headstock and I apologize for the blurry pic.

 

[Deleted member 22177]

Damn. Nice guitar.

 

[rottingcorpse]

The guy who buys the wood for the tops of the USA custom shop does a great job. I have been thru their wood stock several times and am always blown away by what they have. The "scraped" binding (that's what they call that natural wood "binding" that's really just taped off and clear coated top) is a personal favorite. My flamed redwood in trans black BBQ burst is the most beautiful top I have ever seen on an MLF(I am biased). Wish I could post a pic,but will have to wait till I get home....I have to get my girlie to copy it from my photobucket because I am a compu-tard.