Why have Dean guitars seemed to have fallen so far out of the spotlight?

[Spicypickles]

The most offensive thing about any of those guitars is that fucking string through plate. I cannot stand those.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Yeah they've been trying to break into the modern market by taking their "iconic" shapes and stepping them up. Stainless steel frets, Fishmans, swamp ash bodies, burled tops, extended scale, etc. I could see them bringing back the Modifier and giving it a modern take. Or maybe they'll bring back the "baby" ML for people who'd want something smaller. Personally I hate those but the Xiphos/Stealth crowd may prefer those more.

The Xiphos is so much nicer!

 

[STRHelvete]

The Xiphos is so much nicer!

I hate asymmetrical Vs and Xs

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I hate asymmetrical Vs and Xs

Fair enough. My point is that even for fans of certain X-shaped guitars, the Dean Modifier is not well-liked.

I actually think symmetrical X-shaped and V-shaped (to a lesser extent) guitars look worse than asymmetrical. For context, all of the most popular guitar shapes are asymmetrical - strat, tele, LP, SG. A symmetrical double-cut guitar doesn't look quite right (same goes for more extreme shapes imo). A symmetrical single-cut body simply isn't possible.

 

[WarMachine]

I wanted a backup to my Modifier but couldn't find one for years. I've had that tribal for a while and I have NEVER seen another one pop up for sale...so then I got the red one. My guitar tech still tries to buy it off me View attachment 122882

Dat red one doe

 

[STRHelvete]

Fair enough. My point is that even for fans of certain X-shaped guitars, the Dean Modifier is not well-liked.

I actually think symmetrical X-shaped and V-shaped (to a lesser extent) guitars look worse than asymmetrical. For context, all of the most popular guitar shapes are asymmetrical - strat, tele, LP, SG. A symmetrical double-cut guitar doesn't look quite right (same goes for more extreme shapes imo). A symmetrical single-cut body simply isn't possible.

I just don't think the ML is gonna catch on. It's been around for 40-50 years and really there has only been one person in the history of Dean to really take to that shape and be known for it. Somehow it's an iconic shape, but no one wants to play them.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I just don't think the ML is gonna catch on. It's been around for 40-50 years and really there has only been one person in the history of Dean to really take to that shape and be known for it. Somehow it's an iconic shape, but no one wants to play them.

No-one except a declining number of Dimebag fanboys (most of whom would probably buy a Razorback now instead). Dimebag's confederate flag ML is the most offensive to my eyes.

Given their audience, perhaps Dean should have released a limited edition run based on Trump's NFT trading cards. Imagine these emblazoned on an ML / Razorback:

 

[STRHelvete]

No-one except a declining number of Dimebag fanboys (most of whom would probably buy a Razorback now instead). Dimebag's confederate flag ML is the most offensive to my eyes.

Given their audience, perhaps Dean should have released a limited edition run based on Trump's NFT trading cards. Imagine these emblazoned on an ML / Razorback:

View attachment 122917

Comes with a free chewing tobacco spittoon and can of possum meat.

 

[WarMachine]

I just don't think the ML is gonna catch on. It's been around for 40-50 years and really there has only been one person in the history of Dean to really take to that shape and be known for it. Somehow it's an iconic shape, but no one wants to play them.

Exactly. No one since him has shown it any love on the bigger stage. I'll stick with ML's till I can't play anymore. They fit me perfectly.

 

[STRHelvete]

Exactly. No one since him has shown it any love on the bigger stage. I'll stick with ML's till I can't play anymore. They fit me perfectly.

Same

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Honestly speaking of the Modifier; they should do a whole line of Modifiers. I wonder how a Modifier-fied V or Z would look... If they can still do them lol.

 

[ZXIIIT]

Honestly speaking of the Modifier; they should do a whole line of Modifiers. I wonder how a Modifier-fied V or Z would look... If they can still do them lol.

They can do Zero and Vengeance shapes but not Z or V shapes.

I would link their site but the UX is shite.

 

[soul_lip_mike]

Exactly. No one since him has shown it any love on the bigger stage. I'll stick with ML's till I can't play anymore. They fit me perfectly.

Didn’t trivium have signature ML’s before they destroyed one on stage?

 

[AltecGreen]

I was going through my twitter feed (pretty much all from Japan) and saw another new all female metal band just formed. The lead guitarist posted this band photo. Dean doesn't need Dime to be successful in other markets.

 

[soul_lip_mike]

I've said this before but Dean is a company that I can see surviving as a Japanese company. Dean got lucky about five years ago when Miyako formally joined Lovebites as a permanent member. She went to look for a new guitar that suited the band's image and fell in love with a Dean icon. Since then, she's been the face of Dean in Japan. So Dean got a signature artist that is young and active that could carry the brand. She uses three Dean guitars (signature V, USA Icon, and a USA ML) at every concert.

If you go to Dean's Japanese website, the first thing you see is Miyako. Her signatures sell out almost immediately every time a new batch is released. I just looked at the Dean Japan site and noticed they are now featuring Ayumi from Bridear. I had noticed that recently she ditched her G-Life in favor of the Dean. There's also another player from the band ASMR and BabBubble that I'm not too familiar with.


Dean in the US is associated with a certain look and artists that are aging. In Japan, they have a new roster of stars that they seem to be able to build around. But this strategy may translate well in the US because these bands and artists have a hard time breaking into the US market.

Miyako with her signature V.
View attachment 122754


In Japanese stores (this is a Kurosawa store), the Dean display is right next to the entrance and features Miyako. There's no Dime, Schenker, ....
View attachment 122755


View attachment 122756

That signature V is amazing. I want one.

 

[STRHelvete]

I was going through my twitter feed (pretty much all from Japan) and saw another new all female metal band just formed. The lead guitarist posted this band photo. Dean doesn't need Dime to be successful in other markets.



View attachment 122970

Dean has a bit of a following in Japan and that seems to be where they are putting their energy. Dime isn't really an international draw, especially not in Japan, so they have Japanese endorsees

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Good way to hide from Gibson's lawyers lol.
But yeah seems like Japan is the place to go when your brand is dying (see: Strictly 7).

Didn’t trivium have signature ML’s before they destroyed one on stage?

Didn't last very long at all. Like I believe RIGHT as they released them, Heafy went back to using Gibsons and Corey with Jackson.

 

[AltecGreen]

That signature V is amazing. I want one.

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These sell very quickly and I'm not sure if there are any available for sale right now.

 

[AltecGreen]

But yeah seems like Japan is the place to go when your brand is dying (see: Strictly 7).

Miyako must be the queen of hardluck brands. She uses a Strictly 7 when she needs a seven string. This has been when she's playing in her side project Sonic Lover Reckless.

 

[Marked Man]

Dean's "Cringe Era" happened. Dime was their poster child, they pumped out shitty guitars with his name on them because Pantera fans are both stupid and poor..and those guitars saturated the market. This was also the era where guitars got terrible graphics on them and Dean embraced the "sleazy biker rock star" image. Pot leaves, flames, Confederate flags, tribal tattoo graphics, strippers, etc was that company's image. They amassed a huge fanbase of rednecks and became the brand known for shitty Dime guitars and hee-haw fans. Having a Dean guitar was seen as embarrassing. I didn't dare touch one for years because of it. When I finally did start buying them I remember what my guitar tech said. He literally said when he saw me walking up with a Dean ML he thought "Oh god no, please not a Pantera fanboi" and was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't because he didn't want to deal with that kind of person. On top of that he was super surprised at how well built my MLs were and even tried to buy one of my Modifiers off me. He hadn't seen a good quality Dean since the really vintage (pre Dime "Cringe Era") ones. All the others he'd worked on had been the entry level pieces of shit because that's pretty much all you see.

The funny thing is even during that time they put out some good quality guitars but the only thing most ever saw was the entry level ones because those are the ones that were selling the most.

Endorsees come and go, but it's said that Dean wasn't paying like they should have so lots of their artists jumped ship. From what I understand, Evan their former CEO was a dick and ran Dean into some terrible places..he's even being sued by Dean for stealing hundreds of thousands from the company.

Now that they can no longer sell some of their most popular models due to being sued by Gibson, they're trying to recover but even that situation shows how badly the company was run. They KNEW Gibson was gonna take them to court and proceeded to do nothing to stop the problem until a judge put the hammer on them...and then they STILL fucked up and were pulled into court again for not complying fast enough. Dean guitars is now synonymous with bad decisions.


Oh and don't take my word for it. Got Facebook? Join some Dean Guitar fans groups and just look for yourself. Entry level guitars, people who live in dirty trailers, racists, rednecks, people who are clearly not too bright, etc. Even from personal experience the only guitarist I know who is a Dean fan is a beer shotgunning, constant weed consuming, Pantera clone baby redneck in all the worst ways. I know very successful people who collect Gibsons, Fenders, and all kinds of stuff..the only person I know who collects Deans...well...you know.

Maybe Dean should release a Grey Poupon guitar?