Dean Performer Koa Acoustic Electric Guitar For Sale (Jan 2023 Update)

Overall: I have to be completly honest and say this guitar is probably the best sounding acoustic and electric I've ever played! I have spent years and money trying to find this one guitar. I absolutely love this guitar! For money and quality I would suggest it to all!Harlan

I bought this guitar after searching for one with a D shaped neck, like my Casino. I like D necks because they are slim front to back. I have a billion guitars and am finding that the larger round necks hurt my thumb (I'm old). I also liked that the body is slim. I was very surprised that the guitar has an ebony fingerboard-my fav. It sounds good both unplugged and plugged into an acoustic amp. I liked it so much after buying the black one that I bought the blue one, too.SMorris

Overall: I have to be completly honest and say this guitar is probably the best sounding acoustic and electric I've ever played! I have spent years and money trying to find this one guitar. I absolutely love this guitar! For money and quality I would suggest it to all!Harlan

I bought this guitar after searching for one with a D shaped neck, like my Casino. I like D necks because they are slim front to back. I have a billion guitars and am finding that the larger round necks hurt my thumb (I'm old). I also liked that the body is slim. I was very surprised that the guitar has an ebony fingerboard-my fav. It sounds good both unplugged and plugged into an acoustic amp. I liked it so much after buying the black one that I bought the blue one, too.SMorris

Completely satisfied with this purchase. Great features for the price. Visually beautiful. Had to take a star off the review for the string action out of the factory though. I had to pay a tech to sand down the bridge saddle. Cost me $45. Now it plays fantastic. I'll enjoy this for years.SKARRDGUITAR

Overall: This is one fine acoustic guitar. Beautiful woods and finish. Electronics and tuner are good. Tone and action excellent. Been playing 50 years and would not hesitate playing out or taking to a jam session plugged or unplugged. Have owned dean entry level acoustic bass for years, solid build and reliable. This brand new guitar feels and sounds solid. Have never dealt with dean but zZounds has been 5 star buying high level martin and fender past few years.Rich

Excellent acoustic bass! Plays amazing and the finish is flawless! I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the full 34 scale neck, turned out to be great! I am finding it way easier to transition back and forth to my electric bass vs my old 30ish scale ABG. Tuner works very well but I'm not a huge fan of how it sounds plugged in kinda tinny. That's alright tho cause I bought it to practice unplugged and will rarely play it plugged in anyway. I swapped the strings out to tapewounds and made an already amazing guitar even better. I think those strings are a must for any acoustic bass, rounds are just too noisy at that low volume. But all around a great looking and great playing instrument!Josh

Looks fantastic, but that's about it. The bracing inside is not scalloped very well, and the amount of bracing on the top is excessive. It has so much bracing, the top doesn't move, which makes it sound like a toy unplugged. The built in tuner is pretty much useless as well. This one had the nut cut too deep from the factory, so they put a shim under it before sending it out. The shim had so much glue on it that I had to cut it out piece by piece to replace the nut. The fretwork was also uneven, making the first 4 frets unplayable. The guitar looks absolutely stunning, and the fretwork and nut work is something I can fix to make it playable, but the construction is something I cannot fix. No matter how playable it is, it will still sound like a toy because of the excessive bracing.FluffyBassMan

I was very excited to receive this guitar.The looks are very pretty on a visual level. The tone is awful. Sounds like a kids toy guitar when played unplugged. Does not stay in tune very well.I am very dissapointed, and will send it back and purchase something else. My Dean Vendetta electric is awesome, so I was surprised how bad this sounded. I might try a higher end Dean acoustic, but if unhappy will not purchase another guitar from Dean.Trev5150

I had this on my wish list for a couple of years and after finally getting to try it out at my local Sam Ash, it did not disappoint. Online reviews were consistently good with a few mentions of the strings being coated and how it gave an unusual feel and sound. According to the Michael Kelly website, the strings are D'Addario EXP16 Coated Phosphor Bronze, Light, 12-53, so they shouldn't be some off the wall knock offs but my experience over the last few weeks has been that after a few minutes of playing, the tips of my fingers on my fret hand and the palm of my strumming hand turned black. I've never had this happen on any other guitars I have. I tried rotating after 15 minutes between my Jackson, my Strat, my Martin Backpacker and then my Michael Kelly and, every time, after a few minutes of playing the Forte Port, my fingers turned black. I've played a lot of guitars since the 80's (not professionally) and this is a new one on me. Obviously, the strings can be changed but I feel it is worth mentioning because for someone's first guitar, it may be off putting if they are unaware. If I can edit a review, I'll try to add a pic of my fingers (there's no way to make that sound right…) when I get time. That's my two cents…Sean

Overall: I was reluctant to buy this Michael Kelly. I like to try it before I buy it . With that being said , The guitar come it flawless. It was packaged very good . I played for about an hour after opening the box. The action is spot on. It plays and feels more like an electric guitar. Hammer on pull offs pitch bends are perfect. The sustain goes on forever. The neck feels a touch wider than my Martin, but that's a good thing for me. There are no fret buzzes at. It's vert light and comfortable , light weight is a must , I have had shoulder surgery 3 times. The balance and weight are near perfect . Michael Kelly may not have the prestige of Martin. Gibson and such , but as far as the sound and quality build , it simply can not be beat in this price range.Mark

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

This popped up on Stupid Deal of the Day and I am not in the least disappointed. It was well packaged, box in a box, from Dean. My intended use will be jamming with friends at the park, campground, or beach. But, it could see small venue use as well. It is big (it is a bass after all): 34", 24 fret scale with the neck joint at the 17th fret. The lower bout is 18" wide and just shy of 5" deep. If you really feel the need to go above the 17th fret…get the cutaway. Because of its size it has a decent acoustic tone. Set up, including intonation, was very good considering it was last touched at the factory. It is strung with D'Addario EXP 45-100 lights. The strings showed some age (string cleaner should take care of it) but still have decent tone, especially for my intended use. All the electronics work as they should. The battery box and input jack are a single unit located on the lower bout. It appears to be a sturdy unit that does not require any tools for 9V battery replacement. Using the onboard tuner silences the pickup. The top is book matched and looks better than some of my solid top guitars. The Dean Playmate EAB Gig Bag (SKU 548316 000000000) does fit. I'm so glad that neither the bass or gig bag are emblazoned with "Playmate" anymore. Seriously, if so, I would not have purchased them. Overall, I am very pleased and believe it is money well spent.Vintage Bassist

The action is easily correctable by lowering the saddle. Sadly, it is not very loud if you finger pick while in the acoustic mode. It is however loud enough to practice alone in a quiet room with soft backing track. Electrically, it is like most EA guitars and you have to watch which way you're standing in relation to your amp. The tone is pretty bright acoustically but can be dialed back in the electric mode for that bassier sound most bassists are looking for. I would consider playing out with this bass for a folk gig. I got this bass on a "stupid deal of the day" promotion and I still can't believe Musicians Friend could make any money at all with a price like that.CA$H

The band I'm in decided that we were going to do an acoustic show for a big fundraiser called Gettysburg Rocks. Great! But one major problem I didn't have an acoustic bass, so I had to get one for this show. After doing extensive research and considering the budget I chose this model. When I got the bass there were a lot of high frets which caused major undesirable fret buzz. The strings that were on it from dean were horrible so I took the bass to my local guitar shop and had it restrung and set up. After this was done this bass played amazing and had great tone unplugged. Then I plugged it in to my di box and it sounded pretty bad through the pa. The electronics in this bass didn't sound good because The strings were not evenly voiced. In my particular case the e string was the loudest and over powered the a d and g strings. I had 4 days before the show and had to figure something out quick. My solution was to run a limiter pedal. Once I had the limiter dialed in I was able to get a very good sound out of the bass, And through eq settings I was able to make the bass sound great. Then the night of the show came around and I had all the kinks figured out . The bass sounded great and the show went beautifully. This bass is by no means a high end bass but with a little tweaking itcan be made to sound really good. I've noticed that I will grab this bass and just start playing it when I'm trying to learn new songs and licks because it sounds so good and it is nice to not always be tethered to an amp. This bass is great to practice with but in a band setting it will need to be amped if you want to be heard with more than one acoustic guitar. Overall I am very pleased with this instrument and would buy another if it broke. I was apprehensive at first thinking that this would sound like $150 bass. Looking back I'm glad I got this model. I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence about buying this bass.v1637

This popped up on Stupid Deal of the Day and I am not in the least disappointed. It was well packaged, box in a box, from Dean. My intended use will be jamming with friends at the park, campground, or beach. But, it could see small venue use as well. It is big (it is a bass after all): 34", 24 fret scale with the neck joint at the 17th fret. The lower bout is 18" wide and just shy of 5" deep. If you really feel the need to go above the 17th fret…get the cutaway. Because of its size it has a decent acoustic tone. Set up, including intonation, was very good considering it was last touched at the factory. It is strung with D'Addario EXP 45-100 lights. The strings showed some age (string cleaner should take care of it) but still have decent tone, especially for my intended use. All the electronics work as they should. The battery box and input jack are a single unit located on the lower bout. It appears to be a sturdy unit that does not require any tools for 9V battery replacement. Using the onboard tuner silences the pickup. The top is book matched and looks better than some of my solid top guitars. The Dean Playmate EAB Gig Bag (SKU 548316 000000000) does fit. I'm so glad that neither the bass or gig bag are emblazoned with "Playmate" anymore. Seriously, if so, I would not have purchased them. Overall, I am very pleased and believe it is money well spent.Vintage Bassist

The action is easily correctable by lowering the saddle. Sadly, it is not very loud if you finger pick while in the acoustic mode. It is however loud enough to practice alone in a quiet room with soft backing track. Electrically, it is like most EA guitars and you have to watch which way you're standing in relation to your amp. The tone is pretty bright acoustically but can be dialed back in the electric mode for that bassier sound most bassists are looking for. I would consider playing out with this bass for a folk gig. I got this bass on a "stupid deal of the day" promotion and I still can't believe Musicians Friend could make any money at all with a price like that.CA$H

The band I'm in decided that we were going to do an acoustic show for a big fundraiser called Gettysburg Rocks. Great! But one major problem I didn't have an acoustic bass, so I had to get one for this show. After doing extensive research and considering the budget I chose this model. When I got the bass there were a lot of high frets which caused major undesirable fret buzz. The strings that were on it from dean were horrible so I took the bass to my local guitar shop and had it restrung and set up. After this was done this bass played amazing and had great tone unplugged. Then I plugged it in to my di box and it sounded pretty bad through the pa. The electronics in this bass didn't sound good because The strings were not evenly voiced. In my particular case the e string was the loudest and over powered the a d and g strings. I had 4 days before the show and had to figure something out quick. My solution was to run a limiter pedal. Once I had the limiter dialed in I was able to get a very good sound out of the bass, And through eq settings I was able to make the bass sound great. Then the night of the show came around and I had all the kinks figured out . The bass sounded great and the show went beautifully. This bass is by no means a high end bass but with a little tweaking itcan be made to sound really good. I've noticed that I will grab this bass and just start playing it when I'm trying to learn new songs and licks because it sounds so good and it is nice to not always be tethered to an amp. This bass is great to practice with but in a band setting it will need to be amped if you want to be heard with more than one acoustic guitar. Overall I am very pleased with this instrument and would buy another if it broke. I was apprehensive at first thinking that this would sound like $150 bass. Looking back I'm glad I got this model. I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence about buying this bass.v1637

Was the next best thing that I have ever got myself other than my truck. Ty love the way it sound and the way it plays……rosad-rober

Overall: I have to be completly honest and say this guitar is probably the best sounding acoustic and electric I've ever played! I have spent years and money trying to find this one guitar. I absolutely love this guitar! For money and quality I would suggest it to all!Harlan

I bought this guitar after searching for one with a D shaped neck, like my Casino. I like D necks because they are slim front to back. I have a billion guitars and am finding that the larger round necks hurt my thumb (I'm old). I also liked that the body is slim. I was very surprised that the guitar has an ebony fingerboard-my fav. It sounds good both unplugged and plugged into an acoustic amp. I liked it so much after buying the black one that I bought the blue one, too.SMorris

I bought this guitar kind of suspicious at first of what it would sound like but this guitar sounds SO GOOD! The koa wood makes the sound just resonate louder and it sounds amazing acoustically and electronically through a PA, and amp, and whatever else you use! Although it is a little bit smaller than it looks it Sounds HUGE and amazing with aphex or even without! Buy this guitar and you wont regret it!GuitarLover

This was my first Dean purchase and I've played it daily since December. I'm really surprised that I'm the first person to leave a review. Very nice looking and well built guitar. Setup was easy. It sounded great out of the box. Just lowered the action a bit and put a TUSQ saddle on it. Bought a Dean Exhibition a week later just to have on hand in case I need to plug in.B

Just got this recently and haven't used it yet. But the few times I have picked it up, it has stayed in tune. Bought it because it was inexpensive and I don't know how to play yet. Beautiful guitar. Bought a "returned but like new" guitar thinking there may have been a few pick marks or something but this truly looks like brand new, not a single scuff or scratch that I could find.D Moore

Great guitar for price but color is not deep blue like it shows it's more lighter towards teal and green but very beautiful no matter and it's a dean exceptionally made and soundTony

I really don't have anything bad to say about this guitar. I own mostly all premium guitars and I wanted a floyd rose guitar..I picked this guitar in the shop and was very impressed. I tried a few other guitars but this guitar was just too excellent for the price. I brought it home and did a set up with 10s because that is what I like. The hardware seemed to be of good quality while working with it to set the guitar up. The pickups are pretty good too, I had a set of Bareknuckle Rebel Yells laying around…but I didn't feel the need to swap them at all. The roasted neck also feels good in the hand, it's chunky, it is NOT a wizard type neck, but it is definitely a great neck that I personally like! Overall this is a great buy! Playability, Stability and Tone….I mean that's what we want.Ernie

I tried this out at guitar center riverdale utah and holy smokes it reminded me of the Korean dean dime guitars! I own two of them so I know what I'm talking about. Tone is warm and the midrange is amazing . The floyd rose stays in tune . I did dive bombs and I had 0 problems . The only thing I noticed was the neck kind of clicked when I dived down on the bar but that's not uncommon. That happens when the nut very slightly moves and can be fixed. The action was fluid amazing. The color is neon . A very very good dean guitar .Kade

This guitar surprised me with the playability. The tone was bright and edgy in a good way for high gain. The pickups bring a lot to the table as well. There were two to choose from in the store and both were great. First off I picked up the guitar because the neck and the neck pickup….looked out of alignment…this made me take it off the rack and play it…I played it for 2 hours in store and another 2 at home….Tuning and setup stability was perfect….so I don't know what that is about….but the Guitar plays great and stays great. Don't know if they will all have this though. All in All I can say to give this guitar a try if you are looking for a Floyd Rose guitar. I'm glad I did.Ernie

I am just a guy who likes to play guitar at home. I haven't owned an acoustic guitar in a very long time, as in the past several years I prefer to play with electrics and like using effects. I chose this guitar because I was simply looking for something around the 200 range. Now, I wanted something that was cheap but didn't sound cheap, so I was a bit wary of buying this Dean, but the aesthetics had me hooked. (Everyone I show this to immediately comments on the white finish!). So I took a chance on this anyway because its one of the few acoustics to come in white. I was pleasantly surprised by this guitar. First of all, this guitar DOES come with an onboard tuner! Maybe the model was updated and MF just has old photos and info here? The fit and finish is pretty nice really. Didn't find any blemishes or scratches… have a TINY little nick on the headstock (which is obviously form the manufacturer, not MF), but unnoticeable and not a bother. The neck feels pretty good! For some reason, after so many years of just noodling with electric guitars, I thought I'd have to work on adjusting to an acoustic, but this neck plays pretty fast, and the string height is pretty dang good. The frets are finished well (not a single sharp one anywhere), and I tested out the acoustic pickup and thought that sounded pretty great too. The tuners seems to stay in tune well so far. The low E tuner started to get a bit 'muddy' to turn once the tension was taught. The sound though… initially the guitar really had a harsh tone to it. Too bright, like what cheap acoustics sound like. It started to soften a bit after I had tuned the guitar hours ago, but still harsh, cheap sounding. I had ordered a set of Martin MM12 Retro Light strings & decided I would throw them on… and WOW! What a difference the strings make! Much warmer, pretty decent body to it. Great for strumming. I really am glad I bought this guitar. Yes its cheap, but looks cool and has a great sound to it.Nachos&Eggrolls

Overall: I just Bought this guitar from zZounds Feb 2020. I ordered it one afternoon it was here early the next afternoon. I took it out of the box, unlocked the nut, tuned the guitar, locked the tuners, fine tuned, and did a 4 hr gig covering multiple styles! It was perfectly set up and ready to go 🙂 The 12 inch radius is exactly what I need. I can’t play 14 or 16 inch radius necks. The more I play it the more I love it! The neck and middle position are strat like and the bridge position Rips! Great clarity in the pickups. The ONLY problem is the fret edges. They don’t roll/file the fret edges so you’ll have to have that done like I am. It’s a machine otherwiseMichael

Dean guitars are excellent. I've owned 2. Anyway, i would like to shred on this one for 6 hours minimum. But seriously, even though the guitar is beautiful and hopefully easily playable, coming with a CASE or not would be a decision breaker.. Thank you.. TomKThomas

Absolutely a great guitar the width of the fretboard and radius is amazing especially paired with the satin finish neck' the A 500 coil pot is amazing and the pickups are on the money. Shouldering and playing the guitar is a charm and it finds you as an instrument verses you having to continually set up and never being satisfied. Easy to upgrade although I don't see why it would be necessary unless you want a coil splitter. The pickups are good enough to get any chime you want with EQ, and peddle adjustment's. Ebony fretboard is very solid' as I just can't say enough about the neck size as it's perfectly on the money' and last but not least,you can leave your old TUNING issues in their cases because your dean will straight up stay in tune' I run d addario 120 9/42's and play for hours and stay in perfect tune. That's hard to find in an budget super strat. You want be disappointed with this guitar' wether your an living room picker or an actively gigging musician this guitar is money well spent.Henry

Mahogany body and neck, ebony fretboard, classic looks. The setup needed a little work but that's to be expected. This is the kind of guitar Gibson should be making if they wanted to stay in business.grawulf

This Acoustic guitar feels amazing and the sound is crystal clear. I would definitely recommend this awesome guitar! Light weight and stays in tune for a long time.Morey X

best guitar I've ever had. takes time to adjust to the body style but after you have any other guitar than this style it feels insufficient. the strings are close to the fret which is great if you slide up an down between frets a lot, the strings are d'addario which are kinda cheaply, but they last long and are great after you break them in a bit. I prefer playing this guitar over any epiphone or whatever. might wanna get a hardshell case if travelling, probably find a bass case cheaper than the actually case which is kinda costly.Oxide

This guitar is solid and provides the comfortable playing of guitars costing hundreds more. I was not really surprised, as previous Dean guitars I owned were a good pick also. No onboard tuner? Are ya kidding? No five stars for you! But this guitar is still a keeper. Rock on.Dennisio

This guitar is gorgeous and plays like butter. I am so happy with this purchase. Would strongly recommend to anyone wanting to try a 12 string.Rusty

The Koa is beautiful. The fretboard has easy action and the guitar has great tone. I use a cordless system with no delay or cut-out from the electronics. For someone looking for bang for the buck, this qualifies.jtcreely