Dean Vendetta Xmt Electric Guitar With Tremolo Satin Natural For Sale (2024 Update)

TGhe guitar I got had some factory defects that I had to correct by myself. There was a not very good electric contact that caused an undesirable noise. This was expected in a very cheap 7 strings guitar. The guitar is good looking, I hope it last in that way several years.palospacheco

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've always wanted an ML and this one looked so beautiful online. It's even better when it's in your hand. Pickups are awesome, nice full tone and great crunch on the distortion side. Love the matte finish on the back of the neck. It has great sustain too, you can feel the tone through the whole guitar when you play a note and I prefer that solid feel when I play. My only two complaints is there are a couple fingerprints under the clear coat on the back. Obviously missed during the QC checks at the factory. But they're barely noticeable and they're on the back. Gives it character to have a workers fingerprints as part of my guitar. The other thing is the frets could've been polished a little better. But when I changed the strings, I took another 30 mins and polished them and that was that. This is my 10th guitar and it's tied for number one favorite. I play it every day and love it. I bought the case for it as well, it's enormous, but great fit and quality.Will

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

It's beautiful, it's loud, it reflects light all over the place. Easy access to all frets. Bridge pickup is very powerful. Neck pickup has a warm, classic rock sound. Mirror pick-guard is incredibly cool.Chad s

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

You can't expect any guitar at this price point to sound great. You can't expect any guitar with a bolt on neck to sound great. You can't expect any guitar with a basswood body to sound great. But this guitar is definitely worth the tiny bit I paid for it. It stays in tune, the frets don't have any sharp edges, the action is not high. It may sound better if I changed the pickups, but most guitarists like to try out different pickups, so that's not a big deal. The important thing is that this is comfortable to practice on at home, which is a big expectation for a guitar at this price pointtheLonnie

Had to file sharp fret ends and raise bridge one turn. Then it played as well as many of my other guitars. The pickup switch doesn't always make good contact and has to be jiggled – which seems to be common in this kind of toggle. The finish appears to be opaque brown stain over wood, with a flat polyurethane(?) finish. The grain is barely visible but it's there. If you end up filing the fret ends like I did, protect the rosewood fret board with tape or something and use a very fine file. Makes a good beach and party guitar – If it's damaged at this price, who cares?Uncle Willie

First off, i have to say if i say anything negative, it should be taken with a grain of salt because in its price range, this is a great guitar. Right out of the box, i found the color not matching the image, however personally i found its true color pleasing. The guitar has a comfortable feel, not overly heavy, but not cheap feeling either. The neck feels comfortable, the tuners generally stay well in tune. i like the adjustable bridge, its a nice feature. The tone control is decently dynamic. the selector is a bit sticky sometimes, and that can become annoying. Also i find that the pickups are a bit close in range so as not to give the greatest differentiation, but still, its not an expensive guitar. So all in all, i recommend this model for the price, it has a good sound and i find it pleasing. it also has a lot of potential. I made just go crazy and drop some P-90's in there, who knows. lol 🙂 great for starter, or just a base for a custom.JDubya

I've always wanted an ML and this one looked so beautiful online. It's even better when it's in your hand. Pickups are awesome, nice full tone and great crunch on the distortion side. Love the matte finish on the back of the neck. It has great sustain too, you can feel the tone through the whole guitar when you play a note and I prefer that solid feel when I play. My only two complaints is there are a couple fingerprints under the clear coat on the back. Obviously missed during the QC checks at the factory. But they're barely noticeable and they're on the back. Gives it character to have a workers fingerprints as part of my guitar. The other thing is the frets could've been polished a little better. But when I changed the strings, I took another 30 mins and polished them and that was that. This is my 10th guitar and it's tied for number one favorite. I play it every day and love it. I bought the case for it as well, it's enormous, but great fit and quality.Will

This guitar is built really well. My son loves it. He has only been playing for a year but wanted a little better quality guitar that all of the beginner stuff out there. The pickups sound great. He will have this guitar for a long time I'm sure.John

I just got this Guitar: Dean Thoroughbred Select Fluence Black Satin Guitar, model TB SEL FL BKS. The build quality is unbelievable. The neck perfect, jumbo frets perfect. Fit and finish OUTSTANDING! When I plugged it into my amp and started jamming, it screamed!! I mean this thing is a BEAST! These Fishman Fluence Modern pickups are killer! DEAN keep up the good work!!Joe C.

My wife asked what i wanted for Christmas. My response was "you can never go wrong with a guitar." She had received a sale flyer and decided to get it for me. it is not a guitar I would typically pick out based on the style but its growing on me. When it first arrived the action was a bit high but that is an easy fix. The Fret ends were a bit sharp but nothing a file from Stew mac didn't fix. I play in a garage band the tends to be on the Metal, hard rock side and this fits the bill. At this price I don't have to worry about nicks or scratches or spilled beer.I considered swapping out the pickups but it does the job just fine and I am going to keep it as is.As with any traditional style trem don't expect to Dive bomb it and stay in tune. I myself put 2 extra strings on it and locked it down. I would recommend it to a beginner or as a drag around and don't worry guitar.Chris T

Opened it just to inspect it. It's darker than the one shown in the picture. At first I was upset, but this color is really quite nice. It's more a deep mahogany color. Black pickups and knobs. The back of the neck is a neutral light color wood. It's in perfect shape. No nicks or scratches. Can't play it yet as it's my "gift" to me from my wife. Best way I figured I could avoid an argument was to tell her that she got me my christmas gift for under $100. It looks a lot more expensive than $100 too. She was surprised at the finish of the guitar. Very happy so far…2015.monit

The guitar itself looked cool. That was what I assumed when I went to the store. Then I bought it. I was stupid to not try it at the shop. Frets buzz, some sort of hard sound comes out, and even though I keep tuning to standard, it keeps flatting itself, which forced me to keep it at Drop A. This guitar's only good for actual practice; no amps no pedals no nothing except the guitar. I definitely recommend getting something a bit better, and there are lots within this guitar's price range, some even lower priced.Zephyr

The reason I gave it 5 stars is that you will NEVER EVER find a better guitar for 100 bucks! The action, tone, noise level, pick-up power and joy of playing are all way above the price. Highly recommended if you're just looking for a good beater or as a name brand entry level that you don't have to go through the shame of buying at Walmart.unel_0

Always a little apprehensive about buying something like this on line. When I got it, it was double boxed and when I opened it I was very pleased with the quality. Real nice guitar.chcbr9220_dhqkmu

I own a Dean Hardtail. The Icon is essentially a Hardtail. Now my Hardtail was MIK and I am not sure where the Icon is made. I will tell you , I also own a Dean C350F and that was made in China. It is a fine built hi quality guitar. I guess Dean has guitars made then they return to Dean USA for quality and set-up. Understand, I also own two Gibson LP Standards (late 90s), A Mex Strat, a MIJ Ibanez S-Classic, and an RG Premium. I have chosen on many occasions to record with the C350F and the Hardtail. I love these guitars. I have not played an Icon but it is basically a Hardtail. I can also say, you get a lot for your money with Dean guitars.legman

Guitar is a dream to play….has amazing pitch and tone. Its light weight and extremely nice looking. The Grover tuners are super nice as well.Sean Keene

Don't expect a custom shop handmade guitar; but for the money, this guitar kicks all kinds of tail! It plays very nicely with a very fast fretboard and thin neck. Stays in tune when abusing it with heavy pick attack. It does exactly what it looks like it was made for doing! Not to mention, it looks really cool, and plays as good as it looks! I have been playing for 25+ years, have owned many, many, many, mid-priced guitars over the years and this is definitely a big bang for the buck! Looks + Tone + Playability = Worth the investment.Cut-Bait

Great metal guitar. When I ordered this Dean I was already thinking of swapping out the neck pickup to some type of Duncan. Then the guitar showed up, the Dime Time neck pickup is amazing! No need to really swap it out unless you really dont like the sound of the Dean pickup. The neck profile on this Dean is a soft V. It's chunky but definitely not like an old Les Paul. It's comfy. If you do not like thick necks, this is not the guitar for you. The korean Floyd on this thing is just as good as a German floyd. Will not go out of tune, unless you set it up wrong. Do some research, its not difficult at all. The Dimebucker is a very underrated pickup. Ton's of reviews of those online and on YouTube. Look it up, you're either gonna love it or hate it. This guitar screams METAL. It's huge. When you strap this guitar on you automatically get a boost of testosterone and instantly grow a red goatee. Not for the feint of heart- get an Ibanez instead.Javier M.

This guitar plays and sounds amazing. I used to own an ESP Kerry King, and I've always regretted selling it…until now. This Dean model is easily as good as the ESP and sounds great!!! It even sounds good on my Fender Twin clean channel, breaking it up nicely for an awesome sound. Then I use it on my Peavey 5150 Combo and it blows me away!!! Savage thick distortion that has great clarity in it's tone. Would highly recommend!!!!!!Mike L.

The guitar plays amazing with a great neck feel. It's an easy guitar to play sitting too. The sounds that I can get out of the pickups depends on the PU combination and plays deep as well as flat and earthy. It's solidly built & the case is beautiful!Gordon

This is a gorgeous instrument, hands down. I love the Burled Top, I love the Satin finish, I love the shape and feel of the body. The cut-away on the lower horn is MASSIVE, and on top of that, the backside of the cut-away is rounded off so you can reach even higher. Absolutely no trouble reaching the highest frets on any string. I was pleased to find that the Floyd Rose tremolo felt exactly the same as a 6-string Floyd Rose would feel. Not overly stiff and flutters just how I wanted it to. For $1300-1400 it's not a bad instrument, but it's pretty low tech compared to the other stuff you could be getting with these features. No Luminlay Side Dots, no locking strap buttons, a slightly lower end Floyd Rose tremolo. I have returned this instrument, as much as it pains me, it didn't have a place in my collection of guitars. It would have just been a glorified wall ornament for me. Here are a couple of issues that I had with it, and some of these may be a problem for me but not anyone else. The higher string tuners often seemed completely unresponsive, requiring a 1/4 turn before they even start registering a pitch change. This may not be a big issue considering it has a locking nut and micro-tuners on the Floyd. In the end, it's not a big deal, but I felt it should be pointed out. Whenever I flutter the tremolo, the Tremolo Arm rattles in its socket, no matter how tightly I secure it. There's always a little bit of play in it. The tremolo flutters perfectly, but if you're playing unplugged, the rattle gets to be very annoying. Not to mention, the rattle is close enough to the pickups, that you may actually be able to hear it through your amplifier/speakers. I'm assuming this is an issue with this particular Floyd Rose 1000 series and not the guitar or manufacturer. I'm out of room for comments. Ok, shorter version: Apparently I don't like EMG's that much, the neck is noticeably square and wide, but perfectly playable, the thing is heavy.HotRodasaurus

I've been playing guitar for 29 years and I'm super picky. This is one of the best guitars I've ever played in my life. Super butter neck, the stock pickups do not need to be upgraded, the guitar just resonates amazingly! I have to write a review since no one else has. Hopefully people catch on and start buying this guitar.Joe

I played this guitar the one day at a guitar center just because how often do you see a Dean, not often. I wanted to see how it was. I didn't expect anything special but right away I thought it had a very clear even tone. I thought maybe it was the amp doing that so I played about 5 other guitars with the same amp settings to see it that was it, nope. I didn't plan on buying a guitar so left the store. After randomly stopping by the guitar center 4 more times over the time span of about 2 months and playing that guitar each time I became more obsessed with it. Again playing other guitars in the store to compare it to. I play metal, death metal, and black metal. I like strats with humbuckers, Jackson, Ibanez, any strat shaped guitar that can do metal tones. I was surprised how clear this Dean was, a tune o matic bridge tends to make a guitar sound warmer in my experience. This guitar sounded more punchy, bright, and clear compared to every guitar I tried next to it. Besides the tone it's one of the easiest if not easiest playing guitar I've ever put my hands on. Finally I bought it few days ago. Taking it home all I did was lower the action ever so slightly and I've been playing it hours everyday since. Just hitting open chords is so satisfying, it's like the volume of each string in the chord rings out evenly. The guitar feels "alive" I don't know if it's just this particular Dean being like this or if all the other MDX X quilt top of this same model are like this too. The guitar has a mahogany body and rosewood fretboard but it sounds more like an alder body with a ebony fretboard. Maybe it's the binding and maple top adding to the brightness. Normally on a guitar I'll change the pickups but this guitar absolutely does not need different pickups. On a fender strat I have be careful to not hit the volume and turn it down while I'm playing. The volume knob on the Dean is in the perfect location. It's out of the way yet in a good location for volume swells. I hope Dean keeps this model around a good long time. Besides it playing and sounding amazing I do like blue guitars with a quilt maple top. I bought the guitar based on tone and playability alone but the appearance is a bonus. The headstock shape, Dean logo, and black hardware are all very cool!Derek

This guitar is built really well. My son loves it. He has only been playing for a year but wanted a little better quality guitar that all of the beginner stuff out there. The pickups sound great. He will have this guitar for a long time I'm sure.John

I just got this Guitar: Dean Thoroughbred Select Fluence Black Satin Guitar, model TB SEL FL BKS. The build quality is unbelievable. The neck perfect, jumbo frets perfect. Fit and finish OUTSTANDING! When I plugged it into my amp and started jamming, it screamed!! I mean this thing is a BEAST! These Fishman Fluence Modern pickups are killer! DEAN keep up the good work!!Joe C.