Dean Cadillac Select 2012 in Ice White

Well my first review, first I'm going to set out how i'm going to format these reviews in future. I'll stick to this format to make all reviews fair!

General info;

Manufacturer: Dean Guitars
Price: £450 - 500
Country manufactured: Korea
Finish options: Flame top, White
Body: Mahogany
Neck: Thru neck Mahogany
Fretboard: Rosewood
Machine Heads: Grover
Pickups: Dean Designed
Bridge: Tune-o-matic fixed

Gear used;

Line 6 Spider II 150 Head
Hayden amps 4x12 Cab
Behringer rack mount 2300 compressor
Fender Cables
Marshall MG15 Combo-amplifier (For tonal variety)


Looks and finish;

Well right out of the box this guitar is a looker. The Caddy is one of the best looking guitars out there in this reviewer's humble opinion! In the white finish with the black bead and gold hardware it has a classic rock look. However don't let looks deceive. This guitar has many strings to its bow (excuse the awful pun). The finish on the guitar defies the price. Flawless lacquer finish and no rough edges near the inspection panels on the back. The fretboard looks well set and the inlays shine. The gold hardware looks of good quality as do the machine heads and nut. The whole guitar feels quality built. The only let down here is the quality of the strings fitted from factory, they look already tarnished and used. This is no major hurdle anyway as I often use .11 gauge strings and not many come with that gauge on as standard.

The Sound;

So, firstly lets test it on the "Big Rig"

On first play I tried it on a generic "clean" setting, no added fx, so I could hear the guitars natural tone. The bridge pickup provides a quite biting sound, clear top end, nice mids but lacking bottom end, expected from a bridge position. The tone on clean almost takes on a single coil sound reminiscent of a tele, quite a surprise I must say. With the neck pickup engaged the bottom end makes a reappearance! The sound of the guitar is similar to that of a Les Paul. Nice clear bottom end for individually picked notes and a nice spread across the spectrum when chords are played with all notes defining themselves. A bit of chorus and some reverb and the tone of the caddy is up there with the best of them!

Now for the dirty sounds! Lets crank the gain up to 11 and see what this axe can do!

This guitar has some chug to it!! Excellent for the budding rhythm player a la Hetfield. The crushing sounds coming from this axe caught me offguard it has to be said. It retains clarity but at the same time provides a naughty tone even the most extreme of metal players would be pleased with. As a metal player myself I was most impressed. Bridge pickup selected this is a pure rhythm machine, excellent articulation of chords whilst providing the chunk to keep the tune turning. With the neck position selected, the guitar became a whole different animal. Slash like tones here. Piano like sustain is the order of the day! Whilst i'm not much of a lead player this guitar encourages even the most staunch of rhythm players to dust off the neck post 12th fret.

Marshall MG15

Now for the big test. None of the bells and whistles of the Line 6 setup, just a generic practise amp. This amp finds flaws in guitars which you would not detect on a more elaborate setup.

Clean sound again surprises! Nice and ringy without being tinny. Middle position on the switch provides a sweet clean sound that really rings out the chords.

With the amps built in distortion activated and switched to the bridge position pickup the guitar still has all the"Chunk" previously mentioned! Riffing out to some classics such as Seasons in the Abyss and Master of Puppets this axe sounds the proverbial mutts.

Playability;

This is whats important for me, the playability of an axe. This is where the money comes out of the wallet. With the Dean I find it incredibly playable, the neck is a thickset beast, but not so thick its uncomfortable. Its reassuring. Weight distribution is a big thing for me, nobody likes an axe that swan dives on a strap, but the dean is quite stable. Its a weighty old axe but again I find that reassuring. My only drawback is the cutaway on the upper frets can be quite a stretch for me, but with my tiny hands thats normal. Overall, incredibly unputdownable!

Verdict;

Well, for a first review I found a peach of an axe to test. This guitar has it all, much more than the price tag tells. The sound of this thing is what blew me away. It has such tonal range, you could play any genre on this thing and it would do it and beg for more. Also, with the look of the guitar it wouldn't look out of place on any stage, classy enough to play on stage in a jazz band and cool enough to rock out with in a metal band. There are some downsides, perhaps the cutaway on the upper frets could be a bit more accommodating, but as stated, my hands are small, this cannot be blamed on the guitar. My only other gripe is the strings that come stock on the guitar, but again this is no reason why you wouldn't whip out the wallet and buy this thing. Only thing I would change is the bridge position pickup, but thats not a bad reflection on the stock one. I would change it mainly for the style I play. Possibly an EMG 81 or even a Seymour Duncan Blackout. Overall, this guitar is worth every penny of its tiny price tag, a great buy for a novice wanting their first serious axe or a seasoned pro looking for another guitar to add to the collection. I should know, I bought one!

Score;

4.5/5

Pros;

Excellent build quality and finish
Quality hardware for the price
Looks to kill

Cons;

Stock strings not great
Access to higher frets slightly impaired