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Dean "Boca" 12-string semi-hollow body electric guitar
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Dean
"Boca" 12-string semi-hollow body electric guitar
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Schneibster 
- Group: Member
- Posts: 152
- Joined: 07-November 05
- Location:Seattle
Posted 03 May 2006 - 05:52 PM
How much did you purchase this item for?$350US, plus $100 for a case
Where did you purchase this item?Musician's Friend, on-line
Is this item new or used?New
Features:
12-string
Dual humbuckers- apparently Dean specials
One volume, one tone, clear/black bottom/white index speed knobs- pots appear of standard design, and are audio-taper
One pickup switch (3 pos. leaf switch bridge/both/neck)
Schaller tuners
Graphite (or some other black tough hard slick plastic) nut
Mother-of-pearl inlay fret dots and headstock decoration ("Dean" name and "wings" logo)
Standard 3-layer nitrocellulose black/white/black plastic truss rod adjustment cover on headstock
Single truss rod, adjustment nut style unknown (I didn't have to touch it
)
Maple neck, rosewood fretboard
22 Jumbo frets
Unbound fretboard with incised and white-filled marker dots on the right-handed topside- octave is distinguished by two dots
Tune-O-Matic-style fully studded bridge and tailpiece
Double cutaway for high-fret access
Double f-holes
Construction:Semi-hollow body with a "log" down the middle of the body, with a knock-off neck.
Unusually, the top strap button is mounted with one of the neck screws (extra-long for this purpose) on the back of the reinforcing plate, rather than on the tip of the top "horn" of the cutaways; the other strap button is in the standard location at the butt of the body. The strap buttons are fastened solidly, into solid wood, with long screws. I would recommend filing or grinding the heads of the screws if you replace the buttons with strap locks as I did; the standard screws sold with most strap lock systems are too short in my opinion, and these are very long and very strong.
The body is of a semi-hard wood of light pinkish color when unfinished; the rather pronounced grain looks very much like mahogany, but it is not hard enough to be that. The body is finished on the outside in black nitro-lacquer, and is available only in this color. The f-holes have white inlay on their lips, though it isn't done very carefully (mine had gaps at the "corners" where the lips met, and there was some obvious filler around the area- this filler, however, was not permitted to discolor the wood of the back where it was visible through the f-holes, nor is it visible at the lip-to-front transition joint). The finish is hard, glossy, and unmarred. No grain or other defect is either visible or present to the touch through the finish. It is unfinished inside. The wiring is all tucked away neatly next to the "log" behind the lip of the f-hole. The front of the body is sculpted the way a Les Paul is, with a "hump" running down the front of the "log," tapering to the standard thickness at the butt of the body. The back is flat, with a bevel that runs from near the insides of the cutaways to the end of the neck butt. The body is unbound. The overall shape is close to that of an SG, but thicker and hollow, as I have indicated. The thickness is more like that of an ES-335 than a 350.
The headstock mounts to the neck at a hard-glued joint that angles from just below the 2nd fret under the fretboard to just below the nut at the back of the neck. This is fairly standard for necks with a sharp head angle, because the grain of the wood must run parallel to the neck, and if the headstock is not set on this way, it can create a weak point where the line of the back of the neck goes through the headstock along the grain. The joint shows every sign of being very well glued, and the truss rod goes straight through it, no doubt lending extra support. There is no joint that you can feel on the back of the neck. The neck is finished matte, and responds well both to the unlubricated hand and to use of your favorite lubricant (I swear by Finger-Ease, YMMV). The fit and finish of the neck butt is clean, and the body does not protrude into the finger path in the cutaways until the 20th fret, and barely then; you won't notice it. The neck is quite wide to accommodate the 12 strings, and the radius on the fretboard is unusually large, making it nearly flat. As it turns out, this makes the axe play quite nicely, but I'll get into that down below. However, beware if you have especially small hands; you might find the neck width a bit challenging, though in my opinion no more so than other 12 string axes, and less so than many acoustic ones.
The electronics are neatly soldered, and the switch and knobs are silky-smooth; there is just enough tension on the switch leaves to give you good feedback when you change position. As it turns out, this might not be quite enough tension; on a couple of occasions, after hard playing, the switch has "snapped over" to another position unexpectedly, but I haven't localized the problem because I was busy playing, and I may have brushed it with my pinky. There is no sign of crackling, connection problems, or any other electro-mechanical defect. The pickups adjust easily up and down on their adjustment screws, from below the tops of their rings to so high as to be unplayable (because they are too close to the strings); the entire playable range is easily accessible. The pickup rings are of different heights to properly accomodate the body's sculpted shape on the front and place the pickups at the proper position with regard to the strings. The pickups' pole pieces are properly aligned with the strings. The jack is surrounded by a plate held in place with two pan-head screws, and this has the added benefit of protecting the finish from the head of the plug when you are changing cables. The jack is tight, but not too tight. All the hardware is chrome, and again, there is no choice here; you get a black axe, with white f-hole lips, and chrome hardware. That's what they offer, period.
The fit and finish are quite nice; the only gig I found was the f-hole inlays, which weren't quite what I would have expected on a more expensive instrument. The knurls on the bridge and tailpiece inserts protrude slightly (about 1mm or less) at the outside, due to the sculpture of the face, but their insides are set flush, and they must be straight, so the choices are to interrupt the shape of the face, build up material around them, inset them farther so that the insides are actually below the surface, or do what Dean has done and let them protrude slightly. I agree with Dean's choice in this instance. The lack of finish on the inside of the body can be taken as a gig, or as a style choice; since there are no blemishes on the wood behind the f-holes where this is visible, I take it as the second and agree with that as well.
When I received the axe, it was adjusted nearly perfectly. Slight intonation adjustment was needed (more on that in a minute); the string height was ideal; I cranked the pickups up (bridge) and down (neck) a bit to balance them. The neck bow was also ideal. When I went with GHS Boomer .009s, I had to touch up the octave A gap in the nut slightly to address a string stick when tuning.
My one quibble on this axe is this: the Tune-O-Matic bridge is not a 12-saddle model, but has only 6 saddles. The older Rickenbacker 12-string electrics had this same problem; Ricky eventually came up with a 12-saddle bridge to address it. I had just about resigned myself to either making one or having one made, when Allparts came out with one at just the right time. I have installed this bridge onto the studs in the axe (it was almost plug-n-play, the holes in the bridge were just a little too far apart so I drilled them out a little bit (because there's no way to move the studs), and the saddles needed to be reversed on the octave G and D- and the adjustment screws were standard, I replaced them with phillips because I didn't want them stripping or the screwdriver slipping out and marring the finish). In addition, the Allparts bridge has set screws that clamp down on the studs, which not only prevents the bridge from rocking but also keeps the studs from turning and messing up the action. This is a nice feature, but probably unnecessary on the stock bridge; the pressure of the strings is sufficient to keep the studs from turning. Until I had that bridge on there, I was never quite satisfied with the intonation on the high frets. It was only a little bit off, a few cents but certainly less than 10, and you could compensate partly by pressing which would raise the pitch of the octaves a little bit, but it just wasn't quite right and it bothered me out of all proportion to its probable actual importance. One note: the holes actually have to be almost to the edge of the milled hole in the bridge for the saddles; be very careful to make sure your drill is straight, because otherwise you will break through the edge and there will not be enough material to hold the bridge on the studs properly. You might be well advised to drill a bit too far out and finish it with a rat-tail file, which is what I did. You'll have to file notches in the saddles for the strings; you'll want jewelers' files, and be aware that you want to make sure the saddles will be OK as arranged; you have to file the notches for a string and its octave close to the matching edges, rather than in the centers of the saddles, in order to get the spacing right. And one final note: since no modifications to the guitar itself are needed, only to the bridge, if you need warranty service you can just loosen the strings and re-install the original bridge without any problems. When the service is done, pull off the Tune-O-Matic and put the Allparts bridge back on, intone, and you're locked, cocked, and ready to rock.
I am a fan of tremolo bars, so I might elect to replace the tailpiece at some point, but I'll have to think about it a little while; one problem would be coming up with a locking nut that could accomodate 12 strings, which could be challenging. The most obvious solution of putting it behind the nut won't work because the truss rod adjustment cover plate is in the way. But considering it's a 12-string, I might elect to just leave it alone anyway.
Sound:Very nice. The pickups are well chosen, and complement the tone of the axe itself nicely. The bass on the neck pickup is industrial strength, and the bridge pickup tinkles nicely. The tone knob rolls off the treble very well, and goes deep enough for just about any need. I would stick with .009s or .010s; although this axe could probably handle even .012s, you could wind up with problems with the studs or the neck, and it's just not worth it; .010s really boom it out. (That's the high E gauge, BTW, not the octave G gauge; with .010s, the octave G is a .009, and with .009s it's .008.) There are no fret buzzes (at least once your hands get strong enough), no sympathetic vibrations from the wiring inside the body, and no problems fretting (again, once you're strong enough). The sustain is very, very nice, and as with all semi-hollow axes, desirable (Santana-style) feedback is very easy to obtain; but undesirable squealing and so forth just never happens. The pickups are properly potted, and the values of the pots and the tone rolloff cap are perfectly chosen for the pickups. Note that the output is pretty "hot;" you'll find that you can easily drive most preamps into clipping, and some reviews I have seen of this axe have recommended not ever using the axe at full volume. This axe sounds as good with some distortion added as it does clean. You'll find the distorted sound de-emphasizes the 12-string sound, making it sound more like a 6-string, but if you know what you're listening for, you won't have any trouble hearing the difference. If it is your intent to play distorted quite a bit, I would very strongly recommend the 12-saddle bridge mod above, since it doesn't quite sound right without it.
Ease of Use: Excellent. You'll never believe it's a 12-string, unless all you've been playing lately is wimpy 6-string electrics with .009s. It's as much easier to play than a 12-string acoustic as a 6-string electric is than a 6-string acoustic. The matte finish on the neck turns out to be just right for sliding, and just right for biting down with your thumb to stop sliding. The controls are handy and easy to manipulate, and the Schallers make tuning as much of a breeze as it will ever be on a 12-string guitar; I rarely overshot the correct tuning point the first day I had it, and since then I almost never do.
The one usability problem with this axe is that the 12 machine heads overbalance the axe toward the head; if you let go of it, the head WILL fall to the ground. That would be bad. A few reviewers I have read consider this to be a major flaw; since one plays a guitar with one's hand on the neck, I personally do not and most reviewers agree with me. But if this is going to bother you, you have been warned.
Reliability:So far not a single problem. Dean has a good reputation in that respect.
Overall: A 9. Would be a 10 if it had a 12-saddle bridge; mine is now. It's almost a 10 anyway, because it's only $350US, an absolutely incredible price for a 12-string electric guitar that is of this quality. If I were Dean, and I'm getting ready to write them about it, I'd get a bunch of those 12-saddle bridges from Allparts or whatever and sell them for $500; they'd make a mint, if folks would overcome their fear of 12-strings and just try them out.
Experience Level:4 months, once-a-week 4-hour jam session and weekend recording, plus daily practice
Where did you purchase this item?Musician's Friend, on-line
Is this item new or used?New
Features:
12-string
Dual humbuckers- apparently Dean specials
One volume, one tone, clear/black bottom/white index speed knobs- pots appear of standard design, and are audio-taper
One pickup switch (3 pos. leaf switch bridge/both/neck)
Schaller tuners
Graphite (or some other black tough hard slick plastic) nut
Mother-of-pearl inlay fret dots and headstock decoration ("Dean" name and "wings" logo)
Standard 3-layer nitrocellulose black/white/black plastic truss rod adjustment cover on headstock
Single truss rod, adjustment nut style unknown (I didn't have to touch it
)Maple neck, rosewood fretboard
22 Jumbo frets
Unbound fretboard with incised and white-filled marker dots on the right-handed topside- octave is distinguished by two dots
Tune-O-Matic-style fully studded bridge and tailpiece
Double cutaway for high-fret access
Double f-holes
Construction:Semi-hollow body with a "log" down the middle of the body, with a knock-off neck.
Unusually, the top strap button is mounted with one of the neck screws (extra-long for this purpose) on the back of the reinforcing plate, rather than on the tip of the top "horn" of the cutaways; the other strap button is in the standard location at the butt of the body. The strap buttons are fastened solidly, into solid wood, with long screws. I would recommend filing or grinding the heads of the screws if you replace the buttons with strap locks as I did; the standard screws sold with most strap lock systems are too short in my opinion, and these are very long and very strong.
The body is of a semi-hard wood of light pinkish color when unfinished; the rather pronounced grain looks very much like mahogany, but it is not hard enough to be that. The body is finished on the outside in black nitro-lacquer, and is available only in this color. The f-holes have white inlay on their lips, though it isn't done very carefully (mine had gaps at the "corners" where the lips met, and there was some obvious filler around the area- this filler, however, was not permitted to discolor the wood of the back where it was visible through the f-holes, nor is it visible at the lip-to-front transition joint). The finish is hard, glossy, and unmarred. No grain or other defect is either visible or present to the touch through the finish. It is unfinished inside. The wiring is all tucked away neatly next to the "log" behind the lip of the f-hole. The front of the body is sculpted the way a Les Paul is, with a "hump" running down the front of the "log," tapering to the standard thickness at the butt of the body. The back is flat, with a bevel that runs from near the insides of the cutaways to the end of the neck butt. The body is unbound. The overall shape is close to that of an SG, but thicker and hollow, as I have indicated. The thickness is more like that of an ES-335 than a 350.
The headstock mounts to the neck at a hard-glued joint that angles from just below the 2nd fret under the fretboard to just below the nut at the back of the neck. This is fairly standard for necks with a sharp head angle, because the grain of the wood must run parallel to the neck, and if the headstock is not set on this way, it can create a weak point where the line of the back of the neck goes through the headstock along the grain. The joint shows every sign of being very well glued, and the truss rod goes straight through it, no doubt lending extra support. There is no joint that you can feel on the back of the neck. The neck is finished matte, and responds well both to the unlubricated hand and to use of your favorite lubricant (I swear by Finger-Ease, YMMV). The fit and finish of the neck butt is clean, and the body does not protrude into the finger path in the cutaways until the 20th fret, and barely then; you won't notice it. The neck is quite wide to accommodate the 12 strings, and the radius on the fretboard is unusually large, making it nearly flat. As it turns out, this makes the axe play quite nicely, but I'll get into that down below. However, beware if you have especially small hands; you might find the neck width a bit challenging, though in my opinion no more so than other 12 string axes, and less so than many acoustic ones.
The electronics are neatly soldered, and the switch and knobs are silky-smooth; there is just enough tension on the switch leaves to give you good feedback when you change position. As it turns out, this might not be quite enough tension; on a couple of occasions, after hard playing, the switch has "snapped over" to another position unexpectedly, but I haven't localized the problem because I was busy playing, and I may have brushed it with my pinky. There is no sign of crackling, connection problems, or any other electro-mechanical defect. The pickups adjust easily up and down on their adjustment screws, from below the tops of their rings to so high as to be unplayable (because they are too close to the strings); the entire playable range is easily accessible. The pickup rings are of different heights to properly accomodate the body's sculpted shape on the front and place the pickups at the proper position with regard to the strings. The pickups' pole pieces are properly aligned with the strings. The jack is surrounded by a plate held in place with two pan-head screws, and this has the added benefit of protecting the finish from the head of the plug when you are changing cables. The jack is tight, but not too tight. All the hardware is chrome, and again, there is no choice here; you get a black axe, with white f-hole lips, and chrome hardware. That's what they offer, period.
The fit and finish are quite nice; the only gig I found was the f-hole inlays, which weren't quite what I would have expected on a more expensive instrument. The knurls on the bridge and tailpiece inserts protrude slightly (about 1mm or less) at the outside, due to the sculpture of the face, but their insides are set flush, and they must be straight, so the choices are to interrupt the shape of the face, build up material around them, inset them farther so that the insides are actually below the surface, or do what Dean has done and let them protrude slightly. I agree with Dean's choice in this instance. The lack of finish on the inside of the body can be taken as a gig, or as a style choice; since there are no blemishes on the wood behind the f-holes where this is visible, I take it as the second and agree with that as well.
When I received the axe, it was adjusted nearly perfectly. Slight intonation adjustment was needed (more on that in a minute); the string height was ideal; I cranked the pickups up (bridge) and down (neck) a bit to balance them. The neck bow was also ideal. When I went with GHS Boomer .009s, I had to touch up the octave A gap in the nut slightly to address a string stick when tuning.
My one quibble on this axe is this: the Tune-O-Matic bridge is not a 12-saddle model, but has only 6 saddles. The older Rickenbacker 12-string electrics had this same problem; Ricky eventually came up with a 12-saddle bridge to address it. I had just about resigned myself to either making one or having one made, when Allparts came out with one at just the right time. I have installed this bridge onto the studs in the axe (it was almost plug-n-play, the holes in the bridge were just a little too far apart so I drilled them out a little bit (because there's no way to move the studs), and the saddles needed to be reversed on the octave G and D- and the adjustment screws were standard, I replaced them with phillips because I didn't want them stripping or the screwdriver slipping out and marring the finish). In addition, the Allparts bridge has set screws that clamp down on the studs, which not only prevents the bridge from rocking but also keeps the studs from turning and messing up the action. This is a nice feature, but probably unnecessary on the stock bridge; the pressure of the strings is sufficient to keep the studs from turning. Until I had that bridge on there, I was never quite satisfied with the intonation on the high frets. It was only a little bit off, a few cents but certainly less than 10, and you could compensate partly by pressing which would raise the pitch of the octaves a little bit, but it just wasn't quite right and it bothered me out of all proportion to its probable actual importance. One note: the holes actually have to be almost to the edge of the milled hole in the bridge for the saddles; be very careful to make sure your drill is straight, because otherwise you will break through the edge and there will not be enough material to hold the bridge on the studs properly. You might be well advised to drill a bit too far out and finish it with a rat-tail file, which is what I did. You'll have to file notches in the saddles for the strings; you'll want jewelers' files, and be aware that you want to make sure the saddles will be OK as arranged; you have to file the notches for a string and its octave close to the matching edges, rather than in the centers of the saddles, in order to get the spacing right. And one final note: since no modifications to the guitar itself are needed, only to the bridge, if you need warranty service you can just loosen the strings and re-install the original bridge without any problems. When the service is done, pull off the Tune-O-Matic and put the Allparts bridge back on, intone, and you're locked, cocked, and ready to rock.
I am a fan of tremolo bars, so I might elect to replace the tailpiece at some point, but I'll have to think about it a little while; one problem would be coming up with a locking nut that could accomodate 12 strings, which could be challenging. The most obvious solution of putting it behind the nut won't work because the truss rod adjustment cover plate is in the way. But considering it's a 12-string, I might elect to just leave it alone anyway.
Sound:Very nice. The pickups are well chosen, and complement the tone of the axe itself nicely. The bass on the neck pickup is industrial strength, and the bridge pickup tinkles nicely. The tone knob rolls off the treble very well, and goes deep enough for just about any need. I would stick with .009s or .010s; although this axe could probably handle even .012s, you could wind up with problems with the studs or the neck, and it's just not worth it; .010s really boom it out. (That's the high E gauge, BTW, not the octave G gauge; with .010s, the octave G is a .009, and with .009s it's .008.) There are no fret buzzes (at least once your hands get strong enough), no sympathetic vibrations from the wiring inside the body, and no problems fretting (again, once you're strong enough). The sustain is very, very nice, and as with all semi-hollow axes, desirable (Santana-style) feedback is very easy to obtain; but undesirable squealing and so forth just never happens. The pickups are properly potted, and the values of the pots and the tone rolloff cap are perfectly chosen for the pickups. Note that the output is pretty "hot;" you'll find that you can easily drive most preamps into clipping, and some reviews I have seen of this axe have recommended not ever using the axe at full volume. This axe sounds as good with some distortion added as it does clean. You'll find the distorted sound de-emphasizes the 12-string sound, making it sound more like a 6-string, but if you know what you're listening for, you won't have any trouble hearing the difference. If it is your intent to play distorted quite a bit, I would very strongly recommend the 12-saddle bridge mod above, since it doesn't quite sound right without it.
Ease of Use: Excellent. You'll never believe it's a 12-string, unless all you've been playing lately is wimpy 6-string electrics with .009s. It's as much easier to play than a 12-string acoustic as a 6-string electric is than a 6-string acoustic. The matte finish on the neck turns out to be just right for sliding, and just right for biting down with your thumb to stop sliding. The controls are handy and easy to manipulate, and the Schallers make tuning as much of a breeze as it will ever be on a 12-string guitar; I rarely overshot the correct tuning point the first day I had it, and since then I almost never do.
The one usability problem with this axe is that the 12 machine heads overbalance the axe toward the head; if you let go of it, the head WILL fall to the ground. That would be bad. A few reviewers I have read consider this to be a major flaw; since one plays a guitar with one's hand on the neck, I personally do not and most reviewers agree with me. But if this is going to bother you, you have been warned.
Reliability:So far not a single problem. Dean has a good reputation in that respect.
Overall: A 9. Would be a 10 if it had a 12-saddle bridge; mine is now.
It's almost a 10 anyway, because it's only $350US, an absolutely incredible price for a 12-string electric guitar that is of this quality. If I were Dean, and I'm getting ready to write them about it, I'd get a bunch of those 12-saddle bridges from Allparts or whatever and sell them for $500; they'd make a mint, if folks would overcome their fear of 12-strings and just try them out. Experience Level:4 months, once-a-week 4-hour jam session and weekend recording, plus daily practice
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