Dean Tonic S Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsThis Dean Tonic S electric guitar I purchased from Musicians' Friend was a "Scratch & Dent" item; on their website, there is a section of used/returned item(s) for sale. So, I bought it, sight unseen, for $110.99. I had seen these advertised before, and thought I was getting the model w/ the brown/black paint tone. To my surprise, I got the yellow/red one instead. It looks silly, ridiculous, but a lesson has been learned here: don't judge on looks alone.
This guitar is great for me. I am height challenged, and this guitar is more like a 3/4 size, perfect for me. As I am 5'7", I could play a std. size guitar, but prefer the 3/4 size ones. It sounds great; the neck pickup is a single coil sized humbucker, rails instead of pole pieced, and it sounds decent. The bridge hum is full size, also railed, and is hot in output. Amazing. Bridge w/ string thru body design. The body is mahogany, great tone. 1 vol. and 1 tone. 5 way selector switch, w/ a configuration that goes like this: In 5 position, full bridge hum, 4, split coil bridge (that's right), 3, both pups split, 2, neck split, 1, neck full hum. Alot of possibilities here!! As it is mahogany, it gives good sustain; I'm impressed. Grover tuning pegs help in keeping it in tune. C-shaped neck, nice width, feels comfortable to play. Frets are decent. It looks like the fretbd. is ebony; can't tell, and the Dean site claims rosewood (I think). But the shade is dark, like ebony. So...
Above should pretty much cover it. It feels good to play, solid tone/sound. Fits like a glove for me. I changed the factory strings,and put on Ernie ball's 11-50. Nice, and gives it a low growl when I use my Metal Zone dist. pedal.
The only flaw I have w/ it is the color. To be honest, I'd rather have the brown/black one. This red/yellow one looks like Mcdonalds!!! Seriously!! I've given it a nickname; it's the "Quarter Pounder"!!! Hehehe....
As it was used, there were some chips on the sides of the guitar. Paint chipping. No big deal, as it was used, a returned item. I can live w/ it. Otherwise, solid. For $111, not bad. Retails for around 350 or so.
I like the guitar; not the paint tone of it, but the positives outweigh the negatives here. So, I can live w/ it. Go get one; carefully choose your color scheme. I'd recommend even the Happy Meal looking one for playability and tone alone. Ha....
Jiver rated this unit
on
2003-03-02.
