Customer Reviews

Dean Playmate EVO Junior Solid Body Electric Guitar, Classic Black, 3/4-Size

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this guitar for my 6 year old who had outgrown his toy acoustic guitar. I am a veteran player and am very impressed with the quality both in construction and sound from it. My child is even more interested in practicing now with the "cool" sounds he is getting from it and (probably most important to him) it looks cool.
I researched several competitor guitars and found this one far superior for the price. The 3/4 size should last him through elementary school years and possibly beyond.

Ok this thing is friggin rad!

Pros: Small, fairly lightweight for a solid body, tuners are slightly better than what I was hearing (at least they're phillips screwed into the mechanism and not totally die cast and held into place with just the tuner covers like some cheaper acoustics I've owned)

Cons: The bridge had to be adjusted and all of the pieces moved back. I didn't look up Gibson specs or anything but I just moved the low E's as far back as it would go while testing 12th fret harmonic vs 12th fret sound and I ended up about as far back as you can go before the screw that holds the piece on started hitting the string. It was dialed in just before the point where I'd have to cut the bolt down so it didn't hit the string. The rest of the bridge pieces are slightly less further back as the strings get higher tone, so it ended up stepping up from lowest to highest and looking like a set of stairs. This really isn't a con, as almost all guitars need to be tooled up before they're worth a crap -- but since it said it was tested and adjusted by Dean professionals on a sticker on the neck I figured it counted as a con.

After the 20 minutes or so I spent putting new strings and adjusting the bridge I knew right away that this baby was well worth the price. I brought the pickups down a bit as they were really really high up especially on the low side of the strings, which gave the guitar a really bassy muddled sound.

I like the action and the neck is sweet. Also the headstock (to my relief) didn't say 'Playmate' on it, and instead it says Dean in cursive. So now I wont feel like I'm playing with a kids toy.

All in all a great little guitar, I'll probably pick up a second one for my nephew in a few years when hes old enough to actually respect an instrument, and go pawn the Squier strat he trashed; for like 20 bux or so. (hey that's a 20 sack right there don't laugh!)

I paired this baby with a Peavey 12w transtube amp (which smokes those mini fender ones)

Now I can finally jam in the bathroom. While I poo. JK xD

This is a nice 3/4 size electric guitar, especially for the price. I say 3/4 size because it's perfect for a teenager or an adult with small hands. It's not the smaller 1/2 size that would be appropriate for an 8 year old or younger player.

Better than average Chinese construction. The neck has a satin rather than smooth finish that keeps my hand from sticking, but took a little getting used to. The body is a nicely applied gloss black. The frets and fingerboard are well done, with no sharp edges.

When it arrived, it needed some adjustments, but after setting the string height and intonation to "Gibson electric" factory specs, the action and intonation are fine. Both of these are easily set with the "tune-o-matic" bridge. I mention intonation because not all 3/4 size "short scale" guitars can be adjusted to intonate correctly, but this one can. Search the web for "intonation" and "Gibson guitar specs" for more info.

Sadly, mine arrived with major scratches on one side. This was caused by a missing foam pad inside the box. Where the pad should have been, there was only the hot glue that was meant to hold the pad. During shipping, the (hard) hot glue rubbed major scratches into the area that the pad should have been protecting. Also, the cord plug was loose. A little work with automotive rubbing compound took care of most of the scratches, and tightening the plug retaining nut and adding locktite took care of the loose plug.

This guitar comes with a cord to connect it to an amplifier, something not mentioned in the description. It also comes with 2 allen wrenches for making truss rod (neck) and bridge height adjustments.

Dean makes a gig bag specifically for this guitar, and several other brands of 3/4 size electric guitar gig bags are available as well.

Overall, 4 stars (one star off for the scratches and loose plug). I would definitely replace it with the same model if were lost or stolen.

Although other reviewers have given it a solid 4.0 stars, I consider this guitar a waste of money. Sure it's $99 (at the time of this review), but you will ultimately beg to have a more quality set up.

My gripes:
1. After playing for awhile the 1/4 locknut washer for the output fell off. I re-attached, but now the darn thing doesn't produce any more sound through the amp.
2. One needs to constantly tune the strings. If you just love spending a lot of time trying to tune rather than play, get this guitar.

I read someone else's review and mentioned the same locknut washer problem, yet they still gave this guitar a 4 star review. I beg to differ. Some people have lowered expectations I suppose.

I'm opting for the Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar. It's $69 more, but I'd rather spend that difference now with quality pick-ups, headstock, and bridge.....rather than having to stare at a $99 mess now.

We bought this for our 8yr old, but I have realized that it is good for me to since I have small hands and have a hard time with a full size. I was impressed with the quality of this guitar. I would reccomend this product, we r just learning how to play so maybe we will upgrade as we get better

This guitar is great for young beginners. It is the right size and it is a great sounding instrument for the money, I would definitely advise a friend to purchase this guitar.

You will ask yourself that question if you are purchasing this guitar for someone else... I did.
I have 'a few' guitars, but thought what a nice addition this little Dean would be. (even though I bought it as a Christmas gift)

My response when I first pulled it out of the box? "Excellent, this doesn't feel like a toy"!
The guitar was nearly ready to play right out of the box. I felt the action was a little low (fret buzz) so I adjusted the saddles up a smidge, and it then needed to be re-intonated... But it was really close.
It came with allen wrenches and instructions for adjusting the truss rod and bridge saddle heights. The truss rod needed no adjusting. It also came with a cord.

I thought to hot rod it by swapping a pickup... but this baby sounds pretty sweet as it comes.

Tuning keys weren't the best I've seen, but I am spoiled with either sperzels or schallers on all my guitars...
Once new strings got acclimated it held tune pretty good.

I would be amazed if you can find a better guitar for the price. And what a great beginner guitar! A younger person can manage this 3/4 size guitar with ease.

what can i say the intonation was way off. the tune-a-matic bridge has a poor design, you can't get the saddle far back enough because the bolts eventually hit the strings... someone here suggested a bolt cutter which is a good idea? i found a computer screw laying around and it fit so the saddle is as far back as possible on the low E and it barely hit the intonation i mean it has to be as far back as possible! anyway after replacing the top two bolts the intonation was perfect. now onto the wiring... when i turn up the volume it crackles... it crackles when i turn the tone and switch the pickup selector! also when strumming hard enough the tune-a-matic bridge rattles a little. these problems are not enough for me to send the guitar back as it plays fine and sounds great as long as i don't move the knobs or switch. for $99 i would say buy the Epiphone LP Junior Special Electric Guitar Ebony currently at $99 Epiphone LP Junior Special Electric Guitar Ebony

Due to the price I wasn't expecting a whole lot when I purchased this guitar. I teach guitar to children and thought I would buy a smaller guitar for that purpose. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a great looking guitar in the mail (on record time, I might add). The guitar itself has a crisp clean sound, far better than my expectations. Smooth action on the neck. The only downfall is the tuning pegs. It goes out of tune rather quickly - that is something that can easily and cheaply be fixed.
So, overall, I am REALLY pleased with this guitar.
Don't think it's only for children, either! If you have small hands (as I do) then it's the perfect size! I will be buying more Dean Guitars in the future.

Got this almost a year ago for my 9-yr old son, and glad to say he's stayed in it. So his EVO Jr. has been holding up OK, IMO it is a decent guitar for the money. Just be aware, it may need a few minor tweeks/adjustments. My biggest gripe: the neck bends very slightly when pressing down on a string, to the point where other strings' tunes are very slightly affected by the pressure on the neck. I figured at first, this was probably inevitable due to making the neck slim enough for a child's hand to fit around, but then, his Jr.-size Yamaha Acoustic does not suffer the same problem, so....