Dean Exotica Koa Acoustic – Review

I must start out this guitar review by saying that I have, in fact, owned only one Dean guitar. Sure, I’ve been to the shops like everyone else, played the displays, played friends’ Deans… but they’ve never struck me as “my type”. I suppose it’s because of the typical metal-head shapes that I have known for so long, but that style has honestly never appealed to me.

Nevertheless, I was glancing around at some ads and saw a beautiful piece, along with its counterparts in other woods. The Dean Exotica Koa model stood out like a sore thumb (but in a good way!), and, being the cheapskate that I am, the price tag had me sold, at least for a “test drive” of an authentic Dean.

Dean Exotica Koa – The Package Arrives…

Well, needless to say I was eager to get a hold of this beauty. If anything, it looked better than I thought it would play. After all, Koa is simply a beautiful wood, and just having one around would be a definite lady-grabber, if you’re into that sort of thing. The package arrived a day early, and I wasn’t really ready.

I don’t know about any of you, but I prepare myself for big packages coming in the mail. I don’t go all “giddy schoolgirl” when it comes, true, but it’s an exciting time whenever you get new musical equipment, and also a certain anticipation when it comes to getting something in the mail out of pure faith, having never played it before.

The Sound! Wait, No… The Setup

Well, despite my excitement, pulling this thing out of the box had me frowning already. While it was packaged very nicely, I could already tell that I would have a lot of work to do on the action, and the stock strings were ass-tastic at best. It helped that this thing glimmered like the Devil’s golden fiddle, though, which took my mind off of the disappointment in those areas.

Fortunately, the guitar came with adjustors for the neck, and I got the action down to a very comfortable level, with minimal buzz. It wasn’t hard to change the strings, obviously, but that helped quite a bit. The tuners seemed to be decent, for the $369 price tag, but nothing special by any means. Overall, the guitar struck me as about average for what I paid for.

The Meat And Bones

The first E chord that I strummed made up for the wait of the setup and fine-tuning. Thanks to the inlaid tuner, all strings were perfectly tuned, and with the D’Addario Lights on there, it really did sound great. It wasn’t exceptionally loud, but it was definitely tons better than most low-budget acoustic-electric guitars that I’ve played. The action stayed well after some rugged playing, which pleased me.

Unfortunately, like many lower-cost guitars, the strings very quickly went out of tune after some intense bends and neck-presses. Though I expected this, I was still disappointed. I’ll admit that I’m a guitar tuning Nazi, and stuff like this really takes a lot of my time. Shortly put, though, this thing was great in the short term, and for the price, I’m very happy with such a purchase. Sure, I could have saved up a little more and bought something a little less frustrating, but who cares?

In The Long Run

Here is where, unfortunately, the Dean Exotica Koa starts to die. I’ve literally only had this guitar for a year or so, and I’m already experiencing problems. One of the tuners snaps if you don’t twist it just right, causing me to ultimately piss my pants on an almost daily basis since it sounds like a string breaking when it does this. The action, while it is still pretty decent, has caused problems on my 13th fret. It buzzes, horribly, and it is simply because of neck warping. Sad, but true…then again, that’s what I paid for.

One last thing to mention, since it is, after all, an acoustic electric: The pre-amp is not bad, but it is definitely not good. The pickups aren’t fantastic, and, unless you tinker with the amp itself, it’s hard to get a really good sound out of this puppy using just the 3-way EQ the preamp provides.

Alright, so, the breakdown is this: If you know someone who is just starting to learn the guitar, or someone who is broke, this is a good choice. It sounds great, and while it isn’t super loud, it is in the high ranks for its price range. It might not last forever (in fact, I’m convinced that it won’t last another 5 years without some real work being done), but it will do its duty if you take care of it, and it will serve you well for its short lifespan.

Before you ask, no, this hasn’t turned me completely off of Deans. However, I probably won’t be making a Dean my next guitar purchase. This sounds a lot worse than I mean it, but it’s the truth. Maybe next time, I’ll try an electric, but for now, I’ll keep my Dean Exotica Koa as my “drag around for whatever” acoustic, because that is the purpose of a cheap guitar, right?

Scotty Smith
Guitarist Rock ©2008-2010