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Pros:
- Affordable
- Lightweight
- Child Friendly
Cons:
- Dents Easily
- Weak Pickups
Dean Playmate EVO Junior ¾ size solid body electric guitar is one of those instruments that, depending on the owner, can either surprise you, or disappoint you. It has so many good qualities, but the few drawbacks the guitar has, might turn those unwilling to adapt against the instrument. Let us take a closer look and see what makes this one so great and yet so polarizing.
Body Quality
The guitar manufacturer was particularly fond of the fender telecaster design when they decided to make this instrument the Dean Playmate EVO junior rocks a beautiful, iconic look so many of us have seen and dreamed about before. While the pickguard might be missing from the design, the design remains appealing as always. The darker colouring makes the guitar a tad bit more serious, though I have a feeling it was always intended for fun purposes.
The body of the guitar is made of basswood. This is a popular, cheap hardwood used in a lot of guitars, both acoustic and electric, though you will find it more often in the electric guitar kind. This is because, while the wood is rather lightweight and does have a good bass enhancing quality, it is rather easy to dent. Electric guitars don’t fear dents as much as acoustics do, which is why you will find them on electric more often. The ¾ sized body, combined with the basswood, keeps the guitar feather-light. This means you get very easy to carry and play guitar.
The neck of the guitar is basswood as well. Not the studries option on the market, but definitely allowable, especially if you don’t intend to keep hitting things with the guitar. The resulting featherweight guitar is definitely welcome. The fretboard is made of very pleasant and smooth rosewood.
Only thing is, if you are buying this guitar for a child, explain carefully that it is to be taken care of and not to be used as a club or baseball bat.
Hardware
All chrome everything, as usual, so don’t ask what a thing on the guitar is made of. If it is not chrome, it will be explicitly stated so.
The bridge of the guitar has a tremolo system in it. The bridge itself is very well made, so that some of the string noise is mitigated. The tremolo system allows the player to bend the sound as they will. Always a nice option.
The nut of the guitar is synthetic and allows the strings to have a solid harmony.
The chrome tuners are not the best, not the worst, just don’t expect the guitar to stay in tune forever. You will have to retune the guitar every few days.
Electronics
The guitar has two double humbuckers installed at the bridge and the neck of the guitar. The humbuckers, while slightly weak when compared to most other pickups, do have their strong points. The sound has very strong sustain and most of the string hum is gone. The sound is powerful and can get dirty if you want it to, though the pickups themselves do tend to be weak. Thank god they are easily replaceable and, once replaced, the guitar starts to sound like all of 500 bucks it is not priced at.
There are several control knobs for the sound, as well as a switch to pick between bridge settings. Good stuff really.
Dean Playmate Sound
The guitar has an adequate sound for its price. Nothing exceptional. The tones are heavy and well expressed, energetic and vibrant. The basswood adds more expression to them, you guessed, bass tones. The biggest problem of the guitar is that the pickups are a little weak. If replacing the guitar starts to sound so much better, since the basics for a great guitar are all there.
Conclusion
This is an ok guitar. One that is suitable for beginner players looking to start out with a guitar they might want to upgrade eventually. The size makes it also a very good pick for children to start on, though I would be careful with the easily dentable basswood of the guitar. Overall, definitely recommended, especially if you keep in mind how easy it is to upgrade an electric guitar.
Click here to find out more about Dean Playmate EVO Junior 3/4 Size.
Click here to view more from Best Kids Guitar.
