Just to add fuel to the fire, here's me, circa 1983 with my white Dean V. At teh time, I had no idea what a V neck was, but this guitar had one. Didn't like it then, don't like 'em now. Back in the day, I didn't know we were supposed to have a preference for neck shape, I just played it and accepted it for what it was.
Funny story about this guitar: I had friends who played in a popular cover band on the South Jersey bar circuit. One night, I was watching them play for the first time with their new guitar player. His main axe was a cherry sunburst Les Paul. His backup guitar was a cherry sunburst Les Paul. At the time, my two guitars were both LP Standards, a goldtop and a tobacco burst. Watching him play that night, I thought, "Dang. Everybody on the f'ing planet plays a Les Paul. I need something different." So, the next week, I ordered the white V from Dean through Zapf's Music, and subsequently traded in both of my LPs.
The next time I went to see my friends play, the dude was playing a Mockingbird.