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Anyone with Dean Cadillac experience?

Travis

By Travis
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Travis Veteran HFCer

Travis

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Went to see Symphony X and Overkill at the house of blues in Chicago last night. On a side note, Michael Romeo of Symphony X is one of the most technically proficient guitarists I've ever seen, a true master of his instrument. And if his sausage fingers can move like that then I have no excuse for why I'm not on stage touring full time...

Anywhoo... Back to the topic at hand... Overkill came out, killer thrash metal show. The rhythm guitar player, while kinda coming off as an A-hole with his crowd interaction, played three guitars all night. A Dean Z with single humbucker and a Floyd, a Dean double neck pointy V and a solid black Dean Cadillac.

I have to say, for some reason, that Caddy moved me. It just screamed metal.

Who here has experience with the Dean Cadillac? Are there good years and bad years? Is it on par with an equivalent Hamer Studio? What do I need to know? Should I get one? Are they more show and less go...?

What up with the Caddy...?

Sugartune Veteran HFCer

Sugartune

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BTMN is the big Dean guy 'round these parts.

RobB Veteran HFCer

RobB

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I think any of the older Caddys up to say, 82 or so would be worthy gets. They don't seem to command as much money as the ML, V, or Zs. Mid-90s are nice, too.

BTMN Veteran HFCer

BTMN

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Armitage owns a few Caddys.

I only have one. A 1996 USA Korina Caddy. Studio? HMMM Mine reminds me a bit of a Special with it's flat top. Well built for sure though.

792012b_zps76b22656.jpg

Travis Veteran HFCer

Travis

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I've had a couple specials in my day along with a 78 sunburst. I like the flat tops, doesn't bother me that it's not an arch.

Don't remember much about the all mahogany HB special I had, only had it for a short time. But the special FM I had was a beast. If the caddy's are similar to a HB special with just enough pointy to make them look more metal I think I might get along with them quite well.

Any info on neck carves throughout the years? I've heard that some deans have a V shape which intrigues me. I love the V contour on my talladega.

An all black caddy with a V neck would really pique my interest...

BTMN Veteran HFCer

BTMN

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Mine has a fat C shape to it. They vary. I like the Dean V shape neck on the ones I have. It is not highly V shaped on them and doesn't bother me at all. Bet you would too. Try an import at first then look at a USA. The '80 Reissues are fun. There is a custom run of 24 Dark Green with Black edges and backs called the Cadzilla that are real nice.

Travis Veteran HFCer

Travis

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Which imports tend to be the nicest? I seem to remember you liking the Czech Deans quite a bit.

Haven't looked for a while but are all Korean guitars still built by Cort or Samick...?

serial Veteran HFCer

serial

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Cadillacs were the 3 pickup deluxe model with binding. The Golden Cadillac was cherry red with gold parts. The two pickup ones were E'lites. The old 79-82 ones were cool, but I have zero interest in Deans after that.

DaveL Veteran HFCer

DaveL

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I had a 2002 usa time capsule reissue was very happy with the Z and ML time capsules I had, the caddy time capsule weighed

about 10 or 11 lbs. (and I'm not overly particular about weight, but that's kind of pushin it) previous owner monkeyed somewhat

with the nut which I had to pay to get right... looked awesome but had other guitars in my stash that beat it out soundwise.

I'm not crazy about the used market on usa deans...specially caddies. pricey, and I'm not sure the market supports what people

are asking.

BTMN Veteran HFCer

BTMN

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Czech Caddys are usually real well made. I have not owned one. The tops on those are arched. Schaller hardware too. The upper level models had USA Duncans in them.

The Korean stuff is made by Unsung for the most part. IIIRC World Guitars made some other import Deans from Korea also. A good friend has a couple Select Series UnSung made Caddys and he really likes them. They have C shaped necks and are in the 8 lbs range. One is CherryBurst and the other is Silverburst.

There are a few Selects on Evilbay now. Also there are some new Straight Six Series Caddys on there. Those look kinda Cool with a six in line headstock instead of the traditional V Stock.

Travis Veteran HFCer

Travis

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Alrighty... After a bunch of Internet research (the best kind, because you know if it's on the internet it must be true) I have come to concur with a few of the posts you guys made here.

When if comes to the Dean guitars, stick to the vintage ones up until about '82 like Serial said. If I find a nice one then I might jump on it.

Otherwise, if I want a more metal guitar I might try looking for a black Hamer standard. I miss my old '97 mahogany standard sometimes anyway...

veatch Veteran HFCer

veatch

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I have an 83 Elite with a shrimpfork headstock that gets a lot of playing time. Light V neck. Also have a 93-ish tropicaddy that is very cool, but I'll likely sell it. Doesn't get much playing time lately. BIG boat neck on it, which I really like. Had a Czech Caddy before that. VERY well made and likely the best bang for the buck.

Always liked the body style. Different without being too extreme. Not that extreme is bad. I just like subtle better.

Good luck in the search.

Travis Veteran HFCer

Travis

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Define "tropicaddy"...

I have an 83 Elite with a shrimpfork headstock that gets a lot of playing time. Light V neck. Also have a 93-ish tropicaddy that is very cool, but I'll likely sell it. Doesn't get much playing time lately. BIG boat neck on it, which I really like. Had a Czech Caddy before that. VERY well made and likely the best bang for the buck.

Always liked the body style. Different without being too extreme. Not that extreme is bad. I just like subtle better.

Good luck in the search.

Armitage Veteran HFCer

Armitage

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Armitage_Dean_Caddy_III_in_case.jpg


Armitage_Dean_Caddy_III_Cherry.jpg

With Abalone inlays


Armitage_CadillacIII.jpg

With Mother of Pearl inlays



I still have three U.S.A. Cadillacs and they're smokin guitars. Much better fret access then a Les Paul... I think they look, play and sound great. Great V necks!

I don't think my old early '80s Caddy was any better, but it came with a crappy preamp...

Of course like all guitars with Gold Hardware... there is the wear issue...

tommy p Veteran HFCer

tommy p

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I had a pink import that was really nice.

Is that the one I bought? I still have it, and it is pretty nice especially for a Korean-made guitar.

Rocktuna Veteran HFCer

Rocktuna

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I've had 2 Caddies

Czech one that was built great, shrimp fork headstock. Body was thinner than a Les Paul

USA Tropical that had the largest neck I've ever seen on a guitar.

Never had a V neck

Now that I think of it I'm bout due for another

Played the Korean ones and have been very impressed

ib2010 Inner Circle

ib2010

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I picked up a USA "custom shop", late 80's/early 90's, here a while back. Simple all hog w 3x buckers. Really nice, and cool balanced tone, not hyped. pleasantly surprised. I was worried that the center pup would be to high and in the way, but not the case. I always liked the caddy body shape as one of the " originals" in guitar body designs. Top drawer guitar. I also heard good stuff about the Czech builds.

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