Dean Electric Guitar Starter Pack with Vendetta XMT Metalic Red, 10 Watt Amp, Gig Bag, Cord, Strap, Picks Review

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(More customer reviews)First, let me qualify my ability...I am an absolute beginner to electric guitar; in fact, I am an absolute beginner to playing music in general.I am a middle aged guy who has always wanted to learn.I have, in the month or so I've owned this guitar, learned a number of chords and I am starting to (attempt to) mimic some popular rock guitar riffs.

That being said, prior to purchasing the Vendetta XMT (mine is in the natural finish), I did A LOT of on-line research.Obviously not the best way to shop for a guitar; but with no musical ability, I really didn't know how to check them out at a local music store.Nonetheless, I narrowed down my choices and actually found a YouTube video where someone plays the same portion of a song on both the Dean Vendetta XMT and the Fender Stratocaster.The sound on the Dean was much richer and I liked that (obviously a YouTube video is not the best thing to go on, but it was the best I had).So I settled on the Dean Vendetta as my starter guitar.

So, the exciting day arrived when I saw the large package on my porch as I arrived home from work.This surprised me because it was substantially more than what you saw with the starter kits at the 'big box' stores.Inside was the guitar, amp, tuner, strap, cord, bag, picks and a brief one page instruction sheet for the amp.The amp is the first thing that distinguishes this starter pack from others I've seen in stores.It is not the tiny little cube these other starters have.Yes, it is just a basic starter amp with only the basic controls, but it has a nice sound and is definitely louder than you need a practice amp to be.This, I think is what accounted for the big shipping box.From left to right, the amp has input jack, gain, boost, volume, treble, middle, bass, headphone jack, power switch and LED.No special effects, but that can't be expected at this price.Once again, I feel this is much more than your basic amp.It is substantial, nice sounding and loud.Much more than the tiny cube I was expecting.

The guitar itself is so much nicer in appearance than a standard starter.Mine has the body in what they call a natural finish which looks like a red stain.It is definitely nice looking but I'm sure it looks great in the metallic gloss finishes available.The neck is done nicely in rosewood.The back of the neck is a clear coated natural wood color.Oddly enough, the side of the neck (where the tuning pegs are) does not have a clear coat finish and feels rather rough (defect or is that the way it is supposed to be).Nonetheless, the guitar looks great.

A complaint I've repeatedly read on low end guitars is the fact that they don't stay in tune well.In my experience (and obviously I don't have the musical experience), this is not the case with this guitar.It holds tune very well and obviously you are going to check it periodically anyways (part of playing guitar).The tuner that came with the starter pack works nicely and makes for quick work in getting the guitar tuned.One of the things which sets this guitar apart is the dual humbucker pickups.I think it is these pickups which give that rich tone that I love.The 3-way switch lets you select the neck pickup (richer), the bridge pickup (brighter) or both.As far as the technical aspects of the guitar, I don't really know enough to say good or bad; to me, it all seems to work well.

The strap that came with it is nice, has the dean logo, but it is just a basic strap and not terribly comfortable.The cord hooking the guitar to the amp works well, but if you compare it to others available in the after-market, it is a very light gauge.Again, more than enough for a starter.The bag that came with it is only a basic gig bag.Not sure how well the zipper will hold up if used heavily.It has a decent amount of storage, but not a lot.Right now, I'm not using it because I bought a nice stand:OnStage GS7462DB Double Electric and Acoustic Guitar Stand

This is a starter guitar.This is not a children's guitar.I think it is usable at many levels of experience and may be stage worthy.

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Product Description:
An entire guitar rig with everything you need to get rolling! The Dean VNXMT and Amp Pack includes the Dean VNXMT Guitar, Dean M10 Guitar Amp, gig bag, tuner, cord, strap, and picks.

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