Dean Guitars’ first guitar of 2022 is the Thoroughbred Select Floyd Quilt Maple Natural Black Burst. This new Thoroughbred model has many features of Dean’s Select Series like satin-finished Seymour Duncan pickups, and a Floyd Rose 1000 Series bridge system for increased tuning stability.
The Thoroughbred has a mahogany body with an arched quilt maple top, and the Natural & Black finish creates a rippling light-dark contrast framed by a five-ply, black-white binding. The white binding effect is carried through as single-ply on the neck and then back to the five-ply for the matching headstock. The neck has a 24 3/4-inch scale length and is C-shaped with a 12-inch fretboard radius.
You get 22 jumbo ebony frets with pearl block inlays.
Dean adds a dual-action truss rod into the set-neck construction that provides good tonal transfer between the neck and body. While the Floyd Rose 1000 Series tremolo system at the bridge and Floyd Rose R3 nut (1 11/16-inch width) keeps tuning stable. The Grover 18:1 tuners provide added reliability and facilitate easy string changes.
The Thoroughbred Select Floyd QM Natural Black Burst is equipped with Seymour Duncan TB5 (bridge) and APH-1 (neck) pickups and both have a sandblasted zebra parchment finish. These pickups can sound anywhere from clean classic rock and blues to deep crunches and blistering clear highs for solos. Dean keeps the controls simple with two volumes and two tones using black speed knobs.
Its black hardware makes an edgy look for sure, and Dean’s Thoroughbred Select Floyd Quilt Maple Natural Black Burst is a versatile guitar offering boutique-style features at an affordable price of $1,099 MSRP.
