So, a little background:

I'm 15. I always looked at Dean guitars, however never bought them. I found out about DBZ guitars quite close to when the company formed, and looked at the guitars, but at the time i saw the pictures and just assumed they were out of my price bracket. But now realise i can afford them :)

Aaannnyway, my problem is i don't know which DBZ i want. I play all sorts of styles of guitar. Rock, blues...however i love playing fast heavy metal etc (trivium and stuff) The problem here is....(and i know i may get BOO'ed for this) i don't like the BOP or Venom. I just feel like are too "skinny" to be a heavy metal guitar, i feel they need more meat :P

My favourite shape is the bolero, and i really like the bare bones religion series too. But are these good enough for metal and learning to sweep on etc?

Also a tiny bit off topic, what is the best way to progress through learning heavy metal guitar?? i don't have any guitar teachers in the area that specialise in the genre...

Thanks for Listening :)

Al

Pretty much all of Deans guitars are shred machines so all are recommendable for learning fast lead work in my opinion (excluding acoustic models). In terms of playing a variety of a genres including Heavy Metal, Boleros are probably your best bet therefore, them and the Barchettas (Cavallo also unless your completely anti-flyingV). Deans guitars have always been good for lead work. I have a Dean ML, have played to many Dean guitars in stores to count and have tried out the Cavallo and Bolero to, and the shredding never stops! Me being a big fan of sweeping myself often take these things into account to, your definatly safe with a DBZ guitar ;) but yeah I recommended a Bolero or Barchetta in my opinion.

So The Bare Bones Religion Series Is out The Window??

Guess It's either gonna be a wine red, white, or an amber (saw on ebay, was a 'bute) Bolero :) What Pickups Do Bolero's Have?

My only advice - stay away from sweeping and write actual riffs!

it's always good to extend your arsenal of guitar knowledge :P and sweeping aint in my arsenal :P

Hah- I have a nasty habit of boycotting sweeping as well.... Just for theory exercises imo - But then to each his own and I know people who can do magic things with sweeps that I could never do (see Demigod for more details)

if you were looking for an all rounder, I'd go mondial, that'd play yer blues as well... And it's a fantastic looking guitar too!!

The Halcyon maybe?

Y'can still join the competition if you want

Or you could wait 'till all the '10 models are shown, and I suspect Dean hazz a Z ready for us

Welcome to the forum

i think it's between a Halcyon, a bolero, or maybe wait for one of the newer ones to appear :P

i do mostly play metal, and not very often blues, but it's something that i do occasionally.

Basically, im 15, and can't afford a guitar for each genre i play, so i need an all rounder....got maybe 600-1000 (in pounds) to spend

The bad religion series are barchettas so I would recommend those or the cavallos. The bolero would work but I find that the higher fret access on the single cut is not the best for sweeping. Sweeping is a great skill to learn. As long as it's not over used it can be great to accent any solo and yes riffing is important to but they both can work together very well. What amp do you have btw? Because this will have much more effect on your tone than the guitar.

i have a Line 6 spider 3 (not the best for tone, nice effects tho)

if im honest my favourites are the bolero, and the religion series (love the designs)

As long as you don't get a guitar with EMG's or other active pickups you will be fine.

for playability (fast neck) which is the best out of, Bolero, halcyon and the religion series?

The only problem i see with the halcyon, is i don't like either of the decal designs, and the only other choice is red, which i don't like. (im fussy :P) I'd prefer like an emerald green, or a different decal design :P

Keep in mind what you want:
Want a FR?
Want 24 frets?
Want a good playable guitar while seated?
Want EMG's?
...
The one that's best for "everything" according to me, is the Halcyon.

Problems with this is....i've never owned a guitar with EMG's (nor played one for a great amount of time) 24 frets isn't a biggy, not bothered if it has 24 or 22. I usually stand up when playing, however im not a flying v person, and im not a fan of the venom or the BOP

Floyd rose...i've always wanted one, but it's one of those things tht i doubt i'd use very often apart from to make silly noises on when im bored :P

The halcyon or the bad religion will work best neck wise. The bad religion decals would probably be more to your taste from what your saying I believe. EMG's only sound good with high gain tube amps really. As far as the FR goes you can block it off so your guitar acts like a fixed bridge instrument.

How much is a Bad religion?

849USD

Only unfortunate thing is....i refuse to buy a guitar without trying it first, and of my knowledge nobody stocks them anywhere near where i live :(

im also considering buying a Tube amp

nice which amp?

I'm liking the Diamond Nitrox, it seems sweeeetttt+backlight with a demon red....how could you go wrong?? :P

Nice that will work.

is there anything better?? (remember im 15, so can't afford some half a million dollar rig :P)

The BOP and Venom is starting to grow on me :P

I've also got a Paul Allender PRS, and a Limited Edtion 1990's Sparkly Blue Epiphone les paul....Big up the sparkly blue :P

So maybe if the BOp or Venom grow on me more, maybe they would be better as a Pure metal shred fest :P

it kinda depends on what sound your really going for, i cant remember who it was but your amp pretty much creates your tone, personally i havent had a chance to try diamonds, but kranks are pretty good for a flat out metal sound, also bugera is a great amp and fairly versitile, inexpensive as well. i mean if you like any particular bands sound you can always go and look to see what rigs they use :p

Has anyone actually tried the BoP??

Is The USA That much better than the imports (worth the extra money?)

I better start looking at some bands rigs then :P

The Peavey Valeveking 100 head, seems a fanatastic price (£349 in uk) Plus Trivium use peavey so they must have a wicked metal sound, however aparently they are really versatile

I agree, my friend had a Peavey when he started out..sounded better then my Marshall in my opinion. Yeah Trivium's gotta pretty sweet tone, but also take pedals into consideration, just a thought.

I've never actually owned any effects pedals :P I don't actually use any effects except Distortion

ahh, my setups pretty simple, only a dime wah from hell and a washburn bad dog distortion..don't really use the distortion that much 'cause my Randall head's got some pretty killer overdrive. And Peavey comes with built in effects in most of their products so I guess you'll be set that way.

Anyone got a good idea how i could try out a few DBZ's??? Would i have to wait a bit before they are a bit more midespread over the UK??

Im in the south of scotland, so the only dealer listen is in devon, and i aint traveling that far to try a guitar

I used to own a valve king. Not a metal amp at all. Bugera sound much better for the same price and have much more gain. You wont need any pedals to get more gain out of them. (with the exception of the V series and 1960 head)

I have a Marshall DSL 100 Great amp and easy to bias it your self with just alittle knowledge a common tools. My DBZ Venom sounds great through this amp and it has tons of distortion. Good luck with your hunt. And in terms of necks the Venom I have kind of feels like a Razorback I played once... maybe slightly better.

yeah mentioned this to by guitar teacher, straight off he suggested marshalls for a solid heavy overdrive/distortion, or mesa amps, especially if you happen to go the way of actives say in a bop, venom, etc., tack on a lil pedal distortion if thats what you want but i think youd be set with a setup like that. and if you get a chance to play around on a dean, like zeb said and ive heard this all over the place, razorbacks and othe deans with similar neck profiles are pretty similar to a venom/bop

In that case you're shopping for random opinions for something that you have next to no chance of buying be it because of your personal views or your location. Welcome to the internets.

Look for a place that has an acceptable return policy and you should be fine. Chances are that you'll love what ever guitar you choose.

I think what im going to do guitar wise, is save my pennies (almost wrote wenis there oopsy) and wait for NAMM 2010 to come, see if there are any new models etc, and hopefully save up for a USA Model :) Probs by then DBZ will be wide spread around the UK *crosses Fingers*

How easy would it be to replace the Bolero's Pickups with EMG's?? Would it make much difference (good or bad difference) Do DBZ Produce Locking tuners??

Do Bolero's have coil splitters?? (i read somewhere they do, dunno if true tho)

You should post that up on the Questions to Dean section, he's sure to help you out. That's what I like about Dean, he's not the untouchable crusty old guy behind the desk, he actually takes the time to help out anyone with your kind of questions, another reason I'm sure why we admire his work all the more.

The boleros do have coil taps yes. DBZ doesnt make locking tuners as far as we have been told. You can replace the boleros pickups with emg's but you will have to replace all the electronics to do so. Also only specific emg's can be wired for a coil tap. EMG's will sound massively different than the stock pickups. Better or not is subjective. What amp did you say you had? If it's not a high gain tube amp emg's will be pointless.

Yeah, replacing it with EMG's would be a wicked difference, and if they're active might wanna consider somewhere to put the battery.