New Guitar Day: Dean Gran Sport

I know what everyone in my family is saying/thinking.  "Not another guitar!"  Well, this one was too good to pass up.  I was looking at the musical instruments listed on Craigslist, when in-between cursing the way too high priced crap, I noticed something unusual.  Someone from a pawn shop had posted a, "Dean guitar" for $89.  When I looked at it, I thought, "that looks like a Dean Gran Sport.  There's no way that listing is correct if all they want is $89.  That's a $600 guitar new."

Usually pawn shops are the worst offenders for things being way overpriced.  Most of the time I can buy "brand new" what they are offering "used" for the same price from one of the big shops.  Sometimes they are actually trying to sell them for more used than I can buy new.  So why on earth do they have one marked that low?

I noticed that the add had only been up for three hours, so since it was Saturday I dressed quickly, and got down there.  I looked down the line of guitars, and didn't see it.  But since there were no missing guitar hangers I didn't think it had been sold.  Then I looked behind the counter, and there it was.  I asked the salesman if I could look at it. 

I looked it over, and it didn't have a scratch on it.  In fact, it had never been set up.  The strings were way too high on it.  I looked at the tag on it, and noticed something weird.  It said "Cort."  As in, Cort Guitars.  This was a Dean, and not a Cort.  However, the serial number on the tag matched up to the number on the back of the headstock.  I wondered if they got it mixed up with a Cort guitar, and thus were selling it way too cheap?

Usually pawn shops buy at 25% of the new price, and sell at 75% of the used price.  Since this was a $600 guitar they would have bought it at $150, and sold for $450.  Then they would have "worked" with a customer, and sold it for 66% of the original price and settled for $400. 

But if they thought it was a Cort, they might have bought it for $40 - $50, and sold at $89.  I wonder why anyone would sell a guitar that had never been played or had a mark on it that low.  I really had to question myself, and ask if I thought it had been stolen.  But they did have the serial number correct, and they run those through the police database. 

So with tax, I walked out of there with a final price of $95.  I brought it home, and did a quick set-up on it.  This is the Stealth model of the Gran Sport that comes standard with EMG pickups.  It is quite the metal monster.  I'm not crazy about active pickups, but they work well in this guitar.  I actually would have liked it to have the DMT Dean pickups that come in other versions of the Gran Sport.  But, I'm not going to knock my good luck.

The only thing that I can complain about it the battery cover.  The little pieces that hold it in, broke off.  But to be honest, I have seen that happen on so many battery covers.  Every active battery holder I have ever seen on a "stage" guitar, has tape over the battery cover.  So I did the same.  I put some electric tape over it to match. 

Now, onto the pics!