Saving the Best for Last
I had to save the best for last. This is truly my most prized possession. My Dean Exotica FM is an electric acoustic is made up of Flame Maple in cherry red. Her name is Dinah (Dine-a) like Alice’s cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. She boasts a rosewood fingerboard with mother of pearl inlay and an internal tuner. With such amazing features you may think that she would cost at least $1000…but no…she is truly affordable, she only costs $572.50, trust me this is a bargain. You can buy a Dean online at site like Musicians Friend but I really do not suggest this. A guitar is like a pair of shoes…you have to try it on to truly know how it fits. What seems like kismet to one player may be awful and awkward to another. I got my guitar at a shop in Gainesville, VA called Classic Axe. The owners and sales men/women at Classic Axe all play guitar and are experts in the field of guitar care and maintenance. I would rather patron a privately owned music shop than a Guitar Center or a Sam Ash…just out of principle and because the sales people at these two shops work on a hourly retail basis and may not be experts in the field. When you choose your instrument it is like falling in love…I have had experiences at the above mentioned store where the guitars were terribly out of tune, the customer service was lacking, or even heaven forbid, I wasn’t even allowed to try the instrument out…which is totally ridiculous.
This is Dinah…isn’t she beautiful?
The Dean Guitar company was founded by Dean Zelinsky in Tampa Florida in 1976. The Dean is a guitars player guitar, meaning that is has the same types of features as its fancy counterparts such as Gibson and Martin but its sleak style and quick action sets it apart from the rest. Any serious guitar player or guitar shop owner will stand behind their Dean’s whole heartedly. Many professional musicians argue that the Dean is the best guitar in the business. Rockstars including Trent Reznor, Sammy Hagar and the late Randy Rhodes used the Dean as their primary instrument. Even the late Dimebag Darrell from Pantera fame helped design many of the electric models. It is durable with an amazing sound quality that can match any Gibson or Martin.
The Dean company boasts that their guitars are made in the USA but my guitar indicates that it was made in Honduras. I checked out the Federal Trade Commission site and found out that a company can claim made in the USA if :
“A Made in USA claim can be express or implied.
Examples of express claims: Made in USA. “Our products are American-made.” “USA.”
In identifying implied claims, the Commission focuses on the overall impression of the advertising, label, or promotional material. Depending on the context, U.S. symbols or geographic references (for example, U.S. flags, outlines of U.S. maps, or references to U.S. locations of headquarters or factories) may convey a claim of U.S. origin either by themselves, or in conjunction with other phrases or images.
Example: A company promotes its product in an ad that features a manager describing the “true American quality” of the work produced at the company’s American factory. Although there is no express representation that the company’s product is made in the U.S., the overall — or net — impression the ad is likely to convey to consumers is that the product is of U.S. origin.
Brand names and trademarks
Ordinarily, the Commission will not consider a manufacturer or marketer’s use of an American brand name or trademark by itself as a U.S. origin claim. Similarly, the Commission is not likely to interpret the mere listing of a company’s U.S. address on a package label in a non-prominent way as a claim of U.S. origin.
Example: A product is manufactured abroad by a well-known U.S. company. The fact that the company is headquartered in the U.S. also is widely known. Company pamphlets for its foreign-made product prominently feature its brand name. Assuming that the brand name does not specifically denote U.S. origin (that is, the brand name is not “Made in America, Inc.”), using the brand name by itself does not constitute a claim of U.S. origin.”
(Federal Trade Commission Site accessed 11/29/08)
It is unfortunate that my lovely guitar is most likely made by the hands of small children or under paid malnourished workers in Honduras but it is my prize possession. This guitar brings the house down on stage and I just adore it. I can’t really find a way to justify the fact that it was made by the sweat, tears and pain of underprivileged workers but now that I know about the Students Helping Honduras project at Mary Washington I will check it out and hopefully help some of the children of these workers.
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