Dean Boca 12-String Electric Guitar  

For my needs the Dean Boca has everything that an electric 12-string should have. Two pickups, pickup selector switch, master volume and master tone. The six saddle bridge intonates surprisingly well with 12 strings. The truss rod work very well for adjusting the neck curvature. The machine heads are good quality and guitar stay in tune surprisingly well for a 12-string.

The quality is excellent. The materials, fit and finish are excellent.  After a good setup and a few mnior modifications the playability of the Boca is excellent for a 12-string.

The value is absolutely outstanding.

I have owned a Dean Boca for about 4 months and have spent a lot of time playing it. This is a fantastic little electric 12-string at a "steal" of a price. I have owned a Ricky 330-12, 360-12 and a Tom Petty 620-12 and with a good setup and some minor modifications the Dean Boca can hold it's own with the Ricky's at a fraction of the price. The neck on the Boca is easier to play than the narrower necks on the 330-12 or the 360-12 and very similar to the wider neck on the Tom Petty. The string slots on the nut of the Boca had to be re-cut a bit to lower the strings and make playing more comfotable. The stock humbucker pickups on the Boca are wound to about 16K which is way too hot for an electric 12-string. At 16K you loose that "jangle" that a good electric 12-string (Ricky) should have. I first replace the stock humbucker pickups with P-90 type pickups wound to about 8K that fit in humbucker mounting ring. The "jangle was back. For an experiment I then converted the stock pickup from 16K humbuckers to 8K single coils by grounding one of the coils. The "jangle" with the converted stock pickups was closer to the "Ricky jangle". This is a fantastic little electric 12-string (especially for the price) and a great alternative if you can not justify spending a couple of grand on a Ricky.

The features are a little spartan but based on the price very much in line. It is missing the ability to set intonation separately for each of the paired strings.

I received this guitar yesterday and went over it closely. I found nothing wrong and no shoddy workmanship.

Here is where the Dean Boca 12  really shines. It really is very much better than you might imagine for a guitar at this price point. The finish is well applies with no lumps, bumps or sags. The frets are well dressed at the edges of the fret board. The setup out of the box was almost spot on and felt quite easy to play (especially considering that this is a 12 string). The pots and three-way switch feel like good quality. The neck is reasonably comfortable for a 12 -- not quite as good as my Breedlove but so much better than the junk with off-brand names made in China sold on eBay. The pickups sound pretty good and are hum-free.

Let's face it, few of us not dedicated to the Roger McGuinn sound need an electric 12 string. If that is your main sound, save up and buy a Rickenbacker. But I compared this to the DiPinto, which I liked, and the Italia, which is also good, as well as the Burns. and there was not enough difference to warrant the extra money for an instrument that I will use as an occasional ax in my musical toolbox. I plan to upgrade the controls -- perhaps coil splitting and definitely separate volume and tone controls for each pickup -- but I find this a cost effective platform from which to work. I definitely do not feel like I settled for less but rather that I made a smart selection. Give me free Ric, my friends at Musician's Friend, and I will treasure it. But I am happy with this purchase.

Hey, a 12 string electric- very versatile. Everything works as it should. It stays in tune fair- better than some of my others, less well than some. The pickup selector switch, volume and tone are solid and work properly every time- not common on such an inexpensive guitar.

I have only had this guitar for a month, so I can only go by reviews I have read here before, and so I expect it will be fantastic. The workmanship certainly is top rate.

Unbelievable value! Never baught a guitar so inexpensive for myself before, and it is more that I would have ever thought for the price.

OK, this is my least expensive guitar by a long shot. I wanted to play around with a 12 string electric, but didn't want the big price. I play keyboards and guitar in a Christian praise band and frequently play an acoustic 12 string. At any rate, I was very pleasantly supprised at this little gem. I have essentially put my strat down, and use this dean for most live performances. It is incredibly easy to play, and I love the

complexity of the tone. I can just do so much with it! I would recomend it highly to anyone who is not afraid to have a "new" favorite guitar! The only negative is that it is slightly neck-heavy. Can't see any way it wouldn't be, and would never let that stop me from playing this one!

Great looking guitar. Great sounding . Great price . Only 2 criticisms . As pointed out in previous reviews , it is a little neck heavy and wires are visable thru the f hole . Other than that , I couldn't be happier .

Listed as used, I could not detect any evidence it had ever been touched. Naturally, the first thing I did while tuning was break the high G string, like every other 12-string I've ever had.  Fortunately, I had also gotten a couple extra sets of the D'Addarios this ships with. Using the bridge pickup with a "Nice Crunch" on my old Boss GT-3 provides a very reasonable approximation of the Byrds jingle-jangle effect I was looking for on a quick Mr Tambourine Man opener. On the neck pickup, it's pretty easy to get the sound a little too muddy for my taste, but that's a pretty common 12-string problem. So far, it's far exceeded my expectations for sound quality, and while I haven't experienced other 12-string electrics, and could never justify the cost for a Ric, it sure blows the socks off the acoustic 12's I've had in the past, even my well-used Ovation Ultra. The Humbuckers have a nice growl when you get serious and crank it up, but still have a nice clean sound on lower levels. While I lack the expertise to start messing with bridge or truss rod setups, so far I haven't seen any need to have it tweaked. Looking inside the body through the F-holes it's a tad ugly, but who cares? All in all, I think it's a great value, especially the "used" black finish unit I got, and I'm sure I'll enjoy plunking around with it for a long time.

In sum, it exceeded my expectations, especially for the price.