I have always loved electric 12-string guitars. I played a doubleneck Aria (an ST-1512) exclusively for about five years, which I eventually lost to a faulty strap lock and a concrete stage floor. I have been intending to build a 12-string electric guitar to replace it ever since, but never seem to get around to it, so I’ve been keeping my eyes open for something suitable. I've nearly pulled the trigger on various Rickenbacker 360/12 models through the years, but while I love the sound of them, I don’t really like playing them - they have a relatively narrow neck and I prefer a much wider fingerboard.

While scouting around on the Internet recently, I discovered the Dean Sarasota electric 12-string guitar. Specification-wise it fitted my requirements: wide set neck, hollow body, two humbuckers and a simple control arrangement, so it immediately appealed to me. It’s also relatively inexpensive when compared to a Rickenbacker. So I decided to take a chance and order one in transparent amber, sight unseen.

Specifications

• 12 String electric guitar
• Hollow mahogany body
• Carved flame maple top
• Mahogany set neck
• Rosewood fingerboard
• 24-3/4" scale length
• 1-7/8" nut width
• Abalone dot inlays
• Nickel plated hardware
• Grover tuners
• Two Dean Zebra humbuckers
• Single volume, tone and 3-way switch
• Tune-O-Matic bridge
• Single ply binding
• Finish: either trans amber or trans red

First impressions
When it was delivered, my first thought was that there was a mistake - the packing box looked very small. What I somehow hadn’t realised from the pictures and the rather sparse description on the Dean web site, is that the Sarasota has a Les Paul sized body.  While this was unexpected, I did not have a problem with it at all. In fact, being smallish myself, I prefer a smaller bodied instrument.

The Sarasota is a good looking guitar. The flame maple top is dyed transparent amber with a polyester finish. The fingerboard looks like Indian Rosewood and the abalone dot position markers are cleanly installed.

There is a big discrepancy between the guitar shown on the Dean web site and the one I received. The site shows the Sarasota with two Rickenbacker-type slash shaped soundholes, while the guitar I have has traditional F-holes (which once again, I prefer anyway). Most of the photos I sourced before receiving the guitar had the F-holes, so I’m guessing the model pictured on the Dean web site is the latest model, where I have a NOS (New Old Stock) model.

Construction
The overall construction is all quite good, the routing is neat with no fuzz and the glue joints are all solid. The finish is fairly thick polyester, as I expected, which is buffed to a high gloss. The body, fingerboard and soundholes are all bound with a cream plastic binding. The knobs and switch are all recessed, much as you find with a PRS.

Where this guitar falls down is on factory setup. The nut and bridge action were way too high. The nut itself has had the width trimmed to fit the neck, but it has been trimmed a little too much and is now slightly narrower than the fingerboard. The top edges of the nut had also not been re-rounded, so it was quite sharp and very uncomfortable to the left hand. The controls and switch were not tightened properly either, which led to them being able to rotate. This is particularly nasty, as when controls turn, they eventually break wires, and rewiring a hollow bodied guitar is a tricky job that even pro luthiers don’t usually like doing - and charge accordingly. None of these setup issues are too serious, as most respectable stores will set up an instrument for you as part of the purchase price, or in some cases, before they even display it.

Body
The body is not a semi-hollow, but rather what I prefer to call a semi-solid: like the Gibson ES-356, the body, centre block and sides are one piece of wood with two large cavities routed out and the maple cap glued over the top. The mahogany looks like the African variety, has a small amount of figuring, and is made from three pieces, skilfully and unobtrusively joined. A nice touch is that the body tapers down towards the neck joint, making the heel a little thinner and comfortable when playing in the upper register. Unfortunately the strap button is placed on the heel, which takes away some of the playability gained from this, but there’s not much else you can do with a 12-string to keep it balanced.

Neck
The neck and headstock are also African mahogany, with the angled headstock neatly scarf jointed to the neck between the first and third frets. This makes for a stronger angled headstock than a conventional one-piece neck and headstock. The fingerboard is rosewood with 22 jumbo width frets of medium height. Scale length is the shorter Gibson 24.75", which is a good choice for a 12-string, yielding a more comfortable lower tension than a Fender 25.5", which helps to offset the high tension of all the extra strings.  The frets have been very well fitted indeed, sitting flush on both the fingerboard and the binding. Fret levelling and crowning are very good, with a very round profile, which makes sense for a 12-string which would wear a sharper crown quickly. Inlays are classy looking abalone dots which have been immaculately fitted with no visible filler.

Hardware
The Hardware is all decent quality and nickel plated. In particular, the quality Grover tuning machines are a nice touch. The Tune-O-Matic bridge is only a six saddle, so the intonation setting for each pair of strings is shared. This means the intonation of the octave pairs is always a compromise, with the normal string going sharp in the upper registers, while the octave becomes slightly flat. This is not as bad as it sounds as it is part of the traditional chorusy sound that 12-strings are known for, and they are mostly played in the lower registers anyway. One problem I did encounter was the sharp corners on the top of the saddles - when muting, the sixth saddle dug into my hand a little. Easily cured though - 30 seconds with a key file to round the corner off a little, and it’s comfortable. The tailpiece is a 12-string version of a standard “Stop” tailpiece. Seeing the ball ends of the strings in the tailpiece, I identified them as a D’Addario 10 to 46 gauge EXL150 set.

Electronics
The pair of Humbucking Dean Zebra pickups are PAF type designs with a bit more power. Unsurprisingly for this price range, they seem to both be the same model, without an optimised bridge and neck model. The stock setup had the neck pickup adjusted way too high and it was a bit loud compared to the bridge pickup, which was already a bit louder than I would have liked. I ended up with the neck pickup 6 mm from the strings and the bridge model 3 mm away. The controls are simple: one 3-way selector switch; one volume; one tone. The pots used for volume and tone are the less costly small type, so I would expect to need to change them within 18 months, although they are smooth and noiseless for now.

In use
Once set up properly, the Sarasota is a fairly comfortable guitar to play - especially given that it is a 12-string. Thanks to the good fret job, I found I was able to bring the action down quite low before fret buzzing occurred. The neck is wide and deep compared to a conventional six string, but not too much so for comfort - it’s still possible to wrap your left hand thumb around the neck for fretting. As with any 12-string, the Sarasota is a little neck heavy, but not overly so. Some players may prefer to play it with the strap tied around the headstock to balance the neck and allow them to remove the strap button from the heel. The controls are well placed, within easy reach, and the volume and tone changes are smooth and even.

Sound
The tone of the Sarasota 12-string is more Page than Petty, which is not surprising, given that construction and woods are more Gibson than Rickenbacker. Having said that, playing closer to the bridge brings out more jangle, bringing you closer to the Rickenbacker sound. The hollowed out body adds some extra complexity and resonance to the tone, but not so much that it becomes indistinct or muddy. The pickups are a little hot for a 12 string, and I feel that the neck pickup in particular could be a little brighter and more articulate, but overall they give a good, usable range of tones.

Conclusion
The Dean Sarasota is a great guitar for the money. While it’s not exactly a Rickenbacker, it gets you in the same tonal ballpark for a relatively small amount of money and, properly set up, features better playability. The few issues I had with it are all simply rectified and most importantly, it’s an enjoyable guitar to play - even unplugged.