Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Review & Prices

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Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Review
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  • From Dean's 2020 Select series
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 7 strings
  • 25.5"'' scale
  • 16" Fretboard Radius
  • Burled Poplar top
  • Alder body
  • 3 Piece Maple neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: EMG 57 TW7 (Humbucker/Active)
  • Neck pickup: EMG 66 TW7 (Humbucker/Active)
  • 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • Floyd Rose 1000 (Korean) bridge
  • Slim D Bolt-On neck
  • 24 Jumbo frets
  • Mini Grover 18:1 tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 73
Sound 82
Build quality 65
Value for money 73
Overall Score 73
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar
  • Expensive Wood
  • Locking Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Coil Split Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Retainer Bar
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $1320, which means that the Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar is within the average price asked for this kind of guitar. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 7 strings and Double Locking bridge that are made in Indonesia.

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Your feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

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Is it Easy to Play?

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar meets 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not recommended for complete beginners. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar
  • Comfortable shape
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners
  • Easy-to-use bridge

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's construction is balanced for most hand sizes.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's 25.5" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Scale Length Comparison
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the same scale length used in Stratocaster guitars, and it's one of the main reasons they have such a bright sound. It's considered a long scale when compared to most non-baritone guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, you'll need to give the strings more tension to get them in tune. This higher tension will allow for a couple of things. First, you can get a lower action (get the strings closer to the fretboard) because the strings won't 'wiggle' too much when pluck and won't cause fret buzz. This can allow you to use lower tunings without increasing your string gauge, and it will make it easier to press down the strings fast.

However, the frets will also have a wider separation between each other, which can make it harder to play, especially if you got small hands. The higher tension will also make the strings feel stiffer, so bending will require more strength.

More with the same scale length:

Neck Profile

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Neck Profile
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a D type neck. It's similar to a C shape, and it's one of the most common shapes right now. It's a bit flatter and thinner, even though sometimes it has a bit more shoulders. It's a fast type of neck that is comfortable, and shredders love it.

More for different hand sizes

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar has a 16" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's fretboard radius compared to others

This fretboard radius is really different than Stratocasters, but it's also a lot flatter than Les Paul fingerboards. It'll heavily favor soloing over playing chords. This doesn't mean you can't use it for chords, but it will be more comfortable to play chords without muting strings in a more curved fretboard. Bending and sliding without losing sustain will also be more likely in a flat fretboard like this one.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

25.5'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.89'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.85'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
27'' Scale Length
U Neck Profile
1.89'' Nut Width
Compound Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.89'' Nut Width
15.75'' Fretboard Radius
25.5'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.89'' Nut Width
14'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Nut Width
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Nut Width

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar has a nut width of 48mm (1.89''). This is considered a wide width for a 7-string guitar. It gives your fingers the extra space you need to play without muting accidentally, but this also makes bar chords harder to perform, especially if you have small hands.

Frets

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar has 24 frets. A lot of people mistakenly believe that having more frets will always be better because it gives you a higher octave. This is certainly an advantage, but there's also a disadvantage to this.

Since the fretboard will be longer, the neck pickup will need to be placed closer to the bridge. And as you may know, the further away the neck pickup is from the bridge, the warmer it sounds. This means you'll have a brighter-sounding neck pickup when using a 24-fret guitar, even if you use the same pickup on a 22-fret guitar.

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

More with the same amount of frets:

Fret Size

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar Fret Size Comparison
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's frets are Jumbo size. This is a tall fret size that is becoming increasingly popular because it makes it easier to press down the strings cleanly. With this fret size, you won't feel the fretboard when playing, so if you press down too hard, you will get the notes out of pitch. However, this is something you can overcome by getting used to the taller size.

More with the same type of frets:

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 50
Solo Playability 90
Playability 73

Tone Analysis

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Alder wood pattern used for guitar building
Alder Body
Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple Neck
Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony Fretboard

Alder Body: This is a lightweight type of wood that was popularized by Fender. According to them, it's a wood that offers a balanced tone but that favors the upper midrange slightly.

Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.

Ebony Fretboard: This is one of the most expensive woods there is, which is why it's mostly used for fretboards. It is dense, heavy, highly resistant and comes in a really dark color that gives any guitar a classy touch. Tone wise, it helps the high side of the spectrum and provides good sustain.

More made with the same wood:

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: EMG. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are active pickups, so you can expect a lot of output with a highly compressed signal that will give your tones more distortion while retaining a clear, defined sound, which is what many Heavy Metal players need. However, they have the disadvantage of sometimes lacking a fully clean sound when playing without distortion.

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.

More with the same pickups

24 Frets
Floyd Rose Bridge
EMG 57 TW7 Bridge Pickup
EMG 66 TW7 Neck Pickup
24 Frets
Fixed Bridge
EMG 57 TW7 Bridge Pickup
EMG 66 TW7 Neck Pickup

Versatility

It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, players tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your guitar for.

It has a Coil Split option. It allows you to 'split' or turn off pickup coils to get even more tones in combination with the pickup selector. When used with humbucker pickups, it'll reduce the output and increase their clarity, turning them essentially into single-coil pickups.

Diagram

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar's switch options

What music genre is it good for?

As a 7 strings, Solid Body guitar with HH configuration and Active pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Heavy Metal or similar. However, you can use almost any guitar for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 85
Sustain 85
Versatility 74
Tuning Stability 85
Sound 82

Build Quality Analysis

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar is made in Indonesia. Many people prefer the quality of an Indonesian guitar over a Chinese. Respectable brands like Epiphone, Ibanez and Schecter are building in this country because of the great quality and lower price. Some people like to compare them to the ones built in Japan during the 80s, when Japanese guitar makers made a name for themselves.

Bridge

Floyd Rose 1000 (Korean): With this type of tremolo bridge, you'll be able to perform dive bombs and pinch harmonics without getting out of tune. This type of bridge gives you the best versatility, but it also makes it harder to set up your guitar correctly, especially when changing your strings.

More with the same type of bridge:

Tuners

The tuners have a ratio of 18:1. This means you need 18 turns of the tuner knob to make the tuner post go around 1 complete revolution. The more turns it takes, the finer and more precise your tuning is going to be. An 18:1 ratio is what most instruments have nowadays. Some high-end ones come with a ratio of 21:1.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar has a Locking nut. Instead of the typical nut, this nut locks the strings in place and will make them stay in tune even after heavy tremolo use. This type of nut provides the best tune stability, but they also make the guitar more expensive.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a retainer bar for the nut, which would be a helpful addition. Without it, the strings will change pitch once you lock down the nut, so you'll have to make more micro-adjustments at the bridge to tune it correctly.

More with the same nut material:

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the guitar meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This guitar has a Bolt-On neck joint. Even though this type of neck was looked down upon for a long time, nowadays bolt-on necks are well built and provide just as much sustain as any other join method. First of all, it's cheap to make because it consists of simply 4 bolts that attach the neck to the body. And you can travel with the guitar more easily, swap out the neck if you damage it, or upgrade to a more comfortable neck later on.

More with the same build:

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 55
Features 65
Quality Control 75
Build Quality 65

All Specs

Dean Exile Select Floyd 7 St Burl Poplar
General
Brand: Dean
Year: 2020
Configuration: HH
Strings: 7
Made in: Indonesia
Series: Select
Colors: Blue Burst Satin
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Top: Burled Poplar
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Alder
Bridge: Floyd Rose 1000 (Korean)
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On
Tuners: Mini Grover 18:1
Fretboard: Ebony
Neck Material: 3 Piece Maple
Decoration: Pearloid Block
Scale Size: 25.5"
Shape: Slim D
Frets: 24 Jumbo
Fretboard Radius: 16"
Nut: Locking
Nut Width: 48mm (1.89'')
Electronics
Switch: 3 Way
Knobs: Dome
Pickup Mods: Coil Split
Volume Controls: 1
Tone Controls: 1
Bridge Pickup: EMG 57 TW7 (Humbucker / Active)
Neck Pickup: EMG 66 TW7 (Humbucker / Active)

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