Picked this up during my lunch hour about 45 minutes ago at the GC near my office. Can't wait to get home and play it!
...to be continued...
...to be continued...
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Yep, USA DEAN.
My first USA Dean.
Even the Dean case is USA made and it is different from their other HSC!
It also came with the build sheet which lists all the wood.
It is in great shape. Only thing I can see is a little ding on the back on the lower bout where your left arm hangs over the front of the bass.
I was playing it last night for a bit and dare I say 'it plays like buttah'. I know many people are sick of that phrase since it is so over used, but it really does.
The maple neck and FB is very nice. Has abalone dot markers too. Frets are jumbo and well finished. FB is flat with no radius I can feel however I did not put a straight edge on it to verify.
For a passive bass the tone control and volume controls really provide a really surprising range of tones.
I own the Czech made and Chinese made versions of this bass as well and the difference is very obvious in feel from the Chinese version and while not as obvious with the Czech made it does feel like a more substantial bass.
The biggest difference off the bat is the feel of the maple FB, which I like. I have a maple FB on my fender American Deluxe and American Limited Sand Blasted as well as my T-40 and T-45 and I tend to like the feel of them. The Barts sound different than the ones the Czech made and other Dean basses I have with Barts, so I am guessing there really is some truth in that these were really made to JB's requirements on the USA made models?
The bass currently has round wounds on it, which I'm surprised about as I think this bass would be better suited with flats.
I have to go to a couple job sites today, so...
...to be continued....
Lancaster PA
I didn’t get charged shipping either
But this bass has been on GC for more than 3 months
So I’m not sure it’s the same one.
This bass would appear then disappear then reappear this happened several times
It is the same one, as far as I know they only made one with a maple board and the top woods are the same as mine. I sold it with the original custom shop sheet that you mentioned and also had a crack in the finish at the neck joint by the lower horn. It was for sale at a GC in California for a while, then popped up at a GC in North Carolina (which is where I got it from), then I sold it to GC Albany a little over a month ago. Funny how this bass has travled around quite a bit. Loved the neck but as you mentioned the barts on the USA sound different than my Czech. Thats ultimately why I got rid of it...my Czech is louder and has more of a zing to it. Still a very cool instrument.
Then it’s definitely the same bass. Explains appearing and re-appearing. I noticed on the build sheet that it has black hardware noted even though the bass has chrome hardware.
Me too! If it disappears in my house I’m calling ghostbusters! Who ya gonna call?
I didn’t notice the finish crack. Watching football at the legion right now. Have to look for it when I get home
I also found it odd that the hardware was listed as black. Then again Dean doesn't have the greatest reputation for consistency haha. I don't know this for a fact but I think they only ever made 3 of these. There was the prototype that was pictured on the Dean website and actually sold here on TB a few years ago. There was Jeff's personal 'Grinch' bass that he sold on his Pledge Music page, and then there was this one with the maple fingerboard. Nobody has come forward with another one that I'm aware of. Funny you mention putting flats on it, I always thought it would have sounded great with flats never got around to doing it.