Dean Club!!!

[TheBassmaster27]

Darth_Linux
You are being issued #209. Welcome to the club!

 

[TheBassmaster27]

Member List (Updated 1/17/2020)

tom once dead #1
Spector Ray #2
Ric5 #3
Mr sprocket #4
BlackLake #5
Kalyptic #6
nutterisgo #7
Basstones #8
Nightsblood #9
bstringrandy #10
scionreality #11
theory028 #12
JMDT #13
toksik johnney #14
Scorsa #15
derrick007 #16
Bass-Waster #17
Ian perge #18
capn cosmos #19
CaptainWampum #20
mrtn400 #21
MetalManZ #22
The modifier #23
mattsbass #24
Gougedeye #25
BlizzardBass #26
Chump stain #27
JoeyZ #28
mr.Zer0 #29
tomswell #30
138BASS #31
DeanT #32
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lowendfriend #36
rhapbus #37
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CliffHarrisFan #39
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rictor66 #42
eastcoasteddie #43
davy4575 #44
rtslinger #45
stevoshsb #46
Avalon #47
Jzhobo #48
Chuck King #49
The Bassmonkey #50
countrybass007 #51
Johnston #52
crapusername #53
MetallicaFan18 #54
ScootBass1 #55
39-Bassist #56
Rick4001s #57
Angel.Of.Death #58
CrystalMan85 #59
JimInRadfordVA #60
Canadian_Man_44 #61
poomwah #62
BassPlayer95 #63
XXStatiX #64
ffutterman #65
garp #66
gard0300 #67
NML1986 #68
Freezer #69
zenofchaos #70
chicharra9 #71
lepreconbass13 #72
SteveMcB #73
watspan #74
topcat2069 #75
JasonKain #76
MKoby #77
bassmasta76 #78
redburp #79
jack7jack #80
SkaryKid #81
Higgins666 #82
dougazbass #83
turbo chicken #84
winndaddy #85
Byron 92 #86
DiscoFace #87
dcalde78 #88
Need2KnowBasses #89
evic777 #90
66Atlas #91
BradWorld #92
nomeX #93
Muziekschuur #94
Ash Jazz #95
davidgoldman #96
Oxo #97
jdb72 #98
RoyT #99
fourstringgirl #100
MVACCARO #101
penguineman #102
Pills Are Yummy #103
ProgRocker #104
Liverspot #105
Amara #106
jd56hawk #107
tmdazed #108
Templar #109
errornosignal #110
kodiakblair #111
wild4oldcars #112
dukey donkey #113
gebass6 #114
Rizzorapz #115
pica #116
planetdrumz #117
DeaconBlues #118
spicy734 #119
Fretless370 #120
BamaBird #121
Shannon #122
drittal #123
alottabass #124
SnL #125
Sub-Frequency #126
B-Mac #127
wintremute #128
Tejas Thumper #129
louthedog #130
Draculea #131
MortallyWounded #132
Happy Gilmour #133
CM63 #134
Lizardskyball #135
lz4005 #136
GigantorTX #137
avillani89 #138
Rileygoodenough #139
moonshinegtrs #140
pudge #141
Rocknrollover #142
patrickj #143
Swerve #14
BurnOut #145
Pilgrim #146
2saddleslab #147
mojomike001 #148
Lammchop93 #149
McG #150
JACink #151
BassJuju #152
HeyPauly #153
Meschica7 #154
MrKeef #155
RobinG #156
DJ is a new bass player #157
NicJimBass #158
Farquhar #159
Wicked G #160
armyadarkness #161
dan W #162
Beersurgeon #163
TheBassmaster27 #164
dustklose #165
sdgrfan #166
BassikLee #167
Dana R Gregory #168
BtaylorTheRogue #169
Bass V #170
Mr.Reed #171
Leftka #172
MrBassman17 #173
Jimbowhit7 #174
skwee #175
laughing house #176
Skeezix #177
Destroyer661 #178
noodle #179
MattSasquatch #180
McDean #181
Tigerclaw_x #182
trailer #183
Tony Sun #184
Jason Garrett #185
EdBo #186
Mark Yurick #187
BishopHastur #188
Shaggai#189
One_Dude #190
58kites #191
lesouKurios #192
lucas303 #193
Bassface65 #194
bonin in the boneyard #195
FenderBassist #196
Tonecraft #197
2many #198
FinialBassist #199
unbridled #200
Maestro29 #201
Rev12_11 #202
tore00 #203
Bass Man Stan #204
Switched #205
SiliconElle #206
Hawkwood76 #207
Zoonose #208
Darth_Linux #209
the harp unstrung #420

210 Members. Cool!

 

[Bass Man Stan]

Thanks BassMaster for the good work. Say Hello for me.

 

[TheBassmaster27]

Moving on from the management hoopla and back on to the subject of basses, here's Deans bass offerings for 2020. I didn't think too much about them when they came out, since i'm a lefty and there's none as usual. But B-Mac shared the link with me the other day, so here's that
Dean Guitars Catalog 2020
Anyone interested? I'm not a huge fan of the burl but the hillsboro is cool i guess.

 

[TheBassmaster27]

Thanks BassMaster for the good work. Say Hello for me.

B-Mac sends his regards. He's happy we still think of him

 

[Crystalman85]

I plan to purchase a dean edge 2 5-string bass sometime soon. I am intrigued by the 2 musicman-styled pickups and how it sounded based on youtube clips. I plan to buy one real soon.

 

[Darth_Linux]

Is this blend pot original? I've reason to believe it's not. 1999 Jeff Berlin European model. Thanks!

 

[TheBassmaster27]

@Darth_Linux
@B-Mac said this about your bass
Middle pot is not original

• 
  

 

[Darth_Linux]

@Darth_Linux
@B-Mac said this about your bass
Middle pot is not original

This is SO interesting!! I just got this bass from the BAY. The description was "barely used, never gigged" and that is certainly the case. It was basically new - no scratches anywhere on the body, not even micro scratches near the pickups from fingernails, no "smoothing" of the pickup faces from finger wear, and even the back of the neck, with its satin finish, is still satin, no glossing from wear what-so-ever.

And yet, one of the pots has been replaced, and one of the knobs was not original. I'm going to get in touch with the seller and see if they have any further info on the history of this bass. It's amazing to have a "new" bass that is 21 years old, but this blend pot sure is a mystery!

Thanks to you and B-Mac for the reply!

 

[Darth_Linux]

And, I just got a reply from the seller, who turns out to be the original owner. See below:

"Hi Nivrac,
I bought the bass new at Music Arts and Ent in Fort Laud back in Dec 2018 or Jan 2019. They were Dean authorized dealers for years, and had never sold that bass (that is what they told me).
It was in their inventory for years. And it did have a connection issue when I bought it, so I asked them to fix it. They did a minor repair (I believe is what you mention).

My daughter was born in Nov 2018, and I didn’t have time to play, so it was kept in a case the whole year till I sold it.

Enjoy!"

Mystery solved!

 

[TheBassmaster27]

And, I just got a reply from the seller, who turns out to be the original owner. See below:

"Hi Nivrac,
I bought the bass new at Music Arts and Ent in Fort Laud back in Dec 2018 or Jan 2019. They were Dean authorized dealers for years, and had never sold that bass (that is what they told me).
It was in their inventory for years. And it did have a connection issue when I bought it, so I asked them to fix it. They did a minor repair (I believe is what you mention).

My daughter was born in Nov 2018, and I didn’t have time to play, so it was kept in a case the whole year till I sold it.

Enjoy!"

Mystery solved!

Interesting NOS situation. If you ever need more information on those Berlin Sigs, B-Mac said there's posts on page 21 of this club about them.

 

[Darth_Linux]

Does anyone know the specific difference between "hand crafted" and "made" when it comes to the Czech made basses? Just curious. Perhaps it has to do with the offset head stock and parallel tuners . . .

 

[TheBassmaster27]

@Darth_Linux B-Mac said this about the made vs Hand Crafted thing.

"I think the difference is assembled as opposed to made but I’m not sure about this.


Fender’s made in Japan had the same statements on their basses at different times. Earlier were MIJ. Later were CIJ

Not sure if the same applies with the Czech Deans."

B-Mac suggested that @Ronen might have more information about Czech Deans

 

[Nenor]

I'm no expert but have some information about Czech made Jeff Berlin basses. AFAIK these basses were made between 1999-2002. That's it. Within this short period the model had gone through some changes. The earlier basses were stamped "Dean Serial No 9XXXX made in Czech Republic", had angled headstock, older Schaller tuners positioned in two parallel pairs and football style output jack. I guess not many were made.
The later version had "Dean European Custom Serial Number 9XXXX Hand Crafted in The Czech Republic", offset (newer) tuners, flat headstock, a barrel output jack, and slightly different shape plastic cavity cover. This later version included a natural finish exotic top model with several top options. Very nice looking basses.

I used to own a later version trans green one, serial 94554. It had a thin & fast but unstable neck. Had a great tone. Got rid of it because of that instability. That was about 15 years ago. Two years ago I found a trans-red earlier version serial 92822. The neck feels a bit thicker and is very stable. The angled headstock is a much better design. I think the green one sounded a little better though. On this red one I made some changes - I replaced all pots with CTS and added a 3-way switch with three different capacitors for the tone control. It's a nice add-on to any passive bass. Also, as the thick poly finish is starting to get cracked I'm thinking of stripping it down, sanding the body and either apply tung oil or maybe have some artistic paint job done. We'll see...

 

[Darth_Linux]

I'm no expert but have some information about Czech made Jeff Berlin basses. AFAIK these basses were made between 1999-2002. That's it. Within this short period the model had gone through some changes. The earlier basses were stamped "Dean Serial No 9XXXX made in Czech Republic", had angled headstock, older Schaller tuners positioned in two parallel pairs and football style output jack. I guess not many were made.
The later version had "Dean European Custom Serial Number 9XXXX Hand Crafted in The Czech Republic", offset (newer) tuners, flat headstock, a barrel output jack, and slightly different shape plastic cavity cover. This later version included a natural finish exotic top model with several top options. Very nice looking basses.

I used to own a later version trans green one, serial 94554. It had a thin & fast but unstable neck. Had a great tone. Got rid of it because of that instability. That was about 15 years ago. Two years ago I found a trans-red earlier version serial 92822. The neck feels a bit thicker and is very stable. The angled headstock is a much better design. I think the green one sounded a little better though. On this red one I made some changes - I replaced all pots with CTS and added a 3-way switch with three different capacitors for the tone control. It's a nice add-on to any passive bass. Also, as the thick poly finish is starting to get cracked I'm thinking of stripping it down, sanding the body and either apply tung oil or maybe have some artistic paint job done. We'll see...

Thank you Ronen for such good info. My bass is SN#94693. It's the later style in Trans. Amber finish. It's basically a NOS bass - it sat unsold in a music store for 20 years until last year. A guy bought it, took it home, put it in a case, and sold it to me two weeks ago. The bass is brand new!

The neck was pretty tweaked when I got it, so I've spent the last week making small adjustments to the truss rod and action and it's close to where I want it. I guess I'll have to wait and see how stable the neck turns out to be.

Again, thank you for the info!

 

[Nenor]

Thank you Ronen for such good info. My bass is SN#94693. It's the later style in Trans. Amber finish. It's basically a NOS bass - it sat unsold in a music store for 20 years until last year. A guy bought it, took it home, put it in a case, and sold it to me two weeks ago. The bass is brand new!

The neck was pretty tweaked when I got it, so I've spent the last week making small adjustments to the truss rod and action and it's close to where I want it. I guess I'll have to wait and see how stable the neck turns out to be.

Again, thank you for the info!

All in all the Czech made Berlin's are fantastic instruments. Hand made with high quality components, great necks, thick Ebony fingerboard, unique cutting sound. Super-high value for the money. And I love the amber finish... Congrats on your score!

BTW, no idea why @B-Mac got kicked but I hope he's reading this. His exotic top and US patch work JB's are great looking basses!

 

[TheBassmaster27]

All in all the Czech made Berlin's are fantastic instruments. Hand made with high quality components, great necks, thick Ebony fingerboard, unique cutting sound. Super-high value for the money. And I love the amber finish... Congrats on your score!

BTW, no idea why @B-Mac got kicked but I hope he's reading this. His exotic top and US patch work JB's are great looking basses!

B-Mac still tries to keep up with the activity here from the outside. I also get in touch with him and get information back and forth. He was the one who told me to reach out to you. I'm not the biggest Dean expert so it helps to have people around who are.

 

[TheBassmaster27]

Here's some information that B-Mac has shared with me on the subject of Dean Import lines and their relation to Acoustic Basses (ABGs)
Dean Imports

import (Korean, Czech, Indonesian or Chinese) bass guitar built after ‘97 your serial number will mean the following.

US - Un Sung Korea
Y - Yoojin China
E - World Korea
next 2 digits are the year made followed by the month and then build
so mine for example

US - Un Sung Korea
12 - 2012
04- April
0364 guitar built that month.

Dean Imports

This is not necessarily the case with ABG which had prefix letters that stood for solid wood or solid top or wuilt or mahogany, etc.

early Performer ABG’s of 32” scale were MIK and most had a little black and gold foil sticker that either fell of or was peeled off by the owner. Around 2006 when Performer basses switched to 34” they were MIC

The EAB and EABC series Acoustic Electric basses were first introduced as ‘Playmate’ models and were MIC.

Since 2006 all DEAN ABG’s have been MIC

In other news B-Mac just acquired this bass

"I just picked up (at UPS hub) this gorgeous 2006 Performer (transition) model. I say transition because it ‘transitions’ between the 32” Performer and the 34” Exotica quilt ash models"

 

[Shaggai]

Here's some information that B-Mac has shared with me on the subject of Dean Import lines and their relation to Acoustic Basses (ABGs)
Dean Imports

import (Korean, Czech, Indonesian or Chinese) bass guitar built after ‘97 your serial number will mean the following.

US - Un Sung Korea
Y - Yoojin China
E - World Korea
next 2 digits are the year made followed by the month and then build
so mine for example

US - Un Sung Korea
12 - 2012
04- April
0364 guitar built that month.

Dean Imports

This is not necessarily the case with ABG which had prefix letters that stood for solid wood or solid top or wuilt or mahogany, etc.

early Performer ABG’s of 32” scale were MIK and most had a little black and gold foil sticker that either fell of or was peeled off by the owner. Around 2006 when Performer basses switched to 34” they were MIC

The EAB and EABC series Acoustic Electric basses were first introduced as ‘Playmate’ models and were MIC.

Since 2006 all DEAN ABG’s have been MIC

In other news B-Mac just acquired this bass

View attachment 3681598


"I just picked up (at UPS hub) this gorgeous 2006 Performer (transition) model. I say transition because it ‘transitions’ between the 32” Performer and the 34” Exotica quilt ash models"

He's got so many Deans, it looks like he has his own shipping department to handle them

 

[ElBecko59]

Gorgeous flame top Hillsboro
View attachment 3202337

Now that is beautiful !!