Dean Club!!!

[B-Mac]

View attachment 3994303

Dean Zone neck - reassembly. He’s coming back to life!

View attachment 3994302

I spent an obscene amount of time on the neck. It doesn’t look much different but I know it’s got a good hard, smooth finish on it now.

More to come this weekend.

That’s really coming along.

 

[poochiecheeks]

I was invited to this club... here is my POS dean metalman that i got new for $200 and did the following to:

Replaced pickups with Ibanez SR300E pickups, routed out a neck pickup without a router using a drill and a dremel almost setting the bass on fire multiple times from not having the proper bits

-put in badass bridge despite one of the screw heads snapping off and embedding itself into the body not once but on two separate occasions

-added another pot making a V/V/T configuration and adding little switches to select either the humbucking or coil tap input from each pickup

-sanded down the neck to feel less like a police baton and more like something usable

-replaced the tuners with chrome tuners from an even cheaper dean playmate that I "borrowed" from my roommate

-strung it Bb standard with DR drop tune strings

-completely n***** rigged the nut from a cheap all parts P bass nut and little strips of rosewood veneer as the original one was some of the cheapest plastic ive ever seen with the spacing of like a jazz bass but forced into 3 strings instead of 4

-custom made an explorer type pickguard from a 20 year old squier P bass pickguard and home depot paint stirrers and a ton of wood filler

-Inlay stickers from this jockomo guy in japan that turned out really well and are still intact more than a year later

Thats about it but this is the first bass I bought and has been my project bass in so many ways... I was thinking of stripping it and painting it white with red blood splatter and maybe moving the pickups so that they work better together but I might just leave it and awe in its cheap completely makeshift glory

Thanks again to the guy who invited me to this thread... idk how to get the little flair on my posts that says im a member of this or that club but for the amount of work ive put into this fking thing I feel like I deserve it

 

[B-Mac]

I was invited to this club... here is my POS dean metalman that i got new for $200 and did the following to:

Replaced pickups with Ibanez SR300E pickups, routed out a neck pickup without a router using a drill and a dremel almost setting the bass on fire multiple times from not having the proper bits

-put in badass bridge despite one of the screw heads snapping off and embedding itself into the body not once but on two separate occasions

-added another pot making a V/V/T configuration and adding little switches to select either the humbucking or coil tap input from each pickup

-sanded down the neck to feel less like a police baton and more like something usable

-replaced the tuners with chrome tuners from an even cheaper dean playmate that I "borrowed" from my roommate

-strung it Bb standard with DR drop tune strings

-completely n***** rigged the nut from a cheap all parts P bass nut and little strips of rosewood veneer as the original one was some of the cheapest plastic ive ever seen with the spacing of like a jazz bass but forced into 3 strings instead of 4

-custom made an explorer type pickguard from a 20 year old squier P bass pickguard and home depot paint stirrers and a ton of wood filler

-Inlay stickers from this jockomo guy in japan that turned out really well and are still intact more than a year later

Thats about it but this is the first bass I bought and has been my project bass in so many ways... I was thinking of stripping it and painting it white with red blood splatter and maybe moving the pickups so that they work better together but I might just leave it and awe in its cheap completely makeshift glory

Thanks again to the guy who invited me to this thread... idk how to get the little flair on my posts that says im a member of this or that club but for the amount of work ive put into this fking thing I feel like I deserve it

Thanks for sharing!
Nice mods and welcome to Dean Club!!!
@barclaybass is a fan of these models as well!
@Bassist59 is doing a refinish on his Zone XM GC edition.

 

[B-Mac]

I was invited to this club... here is my POS dean metalman that i got new for $200 and did the following to:

Replaced pickups with Ibanez SR300E pickups, routed out a neck pickup without a router using a drill and a dremel almost setting the bass on fire multiple times from not having the proper bits

-put in badass bridge despite one of the screw heads snapping off and embedding itself into the body not once but on two separate occasions

-added another pot making a V/V/T configuration and adding little switches to select either the humbucking or coil tap input from each pickup

-sanded down the neck to feel less like a police baton and more like something usable

-replaced the tuners with chrome tuners from an even cheaper dean playmate that I "borrowed" from my roommate

-strung it Bb standard with DR drop tune strings

-completely n***** rigged the nut from a cheap all parts P bass nut and little strips of rosewood veneer as the original one was some of the cheapest plastic ive ever seen with the spacing of like a jazz bass but forced into 3 strings instead of 4

-custom made an explorer type pickguard from a 20 year old squier P bass pickguard and home depot paint stirrers and a ton of wood filler

-Inlay stickers from this jockomo guy in japan that turned out really well and are still intact more than a year later

Thats about it but this is the first bass I bought and has been my project bass in so many ways... I was thinking of stripping it and painting it white with red blood splatter and maybe moving the pickups so that they work better together but I might just leave it and awe in its cheap completely makeshift glory

Thanks again to the guy who invited me to this thread... idk how to get the little flair on my posts that says im a member of this or that club but for the amount of work ive put into this fking thing I feel like I deserve it

@poochiecheeks

Welcome to Dean Club!!!

You have been issued member No. 221

 

[B-Mac]

Updated List 9/27/2020

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
Zuokinis #33
BassShifter21 #34
Knight1292 #35
lowendfriend #36
rhapbus #37
MaidenFreak79 #38
CliffHarrisFan #39
Demonator #40
aallien #41
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
noodler #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
OldBlue61 #210
FugaziBomb #211
barclaybass #212
Leo D Edwards #213
DeanBassistTx #214
Bassist59 #215
grimhawk #216
Sigi Joerg #217
60Bass #218
Will_WHite #219
3684799953275 #220
poochiecheeks #221

the harp unstrung #420

222 members....once a member always a member.

 

[Bassist59]

Dean Zone Bass Project Sunday Sept 27th:

If I fool with the finish much more, I’m probably going to start wearing thru it or something....I’m done with it.

Was this necessary? I doubt it but I wanted to say, yes - I have shielded an electric bass before.

If any of you guys were in the Army, you know about the “Soldier’s Manual of Common Tasks“. Well, I’m writing the “Bassist’s Manual of Common Tasks” and this is Task 2-27: Shield a Pickup Cavity. Lol!!! JK - Not really writing a manual but I should.

Stay tuned, hopefully the next time I post, it’ll be a finished playable bass.

 

[poochiecheeks]

I've always used HVAC conductive aluminum tape to shield cavities... never tried copper but it might be easier. Looks awesome tho

 

[B-Mac]

Dean Zone Bass Project Sunday Sept 27th:

View attachment 3999238

If I fool with the finish much more, I’m probably going to start wearing thru it or something....I’m done with it.
View attachment 3999240
Was this necessary? I doubt it but I wanted to say, yes - I have shielded an electric bass before.
View attachment 3999245
If any of you guys were in the Army, you know about the “Soldier’s Manual of Common Tasks“. Well, I’m writing the “Bassist’s Manual of Common Tasks” and this is Task 2-27: Shield a Pickup Cavity. Lol!!! JK - Not really writing a manual but I should.

Stay tuned, hopefully the next time I post, it’ll be a finished playable bass.

That's been really coming along. Been following on Rattle Can Finish club. Can't wait 'til its finished!

 

[Bassist59]

That's been really coming along. Been following on Rattle Can Finish club. Can't wait 'til its finished!

Thanks for joining me on this rebuild journey, B-Mac and everybody! I reassembled it tonight, did a quick setup, and am impressed with what a good bass it is. Low action, no buzzing, neck needed no adjustment. It was a good bass to start with which is why letting it go to waste was such a crime.

I’ll post a demo of me playing it and maybe a slideshow of the rebuild. This instrument was worth the effort. It’s actually better than the bass I built from a kit last year.

 

[B-Mac]

Thanks for joining me on this rebuild journey, B-Mac and everybody! I reassembled it tonight, did a quick setup, and am impressed with what a good bass it is. Low action, no buzzing, neck needed no adjustment. It was a good bass to start with which is why letting it go to waste was such a crime.

I’ll post a demo of me playing it and maybe a slideshow of the rebuild. This instrument was worth the effort. It’s actually better than the bass I built from a kit last year.


View attachment 4000544
View attachment 4000546

View attachment 4000548

Looks great!
Like the beefy bridge too!

 

[B-Mac]

Thanks for joining me on this rebuild journey, B-Mac and everybody! I reassembled it tonight, did a quick setup, and am impressed with what a good bass it is. Low action, no buzzing, neck needed no adjustment. It was a good bass to start with which is why letting it go to waste was such a crime.

I’ll post a demo of me playing it and maybe a slideshow of the rebuild. This instrument was worth the effort. It’s actually better than the bass I built from a kit last year.


View attachment 4000544
View attachment 4000546

View attachment 4000548

So I guess this is now the Dean Zone XM B59 GN?

 

[B-Mac]

Thanks for joining me on this rebuild journey, B-Mac and everybody! I reassembled it tonight, did a quick setup, and am impressed with what a good bass it is. Low action, no buzzing, neck needed no adjustment. It was a good bass to start with which is why letting it go to waste was such a crime.

I’ll post a demo of me playing it and maybe a slideshow of the rebuild. This instrument was worth the effort. It’s actually better than the bass I built from a kit last year.


View attachment 4000544
View attachment 4000546

View attachment 4000548

Looking at this now completed you have to wonder why Dean never did this?
Normally it came in Gloss Black and Silver Sparkle.
For Guitar Center it came as yours was, trans black matte.
It also came as a Zone II with 2 pups in Gloss Black and also a Red Metallic both just for Guitar Center.

Dean made a few finish variations of the Edge 09 that I feel really would have worked well with your Zone XM GC.

Nice work.

It’s great to see refinish work/mods by you and @poochiecheeks and @barclaybass and others that turn out quite well.

 

[Bassist59]

Looking at this now completed you have to wonder why Dean never did this?
Normally it came in Gloss Black and Silver Sparkle.
For Guitar Center it came as yours was, trans black matte.
It also came as a Zone II with 2 pups in Gloss Black and also a Red Metallic both just for Guitar Center.

Dean made a few finish variations of the Edge 09 that I feel really would have worked well with your Zone XM GC.

Nice work.

It’s great to see refinish work/mods by you and @poochiecheeks and @barclaybass and others that turn out quite well.

Hey, thanks, B-Mac!

I always regarded the Zone bass as a trainer or beginner instrument when I rediscovered playing bass about 10 years ago. I’m repeating myself but I relearned all the old Mel Bay Electric Bass Method lessons on it that I had studied briefly when I was 16. I logged many hours of self-taught lessons on the Zone bass so it has sentimental value to me.

Repairing the finish and upgrading the hardware was also just supposed to be a learning exercise but the project turned out better than expected. The new pickup is loud and clear!.

I have a new mission for the bass - old school lessons from this 1959 book I bought on eBay a while back. I think the zone is perfect for that purpose! I really enjoy working through the old lesson books.

 

[B-Mac]

I was invited to this club... here is my POS dean metalman that i got new for $200 and did the following to:

Replaced pickups with Ibanez SR300E pickups, routed out a neck pickup without a router using a drill and a dremel almost setting the bass on fire multiple times from not having the proper bits

-put in badass bridge despite one of the screw heads snapping off and embedding itself into the body not once but on two separate occasions

-added another pot making a V/V/T configuration and adding little switches to select either the humbucking or coil tap input from each pickup

-sanded down the neck to feel less like a police baton and more like something usable

-replaced the tuners with chrome tuners from an even cheaper dean playmate that I "borrowed" from my roommate

-strung it Bb standard with DR drop tune strings

-completely n***** rigged the nut from a cheap all parts P bass nut and little strips of rosewood veneer as the original one was some of the cheapest plastic ive ever seen with the spacing of like a jazz bass but forced into 3 strings instead of 4

-custom made an explorer type pickguard from a 20 year old squier P bass pickguard and home depot paint stirrers and a ton of wood filler

-Inlay stickers from this jockomo guy in japan that turned out really well and are still intact more than a year later

Thats about it but this is the first bass I bought and has been my project bass in so many ways... I was thinking of stripping it and painting it white with red blood splatter and maybe moving the pickups so that they work better together but I might just leave it and awe in its cheap completely makeshift glory

Thanks again to the guy who invited me to this thread... idk how to get the little flair on my posts that says im a member of this or that club but for the amount of work ive put into this fking thing I feel like I deserve it

You deserve it!
Was this your first bass?

 

[poochiecheeks]

You deserve it!
Was this your first bass?

Thanks! My first bass is a beautiful Warmoth PJ in a light blue color and EMG's, given to me by my uncle who let me borrow it one day and never wanted it back. The dean is the first bass I bought myself bc I would listen to James Hetfield and thought that the explorer shape is the coolest thing in existence. That was two years ago and I am still trying to get this thing to sound good, but I know theres a good tone in there somewhere.

I might move the pickups to a place where they might work better together bc I just arbitrarily traced out a spot to put it and didn't even think if it would work. never had a bass with big humbuckers like that but as of now i would not get another humbucker bass again, except if it was a P bass lol

 

[B-Mac]

Dean Zone Bass Project Sunday Sept 27th:

View attachment 3999238

If I fool with the finish much more, I’m probably going to start wearing thru it or something....I’m done with it.
View attachment 3999240
Was this necessary? I doubt it but I wanted to say, yes - I have shielded an electric bass before.
View attachment 3999245
If any of you guys were in the Army, you know about the “Soldier’s Manual of Common Tasks“. Well, I’m writing the “Bassist’s Manual of Common Tasks” and this is Task 2-27: Shield a Pickup Cavity. Lol!!! JK - Not really writing a manual but I should.

Stay tuned, hopefully the next time I post, it’ll be a finished playable bass.

I like how the lights from the ceiling are reflecting off of your bass. Almost looks like some special mystery contRol knobs.

 

[B-Mac]

Dean Zone Bass Project Sunday Sept 27th:

View attachment 3999238

If I fool with the finish much more, I’m probably going to start wearing thru it or something....I’m done with it.
View attachment 3999240
Was this necessary? I doubt it but I wanted to say, yes - I have shielded an electric bass before.
View attachment 3999245
If any of you guys were in the Army, you know about the “Soldier’s Manual of Common Tasks“. Well, I’m writing the “Bassist’s Manual of Common Tasks” and this is Task 2-27: Shield a Pickup Cavity. Lol!!! JK - Not really writing a manual but I should.

Stay tuned, hopefully the next time I post, it’ll be a finished playable bass.

I think my man @EatS1stBassist and @JRA and some others from the Glarry club would like this.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I think my man @EatS1stBassist and @JRA and some others from the Glarry club would like this.

Very nice!

 

[JRA]

I think my man @EatS1stBassist and @JRA and some others from the Glarry club would like this.

i agree with EatS1stBassist, that's gonna be really slick! i look forward to seeing it when it's ready to rock!

 

[Bassist59]

i agree with EatS1stBassist, that's gonna be really slick! i look forward to seeing it when it's ready to rock!

Thanks for the comments, Dean Club!!! It’s ready to go!
Prior to final assembly, I sprayed the volume and tone pots with DeOxit contact cleaner. There is no scratchy noise but the controls turn very easily now. I heard that can happen. I’m ok with it as I’d prefer to be noise free. The bass didn’t come with shielding so I added that. It’s nice and quiet.

As a band mate / friend once told me, “..all that’s great. Now - if you could just play it!” Lol!!
Yup, time to play this thing! I learned a lot of stuff on it and we’ve got more to learn!!!

Many thanks to our fearless leader, B-Mac, who donated some chrome tuners to the re-build project! That was definitely the finishing touch as it didn’t quite look right with the original black tuners.