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Dean Club!!!
- Thread starter tom once dead
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MattSasquatch,
Welcome to Dean Club!!!
You have been officially issued Member Number 180
Maybe I will get some better responses and help here.
So, the Dean Bass I own, we think it may be some limited run of the Zone bass (with help from B-Mac pointing that out, thanks again!), but still cannot find anything on it. Here's some more in depth pictures from the original forum post I made. Maybe someone else in here will have some more information. I'd really love to know exactly what this is.
Also, there are two more of these floating around the internet, and neither of those listings have what it is exactly.
So, the Dean Bass I own, we think it may be some limited run of the Zone bass (with help from B-Mac pointing that out, thanks again!), but still cannot find anything on it. Here's some more in depth pictures from the original forum post I made. Maybe someone else in here will have some more information. I'd really love to know exactly what this is.
Also, there are two more of these floating around the internet, and neither of those listings have what it is exactly.
MYSTERY SOLVED!!!!!!!!
ZONE II Bass made only for Guitar Center!
See below e-mail conversation
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Mighty fine looking signature you got goin' on there now that Dean Club is added!
Great to see this Dean Club active again!
Here is the real story of the Hillsboro bass. And it has nothing to do with Eric Bass. At least not a first. The Hillsboro pre-dates Eric's bass by a few years. Around 2008, the fabulous luthier Jon Hill joined Dean Guitars to build their new USA custom shop. As most of you know, the owner of Dean Guitars Elloitt Rubinson (RIP) was a great bass player, touring with Schenker, Leslie West, Uli, etc. So it was only a short matter of time before Jon was going to make some great USA basses. The very first USA bass to come out of the new custom shop was a yet unnamed saphire blue bass that Jon Hill designed and built to show off at the Dean DOA event we hold down in Tampa every year. When me and a couple of fellow low enders got to the factory a couple of days before the big DOA event, the bass was still on the table getting its hardware installed. It was that fresh. We got Jon to let us take it to event, and I played it on stage that night. I was perhaps the first person to use a Tampa era USA Dean bass on stage. It was a terrific experience, and I really enjoyed playing it that night. Several months down the road, the Hillsboro basses started coming out as a USA only model. I bought one as shown by B-Mac a few threads above this one. It was a year or two later that some very inexpensive imported Hillsboros started being produced. It was another year or so after that when Dean made the Eric Bass signature Hillsboro. When they received the very first proto of the Eric Bass bass at Dean HQ, I happened to be hanging out in the artist room, where the AR manager at the time filmed me playing that bass, and messaged that video to Eric so he could see his new bass for the first time. The Eric Bass bass was a much higher quality than the regular Hillsboro import basses at that time, and I was impressed with its sound and punch. And it was only offered in black. Now there are other colors and configs of both the standard imports, and the Eric Bass sigs. And of course, you could have the custom shop basses in any config that Dan would build. So that is the story of the Hillsboro bass. Hope you enjoyed it. I think the Hillsboro is a very cool twist on the traditional P and J format. Here are a couple of shots of that very first prototype USA bass from the 2009 DOA event down in Tampa. Man that was a long time ago! Rock on Dean bass fans!
So, I've been a fan of Jeff Berlin's way before there was ever a Talkbass website forum. Got into him through Bill Bruford since I was a YES fan and into progressive rock and jazz and Fusion.
Fast forward to buying my first bass which was a Dean and joining talk bass and I find out about Jeff Berlin's association with Dean. Regardless what you think of him he's certainly an accomplished musician/bassist. I got to see him play with John McLaughlin and Trilok Gurtu opening for Miles Davis in the 90's.
Dean had a signature Jeff Berlin bass. USA, Czech, Korean and Chinese made. Jeff ended his association with Dean I believe (maybe wrongly) that Dean was changing things too much with the Korean made and Chinese made versions as they were active, no Barts and no BadAss II bridge. I own the Czech and Chinese models which differ in age by 10 years. The Czech made is passive with Barts, and BadAss II bridge. The Chinese is active with Dean pups and a Dean bridge that is BadAss II - ish.
There's been other versions of this bass made by Peavy called the Palladium and the Cort Rithimic which all have a similar body, and pups and bridge and passive, with the Cort version now having a Babicz bridge.
Through acquiring Dean catalogs and looking for Dean basses on the net I've discovered another bassist named Brian Bromberg. I'm actually the same age as he is. I am astounded that he was never on my 'bassist radar'. He played for the Stan Getz Quintet in 1979 when he was 19 years old! I am a fan of Stan Getz, especially the Bossa Nova stuff with Charlie Byrd and Joao Gilbeto, plus the stuff he did with Miles Davis. I even saw Stan Getz in concert in the late 80's. But wasn't familiar at all with Brian Bromberg.
Dean makes a signature Brian Bromberg bass called the B2 (actually B squared). It comes in 4 and 5 string. Carvin/Keisel also makes one. I am not sure but there may have been another manufacturer that made one.
I believe Dean made a USA version in limited quantities and a Korean made version. I believe the USA version had Barts but the Korean version had Dean hot Jazz pups. The bass was active with 3 way EQ plus a Piezo pup in the bridge. You could get a variety of tones out of it. It was also very unique looking with an asymmetrical body and long skinny horns.
While searching for more info on this bass and info on Brian Bromberg I came across some interesting YouTube vids. It seems that Mr. Bromberg likes some other Dean basses. One of them is the Dean Stylist B1 bass also known as the Cabbie, except the one he plays is the earlier one circa 2006. He also plays the Dean Exotica Radiant which is an ABG. He plays both of these basses with custom made Piccolo Bass strings made for him by La Bella. He has an album called 'The Spirit of Jobim' where he plays the Dean Exotica Radiant throughout the album.
I'm going to post a few things below regarding Mr. Bromberg and the Dean Basses mentioned. Check them out when you have time...or not:
The 32" Exotica Radiant with Flame Maple back and sides and solid Sitka Spruce top
Mr. Bromberg playing the DEAN Exotica Radiant as a Piccolo Bass
The older 32" Stylist
He starts playing the DEAN Stylist with the Piccolo Bass strings around time mark 9:15
Dean Brian Bromberg B2
I'm pretty sure this amazing slap performance is not on the Dean version of the B2
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
User reviews: Dean Guitars Brian Bromberg Signature B2 - 5 - Audiofanzine
I'm not going to pretend I know all about Brian Bromberg. Far from it. I'd like to know more about him, his music, his playing with others where he's not the leader and his association with Dean officially and unofficially and why he used the Stylist and the Radiant.
This would be the 3rd bassist that I am into that plays Dean. The other not mentioned here being Chas Cronk from Strawbs.
I know Brian Bromberg visits talk bass from time to time and it would be great if he'd visit here and say hello.
@Brian Bromberg come on down!
Fast forward to buying my first bass which was a Dean and joining talk bass and I find out about Jeff Berlin's association with Dean. Regardless what you think of him he's certainly an accomplished musician/bassist. I got to see him play with John McLaughlin and Trilok Gurtu opening for Miles Davis in the 90's.
Dean had a signature Jeff Berlin bass. USA, Czech, Korean and Chinese made. Jeff ended his association with Dean I believe (maybe wrongly) that Dean was changing things too much with the Korean made and Chinese made versions as they were active, no Barts and no BadAss II bridge. I own the Czech and Chinese models which differ in age by 10 years. The Czech made is passive with Barts, and BadAss II bridge. The Chinese is active with Dean pups and a Dean bridge that is BadAss II - ish.
There's been other versions of this bass made by Peavy called the Palladium and the Cort Rithimic which all have a similar body, and pups and bridge and passive, with the Cort version now having a Babicz bridge.
Through acquiring Dean catalogs and looking for Dean basses on the net I've discovered another bassist named Brian Bromberg. I'm actually the same age as he is. I am astounded that he was never on my 'bassist radar'. He played for the Stan Getz Quintet in 1979 when he was 19 years old! I am a fan of Stan Getz, especially the Bossa Nova stuff with Charlie Byrd and Joao Gilbeto, plus the stuff he did with Miles Davis. I even saw Stan Getz in concert in the late 80's. But wasn't familiar at all with Brian Bromberg.
Dean makes a signature Brian Bromberg bass called the B2 (actually B squared). It comes in 4 and 5 string. Carvin/Keisel also makes one. I am not sure but there may have been another manufacturer that made one.
I believe Dean made a USA version in limited quantities and a Korean made version. I believe the USA version had Barts but the Korean version had Dean hot Jazz pups. The bass was active with 3 way EQ plus a Piezo pup in the bridge. You could get a variety of tones out of it. It was also very unique looking with an asymmetrical body and long skinny horns.
While searching for more info on this bass and info on Brian Bromberg I came across some interesting YouTube vids. It seems that Mr. Bromberg likes some other Dean basses. One of them is the Dean Stylist B1 bass also known as the Cabbie, except the one he plays is the earlier one circa 2006. He also plays the Dean Exotica Radiant which is an ABG. He plays both of these basses with custom made Piccolo Bass strings made for him by La Bella. He has an album called 'The Spirit of Jobim' where he plays the Dean Exotica Radiant throughout the album.
I'm going to post a few things below regarding Mr. Bromberg and the Dean Basses mentioned. Check them out when you have time...or not:
The 32" Exotica Radiant with Flame Maple back and sides and solid Sitka Spruce top
Mr. Bromberg playing the DEAN Exotica Radiant as a Piccolo Bass
The older 32" Stylist
He starts playing the DEAN Stylist with the Piccolo Bass strings around time mark 9:15
Dean Brian Bromberg B2
I'm pretty sure this amazing slap performance is not on the Dean version of the B2
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
User reviews: Dean Guitars Brian Bromberg Signature B2 - 5 - Audiofanzine
I'm not going to pretend I know all about Brian Bromberg. Far from it. I'd like to know more about him, his music, his playing with others where he's not the leader and his association with Dean officially and unofficially and why he used the Stylist and the Radiant.
This would be the 3rd bassist that I am into that plays Dean. The other not mentioned here being Chas Cronk from Strawbs.
I know Brian Bromberg visits talk bass from time to time and it would be great if he'd visit here and say hello.
@Brian Bromberg come on down!
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My Christmas present to me. I should have it shortly.
I've been watching this on GC used for awhile. Occasionally, it would seem to disappear...but it was always there. It all depended on how you searched for it. It's the USA model which I did not realize until I contacted the store. Comes with C.O.A. and original Dean HSC. They'll be shipping it to the GC that is near my work place.
Probably have it before the end of next week.
This will be my first USA Dean
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That looks awesome! I'd love to get my hands on one of those...
Got any other stories on signature Dean basses? Like the Jeff Berlin or Brian Bromberg basses?
Per information from @BradWorld concerning luthier Jon Hill I came upon Jon Hill Launches Bootleg Guitars
WELCOME
Look what they have for sale.
They call it the 'Dawg Bass' and it looks a lot like the Hillsboro
I think some of the proportions (horns) are a bit different though?
WELCOME
Look what they have for sale.
They call it the 'Dawg Bass' and it looks a lot like the Hillsboro
I think some of the proportions (horns) are a bit different though?
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wintremute
mediocrity at its finest
- Oct 16, 2014
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- Endorsing Artist: Langstrom Carrot Farms
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!
Does anyone know of a pickup that would be a drop in replacement on a dean edge 09? I love that bass but that pickup gets weaker and weaker to my ears the longer i play basses with better pickups. Through expensive amps, its better, but still really muddy. Even with a pick.
