It was a four string. As for Dean basses, they seem to be really solid for their prices. They aren't really anything special, but they are good values.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Dean Pace EUB megathread
- Thread starter DaBassman
- Start date
No, I play bass guitar. I've messed around on uprights, but I usually just end up embarassing myself. I was just curious about the Pace because I've been really getting into the upright sound lately.
The fingerboard radius felt halfway between a bass guitar and an upright. It seems like the bass in general is like a bridge between bass guitar and upright.HeavyDuty said:
I just played one of these at my local shop the other day and I was very impressed. It played very very well and sounded great through a Genz Benz Intro 50 12" combo. It does have a pre-amp (18v) just no EQ functions. For $700, it's not a bad buy. I'll probably buy one as soon as I can find a used one for around $400 though. The tone is pretty sweet, and it's really quite comfortable to play. And the non-lined fingerboard wasn't nearly as challenging to get used to as I thought it might be. I went back a 2nd time to play the bass again. I'm GASing I guess. The radius may not be enough to bow it, but I didn't try, so I don't know. I know it felt like a huge radius to me, but that's because my Warwicks aren't radiused at all.
The only thing I didn't like about the one I played is that the fingerboard was already grooved up a bunch! It has flats on it, but you wouldn't know that by the fingerboard. I asked about the grooves and they just said that it'd been played to death since it came in and that's why. But I'd hate to think that it's gonna get all grooved up in a matter of a couple weeks (that's all the longer it's been there) if I play it a lot, ya know? At first I thought it might be a used bass. That's how bad it was. An ebony board would be much better (I think they use rosewood).
Anyway, it's a pretty sweet bass, especially when comparing the prices of other EUBs out there.
Jake
The only thing I didn't like about the one I played is that the fingerboard was already grooved up a bunch! It has flats on it, but you wouldn't know that by the fingerboard. I asked about the grooves and they just said that it'd been played to death since it came in and that's why. But I'd hate to think that it's gonna get all grooved up in a matter of a couple weeks (that's all the longer it's been there) if I play it a lot, ya know? At first I thought it might be a used bass. That's how bad it was. An ebony board would be much better (I think they use rosewood).
Anyway, it's a pretty sweet bass, especially when comparing the prices of other EUBs out there.
Jake
I think it's a joke. They basically put the thickest electric bass neck ever on a stick and called it an upright bass.
If you want to pretend and impress uninformed people by having a bass guitar on a stand, then this is what you want.
But, don't for a second think that this thing is comparable to any kind of upright bass, acoustic or electric.
If you want a 35" scale bass on a stand that actually has some elements of an upright bass, then get a KYDD. The Dean is a poser instrument.
Dean makes quality instruments, and they had a great chance to break the $1000 barrier with a viable electric upright bass. But, they opted for a ridiculous design and they completely blew it, IMHO.
If you want to pretend and impress uninformed people by having a bass guitar on a stand, then this is what you want.
But, don't for a second think that this thing is comparable to any kind of upright bass, acoustic or electric.
If you want a 35" scale bass on a stand that actually has some elements of an upright bass, then get a KYDD. The Dean is a poser instrument.
Dean makes quality instruments, and they had a great chance to break the $1000 barrier with a viable electric upright bass. But, they opted for a ridiculous design and they completely blew it, IMHO.
I tried one out when I was EUB shopping, but ended up buying an Ergo. 41 1/2" scale and a lot more quality for the bucks. But then, I play doublebass.
Just got a Dean Pace to use sparingly on trip hop/acid jazz stuff. I'm an electric bassist (fretless and fretted), so I wanted something to play pizzicato and didn't worry about not being able to bow it. Actually won it on eBay for $499 new with stand and case, a price the music store mistakenly opened the auction with and I was the only bidder (should have been at least $100 more to start). Anyway, I have a few questions that somebody might be able to help me with. One, the bass buzzes when you touch the strings. Pretty loudly. Take my hands off the strings and it's dead quiet. That seems odd to me, as I've had basses with single coil pups before that seemed to buzz more prominently when the strings weren't being touched, but I haven't owned an electric bass for some time with that pickup config so I might be mistaken. No fluorescent or halogen lights on around when this happens or anything like that. It's weird. Second, I want to use LaBella tapewounds on it. Anybody Dean Pace owners put the Extra Long scale tapewound strings on theirs? It's a 35" scale so those should work, but I've been back and forth with Labella because they evidently made some custom sets for Dean for this model and they say 37" winding on them. Can't seem to get an answer about whether the standard XL scale tapewounds will work or not. I've contacted Dean and will probably ship it back since it's new and under warranty, but if there are a few things to try first, I'd like to do that. I've swapped cords. It has a piezo pickup with two 9 volt batteries. Haven't changed the batteries yet, although I will give that a go. Thanks.
- Mar 22, 2000
- 1,972
- 73
- Disclosures
- Big Cheese Emeritus: Gollihur Music (retired)
Copycat said:
Sure is, as you mention, the opposite often happens... which leads me to my thoughts about the problem. Follow my logic:
If you were to plug an instrument cable into your amp and then touch the tip ("hot" conductor) of the other end, you would get a buzz, my guess is that it is the same buzz as you are getting when you touch the strings.
Often your find electric instruments whose bridge is grounded, such as in the example you mention with single coil pickups, you touch the strings and it helps to shield the pickup coils, cutting the buzz.
I am guessing that Dean wired it backwards... the hot connection from the preamp input is wired to ground, and vice-versa, so when you touch the strings you are touching the hot connection and causing the buzz.
Obviously, I could be totally and completely wrong, but that's where I arrive using the logic above, which I think holds water. I've no idea how integrated the wiring is and whether this is something you could try to cure locally, for instance, un-grounding the strings if they even are "grounded" (not a great idea, but a possibility), but that's my working theory and I'm sticking to it!!
Good luck in resolving it! I guess if it can't be fixed you could always just hum along with it.
Copycat said:
That is exactly the opposite of what happens when the bass is ungrounded. When you touch it, your body acts as the ground !
Go see a luthier and please share some mp3 of the sound of that bass (once repaired). I am really curious to hear it.
I recently purchased a Dean Pace.
The Pace arrived last Tuesday. I purchased the four string model in black. For those not familiar with it, the Pace is an upright fretless with piezo pickups. This is only an EUB in the broadest sense. It has a 35 scale. A fairly flat fretboard so no arco. It has one volume control and no tone control.
It arrived looking very nice, but was very poorly set up. The E string was kinked at the nut and its intonation was off. In addition the strings were set very low. I plugged it into my amp and was very disappointed with the sound. Obviously, I'm not expecting this particular product to imitate a true upright. But I was was expecting an upright-like sound. This sounded thin and wimpy even as an EBG. (Why do manufacturers build an expensive instrument and then put such cheap strings on them?)
First I had to recover from my anxiety attack. [You have to realize that I'm essentially an amateur. I do this for fun. And $650 is a lot for me to spend] Then, I noticed that the strings, while they are flat-wound, are really thin -- emaciated-even. So I sent email to the manufacturer. Will changing the strings make enough of a difference to be worth trying or not? The manufacturer recommended trying La Bella 760Ns on it. However, after doing some google research, I decided to go with Rotosound 88s to get the heavier G string.
I had the LGS order them on Friday. They put them on for me and did the much needed setup yesterday. I picked it up just before practice last night. I knew I wouldn't be able to do much with it last night (being new to vertical playing), but I had to hear the sound.
Ooooh. Aaaah. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. What an improvement! One and all declared it to be a very fine sound. Very upright-like. The sound is recognizably jazz flavor.
I'm definitely satisfied and will be keeping the Pace. I should mention for completeness that, while the setup was really poor, the construction itself seems to be very good.
This is not an electrified version of a DB. This is an uprightified version of an EBG. Anyone who already is comfortable playing DB will not want one of these things. For someone like myself, however, coming from EBG and playing jazz or blues, this is just the ticket.
The Pace arrived last Tuesday. I purchased the four string model in black. For those not familiar with it, the Pace is an upright fretless with piezo pickups. This is only an EUB in the broadest sense. It has a 35 scale. A fairly flat fretboard so no arco. It has one volume control and no tone control.
It arrived looking very nice, but was very poorly set up. The E string was kinked at the nut and its intonation was off. In addition the strings were set very low. I plugged it into my amp and was very disappointed with the sound. Obviously, I'm not expecting this particular product to imitate a true upright. But I was was expecting an upright-like sound. This sounded thin and wimpy even as an EBG. (Why do manufacturers build an expensive instrument and then put such cheap strings on them?)
First I had to recover from my anxiety attack. [You have to realize that I'm essentially an amateur. I do this for fun. And $650 is a lot for me to spend] Then, I noticed that the strings, while they are flat-wound, are really thin -- emaciated-even. So I sent email to the manufacturer. Will changing the strings make enough of a difference to be worth trying or not? The manufacturer recommended trying La Bella 760Ns on it. However, after doing some google research, I decided to go with Rotosound 88s to get the heavier G string.
I had the LGS order them on Friday. They put them on for me and did the much needed setup yesterday. I picked it up just before practice last night. I knew I wouldn't be able to do much with it last night (being new to vertical playing), but I had to hear the sound.
Ooooh. Aaaah. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. What an improvement! One and all declared it to be a very fine sound. Very upright-like. The sound is recognizably jazz flavor.
I'm definitely satisfied and will be keeping the Pace. I should mention for completeness that, while the setup was really poor, the construction itself seems to be very good.
This is not an electrified version of a DB. This is an uprightified version of an EBG. Anyone who already is comfortable playing DB will not want one of these things. For someone like myself, however, coming from EBG and playing jazz or blues, this is just the ticket.
Thanks for the review- could you elaborate a little more on the feel? How is the back of the neck? I knew the fretboard would be flat, but what about the overall feel?
It's definitely a thick neck. Certainly thicker than my EBG.
I don't know if it will become an issue or not. Last night was the first time I had a chance to really play it. It was pretty much worthless before being set up properly.
I'm hoping that the fact that it's vertical will make the thick neck a moot issue. I'll let you know as I make progress.
I don't know if it will become an issue or not. Last night was the first time I had a chance to really play it. It was pretty much worthless before being set up properly.
I'm hoping that the fact that it's vertical will make the thick neck a moot issue. I'll let you know as I make progress.
- Dec 5, 2002
- 4,165
- 2,254
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Ernie Ball Music Man/Sterling By Music Man
Any updates?
I ordered one today from Musician's Fiend. Played one at the Dallas guitar show a couple of weeks ago and couldn't stop thinking about it - I think it was an evil curse or something.
Anyway, dedicated electric bassist, have tried and failed at URB and can't handle anything beyond 35" scale, so here we go.
I ordered one today from Musician's Fiend. Played one at the Dallas guitar show a couple of weeks ago and couldn't stop thinking about it - I think it was an evil curse or something.
Anyway, dedicated electric bassist, have tried and failed at URB and can't handle anything beyond 35" scale, so here we go.
