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NBD... Used Dean Zone XM Radio

NBD?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2 100.0%

  • No, it's UBD

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Dean Rocks

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Why isn't it a Hondo?

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Carrots

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Oatmeal

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Total voters
    2
hondo4life

hondo4life

Feb 29, 2016
2,016
8,736
CT
#1
NBD? NBD! On a whim, I picked this used Dean Zone XM radio something at my local GC for $69.99.
I plugged it into some Markbass combo and started playing. The neck was straight, the frets fine, the action already good (so far, already better than half the of things hanging on GC's wall). It sounded good, too. But then I touched the volume knob, and it died. Then the knob pulled out along with the pot shaft. But, those several seconds of playing were good enough to sell me on it. The guy at GC said the previous owner was a drummer. Haha.
I offered to buy it if they threw in a new pot for free, and I'd replace it myself instead of waiting for a day for their tech to do it. Deal. I can think of worse ways to spend $70. But then I bought a $30 set of strings for it, so... $100 bass. Whatever. Deal with it. Dean!


The dog immediately noticed the defective pot and pointed it out to me. Yeah, dude, I know. I got a good deal on it, so chill out.

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Reactions: Bass_Thumper and JimmyThunder
#4
dedpool1052 said:
Nice bass. I played one a while back at GC and was pretty impressed with it.
Click to expand...

Thanks. GS had some new ones hanging up on the other side of the store for about $150, in various shades of green. I checked those out, first. Then I picked up the used one and it was just as good... just scratched up and with a broken pot.

M.R. Ogle said:
I just finished custom airbrushing one of those for a studentView attachment 897304 . Very nice shaped neck!
Click to expand...

Nice skyline.
There is about a good chance that I will refinish this in a shade of black, since all of my basses are black. Very original, right? I have some black stain and poly left from my fEARful cab, and it would be sweet if this (basswood?) body could match the birch of my cab.

Yes, the neck is pretty nice. The frets are very smooth, and whatever shape it is falls perfectly into my hand. I've been sitting here for about an hour just playing it through my Rumble 100. It's just good.
 
#7
You may not be able to tell, but it's a helluvalot cleaner than it was before. The entire thing was covered in filth, especially the fretboard. Now it looks like new after some scrubbing and finishing with a touch of "lemon" oil. I put in the new 500K volume pot, and new EB Cobalt 45/65/80/100 strings. Every screw on the thing was loose, except for the neck screws. Now every screw on the thing is properly tight.
I adjusted the bridge, and now intonation is spot on.
Now if I could just find my truss rod wrench, it needs a little tweak. Other than that, it's a squeaky clean Dean. Sounds good, too.


squeakycleandean.jpg
 
#11
I tightened the truss rod up a bit to straighten the neck out, then adjusted the saddles up to stop fret buzz, but it didn't happen. The saddles had to go obscenely high in order to keep the strings from buzzing the first few frets. The frets look even and smooth, so it seems to me like this is a nut that is too low.

For now, I loosened the neck back to have its original bow. It plays pretty darn well like this, so I might just leave it (as did the previous owner). The action is a little high at the 12th fret (4.75 mm on the E), but I can live with it. It's mostly just a bass to play at home while my other ones live in the band room.
 

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