Product: Dean Guitars Edge 5 lefthanded
Price Paid: USD 500
Submitted
12/11/2006
at
07:28am
by
Fredrik
Features
:
8
Taken from deans webpage
5 String
Basswood Body
35" Scale & 1-11/16" Nut
Grover Tuners
Black Hardware
Dean Pre-amp
Bolt-on Maple & Walnut Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Abalone Dot Inlays
24 Frets
Passive pickups, EMG-style soapbars, active electronics. Vol-pan-bass-treble. Transparent finish (mine is in black). Standard bridge and tuners. NO CASE OR GIGBAG INCLUDED! Great bass when you look at the specs, but the lack of gigbag gives it an 8, combined with the plastic nut. 9volt battery included as well.
I payed just over 5100 swedish kronor for the bass with an extra hardcase, two straplocks, shipping and an extra fee for paying UPS at the door. 5100SEK today = 730 dollars. I payed just over $500 for the bass itself.
Sound
:
8
Good solid rocksound! Play it hard with a pick and you can get an pretty decent Metallica a la Jason Newsted-tone, or play it lighter for a allround sound. I play pretty heavy metal, and it suits me just fine. It's not noisy at all, and the tonepots are pretty good as well (although I only use one setting, treble max and bass in middle). It has an pretty warm and dark sound, but if you play it harder you get alot of midrange.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
The bass was decently set up. I live in Sweden and ordered it from germany, so I was expecting alittle fretbuzz. Nothing was wrong, the saddle had some sharp edges though...
It has the NICEST neck I've ever played! Even my righthanded brother commented this. Not to thick or thin, perfect width... I love the neck!
Reliability/Durability
:
7
I've played it live once, and I was alittle scared about the active electronics and the battery, but that's because this is my first active bass.
Here's the bad things:
The nut is plastic! It has no sustain at all and you can't really use the fucker without changing the nut, at least if you play with alot of open strings.
The other bad thing:
The bass-saddle for the B, E and alittle on the A-string are total crap. The screws you adjust to change the string-height are worthless, and if you play alot on the B-string (as I do), the saddle starts out in the highest position but ends up in the lowest, causing stringbuzz, dead notes and shit like that. The bridge is a pretty solod piece none the less, but I'm only giving the bass a six for the nut and bridge, as both needs to be replaced.
Also, I THINK the volumepot is crapping out as well, but it has only happend once, so I'm not really sure...
The finish is pretty thick, it will take several years before anyone is through the finish.
I changed the strap buttons the second I got it.
I've given it two bigger adjustments, first when I got it and second when I realized that the bridge was crapping out on me. I'm taking it home from the rehearsingspace on Friday for a stringchange, and I will give it a good adjustment so it's in perfect recording-condition on Saturday.
I will NEVER use an active bass live without an backup, to much shit that could happen... But I wouldn't be scared to use it alone, but I'd doublecheck everything twice before getting onstage.
It gets an seven.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never dealt with dean's customer support.
Overall Rating
:
8
I'm giving this bass an 8. For the price, it's a great bass and changing the nut and bridge will cost you way under $80, giving you an even greater bass!
I've played bass for 5?? years, and about 4?? of those in different bands. I own an Yamaha RBX260L (wich was my first bass). I rarely use the bass nowadays, the Yamaha sits at home, and I play it from time to time.
I'd buy it again if it was stolen, but then again, I'd probably buy an Spector Euro LX first, then having the Dean act as an backup.
What I really love about it is the tone. Play it hard and you have just the sound I'm after, Metallica a la black album. I got my hands on an used EMG 40DC-pickup, so I will change pickups when I buy another EMG-pickup and some electronics... Not that it really needs it, but the first pickup was so cheap I might as well change them all.
The bad things: The bridge and the nut, but those things are pretty cheap to replace, so it's not all bad.
I ordered it online, I never compared it to other basses as I fell in love with the way it looked.
The only thing I'd wish it had would be an pickupswitch instead of the pan-control. I never use one pickup and then blend in just alittle of the other, I either use one of them or both.
Overall; Great solid bass, the bridge and nut was a dissapointment, but change them and you have one great fucking bass!
