Dean Guitars Playmate Acoustic Bass

This is a standard Dean EAB - Acoustic Bass.

not sure if the woods are solid or laminated, but it is very well made. I wish it had active preamp/piezo set up.....it would be worth the extra. Without a preamp, it is thin and tinny. the satin finish is nice, the woods are solid, the neck is nice, the frets are very good. It is suprisingly good for the price.

I am not sure of the scale, but this thing is Friggin Huge! It is hard to find a case for or a gig bag. Absolutely get one though. This is worth taking care of.

Points off on the passive electronics, but, if you have a preamp unit - BBE, or similar, use it to restore to 9-10.

Action and original strings - eh...........ok I guess.

Added flat woud strings from Webstrings.com. It sounds like it should, but you really have to keep the tone dialed down. Its good though with a tweak here and there.

This was used, but unchanged from new. Action was ok.Fit and finish were ok.

I have played it live and it sounded just like.....well.......a Bass. Really - it sounded fine, and if you take care of it like with any decent instrument - it should hhold up just fine.

I would want a backup because I don't do all acoustic.

I used Deans customer support on another bass, and they were fantastic. Scott was exactlyl what customer service is all about.

I have been playing about 4-5 years in general now, have some pretty nice stuff. I have a lot of friends that are great players, and I use them to guage my sound and pequipmen and have gotten good comments on this bass. It sounds very close to a old standup the way I have it set up and with the equipment I am using. I play blues and it fits. I wish it had active preamp setup, and came with a fitting HSC......but I can add that myself later. I just haven't done it yet.

I haven't played too many acoustic basses to compare it, but I have my share of Fenders and similar......it is just fine. I think it would be worth buying a second one, and installing an active preamp. I am good with this one as it came, since it was a gift.

I intend to play it and make sure that my father in law knows it is being played. I thank him for it.

Playmate EAB bass, 4 string. Bought it for limited use in home recording, has become my second bass (the first is a Guild m85, can't beat that with anything on the market today). Decent padded gig bag included.
One volume, one tone control...range of sound is just ok. Sounds best with setting toward low end. Need big hands to play comfortably...jumbo frets and long neck.

I play in a variety of styles from funk to thrash and have used this instrument for all. It is especially suited to fingerstyle, relatively downtempo to allow the notes to ring. No intonation problems...at least not so far after six months of playing every day.
There is a certain amount of string/fret noise, but I like that, so it isn't a problem for me. The sound either amplified or not is rich, full, and warm.

Again, may be luck of the draw but the axe was well-set-up and I haven't had to change a thing. Action is nice and low, easily playable, tuners hold tune very well even during/after hard playing.

It's an acoustic so I don't know how well it would stand up to heavy stage use. I wouldn't ever do a gig without a backup...

Five-year limited warranty but I don't see where I would ever use it.

I've been playing for a little over 30 years, am a bass player primarily, have never owned an acoustic bass before, though I've played several. If this bass were lost or stolen I would immediately buy another. The best feature to me is the acoustic volume and deep rich sound unplugged. I would like separate treble/bass controls but that isn't absolutely necessary...a bass player I know has the smaller version and is very unhappy now since he has seen/heard/played this one.
I'd recommend this instrument, especially at the price.

Made in China and purchased from Musician's Friend for a Christmas present to a son who was just starting to play Bass.(I also gave him a Fender MIM P-Bass -- so the Dean was just to practice on when he didn't want to hook up one of my amps). The Set up was great right out of the box --- that was a first for me when buying form a mail order house. The factory strings were really "tinny" and had no sound. I switched the strings to black tape wounds and the sound greatly improved. It sounds a lot like a low end upright bass now. I bought a worthless gig bag with it...I guess it is ok for storing the bass in his room, but it is not padded nor thick enough to protect the wood. This is the 4 string, cut away model. Based on the low $150 price, I'll rate it an 8.

Unplugged it is a fun bass. The tape wounds give it more sound than the stock strings and it has a nice thump. The pickup is very low volume. You really have to turn up the amp to get it to have any volume. Unplugged sound...8. Plugged in ??? Maybe a 5. So let's call it a 6.5 or 7.

This bass was well set up and is rather pretty. No complaints here.

It was $150......what can you expect???? Well worth the money (maybe somewhat more) and I can't say anything bad about the one we got. I even borowed it and played it on a song for a live gig....ok, just one song before I went back to my electric basses.

I've been a Bass Player since the mid 60's. I own and play just about every bass that was manufactured from 1951 till 1985.

Do I like this bass? Yeah, I admit that I do. I keep thinking that I'll order another one for myself.

The Good;
Beautiful wood(there is no particle board on my bass{4-29-06})
Through body bridge stringing, nice loud sound. Good intonation-bridge placement. Price 149$
The not so good:
Big dip in fingerboard at first fret. Weak passive piezo without much sound, kinda crispy.

Once I filled the fretlines with epoxy and sanded the fretboard true(#16 radius block from Stewart Macdonald) and cut the nut down, the sound is woody and full, like an upright. Ernie Ball medium flats.

The bass was unplayable because of fret buzz before I sanded the finger board. I figured if I sent it back, the next bass would probably have the same problem and would have intonation problems as well( this one doesnt)

It will be fine, I suspect those bridge string stoppers might pop out if some one plucked to hard.

I have probably voided the warranty by modifying the bass.
Dean offers a very generous warranty. You may have to send the instrument back to China however.

I wanted a loud accoustic bass guitar. I cant afford the Thunderchief or the Martin, and all the others just are not very loud. ( I can't afford any of the other nice ones either)
I have tried several of the Michael Kellys, they were not loud and each that I played was sharp with itself at the twelf fret.
I am glad to have had the experience of leveling the fingerboard(it took alot of elbow grease) and I learned alot in the process.

Bought a five string about two months ago. Nice finish, pretty sharp for a bottom dollar production, actually. The tuners hold a tune, and it came set up almost perfectly from the vendor.

I like to have an acoustic guitar and bass around my office so me and a buddy can throw down at lunch time. For a smaller, enclosed space, the volume was perfect! Any room taller than about ten feet, the bottem end kind of diminishes. The "E" string doesnt sound good on the low notes when playing in the pocket, unless you play with precision. Overall, more than what I expected when I decided to pony up $179.99. I am glad I didnt waste $500 or more on a serious name brand, The EAB sounds great!

The instrument was set up very nice, almost surprising considering I recieved it through the mail, (don't usually do that, easier to find a good set up on an instrument in person). There were some shoddy spots on the corners of the headstock covered up with matching paint. I new/expected this before I bought it, considering it is one of the cheapest on the market. It certainly does not look or feel as cheap as it was.

As with most other reviews, would like to have a second strap button, hard for me to play sitting down. The finish appears it will last for a few years, but it will probably get knicked and dinged like any other instrument that gets lots of usage.

N/A Don't deal with those clowns

Been playing the guitar and bass for about thirteen years, own all kinds of gear, if it were lost, stolen etc... would buy again. I love they way it looks, feels and sounds, plus I feel like I got a great deal.

Features have been covered pretty well by others. This is a very basic entry level acoustic bass with simple electronics, average construction and sound quality.

Sound quality was the guitar's best feature. Nice volume without an amp. Electronics were marginal - only two slide controls: one for volume, one for tone. Ran it through an Ashdown Bass amp and got decent sound from the amp controls not the guitar. Sounds like you would expect an acoustic to sound.

Surface finish was nice. Good lacquer and coloring to neck and head stock. Action was terrible - 3 of the 4 strings were set high and the G string was almost laying on the frets. Serious string buzz on the G string. Bridge is plastic so be careful with any adjustments. Tuners were poorly made - held in with one screw in the bottom. One of the 4 tuners was missing the screw and another was one turn from coming out. This is an inexpensive bass guitar so don't expect and don't compare it to a $1000 model. The bass itself was finished nicely - the hardware and action is another story. I was so displeased that I packed it up and shipped it back. First impressions count alot - mine was like a bad blind date.

Don't know enough to comment - I was not pleased with the overall first impression and decided not to continue the relationship. At bet, I would have used this bass only for certain songs and not as a primary bass. It appeared to have a decent durability for occasional use.

Dealer took the return although did everything possible to try not to. The guy even tried to tell me he personally set the action and thought it was perfect - go figure. Thankfully there was a 15 day no questions asked return policy. Again first impressions counted for me. The best he could offer was to pay a "reasonable" amount to have it fixed.

Only a year under my belt but I do enjoy it. Other equipment includes a Fender Jazz, Peavey T120, two amps - Ashdown Perfect Ten and a small Hartke B150. If the guitar was stolen or lost I would not go looking for it nor would I repurchase it again. Not to ding Dean Guitars. Their higher priced models are more than decent. There is a lot of competition in the entry level category. My advice is to make the rounds of the shops and play them until you find one that does it for you. Then buy it - forget about the make or the price. If you like it - buy it.

Dean Playmate AEB
You guys already have all the specs and stuff from other reviews. I will just hit on my personal experience with the guitar. I boutght the guitar for playing around the house and maybe campouts. It is a good little guitar. I didn't like it at first because it seemed kind of bulky.... but, after a few sit downs with it I'm a believer.
It's plenty good. Stays in tune well. Has a nice rich sound. I turn on the XM and play along. I have a higher respect for Dean as a company, I think they really must be trying to bring a better instrument at a better price for the regular Joe like me. Rock on brothers!

Dean Playmate acoustic electric bass. Made in China. Dean's website does not give any construction details, saying only "details comming soon". Top looks to be spruce laminate over some type of particle board (I scratched the inner edge with a pocket knife, and it is definetly NOT a solid spruce top as some reviews claim). I doubt that the sides or back are "solid mahogany", but a laminate as well. Passive electrics, with one volume and one tone control. Satin finish looks very nice. Overall, a nice looking guitar with a good feel.

First, although I do enjoy playing bass from time to time, I am not primarily a bass player (I have been playing harmonica for over thirty-five years), and guitar for almost as long. I have a fender P bass in my studio, but wanted an acoustic bass for our annual camping trip (we go with several families, and after dinner the acoustic guitars an "harps" inevitably come out. I didn't care that this could be plugged in because trees dont have electricity. However, since it is electric, I tried it with my Ampeg BA-115, and was pleasantly suprised. Even with only one tone adjustment on the guitar, it produced a wide range of sounds. Actually, it sounded very good plugged in and unplugged as well. I have had it a little over a month now, and find myself playing it daily. Unplugged it sounds full and loud enough to keep up with my two friends on acoustic gutiars.

The guitar came set up and tuned well. A slight buzz on a couple of frets, but a minor tweak of the truss rod with the provided allen wrench cured that. It has suprisingly good action, not being that much different fron a regular guitar. Each review seems to have different opinions on action, so maybe getting one from the factory that is "just about perfect" (as mine was) is just the luck of the draw. I let my son take it on a school trip to Florida (mistake), and it came home damaged. The fretboard took a hit on the airplane (it was in a cheap gig bag) and dented two frets and "kinked" the two strings directly over the frets. Local luthier re-shaped the frets, and put on new strings (Erine Ball phosphorous wound), and now it sounds even better than before! If it were not for the needed repair, I would not have changed the string from the nikel strings that came with it.

I am kind of anal about taking care of my stuff, so I expect it to last a good long time. About strap buttons: some reviewers have lamented about the fact that it has only one strap button. Almost all Acoustic guitars have only one button. I have five and all of them have one button. An acoustic guitar strap accomodates a button a one end and has "strings" at the other end to be tied under the strings on the headstock. This is because (and especially true of an acoustic bass with such a long neck) if you had it buttoned to both sides of the body, when you take your hand off the neck, the weight of the long neck would cause the strap to slide, and the headstock to point at the ground, possibly striking something on its way down (remember, the body is very light, the neck is very heavy).

Guitar comes with 5 year warranty. I could not find a hard case for this guitar (this puppy is BIG) so I bought the Dean gig bag for this guitar for twenty dollars. The bag was cheesy. Did not protect the guitar in transit. The zipper broke second time I used it. I see they have discontinued that bag, and have replaced it with a heavier padded bag with much heavier duty zippers. I called MF (from whom I purchased it) and they are crediting me for the old bag and sending me the new bag for the difference in cost (fifty dollar difference). Bag also has five year warranty from Dean.

I have been playing for 35 years and own a full studio complete with Pearl export drums, Korg and Roland synths and pianos, Hammond organ (with Leslie), many tube amps, basses, and quite a few guitars. If I were a working bass player, I would probably have purchased a more expensive bass, but for what I want to do with this bass, it is perfect. If it gets ruined on one of my camping trips, I wont loose any sleep over it (it was only 150 bucks!)

(Same as first review.)
I would have liked it to have a second strap button, but oh well.
The tuners are ok. I suppose that when the time comes to replace them, they won't cost an arm and leg to buy.

The musical demands for this bass are for classroom instruction and church service performance at low amplification levels. I tend to use the lowest tone setting and the highest volume setting on the bass. I fiddle around with the two amplifiers--a small practice amp and a Peavy 80 watt. I get too much "clacky" noise from my finger slides and fret hits, that's why I keep the settings the way I do. The tone is ok. I get a relative upright bass sound if I try real hard and a pleasant "thumb-skin only" tone that is full and rich (my favorite).

I have no complaints about the action or finish. The fit is a little cumbersome, but I like the size, so it's worth the slight awkwardness of the body. The fingerboard action is ok. I can move up and down the scales without any problems, except with my "claky" finger technique mentioned earlier. The tone control will fix that. The price is not a factor for me; a bass should do what it was built for, this bass is honest. I major flaw is that this bass doesn't have a pickguard. I don't use a pickguard, but it would be nice to protect the body from my right hand.

The Playmate Acoustic Bass looks trustworthy, but I did notice a slight problem (if a problem at all), As I look inside the body, I see pin-points of light shining through. Evidently, some of the scalloping bracing(that reinforcement along the corners that go all the way around the body) is chipped. This allows the binding to be see and light to pass through. I hope this doesn't become a problem later on.

I haven't performed with this bass outside of the classroom setting. But, considering the environment, this bass should prove dependable as the years fly bye.

Yes, I wish it had that second strap button, but I'm not gonna go and poke holes in any of my guitars. We'll just have to do without that "required" button.

The finish looks nice, but I'm gonna have to baby this bass. I can't even find a case or gig bag for it. That's a pain. So, I carry it as if it were a high explosive--very carefully.


Never gig without a backup!

I never trust those guys anyway. I have yet to need them. I do rely on the local guys and the amount of cash in my pocket.

I've been gigging since I was 16 years old; I'm now 44. You figure the math.

I own too many instruments to list or talk about. Hey, I'm also a music educator for over 18 years.

If it were stolen????? I'd buy a cello. I can also tune this bass like a cello and have my cello player double on electric bass.

The size and shape is very attractive. The tone is ok. The novelty hasn't rubbed off yet. This is an intimate instrument with cello and bass characteristics, minus the bowing , of course.

I compared it to a number of high dollar and mid price acoustics. I couldn't justify buying the more expensive basses because of this Playmate Acoustic Bass.

I wish I had a case for it.
I'm afraid to put lighter strings. Will the neck need adjustments??

Dean's Playmate acoustic bass is made in China. It's 34" scale neck has a 24 frets. It has 4 strings. There's a built in passive piezo pickup with 2 controls-volume and tone. The top is spruce with mahogany back and sides. The body is ultra jumbo, so don't expect it to fit in standard size cases. Neck to lower bout measure is about 50", and the width is about 18". There's no strap button on the heel of the neck.

I play in a acoustic duo or trio, that does tableside music at local restaurants. This guitar is about as loud as I've heard from an acoustic bass in this design. I had the strings changed to light gauged flat wounds to get a more "thuddy" sound of an upright. When played through an amp, the tone is round, woody. Just what I was looking for. Keep in mind that this rating considers a "10" an acoustic bass (unamplified) that is loud enough to keep up with a guitar in a 10 X 20 room. That animal doesn't exist today in this design. If I were comparing it to what's on the market today and weighted it for value, this would be a "10".

Frets needed to be reshaped, leveled. The fretboard was slighty high in the middle. Hey, it's less than $250! What do you want?

Looks solid. Matte finish will need some TLC. The finish won't tolerate serious bumps and nicks with belt buckles. This baby is so big, you wouldn't want to carry another acoustic with ya.

N/A

I've been playing 30 years. Have 2 other bass guitars, one electric, and one electric fretless. The acoustic output at this price point is unbeatable. Even Dean's higher priced acoustic bass guitars don't sound as good unamplified. In shopping around, I would compare this against the Tacoma or the Martin. I installed a Fishman prefix so I could plug in as well. You can take this acoustic thing only so far.