Dean Bass Guitar Used For Sale (2023 Update)

This popped up on Stupid Deal of the Day and I am not in the least disappointed. It was well packaged, box in a box, from Dean. My intended use will be jamming with friends at the park, campground, or beach. But, it could see small venue use as well. It is big (it is a bass after all): 34", 24 fret scale with the neck joint at the 17th fret. The lower bout is 18" wide and just shy of 5" deep. If you really feel the need to go above the 17th fret…get the cutaway. Because of its size it has a decent acoustic tone. Set up, including intonation, was very good considering it was last touched at the factory. It is strung with D'Addario EXP 45-100 lights. The strings showed some age (string cleaner should take care of it) but still have decent tone, especially for my intended use. All the electronics work as they should. The battery box and input jack are a single unit located on the lower bout. It appears to be a sturdy unit that does not require any tools for 9V battery replacement. Using the onboard tuner silences the pickup. The top is book matched and looks better than some of my solid top guitars. The Dean Playmate EAB Gig Bag (SKU 548316 000000000) does fit. I'm so glad that neither the bass or gig bag are emblazoned with "Playmate" anymore. Seriously, if so, I would not have purchased them. Overall, I am very pleased and believe it is money well spent.Vintage Bassist

The action is easily correctable by lowering the saddle. Sadly, it is not very loud if you finger pick while in the acoustic mode. It is however loud enough to practice alone in a quiet room with soft backing track. Electrically, it is like most EA guitars and you have to watch which way you're standing in relation to your amp. The tone is pretty bright acoustically but can be dialed back in the electric mode for that bassier sound most bassists are looking for. I would consider playing out with this bass for a folk gig. I got this bass on a "stupid deal of the day" promotion and I still can't believe Musicians Friend could make any money at all with a price like that.CA$H

The band I'm in decided that we were going to do an acoustic show for a big fundraiser called Gettysburg Rocks. Great! But one major problem I didn't have an acoustic bass, so I had to get one for this show. After doing extensive research and considering the budget I chose this model. When I got the bass there were a lot of high frets which caused major undesirable fret buzz. The strings that were on it from dean were horrible so I took the bass to my local guitar shop and had it restrung and set up. After this was done this bass played amazing and had great tone unplugged. Then I plugged it in to my di box and it sounded pretty bad through the pa. The electronics in this bass didn't sound good because The strings were not evenly voiced. In my particular case the e string was the loudest and over powered the a d and g strings. I had 4 days before the show and had to figure something out quick. My solution was to run a limiter pedal. Once I had the limiter dialed in I was able to get a very good sound out of the bass, And through eq settings I was able to make the bass sound great. Then the night of the show came around and I had all the kinks figured out . The bass sounded great and the show went beautifully. This bass is by no means a high end bass but with a little tweaking itcan be made to sound really good. I've noticed that I will grab this bass and just start playing it when I'm trying to learn new songs and licks because it sounds so good and it is nice to not always be tethered to an amp. This bass is great to practice with but in a band setting it will need to be amped if you want to be heard with more than one acoustic guitar. Overall I am very pleased with this instrument and would buy another if it broke. I was apprehensive at first thinking that this would sound like $150 bass. Looking back I'm glad I got this model. I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence about buying this bass.v1637

I've owned Squier Jag short scale bass, and the Ibanez Mikro bass. I also briefly owned a Squier Contemporary Jazz bass which sounded beautiful but was astoundingly heavy and thus unworkable. I prefer this to any of the above – better neck and better action than the Squier Jag or the Mikro, better feel and balance than all of them. I like that this has a biggish headstock with burly tuning heads. It feels substantial enough to play vigorously but light enough to pogo with (if I were that kind of player). Due to the 1 pickup, the Hillsboro is a bit limited tonally and may need a touch of EQ tweaking to optimize. But limitations can be good – more playing, less knob twirling! Stock strings are okay but I've been waiting 5 weeks for the Rotosounds I ordered for this. Not pleased about that. It's a testament to the quality of the bass that I've been enjoying playing it anyway.Mondo Mando

A gift for my wife who is petite. She was trying to learn on one of my full sized basses, but wasn't comfortable. This bass fits her perfectly. I played it and was very impressed with the quality, sound and playability. Only concern is the tuners slip a bit.Dennis

I bought the metallic red version of this to lend to my friend for band practices. I've never owned a Dean before, though I have liked the ones I've jammed on, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. The picture does not do the bass justice, I was surprised by the quality of the guitar when I opened the box. The paint looks great, the headstock has a nice gloss to it and the inlays are nice as well, not the cheapo white ones. The sound of the guitar is about what one would expect for the money, it has a respectable tone range, reliable tuners (only time will tell) and the setup is plenty playable out of the box (I would like to have it properly setup but I am in no rush). In my opinion, this guitar is a great deal, perfectly suitable for practice maybe even some small shows. It also comes with an amp cable (~10ft) and 2 hex keys.Taco

The EVO feels solid and smooth. Well balanced. The volume and blend pots work well. Looked for a long time before purchasing, and am VERY happy with purchasing this model. Body is almost an exact match for my Epiphone Les Paul special.Sconnie

I am getting used to not strangling the neck my other bass is an acoustic electric and I am loving this. Gives me more time to play because my fingers don't get sour as fast.big john

I've owned/played Fender MIM bass's that did not sound or play this well. I like the flatter 12 instead of 9.5 radius of the fretboard. Has high mass bridge and graphite nut. Did simple set up: adjusting truss rod in neck slightly, just a quarter turn, lowered action/string height, set intonation and WOW-sounds and plays like a champ. Dean hit out of the park with these Fender style bass's. Same is true for their J copies.mv

This bass surprised me with how good it sounded, one flaw I noticed was that you'd hear noise anytime you touched the coils of the pickup, but seeing how I was going to replace the pickups anyways, this wasn't a big deal.Shaggy

I've owned Squier Jag short scale bass, and the Ibanez Mikro bass. I also briefly owned a Squier Contemporary Jazz bass which sounded beautiful but was astoundingly heavy and thus unworkable. I prefer this to any of the above – better neck and better action than the Squier Jag or the Mikro, better feel and balance than all of them. I like that this has a biggish headstock with burly tuning heads. It feels substantial enough to play vigorously but light enough to pogo with (if I were that kind of player). Due to the 1 pickup, the Hillsboro is a bit limited tonally and may need a touch of EQ tweaking to optimize. But limitations can be good – more playing, less knob twirling! Stock strings are okay but I've been waiting 5 weeks for the Rotosounds I ordered for this. Not pleased about that. It's a testament to the quality of the bass that I've been enjoying playing it anyway.Mondo Mando

A gift for my wife who is petite. She was trying to learn on one of my full sized basses, but wasn't comfortable. This bass fits her perfectly. I played it and was very impressed with the quality, sound and playability. Only concern is the tuners slip a bit.Dennis

I bought the metallic red version of this to lend to my friend for band practices. I've never owned a Dean before, though I have liked the ones I've jammed on, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. The picture does not do the bass justice, I was surprised by the quality of the guitar when I opened the box. The paint looks great, the headstock has a nice gloss to it and the inlays are nice as well, not the cheapo white ones. The sound of the guitar is about what one would expect for the money, it has a respectable tone range, reliable tuners (only time will tell) and the setup is plenty playable out of the box (I would like to have it properly setup but I am in no rush). In my opinion, this guitar is a great deal, perfectly suitable for practice maybe even some small shows. It also comes with an amp cable (~10ft) and 2 hex keys.Taco

thanks musicians friend arrived on schedule, out of the box did tuning and played with it I was surprised felt good on hands and fingers has a nice sound' impressive piece of work and don't forget affordability "Gil

I use this bass primarily for recording and it sounds and plays great. Very quality for the money and the neck is simply fantastic.Mark Y.

Love how this sounds with distortion especially with the tone all the way down. Clean don't sound bad but not my favorite. Not sure if it's just mine but the pots range is very small, an 1\8 of a turn and it's maxed out.Skins IV

This bass is amazing, it doesn't die out like a lot of other basses do. just like a-lox said i haven't had mine in a case since I've had it either and it has even taken a couple falls (other ppl not watching where they were walking) and it still works like it did the day i got it. only problem could be that since it's a V u can't really sit and play unless u put your leg between the two legs of the V but i prefer to stand anyways. i recomend this o any1.Briggsy80

This is a great bass.I have basses that cost more than twice the cost of this bass and the Dean shows them all up.There are alot of sounds that can come out of the soap bar pickups and active electronics,the Grover tuners hold great tune. FIT AND FINISH ARE TOP NOTCH, WHAT A WELL SET UP INSTRUMENT, Kudos to Dean,for such a fine bass. Mike C.Mike C.

It was heavier than I thought it would be, but that's not a bad thing. I am a fan of the natural woods and this was one I really wanted in my collection.RSMBASS

You hear a lot of bassist look down on ABGs for being not loud enough. This might be an entry model, but it will more than do it's job when no amp is needed. It's much louder than most of the other more expensive acoustic basses. First off, this thing is huge. If you have short arms or small hands, look elsewhere. Might be one step below a guitaron (Mariachi bass) in terms of size. This adds to the volume projection. If Dean could come up with a way to round off the corner where your arm sits, it would make it more comfortable. Had a few cases where my arm started to fall asleep when trying to play sitting down. Just have to experiment with a position that works for you. Finding a case to fit is tricky. Second, the factory strings are terrible, cheap roundwounds that make a lot of string noise. Put some good flatwounds on and it sounds 10 times better. The action is high but that's going to be the case on any acoustic guitar (bass or 6 string) compared to an electric. With flats, it feels closer to an upright bass. You probably won't be able to do many Claypool or Sheehan style licks, but it's not really designed for that. I've done some fingerstyle percussive stuff on it and gotten some cool sounds out of it. The electronics are so-so. You might get a lot of feedback if the volume is really high, but then again, that's outside of its intended use. I've played mine in smaller venues and had no issues. For a simple pick up and jam or wanting a mellow tone deal to go with an acoustic guitar, this is a great buy. Won't set you back too much and the build quality is good. Just know what you are getting and don't expect it do everything your electric bass does as easily.Corb

I've had mine for a while now so here's the long term review. I'm happy with my purchase. I don't think there is a better acoustic bass at this price point and I've tried a lot of them. Of course it's cheaply made, but the craftsmanship is excellent. Fit and finish are great. The fret work is really good. The bass stays in tune, but the tuning machines are already starting to fall apart. I'm looking at replacing them with the lightweight Gotoh's which look identical. The rest of the bass is holding up great. Out of the box it will probably need to be set up. I had to file the nut grooves down about half a mile. The bridge wasn't the same radius as the fingerboard. I belt sanded the top and bottom to get good action. After a setup it does play very well. The action is comparable to a p-bass with no buzzing and no dead frets. It sounds pretty good unplugged. There are no rattles and no buzzing. The notes are clear and well defined and there is a decent amount a deep bass. Unfortunately when plugged in the sound has no clarity and no punch. It just doesn't sound musical. I have not found a way clean it up. Minus one star for the tuning machines, minus one star for the way it sounds plugged in.Fretless J

I wanted an acoustic bass and for me it was between the Ibanez and this one. I decided to go with this Bass and I love it, especially for the price its at!. It has a really solid and, surprisingly, punchy sound without it being plugged in. When it is plugged in, it does give off some feed back but still excellent sound. A little bit of fret buzz at the 17th fret, shouldn't be a big deal unless you play a lot in the area. Neck feels great, not to thick so its really easy to get around. Really light weight. The body looks huge from the picture but its excellent size. Overall I'd recommend it to any bass player that wants a quality sounding acoustic bass without hurting the wallet.Punkbass182

I've owned Squier Jag short scale bass, and the Ibanez Mikro bass. I also briefly owned a Squier Contemporary Jazz bass which sounded beautiful but was astoundingly heavy and thus unworkable. I prefer this to any of the above – better neck and better action than the Squier Jag or the Mikro, better feel and balance than all of them. I like that this has a biggish headstock with burly tuning heads. It feels substantial enough to play vigorously but light enough to pogo with (if I were that kind of player). Due to the 1 pickup, the Hillsboro is a bit limited tonally and may need a touch of EQ tweaking to optimize. But limitations can be good – more playing, less knob twirling! Stock strings are okay but I've been waiting 5 weeks for the Rotosounds I ordered for this. Not pleased about that. It's a testament to the quality of the bass that I've been enjoying playing it anyway.Mondo Mando

A gift for my wife who is petite. She was trying to learn on one of my full sized basses, but wasn't comfortable. This bass fits her perfectly. I played it and was very impressed with the quality, sound and playability. Only concern is the tuners slip a bit.Dennis

I bought the metallic red version of this to lend to my friend for band practices. I've never owned a Dean before, though I have liked the ones I've jammed on, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. The picture does not do the bass justice, I was surprised by the quality of the guitar when I opened the box. The paint looks great, the headstock has a nice gloss to it and the inlays are nice as well, not the cheapo white ones. The sound of the guitar is about what one would expect for the money, it has a respectable tone range, reliable tuners (only time will tell) and the setup is plenty playable out of the box (I would like to have it properly setup but I am in no rush). In my opinion, this guitar is a great deal, perfectly suitable for practice maybe even some small shows. It also comes with an amp cable (~10ft) and 2 hex keys.Taco

I've owned Squier Jag short scale bass, and the Ibanez Mikro bass. I also briefly owned a Squier Contemporary Jazz bass which sounded beautiful but was astoundingly heavy and thus unworkable. I prefer this to any of the above – better neck and better action than the Squier Jag or the Mikro, better feel and balance than all of them. I like that this has a biggish headstock with burly tuning heads. It feels substantial enough to play vigorously but light enough to pogo with (if I were that kind of player). Due to the 1 pickup, the Hillsboro is a bit limited tonally and may need a touch of EQ tweaking to optimize. But limitations can be good – more playing, less knob twirling! Stock strings are okay but I've been waiting 5 weeks for the Rotosounds I ordered for this. Not pleased about that. It's a testament to the quality of the bass that I've been enjoying playing it anyway.Mondo Mando

A gift for my wife who is petite. She was trying to learn on one of my full sized basses, but wasn't comfortable. This bass fits her perfectly. I played it and was very impressed with the quality, sound and playability. Only concern is the tuners slip a bit.Dennis

I bought the metallic red version of this to lend to my friend for band practices. I've never owned a Dean before, though I have liked the ones I've jammed on, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. The picture does not do the bass justice, I was surprised by the quality of the guitar when I opened the box. The paint looks great, the headstock has a nice gloss to it and the inlays are nice as well, not the cheapo white ones. The sound of the guitar is about what one would expect for the money, it has a respectable tone range, reliable tuners (only time will tell) and the setup is plenty playable out of the box (I would like to have it properly setup but I am in no rush). In my opinion, this guitar is a great deal, perfectly suitable for practice maybe even some small shows. It also comes with an amp cable (~10ft) and 2 hex keys.Taco

You hear a lot of bassist look down on ABGs for being not loud enough. This might be an entry model, but it will more than do it's job when no amp is needed. It's much louder than most of the other more expensive acoustic basses. First off, this thing is huge. If you have short arms or small hands, look elsewhere. Might be one step below a guitaron (Mariachi bass) in terms of size. This adds to the volume projection. If Dean could come up with a way to round off the corner where your arm sits, it would make it more comfortable. Had a few cases where my arm started to fall asleep when trying to play sitting down. Just have to experiment with a position that works for you. Finding a case to fit is tricky. Second, the factory strings are terrible, cheap roundwounds that make a lot of string noise. Put some good flatwounds on and it sounds 10 times better. The action is high but that's going to be the case on any acoustic guitar (bass or 6 string) compared to an electric. With flats, it feels closer to an upright bass. You probably won't be able to do many Claypool or Sheehan style licks, but it's not really designed for that. I've done some fingerstyle percussive stuff on it and gotten some cool sounds out of it. The electronics are so-so. You might get a lot of feedback if the volume is really high, but then again, that's outside of its intended use. I've played mine in smaller venues and had no issues. For a simple pick up and jam or wanting a mellow tone deal to go with an acoustic guitar, this is a great buy. Won't set you back too much and the build quality is good. Just know what you are getting and don't expect it do everything your electric bass does as easily.Corb

I've had mine for a while now so here's the long term review. I'm happy with my purchase. I don't think there is a better acoustic bass at this price point and I've tried a lot of them. Of course it's cheaply made, but the craftsmanship is excellent. Fit and finish are great. The fret work is really good. The bass stays in tune, but the tuning machines are already starting to fall apart. I'm looking at replacing them with the lightweight Gotoh's which look identical. The rest of the bass is holding up great. Out of the box it will probably need to be set up. I had to file the nut grooves down about half a mile. The bridge wasn't the same radius as the fingerboard. I belt sanded the top and bottom to get good action. After a setup it does play very well. The action is comparable to a p-bass with no buzzing and no dead frets. It sounds pretty good unplugged. There are no rattles and no buzzing. The notes are clear and well defined and there is a decent amount a deep bass. Unfortunately when plugged in the sound has no clarity and no punch. It just doesn't sound musical. I have not found a way clean it up. Minus one star for the tuning machines, minus one star for the way it sounds plugged in.Fretless J

I wanted an acoustic bass and for me it was between the Ibanez and this one. I decided to go with this Bass and I love it, especially for the price its at!. It has a really solid and, surprisingly, punchy sound without it being plugged in. When it is plugged in, it does give off some feed back but still excellent sound. A little bit of fret buzz at the 17th fret, shouldn't be a big deal unless you play a lot in the area. Neck feels great, not to thick so its really easy to get around. Really light weight. The body looks huge from the picture but its excellent size. Overall I'd recommend it to any bass player that wants a quality sounding acoustic bass without hurting the wallet.Punkbass182

You hear a lot of bassist look down on ABGs for being not loud enough. This might be an entry model, but it will more than do it's job when no amp is needed. It's much louder than most of the other more expensive acoustic basses. First off, this thing is huge. If you have short arms or small hands, look elsewhere. Might be one step below a guitaron (Mariachi bass) in terms of size. This adds to the volume projection. If Dean could come up with a way to round off the corner where your arm sits, it would make it more comfortable. Had a few cases where my arm started to fall asleep when trying to play sitting down. Just have to experiment with a position that works for you. Finding a case to fit is tricky. Second, the factory strings are terrible, cheap roundwounds that make a lot of string noise. Put some good flatwounds on and it sounds 10 times better. The action is high but that's going to be the case on any acoustic guitar (bass or 6 string) compared to an electric. With flats, it feels closer to an upright bass. You probably won't be able to do many Claypool or Sheehan style licks, but it's not really designed for that. I've done some fingerstyle percussive stuff on it and gotten some cool sounds out of it. The electronics are so-so. You might get a lot of feedback if the volume is really high, but then again, that's outside of its intended use. I've played mine in smaller venues and had no issues. For a simple pick up and jam or wanting a mellow tone deal to go with an acoustic guitar, this is a great buy. Won't set you back too much and the build quality is good. Just know what you are getting and don't expect it do everything your electric bass does as easily.Corb

I've had mine for a while now so here's the long term review. I'm happy with my purchase. I don't think there is a better acoustic bass at this price point and I've tried a lot of them. Of course it's cheaply made, but the craftsmanship is excellent. Fit and finish are great. The fret work is really good. The bass stays in tune, but the tuning machines are already starting to fall apart. I'm looking at replacing them with the lightweight Gotoh's which look identical. The rest of the bass is holding up great. Out of the box it will probably need to be set up. I had to file the nut grooves down about half a mile. The bridge wasn't the same radius as the fingerboard. I belt sanded the top and bottom to get good action. After a setup it does play very well. The action is comparable to a p-bass with no buzzing and no dead frets. It sounds pretty good unplugged. There are no rattles and no buzzing. The notes are clear and well defined and there is a decent amount a deep bass. Unfortunately when plugged in the sound has no clarity and no punch. It just doesn't sound musical. I have not found a way clean it up. Minus one star for the tuning machines, minus one star for the way it sounds plugged in.Fretless J

I wanted an acoustic bass and for me it was between the Ibanez and this one. I decided to go with this Bass and I love it, especially for the price its at!. It has a really solid and, surprisingly, punchy sound without it being plugged in. When it is plugged in, it does give off some feed back but still excellent sound. A little bit of fret buzz at the 17th fret, shouldn't be a big deal unless you play a lot in the area. Neck feels great, not to thick so its really easy to get around. Really light weight. The body looks huge from the picture but its excellent size. Overall I'd recommend it to any bass player that wants a quality sounding acoustic bass without hurting the wallet.Punkbass182

I am getting used to not strangling the neck my other bass is an acoustic electric and I am loving this. Gives me more time to play because my fingers don't get sour as fast.big john

I've owned/played Fender MIM bass's that did not sound or play this well. I like the flatter 12 instead of 9.5 radius of the fretboard. Has high mass bridge and graphite nut. Did simple set up: adjusting truss rod in neck slightly, just a quarter turn, lowered action/string height, set intonation and WOW-sounds and plays like a champ. Dean hit out of the park with these Fender style bass's. Same is true for their J copies.mv

This bass surprised me with how good it sounded, one flaw I noticed was that you'd hear noise anytime you touched the coils of the pickup, but seeing how I was going to replace the pickups anyways, this wasn't a big deal.Shaggy