Dean Zone Xm Bass Guitar Transparent Black For Sale (2024 Update)

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

Right out of the box this bass sounded good. Dean sold me. Played a little venue at a friends house and got lots of complements on the sound and looks. Sure made me feel good. People asked to sign my bass and made me think how cool that would be? Maybe after some wear and tear that will happen. Can't say enough about this bass. What a find, really. Only been learning for over a year and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but for now I'm talking Dean. Being a beginner at 63 sure is fun. Rock On kids cause that's how I feel….wunschy

This is a decent package for anyone wanting to learn the bass guitar. The bass guitar holds tune fairly well and is good quality. The amp that is included in the package is average at best for what it is, nothing impressive but good for solo practicing. The instrument cable is low quality without a right angle plug. The packaging is low quality and the guitar head was damaged in shipping as a result of the inadequate packaging. Sam Ash took immediate attention to my claim on the damage, their customer service is awesome. Overall is it a good bass guitar package.Aubrey

I'm an older ex weekend warrior who has played in bands for years. I've owned many other basses including Fender P-bass, Hamer Cruisebass, and Carvin LB-70 to name a few. I've been out of the music scene for awhile but really missed having a bass around to mess around with so I ordered this one in the satin finish. I knew what I was getting because I had been to Dean's website where they have accurate pics of this bass. I wasn't disappointed! This bass is an amazing value for the money. The tone is great right out of the box. Action is right where I like it. No fret buzz as long as you are fretting properly. I did change the strings right away to black nylon tape wounds. They lend a smooth attack (almost like a double bass) and are super easy on the fingers yet still get that P-bass like growl if you open the tone knob up. Construction is very good especially for the money, fit and finish is great except for the fret work. I'll need to file down the fret ends as they are a bit too long for the (nice) rosewood fretboard. They aren't sharp or dangerous so it could be worse and using proper technique you'd hardly notice it. The only other gripe is the tuners. They look nice but don't hold tuning for long periods of time. I end up having to re-tune the bass nearly every day. The tuner on the G string could be smoother as turning tension goes from tight to loose and back to tight as it turns. These are really minor complaints for such a low cost bass. The finish is really good. It appears they put a matching basswood veneer on the top and back so you can't even see the slab joints. I wouldn't hesitate to take this on stage, it looks that good with the black tuners, bridge, knobs, and strings (in my case). The neck is nice and thin and fairly fast with a satin finish on the back of the neck. The electronics are way above average for this price range. The pickup, volume and tone knobs work together very well to give a wide variety of tones.VTbassman

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

Or, a guitar for bassists. If you're at least a moderately experienced player with the fingers to handle a broad neck, and understand what an Octave Bass can add to your repertoire, this could be for you. Novices, or players with smaller hands, would likely be frustrated. I find the Big Dean gives it's best when put through a dual amp system, such as a two channel compressor/splitter sending the low frequencies to a bass amp and the highs to a guitar amp. Amazing what you can tweak from that sort of combination. My only quibble is that the stock strings (as is often the case) aren't the best — creaky, twangy and hard to tune and stay in tune. Get a set of d'Addarios made for the Hamer 12 and you'll be happy.StudioCat46

I got the idea for the 12 string from both being a long time Cheap Trick fan and also seeing Doug from Kings X play them. These guys both play Hamer but they are no longer made. I play with a thumb pick and all downstrokes already, and this limited style actually is perfect for a 12 string bass. This thing can fill up the sound like a rhythm guitar and bass as one item. I have already had a blast demoing with it. My main band was not sold on the sound, they love my Rickenbacker, but I hope to use it some in another live setting. I am very happy with the sound, as a Ric player it is right up there in brightness and springyness. The super wide neck does take a bit of getting used to when playing standing up, but it was very easy to use when playing seated/doing demos.CarlTX

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

I went from a new yamaha with active pickups to this jackson with passive pickups. I don't play much bass, so Literally I was looking for a cheap guitar to record with. It has a solid low end grunt but still maintains the mid bang "slap" as you might call it. No its not spotless, the wood is not colored along some of the seems and its not the prettiest style wise, but for someone who just wants an easy playing, solid sounding bass track, this is a great weapon.Jeremy

I give this bass 5 stars, not because it's comparable to a high end instrument, but because of the quality at this unbelievable price point. I was looking for a passive P-style bass that wouldn't break the bank; my expectations were that I would have to do some work to it (fret level, polish, sharp ends, etc.) However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that none of those issues existed when it arrived, and it was even actually in tune! I lowered the action to my preference, as should be done with every instrument. The neck is extremely comfortable and fast. The plastic nut is cut quite well, bridge is more than adequate, tuners are sufficient and hold tune even with heavy handed attack. The real surprise though, was the strong sustained growling punch of the pickup! This bass actually sounds quite good! I wouldn't hesitate to gig with it: and it's an excellent backup or first bass, that you won't soon outgrow. For reference – I have been playing guitar for 32 years, bass for 25 years and have a MIM Fender Jazz V, and several Ibanez basses (mid grade – professional grade, 4, 5, & 6 string variations). This Jackson isn't in the same class as my others, but that doesn't really mean anything, because it still delivers exceptional quality and value. It is very fun to play, and the tonality is quite useable and shapeable. Bottom line is – this bass is a huge bang for buck!Shasal

This was the first bass I bought myself and im very glad I did. I bought this bass around last December and have been in love ever since. I bought this bass mainly cause of the price tag but also because I was wanting a bass with humbuckers. The epiphone thunderbird had my eye but wasn't exactly in my budget at the time but then I came across this bass. Great price tag and a familiar (body) P bass shape. Fast forward to today and this bass still rocks. The body was put together nicely along with it's finish but you can tell where quality was sacrificed which was the neck. Not terrible or unplayable but you can tell it's a fairly cheap neck. Otherwise the tone, playability, and feel is amazing.Brandon F

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

It's beautiful, it's loud, it reflects light all over the place. Easy access to all frets. Bridge pickup is very powerful. Neck pickup has a warm, classic rock sound. Mirror pick-guard is incredibly cool.Chad s

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

I purchased this Dean ML based on my appreciation for Dime and simply because teenage me committed to owning one someday. I found a pic that I took with Dime which reminded me of being in the front row watching him jam away on his Dime Slime years ago. For me, this purchase was primarily motivated by nostalgia, expecting build quality to be sort of, ok. I have to say, this guitar exceeded my expectations. Slight disclaimer: I purchased this item knowing I would immediately upgrade most of the hardware and adjust things to make it more comfortable for my playing. 1) It is a fantastic base instrument. It plays fairly well as sold. This was my first experience with a Floyd Rose Special. Also, it will definitely be my last. I played it stock for about 2 weeks to get a good feel for it before changing anything. It’s a great playing guitar. 2) Every review I saw said that the finish was amazing and pictures just couldn’t do it justice. I agree. They did a great job on the neck and body of this guitar. It’s flawless. 3) Everything was to spec on mine. Action, truss rod, intonation, fret, bridge and pickup height, all perfect. My fretboard had a somewhat excessive amount of dye on it but nothing too crazy. The nut on mine was clearly cut too deep leaving the high e in permanent sitar mode with fret buzz. So, quality control could be an issue. For my needs this wasn’t a problem as I had already decided on replacing virtually all hardware with new parts that I had on hand from a project that I decided not to restore. 4) The pickups sound great. The Dime Slime nailed the Pantera tones, not surprising. I was surprised by the classic/southern rock and soloist tones I was able to get with minor eq adjustments. Clear and warm through the drive/distortion. It does jazz and country pretty well too. It has a very balanced sound to it which I was not expecting. I’ve played it on three different amps with the same results. Great. This is a great buy. A solid guitar as is. However, in my case, this guitar didn’t really come to life until I did what I did: OFR Hot Rod, brass block,springs, some shielding, etc. Now, what really irritates me is that it plays a lot better than a few of my guitars that were either at or almost double the cost of the Dime Slime. Get One!SantaRosaJoe

Not a V type of player. I like Wilco, the Pixies, the Smiths, Stone Roses, Courtney Barnett, etc. So when I saw Ryan Adams rocking a V by that other manufacturer that starts with G, I started thinking about the V body style. I liked this model because it was at the right price point and had the tradition V body style, if you don't think too much about the headstock. This guitar probably hasn't gotten any love because I don't see it as your typical Dime type guitar, and its not your typical vintage Flying V. The pickups are not high enough gain to get love from the shredders and the Headstock probably turns some people off. What I found is a pretty great guitar with some help. First, the action was high. I lowered the bridge significantly. The good news is that the frets are good I didn't run into any buzziness after lowering the action a little lower than I thought I could get away with. Next, the pickups needed adjustment. They were pretty low. I brought them up a little and found that the sound filled out and got chimey like it should. I adjusted the pole pieces to match the fretboard radius and viola! Most of these guitars have good pickups and don't need an immediate change. Folks, you need to learn how to properly adjust your guitar pickups! Then figure out if you need something different. PS adjust these pickups on a clean channel, you need to hear the guitar not distortion. Long story short, this is a great guitar. It shouldn't be your main axe, but its a great conversation piece that sounds better than it should. I feel like I discovered a diamond in the rough. P.S. The guitar is really light and comfortable to play with a strap.Fred

You can't expect any guitar at this price point to sound great. You can't expect any guitar with a bolt on neck to sound great. You can't expect any guitar with a basswood body to sound great. But this guitar is definitely worth the tiny bit I paid for it. It stays in tune, the frets don't have any sharp edges, the action is not high. It may sound better if I changed the pickups, but most guitarists like to try out different pickups, so that's not a big deal. The important thing is that this is comfortable to practice on at home, which is a big expectation for a guitar at this price pointtheLonnie

Had to file sharp fret ends and raise bridge one turn. Then it played as well as many of my other guitars. The pickup switch doesn't always make good contact and has to be jiggled – which seems to be common in this kind of toggle. The finish appears to be opaque brown stain over wood, with a flat polyurethane(?) finish. The grain is barely visible but it's there. If you end up filing the fret ends like I did, protect the rosewood fret board with tape or something and use a very fine file. Makes a good beach and party guitar – If it's damaged at this price, who cares?Uncle Willie

First off, i have to say if i say anything negative, it should be taken with a grain of salt because in its price range, this is a great guitar. Right out of the box, i found the color not matching the image, however personally i found its true color pleasing. The guitar has a comfortable feel, not overly heavy, but not cheap feeling either. The neck feels comfortable, the tuners generally stay well in tune. i like the adjustable bridge, its a nice feature. The tone control is decently dynamic. the selector is a bit sticky sometimes, and that can become annoying. Also i find that the pickups are a bit close in range so as not to give the greatest differentiation, but still, its not an expensive guitar. So all in all, i recommend this model for the price, it has a good sound and i find it pleasing. it also has a lot of potential. I made just go crazy and drop some P-90's in there, who knows. lol 🙂 great for starter, or just a base for a custom.JDubya

Completely satisfied with this purchase. Great features for the price. Visually beautiful. Had to take a star off the review for the string action out of the factory though. I had to pay a tech to sand down the bridge saddle. Cost me $45. Now it plays fantastic. I'll enjoy this for years.SKARRDGUITAR

Overall: This is one fine acoustic guitar. Beautiful woods and finish. Electronics and tuner are good. Tone and action excellent. Been playing 50 years and would not hesitate playing out or taking to a jam session plugged or unplugged. Have owned dean entry level acoustic bass for years, solid build and reliable. This brand new guitar feels and sounds solid. Have never dealt with dean but zZounds has been 5 star buying high level martin and fender past few years.Rich

Excellent acoustic bass! Plays amazing and the finish is flawless! I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the full 34 scale neck, turned out to be great! I am finding it way easier to transition back and forth to my electric bass vs my old 30ish scale ABG. Tuner works very well but I'm not a huge fan of how it sounds plugged in kinda tinny. That's alright tho cause I bought it to practice unplugged and will rarely play it plugged in anyway. I swapped the strings out to tapewounds and made an already amazing guitar even better. I think those strings are a must for any acoustic bass, rounds are just too noisy at that low volume. But all around a great looking and great playing instrument!Josh

If you like to play Metal or Punk this Dean Exile select is an excellent choice and it looks sick in matte black with the gloss black hardware. The build quality is second to none has a premium feel and playability.Dave

I would have liked a color more appealing than the same old satin black, but that is all that's offered on that model. My first Dean, and I mainly bought it for the Fishman Fluence pickups. Heard so much hype about em. They are definitely quiet as advertised, but I wouldn't say they are my favorite set of actives. All in all, it plays pretty well. It is being set up right now by my guitar tech, and I should have it back in a week or so to give further opinions on that. My only real issue is that the neck is a little too fat for my liking. I am more a fan of the Ibanez Wizard style, and my ESP guitars. (EC1000, Viper, and Mh-103) My short stubby fingers being the reason. I do like the body style though. Pretty aggressive looking take on a traditional shape.Sean

I just got this bass and can't seem to put it down. I love all the features about it. The Neck-Thru body construct is a feature I've always wanted with a bass a slim neck for faster playability, loving this bass alreadyBloch Party

I am a working bassist and this bass first caught my eye it's a very cool looking instrument , then I plugged it in and with a little set to fit my playing I was sold , and frankly blown away at this little Ripper. Plays like Butter and has great tone , punch, sustain and independent volume control for each pick up instead of the standard pu mix control I really liked that feature you can really dial in your tone , and this bass is far from being a one trick pony , you could use this bass in most any situation just by simply dialing in the sound you you want for what ever style of music your playing. Can't say enough good things about this bass I'm just loving this bass.Boom Boom

Don't expect a custom shop handmade guitar; but for the money, this guitar kicks all kinds of tail! It plays very nicely with a very fast fretboard and thin neck. Stays in tune when abusing it with heavy pick attack. It does exactly what it looks like it was made for doing! Not to mention, it looks really cool, and plays as good as it looks! I have been playing for 25+ years, have owned many, many, many, mid-priced guitars over the years and this is definitely a big bang for the buck! Looks + Tone + Playability = Worth the investment.Cut-Bait

Should you be in the market for a decent, inexpensive bass, you really should consider this model. Having just arrived home from jamming with six friends, three of whom (including myself) are gigging pros, I felt obligated to congratulate Yamaha Corp for creating such a marvelous bass for the price. I brought my favorite jamming bass–a Squier VM 70's jazz bass–to the jam yet ended up playing this TRBX for four hours. (The guy who owns the studio remarked that he just bought it (used), and he wanted me to try it out.) I'll admit that the controls for the pots are cheap plastic, but everything else about the bass was top notch. It's a passive bass, but the EQ is very responsive with a wide range of voicings from its P/J style pups. Beautifully finished neck, a fretboard with a generous slab of rosewood–it sure looked and felt like rosewood, despite what it's being called in the GC write-up–a really smooth fret-edge finish, solid body wood, but not too heavy. Tuners worked great, and the sunburst stain under the urethane finish was masterfully done. The studio owner bought the bass with flatwound strings, but the pups made them sound clear, with a nice degree of sustain. This TRBX will serve a bassist well as a back-up, but I wouldn't be surprised if some would use it as a main axe (maybe after ditching the plastic knobs for better-quality ones). btw, I had it input to a Tech-21 bass Sansamp (which I use all the time), and into a GK MB210-ii. Even with the Sansamp bypassed, it performed quite well. In summary: Nice surprise!BassesRBetter

After building myself an in home studio, I quickly realized the only thing i was missing was a bass. Swung over to a local store (sorry MF, i was in a rush!) and checked out their large selection. Being that i'm a drummer, I was looking for apparent quality as I didn't much know the specifics or traits that i should be mindful of. The price tag, finish, weight and balance of this thing caught my eye. I toyed around with it for a moment and purchased it about 15 minutes later. I would be lying if i said this was the most played piece in my studio – BUT whenever i do pick it up i am always impressed. Plugging it directly in to a preamp and hitting record with this thing is a dream. You can go from a very washy sound to some solid attack with the knobs. Contrary to one of the previous comments, it does have a volume knob. As i have developed my skills in the studio and on a guitar/bass I have never felt beyond or limited by this guitar. Exceptional piece, I can say with confidence that if bass was my main instrument, i would love to have this guitar as a backup. But for someone like me?…..perfect.Chris

This bass is excellent for the money. It comes out of the case ready to go, just requires tuning which can be easily accomplished with the provided tuner. The case and stand are of excellent quality. The case is hard and sturdy. Its fairly large but will definitely provide great protection. The stand is very sturdy and props the bass up securely. The bass itself sounds great. The only issue Ive encountered with it is some rattle on the E string which I believe can be fixed with the proper adjustments I just havent taken it in yet. Otherwise it sounds nice, full, and rich. Its also beautiful to look at. Overall a fantastic buy for someone looking to get into playing bass. Highly recommend!nicholapedraz-0